6 MVFC Teams Ranked -- Six MVFC teams are ranked this week in both the Stats Perform and AFCA Coaches polls. NDSU (1) and SDSU (t4, 5) are in the top five in both polls. Including this week, six or more MVFC teams have been ranked in the same top-25 poll 91 times, including a record 12-straight weeks in 2014 (and 10 times in 2024). A minimum of six MVFC teams have been ranked in the Top 25 for nine-straight weeks this season (each week except the preseason polls).
MVFC On Top of the FCS -- Missouri Valley Football teams have combined for a 22-6 record against FCS teams from other conferences - best in the FCS.
In the Metrics -- Seven of the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s 10 programs rank in the top 25 of the Massey FCS Ratings. Each of those seven MVFC schools rank in the Top 25 for “strength of schedule” in Massey’s index. In Sagarin, the MVFC has three of the top five of that ranking metric (among FCS programs), and seven MVFC teams are in the Top 30 of FCS schools in the Sagarin rankings. North Dakota State ranks 30th among all DI programs and tops the FCS; while UND is No. 4 in the FCS-only ranks (74th in DI). SDSU ranks fifth among FCS schools in the Sagarin (75th among all DI programs).
| MVFC Team |
Massey |
|
Stats |
AFCA |
Sagarin |
| Top 25 Only |
Rating |
SOS |
Poll |
Poll |
Rank |
| NDSU |
1 |
22 |
1 |
1 |
30 (1) |
| SDSU |
2 |
13 |
t4 |
5 |
75 (5) |
| North Dakota |
6 |
9 |
8 |
10 |
74 (4) |
| S. Illinois |
10 |
11 |
16 |
17 |
123 (12) |
| South Dakota |
17 |
25 |
RV |
RV |
152 (29) |
| Youngstown St. |
21 |
26 |
18 |
19 |
125 (14) |
| Illinois State |
22 |
23 |
17 |
18 |
137 (20) |
Strength of Schedule (SOS) is taken from Massey ratings; Sagarin rankings are overall DI football with FCS rank.
Sagarin FCS Conference Rankings
1. Missouri Valley (also ahead of FBS CUSA & the MAC)
2. Big Sky
3. United Athletic
4. Ivy League
5. Southern
6. Southland
AFCA COACHES TOP 25
| Rank |
School (1st votes) |
Pts. |
Prev. |
Next Game |
| 1 |
North Dakota St. (25) |
625 |
1 |
Nov. 1 vs. No. 19 YSU |
| 2 |
Tarleton St. |
598 |
3 |
Nov. 1 at No. 25 ACU |
| 3 |
Montana |
575 |
4 |
Nov. 1 at Weber St. |
| 4 |
Montana St. |
529 |
5 |
Nov. 1 at Northern Colorado |
| 5 |
South Dakota St. |
525 |
2 |
Nov. 1 vs. Indiana St. |
| 6 |
UC Davis |
495 |
6 |
Nov. 1 vs. Idaho St. |
| 7 |
Lehigh |
461 |
7 |
Nov. 1 vs. Georgetown |
| 8 |
Tennessee Tech |
433 |
8 |
Nov. 1 vs. Gardner-Webb |
| 9 |
Monmouth (N.J.) |
423 |
9 |
Nov. 1 at Bryant |
| 10 |
North Dakota |
401 |
10 |
Nov. 1 at South Dakota |
| 11 |
Villanova |
350 |
12 |
Nov. 8 at Towson |
| 12 |
Rhode Island |
340 |
13 |
Nov. 8 at Elon |
| 13 |
Mercer |
323 |
14 |
Nov. 1 at Furman |
| 14 |
Lamar |
314 |
15 |
Nov. 1 at UIW |
| 15 |
Harvard |
248 |
17 |
Nov. 1 vs. Dartmouth |
| 16 |
SE Louisiana |
235 |
19 |
Nov. 1 vs. East Texas A&M |
| 17 |
Southern Illinois |
224 |
18 |
Nov. 1 at Murray St. |
| 18 |
Illinois St. |
192 |
20 |
Nov. 1 vs. Northern Iowa |
| 19 |
Youngstown St. |
181 |
21 |
Nov. 1 at No. 1 NDSU |
| 20 |
Jackson St. |
126 |
11 |
Nov. 1 at Florida A&M |
| 21 |
Northern Arizona |
108 |
22 |
Oct. 31 vs. Idaho |
| 22 |
Presbyterian |
99 |
16 |
Nov. 1 vs. Valparaiso |
| 23 |
Stephen F. Austin |
89 |
24 |
Nov. 1 vs. UT Rio Grande Valley |
| 24 |
Austin Peay |
78 |
23 |
Nov. 1 at Southern Utah |
| 25 |
ACU |
36 |
25 |
Nov. 1 vs. No. 2 Tarleton St. |
Dropped Out: None
Others Receiving Votes: UT Rio Grande Valley, 25; Western Carolina, 21; West Georgia, 18; Dartmouth, 12; Lafayette, 12; Gardner-Webb, 10; South Dakota, 9; Sacramento St., 4; Prairie View A&M, 3; Alabama St., 2; Central Connecticut St., 1.
STATS PERFORM TOP 25 FCS POLL
| Rank. Team (Record) |
Points |
Last Week |
| 1. North Dakota State (8-0, 5-0 MVFC) |
1400 |
38-7 win at then-No. 2 SDSU |
| 2. Tarleton State (9-0, 5-0 UAC) |
1318 |
31-7 win at Eastern Kentucky |
| 3. Montana (8-0, 4-0 Big Sky) |
1280 |
49-35 win at Sacramento State |
| T4. Montana State (6-2, 4-0 Big Sky) |
1205 |
34-17 win at Cal Poly |
| T4. South Dakota State (7-1, 3-1 MVFC) |
1205 |
38-7 loss at then-No. 1 NDSU |
| 6. UC Davis (6-1, 4-0 Big Sky) |
1086 |
27-16 win at Northern Colorado |
| 7. Lehigh (8-0, 3-0 Patriot) |
1034 |
27-6 win at Fordham |
| 8. North Dakota (6-2, 4-0 MVFC) |
1022 |
46-17 win over Indiana State |
| 9. Tennessee Tech (8-0, 5-0 OVC-Big South) |
990 |
42-23 win over Southeast Missouri |
| 10. Monmouth (7-1, 4-0 CAA) |
903 |
28-10 win at Hampton |
| 11. Villanova (6-2, 5-1 CAA) |
744 |
29-16 win over UAlbany |
| 12. Harvard (6-0, 3-0 Ivy) |
682 |
35-14 win at Princeton |
| 13. Rhode Island (7-2, 5-0 CAA) |
678 |
38-17 win over Bryant |
| 14. Lamar (7-1, 4-0 Southland) |
651 |
41-14 win at Northwestern State |
| 15. Mercer (6-1, 5-0 SoCon) |
583 |
62-0 win over VMI |
| 16. Southern Illinois (5-3, 2-2 MVFC) |
540 |
31-17 win over Northern Iowa |
| 17. Illinois State (5-3, 2-2 MVFC) |
511 |
21-13 win at then-No. 21 South Dakota |
| 18. Youngstown State (5-3, 2-2 MVFC) |
379 |
51-17 win over Murray State |
| 19. Northern Arizona (5-3, 2-2 Big Sky) |
377 |
31-18 win at Idaho State |
| 20. Stephen F. Austin (6-2, 4-0 Southland) |
301 |
31-18 win at Idaho State |
| 21. SE Louisiana (6-2, 4-0 Southland) |
272 |
38-14 win at HCU |
| 22. Austin Peay (5-3, 3-2 UAC) |
217 |
38-14 win at HCU |
| 23. Jackson State (5-2, 3-1 SWAC) |
215 |
26-24 loss to Grambling State |
| 24. Abilene Christian (4-4, 3-1 UAC) |
192 |
No game |
| 25. Presbyterian (7-1, 3-1 Pioneer) |
107 |
35-19 loss at Dayton |
Dropped Out of Top 25: South Dakota (21)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): South Dakota (5-4, 3-2 MVFC), 99;
Western Carolina (5-3, 4-0 SoCon), 95;
Alabama State (5-2, 3-1 SWAC), 21;
Dartmouth (5-1, 3-1 Ivy), 17;
Lafayette (5-3, 3-0 Patriot), 15;
Delaware State (5-3, 1-0 MEAC), 14;
West Georgia (6-3, 3-3 UAC), 14;
Gardner-Webb (5-3, 3-1 OVC-Big South), 12;
Dayton (6-2, 4-1 Pioneer), 8;
Prairie View A&M (6-2, 4-0 SWAC), 4;
UT Rio Grande Valley (6-2, 2-2 Southland), 4;
New Hampshire (5-4, 3-2 CAA), 2;
Sacramento State (4-4, 2-2 Big Sky), 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: 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.
And Then There Were Six -- Only six FCS programs enter this weekend with unblemished records -- including NDSU.
FCS Perfect Teams -- through games of Oct. 25
Tarleton St. (ASUN) -- 9-0
North Dakota St. (MVFC) -- 8-0
Lehigh (Patriot) -- 8-0
Montana (Big Sky) -- 8-0
Tennessee Tech (OVC) -- 8-0
Harvard (Ivy League) -- 6-0
Active Win Streaks in the FCS
13 -- Tennessee Tech (OVC-Big South)
12 -- North Dakota State
9 -- Tarleton State (United)
8 -- Lehigh (Patriot)
8 -- Montana (Big Sky)
NDSU Starts 8-0 -- In MVFC history (and counting this season), 13 league teams have started a year 8-0 - all of the 12 previous teams reached the playoffs - the last eight MVFC teams to start a season 8-0 won the FCS title. This marks the eight time as an MVFC member that NDSU has started a campaign with eight-straight victories.
Ranked vs. Ranked -- This week, there is one MVFC game that features ranked teams playing one another. In Conference history, there have been 253 games in which two league teams ranked in the top 25 played one another. Of those previous 253 games, 74 times the meeting involved teams that were both ranked in the Top 10 at the same time. Twenty meetings have occurred in the playoffs. The home team is 140-111 in those games; the higher-ranked team is 162-90. Those figures include two neutral-site games, and one game in which the teams were both No. 25.
MVFC Ranked vs. Ranked (Nov. 1)
#18/19 YSU at #1/1 NDSU [ABC ND/ESPN+] -- 2:30 PM CT
