FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State was ranked No. 2 in the STATS FCS Preseason Top 25 media poll released Monday, Aug. 7. The Bison claimed 19 first-place votes behind defending national champion James Madison.
JMU, which had 134 of the 163 top votes, defeated NDSU in the national semifinals last season before beating Youngstown State in the championship. The Missouri Valley Football Conference had an FCS-best six teams ranked including South Dakota State (4), Youngstown State (9), Northern Iowa (18), Illinois State (20) and Western Illinois (25).
A national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries select the STATS FCS Top 25. A first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote 24 points, all the way down to one point for a 25th-place vote.
The Top 25 will be released every Monday afternoon during the regular season, except for Sunday morning, Nov. 19, prior to the selection of the 24-team FCS playoff field. A final Top 25 will follow the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas.
| STATS FCS Preseason Top 25 |
|
Team (First-Place Votes) |
W-L |
Pts |
Prev |
| 1 |
James Madison (134) |
14-1 |
4034 |
1 |
| 2 |
North Dakota State (19) |
12-2 |
3874 |
3 |
| 3 |
Sam Houston State (7) |
12-1 |
3610 |
5 |
| 4 |
South Dakota State (2) |
9-4 |
3385 |
6 |
| 5 |
Eastern Washington |
12-2 |
3270 |
4 |
| 6 |
Jacksonville State (1) |
10-2 |
3081 |
7 |
| 7 |
Richmond |
10-4 |
3041 |
8 |
| 8 |
North Dakota |
9-3 |
2871 |
12 |
| 9 |
Youngstown State |
12-4 |
2658 |
2 |
| 10 |
Villanova |
9-4 |
2628 |
11 |
| 11 |
Wofford |
10-4 |
2543 |
9 |
| 12 |
Chattanooga |
9-4 |
1995 |
13 |
| 13 |
New Hampshire |
8-5 |
1741 |
17 |
| 14 |
Charleston Southern |
7-4 |
1710 |
15 |
| 15 |
Central Arkansas |
10-3 |
1685 |
14 |
| 16 |
The Citadel |
10-2 |
1545 |
10 |
| 17 |
Lehigh |
9-3 |
1369 |
21 |
| 18 |
Northern Iowa |
5-6 |
924 |
NR |
| 19 |
Samford |
7-5 |
893 |
23 |
| 20 |
Illinois State |
6-6 |
876 |
NR |
| 21 |
Grambling State |
11-1 |
692 |
16 |
| 22 |
Fordham |
8-3 |
604 |
NR |
| 23 |
Cal Poly |
7-5 |
427 |
24 |
| 24 |
Albany |
7-4 |
418 |
NR |
| 25 |
Western Illinois |
6-5 |
367 |
NR |
Others receiving votes: North Carolina Central (326), Weber State (322), Northern Arizona (307), McNeese (261), San Diego (250), Montana (215), North Carolina A&T (198), Kennesaw State (154), Liberty (134), Tennessee State (102), UT Martin (90), South Dakota (87), Harvard (36), Saint Francis U (31), Delaware (27), Princeton (23), South Carolina State (22), Nicholls (21), Southeastern Louisiana (20), Southern Utah (17), Penn (14), Duquesne (14), Stony Brook (13), Maine (11), Montana State (6), Mercer (6), Southern Illinois (5), Alcorn State (4), William & Mary (4), Eastern Illinois (3), ETSU (3), Wagner (3), Eastern Kentucky (2), Indiana State (1), Bethune-Cookman (1), Dayton (1).
