Big Sky Conference

Big Sky up to 4 in STATS FCS Top 25; Kennesaw State makes first appearance

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(STATS) – The Big Sky Conference ended September with disappointing non-conference results, but the nation’s largest FCS conference rebounded nicely in October.

As it enters the stretch drive of November, the Big Sky has four teams in the STATS FCS Top 25 for the first time this season – as well as a superb title race.

Top-ranked James Madison again led the way in the national media poll on Monday as the top six teams remained the same following victories.

There’s a logjam of Big Sky teams in the Top 25 as well as in the conference standings, but the picture should clear up further on Saturday. Coming off a bye, No. 11 Eastern Washington (5-3, 4-1) will host No. 19 Weber State (6-2, 4-1); No. 18 Northern Arizona (6-2, 5-0) will put its first-place lead on the line at Montana (5-3, 3-2), which was just knocked out of the ranking by Weber State; and No. 17 Southern Utah (6-2, 4-1) hosts preseason favorite North Dakota, which has had a disappointing season.

Add in that unranked Montana and Montana State hope to get hot and play each other with an FCS playoff spot on the line Nov. 18, and the 13-team Big Sky has a deep fight to the finish line.

Weber State senior quarterback Stefan Cantwell throws against Montana State junior defensive linemen Zach Wright and Tyrone Fa’anono/ by Brooks Nuanez

The power conferences continued to dominant in the Top 25. CAA Football and the Missouri Valley Football Conference both had five representatives, the Big Sky and Southern conferences four each, and the Southland Conference three.

Top-ranked James Madison (8-0) shut out New Hampshire 21-0 in the CAA for its 20th straight win, the high in Division I. The defending national champ had 156 of the 162 first-place votes and 4,044 points to outdistance No. 2 North Dakota State (8-0). The Missouri Valley leader, which beat Northern Iowa 30-14, earned the other six first-place votes.

Jacksonville State (7-1) held strong at No. 3 after defeating Southeast Missouri 23-7 to extend its record of consecutive Ohio Valley Conference victories to 29. Southland teams Central Arkansas (7-1) and Sam Houston State (7-1) were Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, followed by South Dakota (7-1), Elon (7-1), Wofford (7-1), North Carolina A&T (8-0) and South Dakota State (6-2).

After Eastern Washington, it was Illinois State (6-2), Grambling State (7-1), Stony Brook (6-2), Western Illinois (5-3), Samford (5-3), Southern Utah, Northern Arizona, Weber State and Villanova (4-4).

Rounding out the rankings were New Hampshire (5-3), McNeese (6-2), Furman (6-3), Western Carolina (6-3) and Kennesaw State (7-1), the third-year Big South program making its first appearance in the rankings. Montana State hosts Kennesaw State in a game with real FCS playoff implications on Saturday.

“I’m glad we are playing a team as good as Kennesaw State because I think it helps our players to focus,” MSU second-year head coach Jeff Choate said when asked about the atypical timing of his team’s final non-conference game. “They have a huge challenge in front of them. It peaks the curiosity of the fan base. They know they have another Top 25 non-conference in here and play a competitive schedule. If you want to make some noise in November, you have to play good teams and you have to have the ability to win some of those games.”

Four traditional FCS powers fell out of the Top 25 following losses – Richmond, Youngstown State, Delaware and Montana, which have all captured at least one FCS national title.

A national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries select the STATS FCS Top 25. 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.

The Top 25 is released every Monday afternoon during the regular season, except for Sunday morning, Nov. 19, prior to the selection of the 24-team FCS playoff field. A final Top 25 will follow the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas.

STATS FCS Top 25

Rankings as of Oct. 30, 2017

Rank School Votes Prev
1 James Madison (8-0) 4044 (156) 1
2 North Dakota State (8-0) 3894 (6) 2
3 Jacksonville State (7-1) 3682 3
4 Central Arkansas (7-1) 3572 4
5 Sam Houston State (7-1) 3360 5
6 South Dakota (7-1) 3107 6
7 Elon (7-1) 2840 10
8 Wofford (7-1) 2817 8
9 North Carolina A&T (8-0) 2788 7
10 South Dakota State (6-2) 2721 11
11 Eastern Washington (5-3) 2118 14
12 Illinois State (6-2) 2098 16
13 Grambling State (7-1) 1771 15
14 Stony Brook (6-2) 1592 22
15 Western Illinois (5-3) 1539 12
16 Samford (5-3) 1441 9
17 Southern Utah (6-2) 1246 25
18 Northern Arizona (6-2) 1134 NR
19 Weber State (6-2) 1072 NR
20 Villanova (4-4) 989 13
21 New Hampshire (5-3) 964 17
22 McNeese (6-2) 571 20
23 Furman (6-3) 565 NR
24 Western Carolina (6-3) 551 18
25 Kennesaw State (7-1) 391 NR

Others: Nicholls (388) , Richmond (363) , Monmouth (245) , Delaware (182) , UNI (177) , Youngstown State (95) , Montana (88) , Duquesne (73) , Yale (40) , Citadel (36) , North Carolina Central (26) , Columbia (20) , Austin Peay (17) , Maine (9) , Charleston Southern (9) , Dartmouth (6) , Princeton (5) , Montana State (2)Howard (1) , Hampton (1)

 

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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