The STATS FCS Preseason Top 25 poll was released today and the North Dakota State Bison will enter the season ranked 2nd overall.

Defending national champion James Madison University claimed the top spot in the FCS preseason poll. JMU eliminated the Bison from postseason play last season before defeating Youngstown State in the championship game. Of a possible 163 first-place votes, James Madison received 134. NDSU received 19.

The STATS FCS Top 25 is voted on by a national panel of broadcasters, writers, sports information and media relations directors, along with other dignitaries. A new poll will be released every Monday during the regular season, except for the last Monday of the regular season before the postseason pairings are announced in the 24-team field. The final poll of the season will come out after the championship game is played on January 6th, 2018.

NDSU's conference (the Missouri Valley Football Conference) contains six teams within the FCS preseason top 25, which is more than any other conference in the FCS. Aside from NDSU, those teams are South Dakota State, Youngstown State, Northern Iowa, Illinois State, and Western Illinois. The complete poll is listed below.

STATS FCS Preseason Top 25
Team (First-Place Votes)W-LPtsPrev
1James Madison (134)14-140341
2North Dakota State (19)12-238743
3Sam Houston State (7)12-136105
4South Dakota State (2)9-433856
5Eastern Washington12-232704
6Jacksonville State (1)10-230817
7Richmond10-430418
8North Dakota9-3287112
9Youngstown State12-426582
10Villanova9-4262811
11Wofford10-425439
12Chattanooga9-4199513
13New Hampshire8-5174117
14Charleston Southern7-4171015
15Central Arkansas10-3168514
16The Citadel10-2154510
17Lehigh9-3136921
18Northern Iowa5-6924NR
19Samford7-589323
20Illinois State6-6876NR
21Grambling State11-169216
22Fordham8-3604NR
23Cal Poly7-542724
24Albany7-4418NR
25Western Illinois6-5367NR

Others receiving votes: North Carolina Central (326), Weber State (322), Northern Arizona (307), McNeese (261), San Diego (250), Montana (215), North Carolina A&T (198), Kennesaw State (154), Liberty (134), Tennessee State (102), UT Martin (90), South Dakota (87), Harvard (36), Saint Francis U (31), Delaware (27), Princeton (23), South Carolina State (22), Nicholls (21), Southeastern Louisiana (20), Southern Utah (17), Penn (14), Duquesne (14), Stony Brook (13), Maine (11), Montana State (6), Mercer (6), Southern Illinois (5), Alcorn State (4), William & Mary (4), Eastern Illinois (3), ETSU (3), Wagner (3), Eastern Kentucky (2), Indiana State (1), Bethune-Cookman (1), Dayton (1).

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