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The defending champion North Dakota State Bison put forth an impressive 52-0 blowout of Robert Morris over the weekend to kick off the 2012 season, but still remain narrowly behind the No. 1 overall Sam Houston State Bearkats in the latest The Sports Network FCS Top 25 Poll.
After the two FCS title contenders in the rankings comes a trio of schools that each picked up at least one first-place vote after the weekend, including none other than Montana State, a team who took down Chadron State 33-6 on Saturday to start the year off on the right foot.
And while much of the FCS world is still buzzing about Youngstown State's improbable upset of Big East representative Pittsburgh, a win that was accompanied by a well-deserved jump from No. 13 to No. 6 in the polls, Eastern Washington also made plenty of noise with their own 20-3 dismantling of the Idaho Vandals. The Eagles also jumped three spots up to No. 9 with the victory, but won't have much time to catch their breath with a daunting test against Washington State scheduled for Saturday.
| Rank | Team | Rec. | Points | Pv. |
| 1. | Sam Houston State Bearkats (87) | 0-0 | 3985 | 1 |
| 2. | North Dakota State Bison (65) | 1-0 | 3947 | 2 |
| 3. | Georgia Southern Eagles (4) | 1-0 | 3651 | 3 |
| 4. | Montana State Bobcats (1) | 1-0 | 3457 | 4 |
| 5. | James Madison Dukes | 1-0 | 3269 | 5 |
| 6. | Youngstown State Penguins (7) | 1-0 | 2988 | 13 |
| 7. | Old Dominion Monarchs | 1-0 | 2842 | 8 |
| 8. | Northern Iowa Panthers | 0-1 | 2727 | 9 |
| 9. | Eastern Washington Eagles | 1-0 | 2505 | 12 |
| 10. | Wofford Terriers | 1-0 | 2488 | 10 |
| 11. | Appalachian State Mountaineers | 0-1 | 2484 | 6 |
| 12. | Montana Grizzlies | 1-0 | 2240 | 11 |
| 13. | Towson Tigers | 0-1 | 2236 | 7 |
| 14. | New Hampshire Wildcats | 1-0 | 2063 | 14 |
| 15. | Delaware Blue Hens | 1-0 | 1779 | 15 |
| 16. | Lehigh Mountain Hawks | 1-0 | 1530 | 16 |
| 17. | Stony Brook Seawolves | 1-0 | 1484 | 17 |
| 18. | Illinois State Redbirds | 1-0 | 1229 | 19 |
| 19. | Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks | 1-0 | 1082 | 20 |
| 20. | Maine Black Bears | 0-0 | 743 | 21 |
| 21. | Eastern Kentucky Colonels | 0-1 | 689 | 18 |
| 22. | McNeese State Cowboys | 1-0 | 594 | NR |
| 23. | Indiana State Sycamores | 0-1 | 531 | 23 |
| 24. | Jacksonville State Gamecocks | 0-1 | 443 | 22 |
| 25. | Central Arkansas Bears | 0-1 | 356 | 24 |
Head over to SB Nation's NCAA football hub for more news and analysis from the college level.