With one week left to play in the regular season, the defending FCS champion North Dakota State Bison remains the No. 1 team in the nation with a 9-1 record. They defeated South Dakota State, 20-17, to settle into that spot. The team received 121 first-place votes, 101 more first-place votes than the No. 2 Montana St. Bobcats (9-1) received. The Bobcats defeated Portland St., 65-30.
The rest of the top five remained the same, with Sam Houston State, Old Dominion and Eastern Washington claiming three through five. Georgia Southern moved up one spot to No. 6, while New Hampshire, Appalachian State, Wofford and Central Arkansas entered the top 10. New Hampshire received one first-place vote.
In addition to Montana State and Eastern Washington, the Big Sky Conference placed Northern Arizona at No. 15 and Cal Poly at No. 17.
The FCS playoffs begin on Nov. 24.
Here is the full Sports Network FCS Top 25 Poll:
Rank | Team (First-place votes) | Rec. | Points | Prev. |
1. | North Dakota State Bison (121) | 9-1 | 3930 | 1 |
2. | Montana State Bobcats (20) | 9-1 | 3748 | 2 |
3. | Sam Houston State Bearkats (14) | 8-2 | 3585 | 3 |
4. | Old Dominion Monarchs (3) | 9-1 | 3496 | 4 |
5. | Eastern Washington Eagles | 8-2 | 3362 | 5 |
6. | Georgia Southern Eagles | 8-2 | 3113 | 7 |
7. | New Hampshire Wildcats (1) | 8-2 | 2897 | 10 |
8. | Appalachian State Mountaineers | 8-3 | 2659 | 12 |
9. | Wofford Terriers | 8-2 | 2502 | 13 |
10. | Central Arkansas Bears | 8-2 | 2341 | 14 |
11. | Illinois State Redbirds | 8-2 | 2094 | 15 |
12. | Stony Brook Seawolves | 9-2 | 1917 | 6 |
13. | James Madison Dukes | 7-3 | 1885 | 9 |
14. | Lehigh Mountain Hawks | 9-1 | 1843 | 8 |
15. | Northern Arizona Lumberjacks | 8-2 | 1594 | 11 |
16. | Villanova Wildcats | 7-3 | 1477 | 21 |
17. | Cal Poly Mustangs | 8-2 | 1354 | 19 |
18. | Indiana State Sycamores | 7-3 | 1294 | 18 |
19. | Towson Tigers | 6-4 | 1251 | 17 |
20. | Richmond Spiders | 7-3 | 1153 | 20 |
21. | South Dakota State Jackrabbits | 7-3 | 1046 | 16 |
22. | Eastern Kentucky Colonels | 8-3 | 750 | 22 |
23. | Tennessee State Tigers | 8-2 | 450 | 24 |
24. | Bethune-Cookman Wildcats | 8-2 | 423 | NR |
24. | Eastern Illinois Panthers | 7-3 | 423 | NR |