Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll (Week 5)

Each week, throughout the college football season, alumni, fans, media and the teams themselves look to the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll to see who is rising and moving within the national rankings.

The frequency of teams playing their way into the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll matches the consistency of the top three teams.

For the fourth straight week, a trio of teams have joined the national media rankings for the first time this season – it was No. 22 McNeese, No. 23 ETSU and No. 25 Northern Arizona on Monday.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

McNeese (4-2) is enjoying a turnaround under coach Gary Goff after going winless last season. Having nearly upset nationally ranked Tarleton State to open this season, the Cowboys won at then-No. 25 Weber State 28-26 this past Saturday. They earned their first ranking since Feb. 21, 2021 – the early portion of the unique spring season that followed the pandemic-delayed 2020 campaign.

ETSU (3-2) has won two straight road games (Elon and The Citadel, earning Stats Perform FCS National Team of the Week) since a narrow loss to No. 2 North Dakota State to claim its first ranking since Sept. 12, 2022. Northern Arizona (3-2) had an even longer absence from the rankings – since Sept. 10, 2018 – but the Lumberjacks impressed with a 34-16 win over then-No. 10 Sacramento State.

While there’s been frequent change in the lower tier of the Top 25, it’s been as easy as 1, 2, 3 up top since the first poll of the regular season, with those spots held by two-time defending FCS champion South Dakota State (3-1), North Dakota State (4-1) and Montana State (5-0), respectively.

A national media panel selects the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll. A first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote 24 points, all the way down to one point for a 25th-place vote.

(For more on the college football weekend, here is our FCS Football Week 5 Review)

Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll

1. South Dakota State (3-1, 0–0 MVFC), 1,378 points (38 of 56 first-place votes)

Previous Ranking: 1; Week 5: No game; Week 6: at Northern Iowa

2. North Dakota State (4-1, 1-0 MVFC), 1,337 (10)

Previous Ranking: 2; Week 5: 42-10 win at then-No. 18 Illinois State; Week 6: No. 7 North Dakota

3. Montana State (5-0, 1-0 Big Sky), 1,312 (8)

Previous Ranking: 3; Week 5: 37-17 win at Idaho State; Week 6: Northern Colorado

4. South Dakota (3-1, 1-0 MVFC), 1,210

Previous Ranking: 5; Week 5: 42-13 win over then-No. 17 Southern Illinois; Week 6: at Murray State

5. Central Arkansas (4-1, 1-0 UAC), 1,097

Previous Ranking: 7; Week 5: 34-14 win over then-No. 19 Lamar; Week 6: at No. 16 Abilene Christian

6. Villanova (4-1, 1-0 CAA), 1,065

Previous Ranking: 6; Week 5: 24-10 win over LIU; Week 6: at Stony Brook

7. North Dakota (4-1, 1-0 MVFC), 1,024

Previous Ranking: 9; Week 5: 72-35 win over Murray State; Week 6: at No. 2 North Dakota State

8. Montana (4-1, 1-0 Big Sky), 980

Previous Ranking: 8; Week 5: 52-49 win at Eastern Washington; Week 6: Weber State

9. UC Davis (4-1, 1-0 Big Sky), 961

Previous Ranking: 14; Week 5: 28-26 win over then-No. 4 Idaho; Week 6: at Portland State

10. Idaho (3-2, 0-1 Big Sky), 930

Previous Ranking: 4; Week 5: 28-26 loss at then-No. 14 UC Davis; Week 6: No. 25 Northern Arizona

11. Mercer (5-0, 3-0 SoCon), 836

Previous Ranking: 12; Week 5: 22-3 win at then-No. 23 Wofford; Week 6: No game

12. William & Mary (4-1, 1-0 CAA), 833

Previous Ranking: 11; Week 5: 49-7 win over Hampton; Week 6: at Towson

13. Southeast Missouri (4-1, 1-0 Big South-OVC), 730

Previous Ranking: 13; Week 5: 19-0 win over Northwestern State; Week 6: at Eastern Illinois

14. Tarleton State (4-1, 1-0 UAC), 642

Previous Ranking: 16; Week 5: 36-33 win over Southeastern Louisiana; Week 6: at Southern Utah

15. UIW (2-2, 0-0 Southland), 609

Previous Ranking: 15; Week 5: No game; Week 6: Prairie View A&M

16. Abilene Christian (3-2, 2-0 UAC), 462 

Previous Ranking: 20; Week 5: 55-30 win at Utah Tech; Week 6: No. 5 Central Arkansas

17. Sacramento State (2-3, 0-1 Big Sky), 453

Previous Ranking: 10; Week 5: 34-16 loss at Northern Arizona; Week 6: No game

18. Illinois State (3-2, 0-1 MVFC), 314

Previous Ranking: 18; Week 5: 42-10 loss to then-No. 2 North Dakota State; Week 6: at No. 19 Southern Illinois

19. Southern Illinois (2-3, 0-1 MVFC), 293

Previous Ranking: 17; Week 5: 42-13 loss at then-No. 5 South Dakota; Week 6: No. 18 Illinois State

20. Rhode Island (3-1, 1-0 CAA), 230

Previous Ranking: 22; Week 5: No game; Week 6: at Hampton

21. New Hampshire (3-1, 1-0 CAA), 208

Previous Ranking: 24; Week 5: No game; Week 6: at Harvard

22. McNeese (4-2, 1-0 Southland), 204

Previous Ranking: NR; Week 5: 28-26 win at then-No. 25 Weber State; Week 6: at HCU

23. ETSU (3-2, 1-0 SoCon), 200

Previous Ranking: NR; Week 5: 34-17 win at The Citadel; Week 6: Chattanooga

24. Lamar (3-2, 0-0 Southland), 160

Previous Ranking: 19; Week 5: 34-14 loss at then-No. 7 Central Arkansas; Week 6: No game

25. Northern Arizona (3-2, 1-0 Big Sky), 132

Previous Ranking: NR; Week 5: 34-16 win over then-No. 10 Sacramento State; Week 6: at No. 10 Idaho

Dropped Out: UAlbany (21), Wofford (23), Weber State (25)

Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Richmond (3-2, 1-0 CAA), 107; Northern Iowa (2-2, 0-0 MVFC), 83;  Chattanooga (1-3, 0-1 SoCon), 62; Stony Brook (4-1, 1-0 CAA), 55; Florida A&M (2-2, 0-0 SWAC), 53; Monmouth (3-2, 1-0 CAA), 41; Wofford (2-2, 0-1 SoCon), 40; Lafayette (2-2, 0-0 Patriot), 28; North Carolina Central (3-2, 1-0 MEAC), 28; Weber State (2-3, 1-0 Big Sky), 22; Western Carolina (1-3, 0-0 SoCon), 18; Nicholls (1-3, 0-0 Southland), 17; Duquesne (2-2, 0-0 NEC), 16; Southern Utah (2-3, 1-0 UAC), 10; Brown (2-0, 1-0 Ivy), 3; Dartmouth (2-0, 0-0 Ivy), 2; UT Martin (2-3, 0-1 Big South-OVC), 2

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Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Voters – Stats Perform: Craig Haley, Gary Reasons. Big Sky Conference: Doug Kelly, Tyson Rodgers, Larry Weir. Big South-OVC Football Association: Mike Bradd, Kyle Schwartz, Mark Simpson. CAA Football: Roger Brown, Matt Harmon, Rob Washburn. Ivy League: JJ Klein, Craig Larson. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Kendrick Lewis, Alysse Scripter. Missouri Valley Football Conference: Dom Izzo, Mike Kern, Randy Reinhardt. Northeast Conference: Sarah Boissonneault, Brian Cleary. Patriot League: Eric Malanoski, Ryan Sakamoto. Pioneer Football League: Cody Bush, Larry Hansgen. Southern Conference: Scott Keeler, Andrew Miller, Ralan Wardlaw. Southland Conference: Matthew Bonnette, James Dixon, James Hill. Southwestern Athletic Conference: Ronnie Johnson, Joshua Padilla. United Athletic Conference: Brian Morgan, Benjamin Ray, Jake Withee. National Representatives: Sean Anderson, Stan Becton, Zack Carlton, Gene Clemons, Riley Corcoran, Joe DeLeone, Steven J. Gaither, Sam Herder, Emory Hunt, Kyle Kensing, Brandon Lawrence, Zach McKinnell, Brian McLaughlin, Jon Passman, Omar Rashon Borja, Ryan Roberts, Kent Schmidt, Phil Sokol, Reggie Thomas, Ralph Ventre, Jamie Williams.

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