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Dartmouth drops out of Top 25

Top-ranked North Dakota State has been so consistent and dominating from week to week that it may be easy to forget the Bison are playing under a first-year coach, Tim Polasek.

The success of first-year coaches has played a big role within the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll this season. Harvard and coach Andrew Aurich were the latest combo to join the national media rankings on Monday, with the Crimson (6-1) powering in at No. 24 after handing Ivy League rival Dartmouth its first loss, 31-27 on Saturday.

In addition to NDSU and Harvard, No. 4 UC Davis (Tim Plough), No. 10 Mercer (Mike Jacobs) and No. 17 Stony Brook (Billy Cosh) are nationally ranked under a first-year coach. Earlier this season, ETSU (Tre Lamb), Florida A&M (James Colzie III) and Northern Arizona (Brian Wright) made appearances in the Top 25.

Plough will coach in arguably this week’s biggest FCS game, as Big Sky co-leader UC Davis (8-1) will visit No. 7 Montana (7-2), the defending conference champion and 2023 national runner-up.

Nine leagues have a team in the Top 25, including the Northeast Conference for the first time this season with No. 25 Duquesne. The Dukes, who are 6-2 under veteran coach Jerry Schmitt, were last ranked on April 5, 2021 during the pandemic-delayed 2020 FCS season that was held the following spring.

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.

Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll (Nov. 4)

  1. North Dakota State (9-1, 6-0 MVFC), 1,387 points (43 of 56 first-place votes)

Previous Ranking: 1; Week 10: 42-19 win over Northern Iowa; Week 11: No game

  1. Montana State (9-0, 5-0 Big Sky), 1,352 (13)

Previous Ranking: 2; Week 10: 42-28 win at Eastern Washington; Week 11: Sacramento State

  1. South Dakota State (7-2, 4-1 MVFC), 1,288

Previous Ranking: 3; Week 10: 52-6 win over Murray State; Week 11: at No. 21 North Dakota

  1. UC Davis (8-1, 5-0 Big Sky), 1,213

Previous Ranking: 4; Week 10: 59-7 win over Northern Colorado; Week 11: at No. 7 Montana

  1. South Dakota (6-2, 4-1 MVFC), 1,157

Previous Ranking: 5; Week 10: No game; Week 11: Indiana State

  1. Southeast Missouri (8-1, 5-0 Big South-OVC), 1,107

Previous Ranking: 6; Week 10: No game; Week 11: at Lindenwood

  1. Montana (7-2, 4-1 Big Sky), 1,009

Previous Ranking: 8; Week 10: 42-7 win at Cal Poly; Week 11: No. 4 UC Davis

  1. UIW (7-2, 4-0 Southland), 950

Previous Ranking: 9; Week 10: 45-20 win over HCU; Week 11: Lamar

  1. Idaho (6-3, 3-2 Big Sky), 930

Previous Ranking: 10; Week 10: No game; Week 11: at Portland State

  1. Mercer (8-1, 5-1 SoCon), 929

Previous Ranking: 12; Week 10: 37-31 win over then-No. 23 ETSU; Week 11: at VMI

  1. Rhode Island (8-1, 5-0 CAA), 829

Previous Ranking: 14; Week 10: 37-28 win over Monmouth; Week 11: at Delaware

  1. Villanova (7-2, 4-1 CAA), 799

Previous Ranking: 13; Week 10: 20-14 win at Hampton; Week 11: North Carolina A&T

  1. Richmond (7-2, 5-0 CAA), 683

Previous Ranking: 16; Week 10: 35-24 win over Towson; Week 11: at Campbell

  1. Tarleton State (7-2, 4-1 UAC), 680

Previous Ranking: 7; Week 10: 17-13 loss to Eastern Kentucky; Week 11: at West Georgia

  1. Abilene Christian (6-3, 5-1 UAC), 650

Previous Ranking: 17; Week 10: 28-25 win over Southern Utah; Week 11: at Austin Peay

  1. Central Arkansas (6-3, 3-2 UAC), 447

Previous Ranking: 11; Week 10: 34-21 loss at Utah Tech; Week 11: at Eastern Kentucky

  1. Stony Brook (7-2, 4-1 CAA), 444

Previous Ranking: 20; Week 10: 31-30 OT win at Bryant; Week 11: UAlbany

  1. Illinois State (6-3, 3-2 MVFC), 411

Previous Ranking: 21; Week 10: 23-16 win over Youngstown State; Week 11: at Northern Iowa

  1. UT Martin (6-3, 4-1 Big South-OVC), 349

Previous Ranking: NR; Week 10: 28-21 win at then-No. 25 Tennessee State; Week 11: at Charleston Southern

  1. William & Mary (6-3, 4-2 CAA), 290

Previous Ranking: 24; Week 10: 45-7 win at North Carolina A&T; Week 11: Elon

  1. North Dakota (5-4, 2-3 MVFC), 246

Previous Ranking: 15; Week 10: 35-31 loss at Indiana State; Week 11: No. 3 South Dakota State

  1. Western Carolina (5-4, 4-1 SoCon), 160

Previous Ranking: 24; Week 10: 38-34 win over then-No. 18 Chattanooga; Week 11: at ETSU

  1. Chattanooga (5-4, 4-2 SoCon), 158

Previous Ranking: 18; Week 10: 38-34 loss at Western Carolina; Week 11: at The Citadel

  1. Harvard (6-1, 3-1 Ivy), 153

Previous Ranking: NR; Week 10: 31-27 win at then-No. 22 Dartmouth; Week 11: Columbia

  1. Duquesne (6-2, 3-0 NEC), 102

Previous Ranking: NR; Week 10: 31-24 win over Mercyhurst; Week 11: Robert Morris

Dropped Out: North Carolina Central (19), Dartmouth (22), ETSU (23), Tennessee State (25)

Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Jackson State (7-2, 5-0 SWAC), 89; North Carolina Central (6-3, 2-1 MEAC), 74; ETSU (5-4, 3-2 SoCon), 61; Northern Arizona (5-4, 3-2 Big Sky), 55; Stephen F. Austin (6-3, 4-2 Southland), 54; South Carolina State (6-2, 2-0 MEAC), 48; Dartmouth (6-1, 3-1 Ivy), 37; Drake (6-1, 5-0 Pioneer), 28; Southeastern Louisiana (5-5, 4-1 Southland), 13; Tennessee State (6-3, 3-2 Big South-OVC), 12; Southern Utah (4-5, 3-2 UAC), 3

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, Kyle Schwartz, Mark Simpson. CAA Football: Roger Brown, Matt Harmon, Rob Washburn. Ivy League: JJ Klein, Craig Larson. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Kendrick Lewis, Alysse Scripter. Missouri Valley Football Conference: Dom Izzo, Mike Kern, Randy Reinhardt. Northeast Conference: Sarah Boissonneault, Brian Cleary. Patriot League: Eric Malanoski, Ryan Sakamoto. Pioneer Football League: Cody Bush, Larry Hansgen. 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: Brian Morgan, Benjamin Ray, Jake Withee. National Representatives: Sean Anderson, Stan Becton, Zack Carlton, Gene Clemons, 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.

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