On Monday, this year's team took it a step further by reaching the No. 1 ranking in The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top 25 for the first time.
The Bison, coming off a huge victory over Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, received 133 of the 158 first-place votes and 3,918 points from the poll's national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries.
"The No. 1 ranking is tremendous recognition for our football program, our university, the Missouri Valley Football Conference, our state and our region," head coach Craig Bohl said. "The No. 1 ranking is the result of a great deal of hard work by our players and our coaching staff. However, there are three games remaining on our schedule, including two on the road. We have a lot more to play for and there is still a great deal of work to be done."
North Dakota State (8-0), one of only two remaining unbeaten teams in the FCS, could have been considered the biggest winner on Super Saturday. As the No. 3- ranked team, they defeated then-No. 2 Northern Iowa, 27-19, to take first place in the MVFC. Meanwhile, their path to the top of the rankings was cleared when then-No. 1 Georgia Southern fell at then-No. 5 Appalachian State, 24-17, in the Southern Conference.
Also benefiting from the weekend's action was Big Sky Conference leader Montana State (8-1), which moved up two spots to No. 2. The Bobcats, who defeated Idaho State, 54-13, received 19 first-place votes and 3,671 points.
Appalachian State (6-2) moved up to No. 3 following its win over Georgia Southern, gaining five first-place votes. At No. 4 was Sam Houston State (8-0), the Southland Conference leader which received one first-place vote.
Ironically, the two unbeaten teams - North Dakota State and Sam Houston State - are linked by wins over Bowl Subdivision opponents and defenses that have surrendered the fewest points nationally - Sam Houston State, 12.4 per game, and North Dakota State, 12.5.
Georgia Southern (7-1) and Northern Iowa (6-2) both fell four spots to No. 5 and 6, respectively, following Saturday's losses.
The rest of the Top 10 was No. 7 Maine (7-1), No. 8 Lehigh (7-1), No. 9 New Hampshire (6-2) and No. 10 Montana (7-2).
Wofford (6-2), which owns a SoCon win over Appalachian State but has yet to play Georgia Southern, moved up to No. 11. Then it was three straight CAA Football teams - No. 12 Old Dominion (7-2) followed by No. 13 James Madison (5-3), which the Monarchs beat on Saturday, and then No. 14 Towson (6-2).
Jackson State (7-1), which is ineligible for the Southwestern Athletic Conference title because of a subpar Academic Progress Rate, moved up to No. 15, ahead of No. 16 Delaware (5-4) and No. 17 Illinois State (6-3).
No. 18 Jacksonville (5-3) sat two spots higher than No. 20 Tennessee Tech (5-2) despite losing to the Golden Eagles in Ohio Valley Conference action on Saturday. In between was No. 19 William & Mary (4-4), which had a bye in Week 9.
Rounding out the rankings were No. 21 Indiana State (5-3), No. 22 Liberty (6-3), No. 23 Harvard (6-1), No. 24 South Dakota (5-4) and No. 25 Central Arkansas (6-3), which had fallen out after the Week 2 poll of Sept. 12.
Alabama State, which was No. 16 last week, fell out of the Top 25 after a loss to Alabama A&M.
During the regular season the Top 25 will be released every Monday afternoon, except for the final weekend of games, when it will be released Sunday morning, Nov. 20, due to its use as an official tool by the NCAA Division I Football Committee in selecting the 20-team playoff field later that day.
The Sports Network and Fathead.com will release a final Top 25 following the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 7 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.
| Team (First-place votes) | Record | Points | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. North Dakota State Bison (133) | 8-0 | 3,918 | 3 |
| 2. Montana State Bobcats (19) | 8-1 | 3,671 | 4 |
| 3. Appalachian State Mountaineers (5) | 6-2 | 3,567 | 5 |
| 4. Sam Houston State Bearkats (1) | 8-0 | 3,416 | 6 |
| 5. Georgia Southern Eagles | 7-1 | 3,193 | 1 |
| 6. Northern Iowa Panthers | 6-2 | 3,065 | 2 |
| 7. Maine Black Bears | 7-1 | 2,987 | 8 |
| 8. Lehigh Mountain Hawks | 7-1 | 2,983 | 7 |
| 9. New Hampshire Wildcats | 6-2 | 2,601 | 10 |
| 10. Montana Grizzlies | 7-2 | 2,532 | 11 |
| 11. Wofford Terriers | 6-2 | 2,443 | 12 |
| 12. Old Dominion Monarchs | 7-2 | 2,163 | 15 |
| 13. James Madison Dukes | 5-3 | 1,747 | 9 |
| 14. Towson Tigers | 6-2 | 1,364 | 13 |
| 15. Jackson State Tigers | 7-1 | 1,235 | 19 |
| 16. Delaware Blue Hens | 5-4 | 1,076 | 21 |
| 17. Illinois State Redbirds | 6-3 | 977 | 22 |
| 18. Jacksonville State Gamecocks | 5-3 | 955 | 14 |
| 19. William & Mary Tribe | 4-4 | 928 | 18 |
| 20. Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles | 5-2 | 926 | 25 |
| 21. Indiana State Sycamores | 5-3 | 853 | 20 |
| 22. Liberty Flames | 6-3 | 710 | 23 |
| 23. Harvard Crimson | 6-1 | 653 | 24 |
| 24. South Dakota Coyotes | 5-4 | 456 | 17 |
| 25. Central Arkansas Bears | 6-3 | 414 | NR |
| Others receiving votes: Cal Poly 346, Furman 346, Alabama State 341, Massachusetts 307, Norfolk State 187, Brown 154, Alabama A&M 135, Albany 109, North Dakota 105, Portland State 71, Southern Utah 50, Jacksonville 49, Samford 49, Chattanooga 45, Georgetown 41, Youngstown State 34, Eastern Kentucky 33, Stony Brook 30, Northwestern State 22, Duquesne 15, UT Martin 12, San Diego 12, Richmond 8, Tennessee State 7, Florida A&M 4, South Carolina State 2, Bethune-Cookman 1, Penn 1, The Citadel 1. |
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