Five MVFC Teams in the Polls -- Five Missouri Valley Football teams are in both the Stats Perform poll and AFCA Coaches poll this week (Nov. 2). Including this week, the MVFC has had five teams in the top 15 of a national poll during the same week 11 times this year and 58 times in MVFC history. On Oct. 26, for the third time this season, the league matched a Conference record by placing five teams in the top 10 of the Stats Perform top-10 list (Sept. 14 and Oct. 19 also had five MVFC teams among the top 10 in the Stats Perform rankings). This week, five teams from the MVFC are in the top 11 of the Stats Perform top-25 poll.

MVFC Against The Top 25 -- Youngstown State has the league’s best record this season while facing top-25 MVFC teams as the Penguins are 4-1 against ranked MVFC opponents.  South Dakota State is next-best (at 3-1).

MVFC vs. Top 25 MVFC Teams | Remaining 
 

Team	Record	Remaining*
Illinois State	0-1	3 (at UND, at YSU, USD)
Indiana State	0-4	1 (at SDSU)
Murray State	0-5	1 (YSU)
North Dakota	1-2	1 (ILS)
UNI	2-1	2 (SDSU, at USD)
South Dakota	2-2	1 (at ILS)
South Dakota State	3-1	0
Southern Illinois	1-2	2 (SDSU, at UND)
Youngstown State	4-1	1 (ILS)

*Remaining = games left against teams currently in Top 25

MVFC: Best in the FCS -- Missouri Valley Football teams have combined for an FCS-best 19-4 record against other FCS opponents in 2026. No other FCS league can match that winning percentage (.826) this season. The MVFC’s overall win percentage (.617) and record (21-13) is also an FCS best.

FCS Leagues, Non-Conference vs. FCS Teams
1. Missouri Valley Football (19-4) .826
2. Ivy (17-7) .708
3. United (16-11) .593
4. Southland (7-5) .583
5. Big Sky (13-10) .565
6. MEAC (14-12) .538
7. SoCon (13-12) .520
8. Coastal (16-15) .516
9. Patriot (10-10) .500
10. OVC (11-14) .440
11. SWAC (6-9) .400
12. PFL (5-19) .208
13. NEC (3-22) .120

Ratings Leaders (Massey/Sagarin) -- Seven MVFC teams rank among the top 20 in the Massey Ratings. South Dakota State leads the MVFC at No. 2. SDSU (No. 2) leads five MVFC schools rated in the top 7 of the Sagarin.  YSU (3) and USD (5) join SDSU in the top 5.

FCS Massey Leaders (FCS Sagarin in Parentheses)
1. Montana State (1)    
2. South Dakota State (2)    
3. SF Austin (4)    
4. Youngstown State (3)    
5. Tarleton State (9)    
6. South Dakota (5)    
7. Northern Arizona (10)
8. North Dakota (6)
9. Illinois State (7)
10. Montana (8)
13. Northern Iowa (12) 
20. Southern Illinois (21)

 

AFCA Top-25 Poll (Nov. 2)
Rank	Team (First-Place)	Pts.	Prev.
1	Tarleton State (23)	645	1
2	Stephen F. Austin (3)	623	2
3	Montana State	593	3
4	Youngstown State	574	4
5	South Dakota State	549	5
6	Northern Arizona	507	7
7	Austin Peay	483	8
8	Illinois State	445	9
9	Tennessee Tech	435	10
10	South Dakota	421	6
11	Mercer	374	12
12	Lamar	364	13
13	Montana	338	14
14	Monmouth	299	17
15	North Dakota	281	11
16	Lehigh	212	20
17	South Carolina State	202	22
18	Idaho State	165	23
19	Campbell	163	15
20	UAlbany	157	25
21	East Tennessee State	138	18
22	Abilene Christian	124	24
22	Harvard	124	16
24	Alabama A&M	52	NR
25	Weber State	50	NR

 

Dropped Out: Richmond (19), UC Davis (21)

Others Receiving Votes: Richmond, 36; Chattanooga, 35; Jackson St., 12; Princeton, 11; Dartmouth, 9; Morgan St., 6; Colgate, 4; Wofford, 4; Central Connecticut St., 3; UC Davis, 3; UIW, 3; Dayton, 2; Northern Iowa, 2; North Alabama, 1; Yale, 1.

 

Stats Perform Top-25 Poll (Nov. 2)
Rank	Team (First-Place)	Pts.	Prev.
1	Tarleton State (39)	1397	1
2	Stephen F. Austin (7)	1337	2
3	Montana State (7)	1308	3
4	Youngstown State (3)	1257	4
5	South Dakota State (1)	1233	5
6	Northern Arizona	1118	7
7	Austin Peay	1011	8
8	South Dakota	999	6
9	Tennessee Tech	960	11
10	Illinois State	941	10
11	North Dakota	801	9
12	Montana	794	14
13	Lamar	769	15
14	Mercer	680	16
15	Monmouth	582	18
16	Campbell	458	12
17	Lehigh	418	19
18	Weber State	416	22
19	ETSU	339	17
19	Harvard	339	13
21	UAlbany	326	NR
22	Idaho State	252	23
23	Abilene Christian	226	24
24	South Carolina State	200	25
25	Chattanooga	73	NR

Dropped Out: UC Davis (20), Richmond (21)

Others Receiving Points (schools listed on two or more ballots):  UC Davis (5-4, 3-3 Big Sky): 60; Alabama A&M (7-2, 4-1 SWAC): 54; Northern Iowa (4-4, 3-2 MVFC): 46; Richmond (6-3, 4-2 Patriot): 37; UIW (5-4, 4-2 Southland): 36; Princeton (5-2, 3-1 Ivy): 18; Dayton (7-1, 4-1 Pioneer): 13; Dartmouth (4-3, 3-1 Ivy): 5; Central Connecticut State (5-3, 4-0 NEC): 4; Jackson State (6-2, 3-2 SWAC): 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.

AGS Top-25 Poll (Nov. 2)
Rank	Team:	Points	1st-Place
1	Tarleton State Texans	950	18
2	Stephen F. Austin	935	6
3	Montana State Bobcats	934	11
4	Youngstown State Penguins	890	1
5	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	885	4
6	Northern Arizona	788
7	South Dakota Coyotes	723
8	Austin Peay Governors	686
9	Tennessee Tech	650
10	Illinois State Redbirds	614
11	North Dakota Fighting Hawks	588
12	Lamar Cardinals	552
13	Montana Grizzlies	541
14	Mercer Bears	474
15	Monmouth Hawks	425
16	East Tennessee State	306
17	Abilene Christian Wildcats	294
18	Campbell Fighting Camels	278
19	Harvard Crimson	245
20	Weber State Wildcats	234
21	Lehigh Mountain Hawks	201
22	Albany Great Danes	194
23	Idaho State Bengals	189
24	Chattanooga Mocs	183
25	Northern Iowa Panthers	62