Missouri Valley Conference Puts Quartet of Teams in Top Seven for First Time Ever
The dominance of the Missouri Valley Conference has reached new heights in this week's college football FCS polls.
For the first time in MVFC history, four league schools are ranked in the Top 7 in the nation. North Dakota State, Illinois State, UNI and South Dakota State represent the league in the Top 7 of both the FCS coaches rankings and the STATS top-25 poll. South Dakota and Western Illinois also received votes in the STATS poll. SDSU picked up one first place vote in the coaches poll.
Six teams are ranked in the Top 25, as Youngstown State and Indiana State join the other four to represent the MVFC. It marks the third-straight week this year, and 15th overall, that the league has had six or more teams ranked.
This is the final weekend before conference play and only two MVFC teams are in action: South Dakota State hosts Robert Morris while Southern Illinois hosts Liberty.
STATS FCS Top 25
Others receiving votes: Stony Brook 335, William & Mary 263, Lamar 257, Northern Arizona 171, North Dakota 79, Samford 73, South Dakota 64, North Carolina A&T 42, Alcorn State 41, Western Illinois 36, Furman 35, Bryant 32, Idaho State 19, South Carolina State 8, Towson 8, Southern University 6, Dartmouth 4, Bethune-Cookman 4, Tennessee State 4, Southeast Missouri State 3, Princeton 2, Jacksonville 2, Charleston Southern 1, Sacred Heart 1.
FCS Coaches Poll | ||||
Team (First-Place Votes) | W-L | Pts | Prev | |
1 | Coastal Carolina (18) | 3-0 | 631 | 1 |
2 | North Dakota State (4) | 2-1 | 617 | 2 |
3 | Jacksonville State (3) | 2-1 | 591 | 4 |
4 | Villanova | 2-1 | 579 | 3 |
5 | Illinois State | 2-1 | 531 | 6 |
6 | Northern Iowa | 2-1 | 483 | 11 |
7 | South Dakota State (1) | 2-0 | 481 | 8 |
8 | James Madison | 3-0 | 477 | 10 |
9 | Chattanooga | 2-1 | 438 | 12 |
10 | Liberty | 2-1 | 410 | 14 |
11 | Eastern Washington | 1-2 | 349 | 15 |
12 | Youngstown State | 2-1 | 328 | 16 |
13 | Montana State | 1-1 | 296 | 9 |
14 | Sam Houston State | 0-2 | 277 | 5 |
15 | Montana | 1-2 | 260 | 7 |
16 | Fordham | 2-1 | 239 | 19 |
17 | McNeese State | 2-0 | 231 | 21 |
18 | Portland State | 2-0 | 220 | 20 |
19 | Southeastern Louisiana | 2-1 | 164 | 17 |
20 | Richmond | 2-1 | 147 | 23 |
21 | Eastern Kentucky | 1-1 | 126 | 22 |
22 | Cal Poly | 1-2 | 114 | 18 |
23 | Indiana State | 2-1 | 112 | 25 |
24 | New Hampshire | 1-2 | 78 | 13 |
25 | William & Mary | 1-1 | 45 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Harvard 42, Northern Arizona 34, Samford 28, South Carolina State 23, Charleston Southern 21, Stony Brook 20, Towson 20, North Carolina A&T 14, Alcorn State 8, Furman 7, Lamar 5, Western Illinois 3, Jacksonville 1.