North Dakota State No. 1 in FCS Preseason Polls

Football
8/11/2025 11:52:00 AM

FARGO, N.D. – Defending national champion North Dakota State is No. 1 in the preseason polls issued by Stats Perform and the American Football Coaches Association for the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision.

North Dakota State garnered 54 of the 56 first-place votes in the Stats Perform media poll and all 26 first-place votes in the AFCA coaches poll. The Bison have 12 starters back from last year’s title team, which finished 14-2 overall.

The Missouri Valley Football Conference has four of the top six teams in the polls. South Dakota State is third, South Dakota is fourth in the media poll and fifth in the coaches poll, and Illinois State is sixth in both polls. Southern Illinois checked in at No. 20 in both rankings.

Montana State, the national runner-up last year with a 15-1 record, is ranked second in both preseason polls.

2025 Stats Perform FCS Preseason Poll

Rank	School (First-Place Votes)	W-L	Pts	Prev
1.	North Dakota St. (54)	14-2	1398	1
2.	Montana St. (1)	15-1	1335	2
3.	South Dakota St.	12-3	1266	3
4.	South Dakota (1)	11-3	1227	4
5.	Incarnate Word	11-3	1138	6
6.	Illinois St.	10-4	1015	11
7.	Montana	9-5	1004	10
8.	UC Davis	11-3	938	5
9.	Rhode Island	11-3	928	9
10.	Tarleton St.	10-4	912	13
11.	Mercer	11-3	824	8
12.	Idaho	10-4	747	7
13.	Villanova	10-4	737	12
14.	Lehigh	9-4	493	20
15.	Sacramento St.	3-9	492	NR
16.	Abilene Christian	9-5	436	14
17.	Jackson St.	12-2	336	18
18.	Western Carolina	7-5	335	NR
19.	Northern Arizona	8-5	312	22
20.	Southern Illinois	4-8	310	NR
21.	Tennessee Tech	7-5	284	NR
22.	Monmouth	6-6	274	NR
23.	Stephen F. Austin	7-5	183	NR
24.	Stony Brook	8-4	181	NR
25.	Richmond	10-3	154	15

Others receiving votes: Harvard 139, Southeast Missouri St. 127, Southern Utah 123, Tennessee-Martin 92, North Dakota 88, Eastern Kentucky 80, Chattanooga 69, East Tennessee State 68, South Carolina State 35, New Hampshire 22, Tennessee State 21, Southeastern Louisiana 19, North Carolina Central 18, Youngstown State 16, Duquesne 2

2025 AFCA FCS Coaches Preseason Poll

Rank	School (First-place votes)	W-L	Pts	Prev
1.	North Dakota St. (26)	14-2	650	1
2.	Montana St.	15-1	612	2
3.	South Dakota St.	12-3	581	3
4.	Incarnate Word	11-3	541	6
5.	South Dakota	11-3	521	4
6.	Illinois St.	10-4	466	9
7.	UC Davis	11-3	456	5
8.	Tarleton St.	10-4	454	12
9.	Montana	9-5	447	13
10.	Rhode Island	11-3	416	11
11.	Mercer	11-3	396	7
12.	Idaho	10-4	371	8
13.	Villanova	10-4	338	10
14.	Sacramento St.	3-9	265	NR
15.	Lehigh	9-4	207	22
16.	Abilene Christian	9-5	203	15
17.	Jackson St.	12-2	200	14
18.	Northern Arizona	8-5	168	21
19.	Western Carolina	7-5	147	NR
20.	Southern Illinois	4-8	132	NR
21.	Monmouth	6-6	116	NR
22t.	Richmond	10-3	111	17
22t.	Tennessee Tech	7-5	111	NR
24.	Stephen F. Austin	7-5	82	NR
25.	Stony Brook	8-4	69	NR

Others receiving votes: Tennessee-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.