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UNH receives Top 25 votes

As expected in the preseason, Saturday’s showdown between South Dakota State and Montana State matches the No. 2 and 3 teams in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll.

It’s just that the two national powers have reversed spots since the preseason poll.

South Dakota State has jumped to No. 2 over the now-No. 3 Bobcats in the national media rankings. Both teams are behind defending national champion North Dakota State, which last season defeated SDSU in the playoff semifinals and Montana State in the title game.

SDSU was ultra-impressive this past Saturday while limiting then-No. 15 Sacramento State to one field goal and 131 yards in a 20-3 victory. The Bobcats, meanwhile, fell to FBS power Oregon 59-13.

Their meeting at Montana State will be the fourth since 2021, which includes two semifinal-round playoff games.

Tarleton State, the first FCS team to be 2-0, moved up five spots from the preseason poll to No. 5. The Texans posted the first FCS-over-FBS win of the young season, topping Army 30-27 in two overtimes. Austin Peay later beat Middle Tennessee, and the Governors are now one spot outside the Top 25.

The Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll is released each Monday during the regular season and one day after the FCS championship game (to be played Jan. 5 in Nashville, Tennessee). 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 (Sept. 1)

  1. North Dakota State (1-0)

Points: 1,397 (53 of 56 first-place votes); Previous Ranking: 1; Week 1: 38-0 win at The Citadel; Week 2: at Tennessee State

  1. South Dakota State (1-0)

Points: 1,333 (2); Previous Ranking: 3; Week 1: 20-3 win over then-No. 15 Sacramento State; Week 2: at No. 3 Montana State

  1. Montana State (0-1)

Points: 1,274 (1); Previous Ranking: 2; Week 1: 59-13 loss at Oregon; Week 2: No. 2 South Dakota State

  1. South Dakota (0-1)

Points: 1,171; Previous Ranking: 4; Week 1: 55-7 loss at Iowa State; Week 2: at Lamar

  1. Tarleton State (2-0)

Points: 1,164; Previous Ranking: 10; Week 0: 42-0 win at Portland State; Week 1: 30-27 win at Army; Week 2: Mississippi Valley State

  1. Montana (0-0)

Points: 1,027; Previous Ranking: 7; Week 1: No game; Week 2: Central Washington

  1. Illinois State (0-1)

Points: 961; Previous Ranking: 6; Week 1: 35-3 loss at Oklahoma State; Week 2: Morehead State

  1. UC Davis (1-0)

Points: 958; Previous Ranking: 8; Week 0: No contest (inclement weather) vs. then-No. 11 Mercer; Week 1: 31-24 win at Utah Tech; Week 2: at Washington

  1. Rhode Island (1-0, 1-0 CAA)

Points: 953; Previous Ranking: 9; Week 1: 31-20 win over Campbell; Week 2: at Stony Brook

  1. Idaho (0-1)

Points: 879; Previous Ranking: 12; Week 1: 13-10 loss at Washington State; Week 2: St. Thomas

  1. Lehigh (1-0, 1-0 Patriot)

Points: 745; Previous Ranking: 14; Week 1: 21-14 win over then-No. 25 Richmond; Week 2: Sacred Heart

  1. UIW (1-1, 0-1 Southland)

Points: 730; Previous Ranking: 5; Week 0: 20-6 loss at Nicholls; Week 1: 31-21 win over Eastern Washington; Week 2: No game

  1. Villanova (0-0)

Points: 718; Previous Ranking: 13; Week 1: No game; Week 2: Colgate

  1. Southern Illinois (1-0)

Points: 423; Previous Ranking: 20; Week 1: 49-3 win over Thomas More; Week 2: at Purdue

  1. Jackson State (1-0)

Points: 422; Previous Ranking: 17; Week 1: 28-14 win over Hampton; Week 2: at Southern Miss

  1. Abilene Christian (0-1)

Points: 396; Previous Ranking: 16; Week 1: 35-7 loss at Tulsa; Week 2: No. 25 Stephen F. Austin

  1. Tennessee Tech (1-0)

Points: 371; Previous Ranking: 21; Week 1: 65-0 win over Cumberland; Week 2: Chattanooga

  1. Sacramento State (0-1)

Points: 351; Previous Ranking: 15; Week 1: 20-3 loss at then-No. 3 South Dakota State; Week 2: at Nevada

  1. Northern Arizona (0-1)

Points: 349; Previous Ranking: 19; Week 1: 38-19 loss at Arizona State; Week 2: Utah Tech

  1. North Dakota (0-1)

Points: 325; Previous Ranking: NR; Week 1: 38-35 loss at Kansas State; Week 2: Portland State

  1. Monmouth (1-0)

Points: 323; Previous Ranking: 22; Week 1: 42-39 win at Colgate; Week 2: at Fordham

  1. Nicholls (1-1, 1-0 Southland)

Points: 265; Previous Ranking: NR; Week 0: 20-6 win over then-No. 5 UIW; Week 1: 38-20 loss at Troy; Week 2: West Georgia

  1. Mercer (0-1)

Points: 229; Previous Ranking: 11; Week 0: No contest (inclement weather) vs. then-No. 8 UC Davis; Week 1: 15-10 loss to Presbyterian; Week 2: No game

  1. Southern Utah (1-0)

Points: 226; Previous Ranking: NR; Week 1: 46-24 win over Idaho State; Week 2: at San Diego

  1. Stephen F. Austin (0-1)

Points: 146; Previous Ranking: 23; Week 1: 27-0 loss at Houston; Week 2: at No. 16 Abilene Christian

Dropped Out of Top 25: Western Carolina (18); Stony Brook (24); Richmond (25)

Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Austin Peay (1-0), 146;  ETSU (1-0), 116; Harvard (0-0), 105; New Hampshire (1-0), 100; UT Martin (0-1), 93; Southeast Missouri (0-1), 71; Gardner-Webb (1-0), 54; Stony Brook (0-1): 54; Richmond (0-1, 0-1 Patriot), 53; Western Carolina (0-1), 45; Eastern Kentucky (0-1), 37: Chattanooga (0-1), 35: Tennessee State (1-0), 31: South Carolina State (1-0), 30; Presbyterian (1-0), 24; Youngstown State (1-0), 20; North Carolina Central (1-1), 11

Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll Voting Panel – Stats Perform: Craig Haley. Big Sky Conference: Riley Corcoran, Tyson Rodgers, Larry Weir. CAA Football: Roger Brown, Matt Harmon, Rob Washburn. Ivy League: JJ Klein, Craig Larson. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Kendrick Lewis, Patricia Porter-Mayfield. Missouri Valley Football Conference: Kyle Grooms, Dom Izzo, Randy Reinhardt. Northeast Conference: Sarah Boissonneault, Brian Cleary. OVC-Big South Football Association: Mike Bradd, Kyle Schwartz, Mark Simpson. 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: Curtis Ford, Ronnie Johnson. United Athletic Conference: Brian Morgan, Benjamin Ray, Jake Withee. National Representatives: Sean Anderson, Stan Becton, Zack Carlton, Gene Clemons, Joe DeLeone, Matt Dixon, Steven J. Gaither, Sam Herder, Emory Hunt, Doug Kelly, Kyle Kensing, Brandon Lawrence, Zach McKinnell, Jon Passman, Omar Rashon Borja, Ryan Roberts, Timothy Rosario, Kent Schmidt, Phil Sokol, Reggie Thomas, Ralph Ventre, Jamie Williams.

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