For the 179th straight time on Monday, North Dakota State appeared in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll, presented by FedEx Ground, but it’s been rare for the Bison to be ranked as low as their No. 7 spot.
The Bison, whose streak of appearances began in 2010, dropped five spots to their lowest position since Oct. 26, 2015 – a result of their 24-19 loss to South Dakota in a Missouri Valley Football Conference opener for both teams this past Saturday.
The Coyotes’ impressive win gained the No. 15 spot in the national media poll – their first appearance since the end of the 2021 season. The FedEx Ground FCS National Team of the Week, off to a 3-1 start under coach Bob Nielson, became just the second program to have more than one win over NDSU since the start of the Bison’s first of nine national championship seasons in 2011 (the Coyotes also won at the Fargodome in 2015).
NDSU (3-1) has only 16 losses in the last 13 seasons. Six of them have occurred against South Dakota State (4-0), the unanimous No. 1 team whose FCS-leading 18-game winning streak includes one last month over Montana State, the new No. 2.
A national media panel selects the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll. 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.
(For more on the FCS college football weekend, here are our Week 5 Takeaways)
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll (Oct. 2)
Presented by FedEx Ground
1. South Dakota State (4-0, 1-0 MVFC), 1,400 points (56 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 5: 42-21 win over then-No. 12 North Dakota; Week 6: at Illinois State
2. Montana State (4-1, 2-0 Big Sky), 1,334
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 5: 38-22 win over Portland State; Week 6: No game
3. Idaho (4-1, 2-0 Big Sky), 1,293
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 5: 44-36 win at then-No. 19 Eastern Washington; Week 6: at Cal Poly
4. Sacramento State (4-1, 1-1 Big Sky), 1,145
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 5: 31-30 win over Northern Arizona; Week 6: No game
5. Furman (3-1, 1-0 SoCon), 1,114
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 5: No game; Week 6: The Citadel
6. Southern Illinois (4-0, 1-0 MVFC), 1,104
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 5: 33-20 win over Missouri State; Week 6: at Youngstown State
7. North Dakota State (3-1, 0-1 MVFC), 1,078
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 5: 24-19 loss to South Dakota; Week 6: at Missouri State
8. UIW (3-1, 0-0 Southland), 999
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 5: No game; Week 6: Southeastern Louisiana
9. Delaware (3-1, 2-0 CAA), 860
Previous Ranking: 11; Week 5: No game; Week 6: Duquesne
10. William & Mary (4-1, 2-1 CAA), 848
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 5: 14-6 loss at Elon; Week 6: at Virginia
11. Western Carolina (4-1, 2-0 SoCon), 721
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 5: 49-14 win at The Citadel; Week 6: at Chattanooga
12. Holy Cross (3-2, 1-0 Patriot), 718
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 5: 38-28 loss to Harvard; Week 6: at Bucknell
13. Weber State (3-2, 1-1 Big Sky), 624
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 5: 28-21 win at Northern Colorado; Week 6: Northern Arizona
14. North Carolina Central (4-1, 0-0 MEAC), 572
Previous Ranking: 15; Week 5: 49-48 OT win over Campbell; Week 6: at Elon
15. South Dakota (3-1, 1-0 MVFC), 524
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 5: 24-19 win at then-No. 2 North Dakota State; Week 6: Murray State
16. North Dakota (2-2, 0-1 MVFC), 519
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 5: 42-21 loss at then-No. 1 South Dakota State; Week 6: Western Illinois
17. Montana (4-1, 1-1 Big Sky), 409
Previous Ranking: 18; Week 5: 28-20 win over Idaho State; Week 6: at UC Davis
18. UT Martin (4-1, 1-0 Big South-OVC), 393
Previous Ranking: 22;Week 5: 20-10 win over Tennessee State; Week 6: at Eastern Illinois
19. Florida A&M (4-1, 3-0 SWAC), 374
Previous Ranking: 20; Week 5: 31-7 win at Mississippi Valley State; Week 6: at Southern
20. UC Davis (3-2, 1-1 Big Sky), 334
Previous Ranking: 21; Week 5: 31-13 win at Cal Poly; Week 6: Montana
21. Harvard (3-0, 1-0 Ivy), 241
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 5: 38-28 win over then-No. 6 Holy Cross; Week 6: Cornell
22. Eastern Washington (2-3, 1-1 Big Sky), 215
Previous Ranking: 19;Week 5: 44-36 loss to then-No. 4 Idaho; Week 6: No game
23. Central Arkansas (3-2, 2-0 UAC), 204
Previous Ranking: 25; Week 5: 29-27 win at Southern Utah; Week 6: Southeast Missouri
24. Chattanooga- (4-1, 3-0 Southern), 167
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 5: 23-13 win at Wofford; Week 6: Western Carolina
25. Elon (3-2, 3-0 CAA), 166
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 5: 14-6 win over then-No. 5 William & Mary; Week 6: North Carolina Central
Dropped Out: New Hampshire (14), Villanova (16), Youngstown State (23), Rhode Island (24)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): New Hampshire (2-3, 0-2 CAA) 143; Rhode Island (3-2, 2-1 CAA) 119; UAlbany (3-2, 1-0 CAA) 117; Villanova (3-2, 1-1 CAA) 117; Eastern Illinois (4-1, 0-0 Big South-OVC) 79; Northern Iowa (2-2, 1-0 MVFC) 64; Austin Peay (3-2, 1-0 UAC) 62; Tarleton (4-1, 1-0 UAC) 46; Mercer (3-2, 1-1 SoCon) 29; Samford (2-3, 1-2 SoCon) 16; Southeast Missouri (1-3, 1-0 Big South-OVC) 16; Youngstown State (2-2, 0-1 MVFC) 11; Eastern Kentucky (2-3, 1-0 UAC) 10; Fordham (3-2, 0-1 Patriot) 9
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Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Voters – Stats Perform: Craig Haley, Gary Reasons. Big Sky Conference: Doug Kelly, Tyson Rodgers, Larry Weir. Big South-OVC Football Association: Mike Bradd, Brian Cleary, Kyle Schwartz, Mark Simpson. CAA Football: Matt Harmon,Scott Klatzkin, Rob Washburn. Ivy League: Rick Bender, Craig Larson. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Kendrick Lewis, Patricia Porter-Mayfield.Missouri Valley Football Conference: Dom Izzo, Mike Kern, Randy Reinhardt. Northeast Conference: Sarah Boissonneault, Randy Brochu. Patriot League: Eric Malanoski, Ryan Sakamoto. Pioneer Football League: Cody Bush, Jack Cronin. Southern Conference: Scott Keeler, Andrew Miller, Ralan Wardlaw. Southland Conference: Matthew Bonnette, James Dixon, James Hill. Southwestern Athletic Conference: Ronnie Johnson, Joshua Padilla. United Athletic Conference: Steve East, Tony Jones, Brian Morgan, Jake Withee. National Representatives: Sean Anderson, Zack Carlton, Riley Corcoran, Joe DeLeone, Steven J. Gaither, Sam Herder, Emory Hunt, Kyle Kensing, Brandon Lawrence, Zach McKinnell, Brian McLaughlin, Jon Passman, Omar Rashon Borja, Ryan Roberts, Kent Schmidt, Phil Sokol, Reggie Thomas, Ralph Ventre, Jamie Williams.