Seven MVFC teams are ranked this week in both the Stats Perform and AFCA Coaches polls. North Dakota State remains No. 1 in both polls this week. Six or more MVFC teams have been ranked in the same top-25 poll 93 times. A minimum of six MVFC teams have been ranked in the Top 25 for 11-straight weeks this season (every week, but the preseason).
AFCA FCS Coaches Poll, presented by Hudl
| Rank |
School (1st votes) |
Pts. |
Prev. |
Next Game |
| 1 |
North Dakota St. (23) |
599 |
1 |
Nov. 15 vs. Northern Iowa |
| 2 |
Montana (1) |
573 |
2 |
Nov. 15 at Portland St. |
| 3 |
Montana St. |
527 |
3 |
Nov. 15 vs. No. 10 UC Davis |
| 4 |
Lehigh |
514 |
4 |
Nov. 15 at Colgate |
| 5 |
Tarleton St. |
480 |
7 |
Nov. 15 vs. North Alabama |
| 6 |
Tennessee Tech |
473 |
5 |
Nov. 15 at Kentucky |
| 7 |
Villanova |
441 |
8 |
Nov. 15 vs. Stony Brook |
| 8 |
Mercer |
423 |
10t |
Nov. 15 vs. Chattanooga |
| 9 |
Rhode Island |
379 |
10t |
Nov. 15 at Maine |
| 10 |
UC Davis |
367 |
12 |
Nov. 15 at No. 3 Montana St. |
| 11 |
Harvard |
309 |
13 |
Nov. 15 vs. Penn |
| 12 |
Monmouth (N.J.) |
293 |
6 |
Nov. 15 at North Carolina A&T |
| 13 |
Illinois St. |
289 |
17 |
Nov. 15 at No. 15 South Dakota St. |
| 14 |
Lamar |
280 |
18 |
Nov. 15 at No. 17 Stephen F. Austin |
| 15 |
South Dakota St. |
249 |
9 |
Nov. 15 vs. No. 13 Illinois St. |
| 16 |
Jackson St. |
213 |
19 |
Nov. 15 vs. Bethune-Cookman |
| 17 |
Stephen F. Austin |
205 |
21 |
Nov. 15 vs. No. 14 Lamar |
| 18 |
North Dakota |
199 |
15 |
Nov. 15 at Murray St. |
| 19 |
Youngstown St. |
178 |
22 |
Nov. 15 at Indiana St. |
| 20 |
ACU |
176 |
20 |
Nov. 15 at Eastern Kentucky |
| 21 |
Southeastern Louisiana |
163 |
14 |
Nov. 15 at UIW |
| 22 |
South Dakota |
145 |
25 |
Nov. 15 at No. 23 Southern Illinois |
| 23 |
Southern Illinois |
78 |
16 |
Nov. 15 vs. No. 22 South Dakota |
| 24 |
West Georgia |
53 |
NR |
Nov. 15 vs. Utah Tech |
| 25 |
Lafayette |
46 |
NR |
Nov. 15 at Richmond |
Dropped Out: Presbyterian (23), Western Carolina (24)
Others Receiving Votes: Western Carolina, 33; Alabama St., 26; Yale, 18; Dartmouth, 11; Gardner-Webb, 11; Sacramento St., 11; Presbyterian, 9; UT Rio Grande Valley, 9; Northern Arizona, 8; Austin Peay, 4; Central Connecticut St., 3; New Hampshire, 2; South Carolina St., 2; North Carolina Central, 1.
Metrics Magic -- Here’s the breakdown of the Top 19 teams in the Massey Index, by conference. The MVFC has an FCS-best seven teams among the top 19 of the Massey Ratings. Only the Big Sky (4) and United (2) have more than 1.
FCS Conference Representation - Top 19 of Massey
7 -- Missouri Valley Football
4 -- Big Sky
2 -- United
1 -- Coastal, OVC/Big South, SoCon, Southland, Ivy
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 27 for “strength of schedule” in Massey’s index. In Sagarin, the MVFC has three of the top seven of that ranking metric (among FCS programs), and seven MVFC teams are in the Top 19 of FCS schools in the Sagarin rankings. North Dakota State ranks 39th among all DI programs and tops the FCS; while UND is No. 4 in the FCS-only ranks (86th in DI). SDSU ranks seventh among FCS schools in the Sagarin (102nd among all DI programs).
| MVFC Team |
Massey |
|
Stats |
AFCA |
Sagarin |
| Top 25 Only |
Rating |
SOS |
Poll |
Poll |
Rank |
| N. Dakota State |
1 |
19 |
1 |
1 |
39 (1) |
| S. Dakota State |
5 |
18 |
16 |
15 |
102 (7) |
| North Dakota |
6 |
3 |
13 |
18 |
86 (4) |
| South Dakota |
10 |
13 |
17 |
22 |
133 (19) |
| Illinois State |
15 |
27 |
14 |
13 |
126 (16) |
| Southern Illinois |
16 |
21 |
21 |
23 |
131 (17) |
| Youngstown St. |
19 |
12 |
20 |
19 |
117 (12) |
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. Southland
6. Southern
STATS PERFORM FCS TOP 25
|
School (1st-place votes) |
Pts. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
North Dakota State (55) |
1,399 |
1 |
| 2 |
Montana |
1,327 |
2 |
| 3 |
Montana State (1) |
1,300 |
3 |
| 4 |
Lehigh |
1,196 |
4 |
| 5 |
Tennessee Tech |
1,157 |
5 |
| 6 |
Tarleton State |
1,130 |
6 |
| 7 |
Harvard |
956 |
9 |
| 8 |
Mercer |
916 |
12 |
| 9 |
UC Davis |
890 |
11 |
| 10 |
Villanova |
888 |
10 |
| 11 |
Rhode Island |
800 |
14 |
| 12 |
Monmouth |
661 |
7 |
| 13 |
North Dakota |
653 |
13 |
| 14 |
Illinois State |
629 |
16 |
| 15 |
Stephen F. Austin |
598 |
17 |
| 16 |
South Dakota State |
544 |
8 |
| 17 |
South Dakota |
530 |
22 |
| 18 |
Abilene Christian |
506 |
18 |
| 19 |
Lamar |
503 |
20 |
| 20 |
Youngstown State |
445 |
21 |
| 21 |
Southern Illinois |
242 |
15 |
| 22 |
Jackson State |
226 |
23 |
| 23 |
Southeastern Louisiana |
208 |
19 |
| 24 |
Northern Arizona |
81 |
NR |
| 25 |
Western Carolina |
75 |
24 |
Dropped Out of FCS Top 25: Presbyterian (25)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): New Hampshire (6-4, 4-2 CAA), 74;
Alabama State (7-2, 5-1 SWAC), 69;
Lafayette (7-3, 5-0 Patriot), 39;
West Georgia (7-3, 4-3 UAC), 36;
Delaware State (7-3, 3-0 MEAC), 35;
Austin Peay (6-4, 4-3 UAC), 22;
Yale (6-2, 4-1 Ivy), 18;
Sacramento State (6-4, 4-2 Big Sky), 11;
Dartmouth (6-2, 4-2 Ivy), 10;
Central Connecticut State (7-3, 5-0 NEC), 9;
South Carolina State (7-3, 3-0 MEAC), 7;
Southern Utah (5-5, 4-2 UAC), 3
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 Five -- Only five FCS programs enter this weekend with unblemished records -- including NDSU.
FCS Perfect Teams -- through games of Nov. 8
North Dakota St. (MVFC) -- 10-0
Lehigh (Patriot) -- 10-0
Montana (Big Sky) -- 10-0
Tennessee Tech (OVC) -- 10-0
Harvard (Ivy League) -- 8-0
Winning Streaks -- NDSU ranks second nationally with 17-straight home wins.
Active Win Streaks in the FCS
15 -- Tennessee Tech (OVC-Big South)
14 -- North Dakota State
10 -- Lehigh (Patriot)
10 -- Montana (Big Sky)
Longest Active Home Streaks (FCS)
20 -- Villanova (Next Home Game: 11/25 vs. Stony Brook)
17 -- N. Dakota St. (Next Home Game: 11/15 vs. UNI)
13 -- Rhode Island (Next Home Game: 11/22 vs. Hampton)
NDSU Starts 10-0 -- In MVFC history (counting this season), seven league teams have started a year 10-0 - all previous six teams reached the playoffs - the last four MVFC teams to start a season 10-0 won the FCS title. This marks the fourth time as an MVFC member that NDSU has started a season with 10-straight wins.
Ranked vs. Ranked -- This week, there are two MVFC games that features ranked teams playing one another. In Conference history, there have been 257 games in which two league teams ranked in the top 25 played one another. Of those previous 257 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 143-112 in those games; the higher-ranked team is 164-92. Those figures include two neutral-site games, and one game in which the teams were both No. 25.
MVFC Ranked vs. Ranked (Nov. 15)
#17/22 USD at #21/23 Southern Illinois [ESPN+] -- 12 PM CT
#14/13 Illinois St. at #16/15 SDSU [Midco/ESPN+] -- 2 PM CT
