VIDEO: NDSU Opens Fall CampSPARTANBURG, S.C. – For the third straight season, North Dakota State opens the year as the top-ranked team in the FCS Coaches Poll announced Monday, Aug. 4.
NDSU captured its third straight FCS national championship with a 35-7 victory over Towson to cap a 15-0 season. The Bison enter the Aug. 30 season opener at Iowa State having won a school- and FCS-record 24 straight games and compiling a 43-2 record over the last three seasons.
North Dakota State will be under the direction of
Chris Klieman, the former defensive coordinator who was promoted to head coach following the departure of Craig Bohl to Wyoming after the 2013 season.
NDSU returns 10 total starters including six players from the nation's No. 1 scoring defense and a Buck Buchanan Award nominee in strong safety
Colten Heagle. Seven of the top nine tacklers are back led by linebacker
Carlton Littlejohn (89 tackles) and including free safety
Christian Dudzik (6 interceptions) and right end
Kyle Emanuel (7.5 sacks).
On offense, senior running back
John Crockett returns after back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, senior wide receiver
Zach Vraa leads a deep receiving corps after ranking third nationally in touchdowns (15) and 10th in yards (1,191) last year, and 6-foot-6 junior
Carson Wentz takes over the reins at quarterback after completing 22 of 30 passes behind All-American
Brock Jensen last year.
The Bison received 18 of 26 first-place votes to claim No. 1 in the opening poll of 2014. Eastern Washington earned the No. 2 spot in the poll and received six first-place votes after going 12-3 last season. Southeastern Louisiana, New Hampshire and Montana rounded out the top five in the inaugural poll of 2014. Southeastern Louisiana and No. 7 Towson each had one first-place vote.
Coastal Carolina holds the No. 6 spot followed by Towson, Jacksonville State, McNeese State and South Dakota State to complete to the top 10.
The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) led all conferences with six schools ranked in the top 25. The Big Sky and the Missouri Valley Football Conference each place four teams in the poll as well. A total of nine conferences were represented with six conferences placing at least two schools.
The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference.
2014 FCS Coaches Preseason Poll| Team (No. 1 Votes) | W-L | Points | Final Rank |
| 1. North Dakota State (18) | 15-0 | 636 | 1 |
| 2. Eastern Washington (6) | 12-3 | 615 | 3 |
| 3. Southeast Louisiana (1) | 11-3 | 542 | 6 |
| 4. New Hampshire | 10-5 | 510 | 5 |
| 5. Montana | 10-3 | 505 | 8 |
| 6. Coastal Carolina | 12-3 | 447 | 7 |
| 7. Towson (1) | 13-3 | 438 | 2 |
| 8. Jacksonville State | 12-2 | 425 | 12 |
| 9. McNeese State | 10-3 | 424 | 9 |
| 10. South Dakota State | 9-5 | 332 | 14 |
| 11. Eastern Illinois | 12-2 | 314 | 4 |
| 12. Fordham | 12-2 | 305 | 10 |
| 13. Villanova | 6-5 | 287 | NR |
| 14. Sam Houston State | 9-5 | 277 | 13 |
| 15. Northern Iowa | 7-5 | 263 | NR |
| 16. Chattanooga | 8-4 | 238 | 25 |
| 17. Tennessee State | 10-4 | 237 | 17 |
| 18. Furman | 8-6 | 188 | 21 |
| 19. Montana State | 7-5 | 170 | 20 |
| 20. Maine | 10-3 | 169 | 11 |
| 21. Youngtown State | 8-4 | 162 | 19 |
| 22. William & Mary | 7-5 | 159 | NR |
| 23. Bethune-Cookman | 10-3 | 136 | 16 |
| 24. Richmond | 6-6 | 118 | NR |
| 25. Northern Arizona | 9-3 | 116 | 15 |
Others receiving votes: Samford 95, Southern Illinois 59, Harvard 42, Charleston Southern 39, James Madison 30, Princeton 24, Southern Utah 20, Alcorn State 16, Liberty 16, Delaware 15, South Carolina State 15, Cal Poly 14, Missouri State 12, Sacred Heart 10, Wofford 8, Central Arkansas 7, Alabama State 6, Lehigh 6, Eastern Kentucky 4, Holy Cross 1, Illinois State 1, Jacksonville 1.
