Seven teams from the Missouri Valley Football Conference are ranked in this week’s Stats Perform Top 25 poll, with five teams appearing in the Top 10.   Seven league teams have been ranked in the same week 18 times in our history, including twice this year, and the league record is eight (Sept. 29, 2014).  The league matched a record with five top-10 teams, which had been achieved three times previously -- most recently on Oct. 2, 2017.  The first AFCA coaches poll of the season will be published on Monday, March 15.
The MVFC also holds five of the Top 8 spots in the Massey Ratings (and six of the Top 10 positions in that metric).  Among conferences, the MVFC is the top-rated league in the FCS (Sagarin), five MVFC schools are in the Top 8, which includes positions 1-2-3-4.

Massey Ratings, Team Leaders
 1. North Dakota (MVFC)
 2. North Dakota State (MVFC)
 3. South Dakota State (MVFC)
 4. Weber State (Big Sky)
 5. James Madison (CAA)
 6. UC Davis (Big Sky)
 7. UNI (MVFC)
 8. Southern Illinois (MVFC)
 9. Nicholls (Southland)
10. South Dakota (MVFC)

Sagarin Rankings, Team Leaders (FCS)
 1. South Dakota State
 2. North Dakota State
 3. UNI
 4. North Dakota
 5. Weber State (Big Sky) 
 6. Montana (Big Sky)
 7. James Madison (CAA)
 8. Southern Illinois

Sagarin Rankings, Conference Leaders (FCS)
  1. MISSOURI VALLEY
  2. Big Sky
  3. CAA Football


STATS PERFORM RANKINGS (Story by Craig Haley)

CHICAGO – March 8, 2021 – CAA Football and the Missouri Valley Football Conference continued to flex their muscles in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 on Monday.   The two conferences combined for five of the first six spots and 12 overall in the national media rankings. James Madison (3-0) remained No. 1 and one of five ranked CAA teams after it escaped with a close conference win at Elon Saturday. The MVFC again matched its all-time high with seven ranked teams, led by No. 3 North Dakota (3-0).

At least one team from the CAA or MVFC, and sometimes both conferences, have advanced to the FCS championship game in the last 18 seasons.   Weber State (1-0), the three-time defending Big Sky champion, held the No. 2 spot for the second straight week.   A national panel selects the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, which this spring includes only schools that have committed to playing a regular schedule. 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 (MARCH 8)
1. James Madison (3-0, 1-0 CAA), 981 points (29 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 4 Result: 20-17 win at Elon              

2. Weber State (1-0 Big Sky), 928 (2)
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 4 Result: Postponed at Cal Poly

3. North Dakota (3-0 Missouri Valley), 919 (9)
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 4 Result: 21-10 win over then-No. 20 South Dakota

4. Northern Iowa (2-1 Missouri Valley), 863
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 4 Result: 20-10 win over then-No. 15 Illinois State

5. North Dakota State (3-1, 2-1 Missouri Valley), 778 
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 4 Result: 25-0 win at Missouri State

6. Villanova (1-0 CAA), 777
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 4 Result: 16-13 win at Stony Brook

7. Nicholls (3-0, 2-0 Southland), 754
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 4 Result: 31-24 win at Northwestern State

8. South Dakota State (2-1 Missouri Valley), 752
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 4 Result: 45-10 win over Western Illinois

9. Kennesaw State (1-0, 0-0 Big South), 653
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 4 Result: No game

T10. Jacksonville State (5-1, 2-0 Ohio Valley), 652
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 4 Result: 38-16 win at Tennessee State

T10. Southern Illinois (3-1, 2-1 Missouri Valley), 652
Previous Ranking: 11; Week 4 Result: 30-22 win at Youngstown State

12. Sam Houston (1-0 Southland), 557
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 4 Result: No game

13. Albany (1-0 CAA), 538
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 4 Result: 24-20 win at then-No. 14 New Hampshire

14. Chattanooga (2-1, 2-0 Southern), 402
Previous Ranking: 18; Week 4 Result: 25-24 OT win at The Citadel

15. Furman (2-1 Southern), 351
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 4 Result: 44-37 OT win over Samford

16. Eastern Washington (1-1 Big Sky), 317
Previous Ranking: 22; Week 4 Result: 45-13 win over Northern Arizona

17. New Hampshire (0-1 CAA), 272
Previous Ranking: 14; Week 4 Result: 24-20 loss to then-No. 13 Albany

18. Southeastern Louisiana (1-1 Southland), 239
Previous Ranking: 24; Week 4 Result: 25-20 win over McNeese                                                                                                                                        

19. Delaware (1-0 CAA), 233
Previous Ranking: 25; Week 4 Result: 37-0 win over Maine

20. Wofford (1-1 Southern), 222
Previous Ranking: 21; Week 4 Result: Postponed vs. ETSU

21. South Dakota (1-1 Missouri Valley), 185
Previous Ranking: 20; Week 4 Result: 21-10 loss at then-No. 4 North Dakota

22. Illinois State (0-2 Missouri Valley), 148
Previous Ranking: 15; Week 4 Result: 20-10 loss at then-No. 3 Northern Iowa

23. UC Davis (1-0 Big Sky), 140
Previous Ranking: Unranked; Week 4 Result: 27-17 win at Idaho

24. Monmouth (0-0 Big South), 119
Previous Ranking: 23; Week 4 Result: No game

25. UIW (2-0 Southland), 115
Previous Ranking: Unranked; West 4 Result: 42-20 win at Lamar

Dropped Out: Southeast Missouri (16) and Idaho (19) 

Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): VMI 89, Idaho 81, Southeast Missouri 77, Jackson State 55, Richmond 36, Gardner-Webb 32, San Diego 15, ETSU 12, Austin Peay 10, Dixie State 10, Murray State 9, Tarleton 9, Elon 3