Illinois State rose to No. 7 after a dominant homecoming win.
Here are the new FCS coachesâ poll rankings after another thrilling week of action:
| RANK | SCHOOL | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota St. (26) | 650 | 1 |
| 2 | Kennesaw St. | 622 | 2 |
| 3 | South Dakota St. | 598 | 5 |
| 4 | Jacksonville St. | 558 | 7 |
| 5 | James Madison | 547 | 8 |
| 6 | McNeese | 491 | 9 |
| 7 | Illinois St. | 465 | 12 |
| 8 | Eastern Washington | 459 | 3 |
| 9 | Weber St. | 451 | 13 |
| 10 | Sam Houston St. | 375 | 14 |
| 11 | Elon | 346 | 6 |
| 12 | Wofford | 343 | 4 |
| 13 | Colgate | 301 | 17 |
| 14 | Towson | 297 | 18 |
| 15 | Central Arkansas | 292 | 16 |
| 16 | UC Davis | 279 | 19 |
| 17 | Stony Brook | 187 | 20 |
| 18t | North Carolina A&T | 184 | 10 |
| 18t | Princeton | 184 | 21 |
| 20 | Maine | 176 | 22 |
| 21 | East Tennessee St. | 134 | 24 |
| 22 | Nicholls | 131 | 11 |
| 23 | Rhode Island | 129 | 15 |
| 24 | Dartmouth | 74 | NR |
| 25 | Delaware | 64 | NR |
Take a look up and down the FCS scoreboard this week, and you wonât see many games with so few points scored. But the Wildcatsâ defense is legit. Eastern Washington had scored at least 55 points in two of its prior three games before going up against Weber State. The Wildcats were a different beast, and while their rise in the rankings was significant, they also helped some other schools who were lurking.
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One of those teams is South Dakota State, which is up to No. 3 after pummeling Youngstown State 36-7. The Jackrabbitsâ lone loss was to No. 1 North Dakota State, and it came by four points. Other than that, theyâve been spotless. While the Bison clearly deserve to be the top team in the country, the talent gap isnât massive. If South Dakota State and North Dakota State meet again, it feels like it could go in either direction.
MORE: NCAA.com FCS home
North Dakota State has an intriguing test coming up in the form of No. 7 Illinois State this Saturday. The Redbirds rose five spots in the rankings this week after throttling Southern Illinois by 48 points. ISU has one of the top defenses in the land, allowing just 12 points per game this season. It will need to be on point against North Dakota State on Saturday. While the Redbirds would obviously love to win, a competitive loss shouldnât drop them too far (if at all) if they can hang tight. Mark your calendars for that one.
Furman also pulled off a massive upset this week, topping then-No. 4 Wofford 34-14. Wofford fell all the way to No. 12 as a result of the loss, which seems fair, given that it was by 20 points and Furman still isnât ranked. The Terriers have a chance to redeem themselves on Saturday against No. 21 ETSU, but it feels like they let a prime opportunity to vault into the top three slip away.
MORE: FCS statistical leaders
And finally, Delaware enters the fray at No. 25 after defeating then-No. 6 Elon over the weekend. Elon fell to No. 11 due to the loss, opening the door for schools like Jacksonville State (No. 4), James Madison (No. 5) and McNeese (No. 6). At this point, if youâre a top FCS team, style points donât really matter. Just win, however necessary. Granted, North Dakota State and Kennesaw State were dominant in their wins, but they likely wouldnât have fallen even had the wins been ugly. Other than NDSU, James Madison is the only top-five team that plays a ranked game this weekend (home against No. 17 Stony Brook), but as we just saw, these schools are still upset prone. It feels like anyone can go down at any given time.
It was a crazy week of FCS football, and with three top 25 matchups looming, thereâs likely more to come. Buckle up.
