Nine MVFC teams have been recognized in the FCS AFCA preseason coaches poll.   Five teams are ranked in the Top 25.
 

Rank	School
1	North Dakota St.
3	South Dakota St.
5	South Dakota
6	Illinois St.
20	Southern Illinois
RV:
	North Dakota
	Youngstown St.
	UNI
	Indiana State

WACO -- North Dakota State is in a familiar spot as they open the 2025 season as the No. 1 team in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll, presented by Hudl. The Bison will look to repeat as national champions after going 14-2 in 2024 and winning their 10th title in the last 14 years. Last year’s national runner-up, Montana State, start at No. 2. The Bobcats finished with a 15-1 record in 2024 and will open this season at Oregon on August 30.

South Dakota State will start at No. 3 as the Jackrabbits break in a new head coach. Dan Jackson takes over for a team who went 12-3 and made an appearance in the semifinals in 2024. UIW, the team South Dakota State beat in the quarterfinals of last season’s playoffs, will begin at No. 4. South Dakota, who also has a new head coach in Travis Johansen, rounds out the top 5. 

There will be four top 25 teams that see action in week 0, which kicks off on August 23. One is a top 11 showdown as No. 7 UC Davis hosts No. 11 Mercer. The other two games feature No. 4 UIW traveling to Nichols while No. 8 Tarleton State heads to Portland State.  
 
AFCA FCS Coaches Poll, presented by Hudl – August 11, 2025
                                                      

Rank	School (1st votes)	2024 Rec.	Pts.	2024 Rank	Season Opener	Head Coach
1	NDSU (26)	14-2	650	1	Aug. 30 at The Citadel	Tim Polasek
2	Montana St.	15-1	612	2	Aug. 30 at Oregon	Brent Vigen
3	South Dakota St.	12-3	581	3	Aug. 30 vs. No. 14 Sacramento St.	Dan Jackson
4	UIW	11-3	541	6	Aug. 23 at Nichols	Clint Killough
5	South Dakota	11-3	521	4	Aug. 30 at Iowa St.	Travis Johansen
6	Illinois St.	10-4	466	9	Aug. 30 at Oklahoma	Brock Spack
7	UC Davis	11-3	456	5	Aug. 23 vs. No. 11 Mercer	Tim Plough
8	Tarleton St.	10-4	454	12	Aug. 23 at Portland St.	Todd Whitten
9	Montana	9-5	447	13	Sept. 6 vs. Central Washington	Bobby Hauck
10	Rhode Island	11-3	416	11	Aug. 29 vs. Campbell	Jim Fleming
11	Mercer	11-3	396	7	Aug. 23 vs. No. 7 UC Davis	Mike Jacobs
12	Idaho	10-4	371	8	Aug. 30 at Washington St.	Thomas Ford Jr.
13	Villanova	10-4	338	10	Sept. 6 vs. Colgate	Mark Ferrante
14	Sacramento St.	3-9	265	NR	Aug. 30 at No. 3 South Dakota St.	Brennan Marion
15	Lehigh	9-4	207	22	Aug. 30 vs. No. 22t Richmond	Kevin Cahill
16	ACU	9-5	203	15	Aug. 30 at Tulsa	Keith Patterson
17	Jackson St.	12-2	200	14	Aug. 30 vs. Hampton	T.C. Taylor
18	Northern Arizona	8-5	168	21	Aug. 30 at Arizona St.	Brian Wright
19	Western Carolina	7-5	147	NR	Aug. 30 vs. Gardner-Webb	Kerwin Bell
20	Southern Illinois	4-8	132	NR	Aug. 30 vs. Thomas More	Nick Hill
21	Monmouth (N.J.)	6-6	116	NR	Aug. 29 at Colgate	Kevin Callahan
22t.	Richmond	10-3	111	17	Aug. 30 at No. 15 Lehigh	Russ Huesman
22t.	Tennessee Tech	7-5	111	NR	Aug. 30 vs. Cumberland	Bobby Wilder
24	Stephen F. Austin	7-5	82	NR	Aug. 28 at Houston	Colby Carthel
25	Stony Brook	8-4	69	NR	Aug. 28 at San Diego St.	Billy Cosh

 
 *– Ranking in final AFCA FCS Coaches Poll of 2024
 
Others Receiving Votes: UT Martin, 50; Harvard, 40; Southeastern Louisiana, 36; South Carolina St., 25; Southeast Missouri St., 25; East Tennessee St., 24; New Hampshire, 21; Eastern Kentucky, 19; North Dakota, 19; Youngstown St., 16; Chattanooga, 14; Tennessee St., 14; Dartmouth, 13; North Carolina Central, 13; Central Connecticut St., 11; Southern Utah, 9; Lafayette, 6; Central Arkansas, 5; Northern Iowa, 5; San Diego, 5; Indiana St., 4; Lindenwood, 4; Lamar, 3; Holy Cross, 2; Southern, 2; Yale, 2; Bucknell, 1; Eastern Washington, 1; Samford, 1.