For the 41st time in league history and first time this year, the Missouri Valley Football Conference has two of the top 3 positions in a weekly top-25 poll. NDSU (second in both polls) and Southern Illinois (third in both) represent the league. Notably, six MVFC teams are ranked again as North Dakota State and SIU are joined by South Dakota State, UNI, Missouri State and South Dakota in the polls. North Dakota is among schools receiving votes in both polls.
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 (Oct. 25)
CHICAGO – Oct. 25, 2021 – Sam Houston, which owns the longest winning streak in Division I college football, strengthened its hold on the No. 1 ranking in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 on Monday. The defending national champion Bearkats (6-0) gained 44 of the 50 first-place votes in the national media poll, two days after routing Jacksonville State 42-7 for their 17th straight victory.
“Our guys understand we need to finish this thing off one game at a time for us to end up where we want to end up,” coach K.C. Keeler said, “and that’s the No. 1 team in the country.”
The other six first-place votes went to No. 2 North Dakota State. The Bison (7-0) moved up one spot with a 27-20 win over Missouri State and Eastern Washington’s tumble of five spots to No. 7 due to a 35-34 loss to Weber State. Princeton (6-0), up to No. 19, joins Sam Houston and North Dakota State as the only remaining unbeaten FCS teams. There are four weeks of regular-season games remaining, except in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, whose schedule continues into Thanksgiving weekend.
A national media panel selects the Stats Perform FCS Top 25. 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.
1. Sam Houston (6-0, 4-0 AQ7), 1,244 points (44 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1;
Week 8 Result: 42-7 win over Jacksonville State
2. North Dakota State (7-0, 4-0 Missouri Valley), 1,201 (6)
Previous Ranking: 3;
Week 8 Result: 27-20 win over then-No. 17 Missouri State
3. Southern Illinois (6-1, 4-0 Missouri Valley), 1,136
Previous Ranking: 4;
Week 8 Result: Open week
4. Villanova (6-1, 4-0 CAA), 1,101
Previous Ranking: 5;
Week 8 Result: 44-0 win over then-No. 18 Rhode Island
5. James Madison (6-1, 4-1 CAA), 1,023
Previous Ranking: 7;
Week 8 Result: 22-10 win at then-No. 23 Delaware
6. Montana State (7-1, 5-0 Big Sky), 979
Previous Ranking: 8;
Week 8 Result: 27-9 win over Idaho State
7. Eastern Washington (7-1, 4-1 Big Sky), 963
Previous Ranking: 2;
Week 8 Result: 35-34 loss to Weber State
8. Southeastern Louisiana (6-1, 4-0 Southland), 909
Previous Ranking: 9;
Week 8 Result: 51-14 win at Northwestern State
9. UC Davis (7-1, 4-1 Big Sky), 814
Previous Ranking: 10;
Week 8 Result: 24-13 win at Cal Poly
10. South Dakota State (5-2, 2-2 Missouri Valley), 744
Previous Ranking: 6;
Week 8 Result: 26-17 loss to then-No. 20 Northern Iowa
11. Montana (5-2, 2-2 Big Sky), 736
Previous Ranking: 11;
Week 8 Result: 34-14 win over Idaho
12. Kennesaw State (6-1, 3-0 Big South), 709
Previous Ranking: 12;
Week 8 Result: 30-7 win at Campbell
13.(tie) ETSU (7-1, 4-1 Southern), 627
Previous Ranking: 14;
Week 8 Result: 17-13 win at Furman
13.(tie) UT Martin (6-1, 3-0 Ohio Valley), 627
Previous Ranking: 13;
Week 8 Result: 38-30 win over Southeast Missouri
15. Sacramento State (5-2, 4-0 Big Sky), 525
Previous Ranking: 19;
Week 8 Result: 44-0 win over Northern Arizona
16. Northern Iowa (4-3, 2-2 Missouri Valley), 492
Previous Ranking: 20;
Week 8 Result: 26-17 win at then-No. 6 South Dakota State
17. Missouri State (4-3, 3-2 Missouri Valley), 343
Previous Ranking: 17;
Week 8 Result: 27-20 loss at then-No. 3 North Dakota State
18. VMI (5-2, 3-1 Southern), 332
Previous Ranking: 21;
Week 8 Result: Open week
19. Princeton (6-0, 3-0 Ivy), 310
Previous Ranking: 22;
Week 8 Result: 18-16, 5-OT win over Harvard
20. Jackson State (6-1, 4-0 SWAC), 285
Previous Ranking: 24;
Week 8 Result: 42-12 win over Bethune-Cookman
21. South Dakota (5-3, 3-2 Missouri Valley), 228
Previous Ranking: 15;
Week 8 Result: 20-14 loss to Illinois State
22. UIW (5-2, 3-1 Southland), 223
Previous Ranking: 16;
Week 8 Result: 28-20 loss at McNeese
23. Weber State (3-4, 2-2 Big Sky), 166
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked;
Week 8 Result: 35-34 win at then-No. 2 Eastern Washington
24. Rhode Island (5-2, 3-2 CAA), 125
Previous Ranking: 18;
Week 8 Result: 44-0 loss at then-No. 5 Villanova
25. Eastern Kentucky (5-2, 2-0 AQ7), 105
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked;
Week 8 Result: Open week
Dropped Out: Delaware (23), Dartmouth (25)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): William & Mary 52, Prairie View A&M 46, Harvard 37, Chattanooga 31, Mercer 31, North Dakota 29, Delaware 24, Stephen F. Austin 10, Jacksonville State 9, Florida A&M 8, Duquesne 7, Dartmouth 6, Columbia 5
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Voters – Stats Perform: Craig Haley, Gary Reasons.
ASUN: Patrick McCoy, Mike Parris.
Big Sky Conference: Doug Kelly
, Tyson Rodgers, Larry Weir.
Big South Conference: Brian Cleary, Matt Harmon, Mark Simpson.
CAA Football: Scott Klatzkin, Greg Madia, Rob Washburn.
Ivy League: Rick Bender, Craig Larson.
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Bill Hamilton, Maurice Williams.
Missouri Valley Football Conference: Dom Izzo, Mike Kern, Randy Reinhardt.
Northeast Conference: Tad Maury, Ralph Ventre.
Ohio Valley Conference: Neal Bradley, Kyle Schwartz.
Patriot League: Eric Malanowski, Ryan Sakamoto.
Pioneer Football League: Cody Bush, Jack Cronin.
Southern Conference: David Fox, Jeff Hartsell, Phil Perry.
Southland Conference: Zack Carlton, Josh Yonis.
Southwestern Athletic Conference: Ronnie Johnson, Travis Jarome, Andrew Roberts.
Western Athletic Conference: Josh Criswell, Chris Thompson.
National Representatives: Josh Buchanan, Riley Corcoran, Sam Herder, Emory Hunt, Brett Huston, Kyle Kensing, Brandon Lawrence, Jon Passman, Lawrence Smith, Phil Sokol, Reggie Thomas, Jamie Williams.
American Football Coaches Association FCS Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – October 25, 2021
WACO, TEX.– North Dakota State used backup quarterback Cam Miller to come from behind and beat No. 18 Missouri State, 27-20. Miller connected on 7 of 9 pass attempts, including two touchdown passes of 29 yards and 24 yards, in the fourth quarter to bring the Bison back. Thanks to Eastern Washington’s upset loss to Weber State, North Dakota State moves to No. 2 in the AFCA Division FCS Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.
With EWU’s loss, the Top 10 looks completely different this week other than No. 1 Sam Houston. The Bearkats continued their winning ways, dominating then-No. 21 Jacksonville State, 42-7. Following NDSU is No. 3 Southern Illinois and No. 4 Villanova, who blanked then-No. 19 Rhode Island, 44-0. James Madison is at No. 5 after the Dukes knocked Delaware out of the Top 25 with a 22-10 victory.
Sacramento State enters the AFCA Top 25 for the first time this year tied at No. 23 with Weber State. The Hornets are 5-2 after shutting out Northern Arizona, 44-0. Weber State forced three turnovers and were successful on three fake punts to upset Eastern Washington, 35-34. The loss caused EWU to fall five places to No. 7.
| Rank |
School (1st votes) |
Pts. |
Prev. |
Next Game |
| 1 |
Sam Houston (27) |
675 |
1 |
Oct. 30 at Tarleton |
| 2 |
North Dakota St. |
642 |
3 |
Oct. 30 vs. Indiana St. |
| 3 |
Southern Illinois |
603 |
4 |
Oct. 30 at No. 17 UNI |
| 4 |
Villanova |
599 |
5 |
Oct. 30 vs. William & Mary |
| 5 |
James Madison |
567 |
6 |
Oct. 30 vs. Elon |
| 6 |
Montana St. |
511 |
8 |
Nov. 6 at No. 7 E. Washington |
| 7 |
Eastern Washington |
493 |
2 |
Nov. 6 vs. No. 6 Montana St. |
| 8 |
SE Louisiana |
489 |
9 |
Oct. 30 vs. McNeese |
| 9 |
UC Davis |
445 |
10 |
Nov. 6 at Northern Arizona |
| 10 |
Kennesaw St. |
433 |
11 |
Oct. 30 vs. Gardner-Webb |
| 11 |
Montana |
359 |
12 |
Oct. 30 vs. Southern Utah |
| 12 |
UT Martin |
357 |
13 |
Oct. 30 vs. Austin Peay |
| 13 |
South Dakota St. |
336 |
7 |
Oct. 30 at Youngstown St. |
| 14 |
East Tennessee St. |
329 |
14 |
Nov. 6 vs. No. 18 VMI |
| 15 |
Princeton |
270 |
17 |
Oct. 29 at Cornell |
| 16 |
Jackson St. |
234 |
20 |
Oct. 30 at Mississippi Valley St. |
| 17 |
Northern Iowa |
207 |
24 |
Oct. 30 vs. No. 3 Southern Illinois |
| 18 |
VMI |
183 |
23 |
Oct. 30 vs. Samford |
| 19 |
Eastern Kentucky |
175 |
22 |
Oct. 30 vs. Lamar |
| 20 |
Missouri St. |
148 |
18 |
Oct. 30 vs. North Dakota |
| 21 |
Harvard |
134 |
16 |
Oct. 30 vs. Dartmouth |
| 22 |
South Dakota |
121 |
15 |
Nov. 6 at Western Illinois |
| 23t. |
Sacramento St. |
66 |
NR |
Oct. 30 at Northern Colorado |
| 23t. |
Weber St. |
66 |
NR |
Oct. 30 at Idaho St. |
| 25 |
Rhode Island |
59 |
19 |
Oct. 30 vs. Maine |
Others Receiving Votes: Chattanooga, 53; William & Mary, 27; Holy Cross, 21; Stephen F. Austin, 21; Monmouth (N.J.), 20; Prairie View A&M, 19; North Dakota, 18; Mercer, 16; Delaware, 15; Florida A&M, 14; Columbia, 10; Dartmouth, 9; Jacksonville St., 8; Yale, 8; UIW, 7; Nicholls, 3; Elon, 2; Furman, 2; Davidson, 1.