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 newest poll follows Week 12 games.
It’s OK to be late if you’re going to the FCS party.
For the 11th straight week, at least one team has entered the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll for the first time in the 2024 season. This time, it’s No. 23 South Carolina State, which is headed to the Celebration Bowl as the MEAC champion, and No. 25 Eastern Kentucky, which is in the mix for an FCS at-large playoff bid.
The final full schedule of the regular season is this week. Half of the 10 automatic playoff bids that go to conference champions are filled by ranked teams – Montana State (2), UIW (6), Mercer (8), Richmond (10) and Abilene Christian (11). Five more of those tickets will be punched on Saturday before the NCAA announces its full 24-team pairings on Sunday.
South Carolina State (8-2), whose last appearance in the poll was after the 2013 postseason, is on a seven-game winning streak and will face the winner of the SWAC Championship Game – either No. 20 Jackson State or Southern – in the Celebration Bowl. Eastern Kentucky (7-4) has won four straight games to earn its first national ranking since the 2023 preseason poll.
Top-ranked North Dakota State, Montana State and South Dakota State are unchanged in the top three spots. South Dakota moves up one spot to No. 4 over UC Davis.
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.
(Through Week 12 games, here are the FCS conference champs and postseason qualifiers)
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll
1. North Dakota State (10-1, 7-0 MVFC), 1,385 points (41 of 56 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 12: 59-21 win over Missouri State; Week 13: at No. 4 South Dakota
2. Montana State (11-0, 7-0 Big Sky), 1,356 (15)
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 12: 30-28 win at then-No. 4 UC Davis; Week 13: No. 9 Montana
3. South Dakota State (9-2, 6-1 MVFC), 1,290
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 12: 41-10 win over Southern Illinois; Week 13: at Missouri State
4. South Dakota (8-2, 6-1 MVFC), 1,189
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 12: 42-36 win at North Dakota; Week 13: No. 1 North Dakota State
5. UC Davis (9-2, 6-1 Big Sky), 1,165
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 12: 30-28 loss to then-No. 2 Montana State; Week 13: at Sacramento State
6. UIW (9-2, 6-0 Southland), 1,086
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 12: at Stephen F. Austin; Week 13: at Texas A&M-Commerce
7. Idaho (8-3, 5-2 Big Sky), 1,022
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 12: 31-24 win over Weber State; Week 13: at Idaho State
8. Mercer (9-2, 6-1 SoCon), 1,002
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 12: 52-7 loss at Alabama; Week 13: Furman
9. Montana (8-3, 5-2 Big Sky), 903
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 12: 28-17 win over Portland State; Week 13: at No. 2 Montana State
10. Richmond (9-2, 7-0 CAA), 880
Previous Ranking: 11; Week 12: 24-21 win at Hampton; Week 13: William & Mary
11. Abilene Christian (8-3, 7-1 UAC), 846
Previous Ranking: 14; Week 12: 35-31 win at then-No. 13 Tarleton State; Week 13: at Stephen F. Austin
12. Southeast Missouri (9-2, 6-1 Big South-OVC), 799
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 12: 54-45 win over Western Illinois; Week 13: at Tennessee State
13. Rhode Island (9-2, 6-1 CAA), 754
Previous Ranking: 15; Week 12: 20-17 win over UAlbany; Week 13: at Bryant
14. Illinois State (8-3, 5-2 MVFC), 624
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 12: 31-19 win at Indiana State; Week 13: North Dakota
15. Villanova (8-3, 5-2 CAA), 620
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 12: 40-33 loss at Monmouth; Week 13: Delaware
16. Tarleton State (8-3, 5-2 UAC), 585
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 12: 35-31 loss to then-No. 14 Abilene Christian; Week 13: Central Arkansas
17. Harvard (8-1, 5-1 Ivy), 431
Previous Ranking: 20; Week 12: 31-28 win at Penn; Week 13: Yale
18. Stony Brook (8-3, 5-2 CAA), 343
Previous Ranking: 16; Week 12: 31-30 loss at New Hampshire; Week 13: Monmouth
19. Duquesne (8-2, 5-0 NEC), 285
Previous Ranking: 22; Week 12: 42-21 win over Wagner; Week 13: at Central Connecticut State
20. Jackson State (9-2, 7-0 SWAC), 271
Previous Ranking: 23; Week 12: 16-10 win at Alabama State; Week 13: at Alcorn State
21. Northern Arizona (7-4, 5-2 Big Sky), 266
Previous Ranking: 25; Week 12: 44-3 win at Northern Colorado; Week 13: Eastern Washington
22. UT Martin (7-4, 5-2 Big South-OVC), 192
Previous Ranking: 18; Week 12: 10-9 loss to Tennessee Tech; Week 13: Lindenwood
23. South Carolina State (8-2, 4-0 MEAC), 182
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 12: 54-7 win at Morgan State; Week 13: Norfolk State
24. New Hampshire (7-4, 5-2 CAA), 173
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 12: 31-30 win over Stony Brook; Week 13: at Maine
25. Eastern Kentucky (7-4, 5-2 UAC), 167
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 12: 30-27 OT win at Austin Peay; Week 13: North Alabama
Dropped Out: Chattanooga (19), ETSU (21), Central Arkansas (24)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Tennessee State (8-3, 5-2 Big South-OVC), 97; William & Mary (7-4, 4-3 CAA), 69; North Carolina Central (7-3, 3-1 MEAC), 56; Southern Utah (6-5, 5-2 UAC), 38; Southeastern Louisiana (6-5, 5-1 Southland), 28; Chattanooga (6-5, 5-3 SoCon), 24; Western Carolina (6-5, 5-2 SoCon), 21; Central Arkansas (6-5, 3-4 UAC), 19; ETSU (6-5, 4-3 SoCon), 10; Tennessee Tech (6-5, 5-2 Big South-OVC), 8; Lehigh (7-3, 4-1 Patriot), 6; Drake (7-2, 6-1 Pioneer), 5
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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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