NDSU Football Ranks 2nd in FCS Preseason Top 25
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-L | Pts | Prev | |
| 1 | James Madison (134) | 14-1 | 4034 | 1 |
| 2 | North Dakota State (19) | 12-2 | 3874 | 3 |
| 3 | Sam Houston State (7) | 12-1 | 3610 | 5 |
| 4 | South Dakota State (2) | 9-4 | 3385 | 6 |
| 5 | Eastern Washington | 12-2 | 3270 | 4 |
| 6 | Jacksonville State (1) | 10-2 | 3081 | 7 |
| 7 | Richmond | 10-4 | 3041 | 8 |
| 8 | North Dakota | 9-3 | 2871 | 12 |
| 9 | Youngstown State | 12-4 | 2658 | 2 |
| 10 | Villanova | 9-4 | 2628 | 11 |
| 11 | Wofford | 10-4 | 2543 | 9 |
| 12 | Chattanooga | 9-4 | 1995 | 13 |
| 13 | New Hampshire | 8-5 | 1741 | 17 |
| 14 | Charleston Southern | 7-4 | 1710 | 15 |
| 15 | Central Arkansas | 10-3 | 1685 | 14 |
| 16 | The Citadel | 10-2 | 1545 | 10 |
| 17 | Lehigh | 9-3 | 1369 | 21 |
| 18 | Northern Iowa | 5-6 | 924 | NR |
| 19 | Samford | 7-5 | 893 | 23 |
| 20 | Illinois State | 6-6 | 876 | NR |
| 21 | Grambling State | 11-1 | 692 | 16 |
| 22 | Fordham | 8-3 | 604 | NR |
| 23 | Cal Poly | 7-5 | 427 | 24 |
| 24 | Albany | 7-4 | 418 | NR |
| 25 | Western Illinois | 6-5 | 367 | NR |
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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