Football | 1/15/2025 12:55:38 PM

FCS Coverage: FCS | The Analyst

Story: Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll: National Champ NDSU is No. 1 | Opta Analyst

                   Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll: NDSU Bison Claim No. 1 Ranking After Winning National Title  

They held the No. 2 ranking after the 2022 season and were No. 3 after last season – spots they also held earlier this season.

Make no mistake, the North Dakota State Bison prefer only the No. 1 ranking, which is what they claimed on Tuesday in the final Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll of the 2024 season.

Fresh off beating previously unbeaten Montana State 35-32 Monday night in the FCS championship game, NDSU (14-2) received all 56 first-place votes in the national media poll.

The FCS title was the Bison’s 10th in the last 14 seasons – four more than any other program in the playoffs’ 47-year history. Senior quarterback Cam Miller received the game’s Most Outstanding Player award, while Tim Polasek became the ninth first-year coach to lead a team to the FCS championship.

“Obviously, the standard here has been the same for 15 years now, and it's a national championship. It's to get up on that (victory) stage in Frisco,” junior linebacker Logan Kopp said. “The past two years, we have fallen short, and we've worked our butts off, 365 days, 24 hours a day, to get back up here.”

Montana State (15-1) had its program-record winning streak end while falling to NDSU for the sixth straight time in the FCS playoffs.

Semifinalists South Dakota State (13-2) and South Dakota (11-3) finished No. 3 and 4, respectively – giving the Missouri Valley Football Conference three of the top four teams along with NDSU. Quarterfinalist UC Davis (11-3), which finished second to Montana State in the Big Sky, was No. 5.

Eleven conferences had a team ranked in the final Top 25. The Big Sky had the high with five.

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

Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll (Postseason)

1. North Dakota State (14-2, 7-1 MVFC), 1,400 points (56 of 56 first-place votes) - Previous Ranking: 3; Postseason Results: 51-31 win over Abilene Christian; 31-7 win over Mercer; 28-21 win over South Dakota State; 35-32 win over Montana State
2. Montana State (15-1, 8-0 Big Sky), 1,344 - Previous Ranking: 1; Postseason Results: 49-17 win over UT Martin; 52-19 win over Idaho; 31-17 win over South Dakota; 35-32 loss to North Dakota State
3. South Dakota State (12-3, 7-1 MVFC), 1,284 - Previous Ranking: 2; Postseason Results: 33-18 win over Montana; 55-14 win over UIW; 28-21 loss at North Dakota State
4. South Dakota (11-3, 7-1 MVFC), 1,236 - Previous Ranking: 4; Postseason Results: 42-31 win over Tarleton State; 35-21 win over UC Davis; 31-17 loss at Montana State
5. UC Davis (11-3, 7-1 Big Sky), 1,170 - Previous Ranking: 5; Postseason Results: 42-10 win over Illinois State; 35-21 loss at South Dakota
6. UIW (11-3, 7-0 Southland), 1,084 - Previous Ranking: 6; Postseason Results: 13-6 win over Villanova; 55-14 loss at South Dakota State
7. Idaho (10-4, 6-2 Big Sky), 1,058 - Previous Ranking: 7; Postseason Results: 34-13 win over Lehigh; 52-19 loss at Montana State
8. Mercer (11-3, 7-1 SoCon), 1,037 - Previous Ranking: 8; Postseason Results: 17-10 win over Rhode Island; 31-7 loss at North Dakota State
9. Rhode Island (11-3, 7-1 CAA), 873 - Previous Ranking: 10; Postseason Results: 21-17 win over Central Connecticut State; 17-10 loss at Mercer
10. Montana (9-5, 5-3 Big Sky), 807 - Previous Ranking: 13; Postseason Results: 41-27 win over Tennessee State; 33-18 loss at South Dakota State
11. Illinois State (10-4, 6-2 MVFC), 805 - Previous Ranking: 11; Postseason Results: 35-27 win at Southeast Missouri; 42-10 loss at UC Davis
12. Villanova (10-4, 6-2 CAA), 780 - Previous Ranking: 12; Postseason Results: 22-17 win over Eastern Kentucky; 13-6 loss at UIW
13. Tarleton State (10-4, 6-2 UAC), 754 - Previous Ranking: 14; Postseason Results: 43-29 win over Drake; 42-31 loss at South Dakota
14. Abilene Christian (9-5, 7-2 UAC), 714 - Previous Ranking: 15; Postseason Results: 24-0 win over Northern Arizona; 51-31 loss at North Dakota State
15. Richmond (10-3, 8-0 CAA), 608 - Previous Ranking: 9; Postseason Result: 20-16 loss to Lehigh
16. Southeast Missouri (9-4, 6-2 Big South-OVC), 465 - Previous Ranking: 16; Postseason Result: 35-27 loss to Illinois State
17. UT Martin (9-5, 6-2 Big South-OVC), 463 - Previous Ranking: 23; Postseason Results: 41-10 win at New Hampshire; 49-17 loss at Montana State
18. Jackson State (12-2, 8-0 SWAC), 462 - Previous Ranking: 18; Postseason Result: 41-13 win over Southern; 28-7 win over South Carolina State 
19. Tennessee State (9-4, 6-2 Big South-OVC), 311 - Previous Ranking: 21; Postseason Result: 41-27 loss at Montana
20. Lehigh (9-4, 5-1 Patriot), 301 - Previous Ranking: NR; Postseason Results: 20-16 win at Richmond; 34-13 loss at Idaho
21. Eastern Kentucky (8-5, 6-2 UAC), 292 - Previous Ranking: 22; Postseason Result: 22-17 loss at Villanova
22. Northern Arizona (8-5, 6-2 Big Sky), 273 - Previous Ranking: 17; Postseason Result: 24-0 loss at Abilene Christian
23. New Hampshire (8-5, 6-2 CAA), 200 - Previous Ranking: 19; Postseason Result: 41-10 loss to UT Martin
24. South Carolina State (9-3, 5-0 MEAC), 172 - Previous Ranking: 20; Postseason Result: 28-7 loss to South Carolina
25. Harvard (8-2, 5-2 Ivy), 64 - Previous Ranking: 25; Postseason Results: No games

Dropped Out: Stony Brook (24)

Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Stony Brook (8-4, 5-3 CAA), 59; Southern Utah (7-5, 6-2 UAC), 34; Drake (8-3, 7-1 Pioneer), 28; North Carolina Central (8-3, 4-1 MEAC), 27; Western Carolina (7-5, 6-2 SoCon), 24; Southeastern Louisiana (7-5, 6-1 Southland), 20; Chattanooga (7-5, 5-3 SoCon), 18; Tennessee Tech (7-5, 6-2 Big South-OVC), 9; Central Connecticut State (7-6, 5-1 NEC), 8; Duquesne (8-3, 5-1 NEC), 8; Dartmouth (8-2, 5-2 Ivy), 6