UNH loses poll position

By rbrown
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Updated: September 22, 2025

The other FCS conferences must be glad about the arrival of the Missouri Valley Football Conference schedule.

Somebody has to knock off the MVFC teams, even if it has to come from within the conference.

With Youngstown State’s entry at No. 24 this week, the MVFC has a season-high seven teams ranked in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll. The Penguins join defending national champion North Dakota State (No. 1), South Dakota State (2), Illinois State (7), Southern Illinois (11), North Dakota (14) and South Dakota (17).

The MVFC’s 21-6 record in FCS nonconference matchups is the best in the nation. Most of the conference’s teams are on byes this week, but the conference schedule begins in a big way with NDSU hosting South Dakota – two of the three defending champions along with SDSU (that trio also reached the FCS playoff semifinals last season).

One of the 56 first-place votes no longer belongs to the NDSU and SDSU duo as No. 3 Tarleton State (5-0) has it for the first time. Also new is No. 25 Presbyterian (4-0), making its first-ever appearance in the FCS national media rankings.

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. 22)

1. North Dakota State (3-0)

Points: 1,395 (51 of 56 first-place votes); Previous Ranking: 1; Week 4: No game; Week 5: No. 17 South Dakota

2. South Dakota State (3-0)

Points: 1,341 (4 first-place votes); Previous Ranking: 2; Week 4: No game; Week 5: Mercyhurst

3. Tarleton State (5-0, 1-0 UAC)

Points: 1,285 (1 first-place vote); Previous Ranking: 3; Week 4: 52-24 win over Chattanooga; Week 5: No game

4. Montana State (2-2)

Points: 1,190; Previous Ranking: 4; Week 4: 17-0 win over Mercyhurst; Week 5: Eastern Washington

5. Montana (3-0)

Points: 1,189; Previous Ranking: 5; Week 4: 63-20 win over Indiana State; Week 5: No. 8 Idaho

6. Rhode Island (4-0, 2-0 CAA)

Points: 1,025; Previous Ranking: 7; Week 4: 28-7 win over LIU; Week 5: at Western Michigan

7. Illinois State (3-1)

Points: 966; Previous Ranking: 6; Week 4: 38-36, 2-OT win over North Alabama; Week 5: No game

8. Idaho (2-2)

Points: 935; Previous Ranking: 8; Week 4: 31-28 loss at San Jose State; Week 5: at No. 5 Montana

9. UC Davis (2-1)

Points: 909; Previous Ranking: 9; Week 4: 50-34 win over Southern Utah; Week 5: Weber State

10. Lehigh (4-0, 2-0 Patriot)

Points: 853; Previous Ranking: 10; Week 4: 41-24 win at Bucknell; Week 5: Penn

11. Southern Illinois (3-1)

Points: 789; Previous Ranking: 13; Week 4: 59-31 win at Southeast Missouri; Week 5: No game

12. Abilene Christian (2-2, 1-0 UAC)

Points: 749; Previous Ranking: 14; Week 4: 45-31 win over then-No. 18 Austin Peay; Week 5: at UIW

13. Tennessee Tech (3-0)

Points: 737; Previous Ranking: 12; Week 4: No game; Week 5: at Tennessee State

14. North Dakota (2-2)

Points: 614; Previous Ranking: 16; Week 4: 58-7 win over Valparaiso; Week 5: No game

15. Northern Arizona (3-1)

Points: 612; Previous Ranking: 17; Week 4: 31-23 win over then-No. 19 UIW; Week 5: at Portland State

16. Monmouth (2-1, 1-0 CAA)

Points: 608; Previous Ranking: 21; Week 4: 51-33 win over then-No. 11 Villanova; Week 5: No game

17. South Dakota (2-2)

Points: 520; Previous Ranking: 15; Week 4: 42-21 win over Drake; Week 5: at No. 1 North Dakota State

18. West Georgia (4-0, 1-0 UAC)

Points: 406; Previous Ranking: 22; Week 4: 33-12 win over Eastern Kentucky; Week 5: at Southern Utah

19. Jackson State (2-1)

Points: 369; Previous Ranking: 20; Week 4: No game; Week 5: at Southern

20. Villanova (1-2, 0-1 CAA)

Points: 288; Previous Ranking: 11; Week 4: 51-33 loss at then-No. 21 Monmouth; Week 5: William & Mary

21. Sacramento State (2-2)

Points: 242; Previous Ranking: 24; Week 4: 45-16 win over Central Arkansas; Week 5: Cal Poly

22. Lamar (2-1)

Points: 233; Previous Ranking: 23; Week 4: No game; Week 5: Central Arkansas

23. Austin Peay (2-2, 0-1 UAC)

Points: 217; Previous Ranking: 18; Week 4: 45-31 loss at then-No. 14 Abilene Christian; Week 5: Utah Tech

24. Youngstown State (3-1)

Points: 124; Previous Ranking: NR; Week 4: 31-28 win at Towson; Week 5: No game

25. Presbyterian (4-0)

Points: 123; Previous Ranking: NR; Week 4: 76-3 win over Bluefield; Week 5: Morehead State

Dropped Out of Top 25: UIW (19), New Hampshire (25)

Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots)

Mercer (2-1, 2-0 SoCon): 89; Harvard (1-0): 81; UIW (1-3, 0-1 Southland): 60; Richmond (2-2, 0-1 Patriot): 44; Stephen F. Austin (2-2): 39; ETSU (2-2): 28; Gardner-Webb (2-2): 26; Southeast Missouri (1-3): 19; Dartmouth (1-0): 15; New Hampshire (2-2) 15; North Carolina Central (3-2): 7; Yale (1-0): 6

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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