I am grateful to have a vote in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 media poll for the 2025 season. I’ll publish my ballot every week and provide some reasoning for my order.
Notes at the bottom.
FCS Top 25
1. North Dakota State
2. South Dakota State
3. Montana
4. Montana State
5. Tarleton State
6. Southern Illinois
7. North Dakota
8. UC Davis
9. Tennessee Tech
10. Illinois State
11. Lehigh
12. Monmouth
13. Harvard
14. Northern Arizona
15. Idaho
16. Abilene Christian
17. Austin Peay
18. Jackson State
19. West Georgia
20. Rhode Island
21. SFA
22. Presbyterian
23. Mercer
24. Southeastern Louisiana University
25. Youngstown State
Leaving: UIW
Entering: Southeastern
My Top 6 stays the same, but it was a near-chaotic weekend for the Top 5.
North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Montana, Montana State, and Tarleton State each faced early deficits before pulling out wins.
NDSU trailed 9-7 at media poll No. 6 Illinois State in the second quarter before regaining the lead shortly after and eventually holding an 18-16 advantage entering the fourth. The Bison then pulled away to win 33-16. SDSU trailed 17-7 after two quarters at media poll No. 24 Youngstown State before storming back to take a 28-17 lead. The Jackrabbits later held a 35-24 advantage before YSU scored with 38 seconds left to make it a 35-30 final. Montana trailed 38-28 entering the fourth at Idaho State, but then took a 42-38 lead with 3:06 remaining and held on from there. Montana State trailed 7-0 after one quarter at media poll No. 13 Northern Arizona in an ugly start, but the Bobcats then settled in and dominated for a 34-10 win. Tarleton State got into a shootout vs. Southern Utah, trailing 35-28 at halftime before winning 52-42.
UC Davis, another highly-ranked team for me, also won a close contest over Cal Poly, winning 34-27.
NDSU is 5-0 with two then-ranked wins/two currently-ranked wins (USD, Illinois State). SDSU is 5-0 with three then-ranked wins and two currently-ranked wins (Montana State, YSU). Montana is 5-0 with two then-ranked wins/two currently-ranked wins (UND, Idaho). Montana State is 4-2 overall and 4-1 vs. the FCS with one then-ranked win/one currently-ranked win (NAU). Tarleton State is 6-0 with no ranked wins and an FBS win over Army.
I said last week that the Top 5 seemed to have separated itself from the pack, although Southern Illinois is arguably right there as well, despite no ranked wins yet. But Saturday showed these top teams are going to get teams’ best shot, and other squads are good enough to give you a scare if you don’t execute and play lackadaisically. But great teams find a way.
One big upset that did happen in the Top 10 is Brown beating media poll No. 8 Rhode Island 28-21. Brown held a 28-14 lead for most of the fourth quarter. Rhody now falls back quite a ways after I reevaluated and realized there were warning signs in its 4-0 start. There wasn’t really a performance/win/margin of win that jumped off the page, especially when you compared some scores. And that’s also why Harvard jumped up several spots. Harvard is 3-0 with three dominating wins, beating Stetson 59-7, Brown 41-7, and Holy Cross 59-24. For comparison, Rhody beat Holy Cross 9-7 and lost to Brown.
Comparing results is a slippery slope, I understand. But as we try and gauge the Ivy League, Harvard walloping a Brown team that just beat a Top 10 Rhody team, even if Brown-Rhody is a rivalry game, is telling.
UIW fell back out of my ballot after re-entering last week. The Cardinals lost 31-17 vs. SFA, a team I’ve had ranked. UIW had just beaten ranked Abilene Christian in a statement performance, but Saturday was a dud, trailing SFA 31-6 in the third.
Southeastern enters my ballot at 4-2 overall and 4-0 vs. the FCS. The Lions have mostly dominated their FCS competition.
Austin Peay got a big ranked win over West Georgia, handing UWG its first loss of the season. ACU remains ahead of Austin Peay in my ballot with its head-to-head victory.
After four ranked matchups in Week 6, we should have four more in Week 7, boosting some resumes:
Southern Illinois at North Dakota State
Northern Arizona at UC Davis
Abilene Christian at West Georgia
Youngstown State at North Dakota
Other games that could move the needle:
Villanova at Elon
Mercer at Princeton
Furman at Western Carolina
Alabama State at Jackson State
New Hampshire at Rhode Island
A few teams that are just barely on the outside of my ballot: Villanova, Lamar, Furman, and Brown. But those last few spots are very competitive right now.
