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FCS Top 25: URI falls out of poll

Sorry, Big Sky and Missouri Valley, some teams from other FCS conferences have muscled their way toward the top of the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll.

The two strongest conferences are the only two represented in the last five FCS championship games, and they combine on 11 of the 25 spots in the new national media rankings. But No. 4 Tarleton State (United Athletic), No. 6 Lehigh (Patriot), No. 7 Stephen F. Austin (Southland), No. 9 Tennessee Tech (Southern) and No. 11 Austin Peay (United Athletic) also have built strong resumes. Austin Peay has the only loss between those five teams – it was against an FBS program on the Vanderbilt field that will host the FCS championship game – and 18 of their combined 22 wins are by double-digit margins.

Montana State, top-ranked since the preseason, collected 49 of the 57 first-place votes, with No. 2 South Dakota State receiving the other eight.

The Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll is released each Monday during the regular season and one day after the FCS championship game (scheduled for Jan. 11 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. 28)

  1. Montana State (5-0, 2-0 Big Sky)

Points: 1,417 (49 of 57 first-place votes); Previous Ranking: 1; Week 4: 28-14 win over then-No. 18 Northern Arizona; Week 5: Oct. 2 at Idaho (10:30 p.m., ESPN)

  1. South Dakota State (4-1, 1-0 MVFC)

Points: 1,365 (8); Previous Ranking: 2; Week 4: 42-7 win over Eastern Illinois; Week 5: Oct. 3 at No. 10 Illinois State (7 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Montana (4-1, 2-0 Big Sky)

Points: 1,284; Previous Ranking: 5; Week 4: 62-22 win at then-No. 10 UC Davis; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. Northern Colorado (4 p.m., ESPN+/Scripps/MTN)

  1. Tarleton State (4-0)

Points: 1,273; Previous Ranking: 4; Week 4: No game; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. Chicago State (7 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. North Dakota (4-1, 1-0 MVFC)

Points: 1,105; Previous Ranking: 7; Week 4: 42-35 win at Indiana State; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. Murray State (2 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Lehigh (5-0, 3-0 Patriot)

Points: 1,093; Previous Ranking: 6; Week 4: 20-7 win at Penn; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. Fordham (noon, ESPN+)

  1. Stephen F. Austin (5-0, 2-0 Southland)

Points: 1,078; Previous Ranking: 9; Week 4: 63-14 win over Northeastern State; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. UIW (6 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Youngstown State (3-2, 1-1 MVFC)

Points: 1,035; Previous Ranking: 11; Week 4: 47-28 win over then-No. 8 South Dakota; Week 5: Oct. 3 at No. 21 Southern Illinois (5 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Tennessee Tech (4-0, 2-0 Southern)

Points: 950; Previous Ranking: 12; Week 4: 42-38 win at Wofford; Week 5: Oct. 3 at Western Carolina (6 p.m., Nexstar/ESPN+)

  1. Illinois State (4-1, 0-1 MVFC)

Points: 905; Previous Ranking: 3; Week 4: 28-21 loss at Northern Iowa; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. No. 2 South Dakota State (7 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Austin Peay (4-1, 1-0 UAC)

Points: 876; Previous Ranking: 13; Week 4: 35-12 win over UT Martin; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. New Haven (5 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Idaho State (4-0, 1-0 Big Sky)

Points: 777; Previous Ranking: 14; Week 4: 28-24 win at Southern Utah; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. No. 19 Northern Arizona (8 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. South Dakota (3-2, 0-1 MVFC)

Points: 756; Previous Ranking: 8; Week 4: 47-28 loss at then-No. 11 Youngstown State; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. Indiana State (3 p.m., MidCo Sports/ESPN+)

  1. Lamar (3-1, 1-0 Southland)

Points: 702; Previous Ranking: 15; Week 4: 49-18 win at Nicholls; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. Northwestern State (7 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. South Carolina State (5-0)

Points: 637; Previous Ranking: 16; Week 4: 31-21 win at Bethune-Cookman; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. The Citadel (2 p.m., MEAC Network)

  1. UC Davis (3-2, 1-1 Big Sky)

Points: 558; Previous Ranking: 10; Week 4: 62-22 loss to then-No. 5 Montana; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. Eastern Washington (10:30 p.m., ESPN2)

  1. West Florida (3-1, 1-1 UAC)

Points: 409; Previous Ranking: 20; Week 4: 20-17 win at Southeast Missouri; Week 5: Oct. 3 at Abilene Christian (8 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Campbell (4-1, 2-0 CAA)

Points: 385; Previous Ranking: 22; Week 4: 44-20 win at Hampton; Week 5: Oct. 3 at North Carolina Central (6 p.m., MEAC Network)

  1. Northern Arizona (3-2, 1-1 Big Sky)

Points: 371; Previous Ranking: 18; Week 4: 28-14 loss at then-No. 1 Montana State; Week 5: Oct. 3 at No. 12 Idaho State (8 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Harvard (2-0, 1-0 Ivy)

Points: 305; Previous Ranking: 21; Week 4: 14-10 win over Brown; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. No. 22 Colgate (7 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Southern Illinois (3-2, 1-0 MVFC)

Points: 249; Previous Ranking: 24; Week 4: 46-6 win at Murray State; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. No. 8 Youngstown State (5 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Colgate (4-1, 3-0 Patriot)

Points: 222; Previous Ranking: NR; Week 4: 28-26 win at then-No. 23 Villanova; Week 5: at No. 20 Harvard (7 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Mercer (3-2, 0-1 Southern)

Points: 147; Previous Ranking: 25; Week 4: 34-17 win at Abilene Christian; Week 5: Oct. 3 at VMI (1:30 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Richmond (4-1, 2-0 Patriot)

Points: 134; Previous Ranking: NR; Week 4: 13-9 win over Furman; Week 5: Oct. 3 at Lafayette (12:30 p.m., ESPN+)

  1. Jackson State (4-0, 1-0 SWAC)

Points: 103; Previous Ranking: NR; Week 4: 35-17 win over Southern; Week 5: Oct. 3 vs. Alabama A&M in Mobile, Alabama (5 p.m., SWAC TV);

Dropped Out: Yale (17), Rhode Island (19), Villanova (23)

Others Receiving Points (schools listed on two or more ballots): Alabama State (3-1, 1-0 SWAC): 88; Elon (4-1, 2-1 CAA): 78; Stony Brook (3-2, 1-0 CAA): 45; Yale (1-1, 0-1 Ivy): 42; Southeastern Louisiana (3-2, 1-1 Southland): 38; Northern Iowa (2-2, 1-0 MVFC): 29; Monmouth (3-2, 2-0 CAA): 24; Rhode Island (2-3, 1-2 CAA) 10; Villanova (2-3, 1-2 Patriot): 6; Morgan State (3-1): 5; William & Mary (2-3, 1-2 Patriot): 5; Cornell (1-1, 1-0 Ivy): 2

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: Isaiah Green, Kendrick Lewis. Missouri Valley Football Conference: Kyle Grooms, Tom Miller, Randy Reinhardt. Northeast Conference: Sarah Boissonneault, Brian Cleary. Ohio Valley Conference: Mike Bradd, Kyle Schwartz, Mark Simpson. Patriot League: Bob Black, Eric Malanoski, Ryan Sakamoto. Pioneer Football League: Cody Bush, Larry Hansgen. Southern Conference: Scott Keeler, Andrew Miller, Ralan Wardlaw. Southland Conference: Anthony Goss, Matthew Bonnette, James Dixon. Southwestern Athletic Conference: Curtis Ford, Ronnie Johnson. United Athletic Conference: Claire Johnson, Benjamin Ray, Jake Withee. National Representatives: Sean Anderson, Stan Becton, Taylor Blue, Zack Carlton, Gene Clemons, Joe DeLeone, Matt Dixon, Steven J. Gaither, Sam Herder, Emory Hunt, 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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