North Dakota State No. 2 in Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25

FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State was ranked No. 2 and the Missouri Valley Football Conference claimed three of the top five spots in the Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25 announced Monday, Aug. 5.

Two-time defending national champion South Dakota State was picked first with 52 of 56 first-place votes, NDSU received three first-place votes, last year's national runner-up Montana was ranked third, Montana State was fourth with one first-place vote, and South Dakota was fifth.

Seven MVFC teams were ranked in the preseason poll, the most of any conference. Others included No. 10 Southern Illinois, No. 19 Illinois State, No. 24 North Dakota and No. 25 Youngstown State.

North Dakota State is scheduled to open the regular season at Colorado on Thursday, Aug. 29. The game will be televised on ESPN starting at 7 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. MT.

2024 Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25

	Team (First Place)	W-L	Pts.	Prv
1.	South Dakota St. (52)	15-0	1396	1
2.	North Dakota St. (3)	11-4	1327	3
3.	Montana	13-2	1285	2
4.	Montana St. (1)	8-4	1199	9
5.	South Dakota	10-3	1155	4
6.	Villanova	10-3	1151	6
7.	Idaho	9-4	1021	8
8.	Sacramento St.	8-5	874	13
9.	Chattanooga	8-5	868	14
10.	Southern Illinois	8-5	832	12
11.	Central Arkansas	7-4	724	NR
12.	Furman	10-3	678	7
13.	Richmond	9-4	625	15
14.	Incarnate Word	8-2	605	22
15.	William & Mary	6-5	546	NR
16.	Albany	11-4	527	5
17.	Lafayette	9-3	359	21
18.	UC Davis	7-4	351	24
19.	Illinois St.	6-5	350	NR
20.	Western Carolina	7-4	318	23
21.	Tarleton St.	8-3	302	NR
22.	Weber St.	6-5	268	NR
23.	Nicholls St.	6-5	201	NR
24.	North Dakota	7-5	197	16
25.	Youngstown St.	8-5	177	19

Others receiving votes: Elon 174, Tennessee-Martin 169, Eastern Illinois 139, Mercer 98, Florida A&M 65, North Carolina Central 52, Austin Peay 51, Alabama St. 17, Holy Cross 17, Eastern Washington 14, Drake 8, Duquesne 8, Harvard 6, Samford 6, Northern Iowa 4

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