For the first time this decade, the Montana State Bobcats are not ranked in this week’s STATS FCS Top 25 poll.
The Bobcats fell to 4-4 this season with a 44-38 loss at North Dakota on Saturday. MSU is 2-3 in Big Sky Conference play, 3-4 against Division I opponents this season. With the release of the STATS poll on Monday, the longest streak in the FCS ended as Montana State was not ranked for the first time in 82 weeks.
The last time MSU fell out of the polls was following the Bobcats’ 33-19 loss to No. 2 Montana in 2009. The ‘Cats entered the game No. 23 in the STATS poll and fell out of the rankings in the final poll that year. MSU broke back into the poll the third week of September of 2010 and have been in all 82 STATS poll.
The Bobcats held on in the FCS Coaches’ poll, falling from No. 18 to No. 24 in this week’s poll. North Dakota State, the four-time defending FCS national champions, now has the longest current streak in the STATS poll, a stretch that spans 73 weeks dating back to 2010.
Southern Utah broke into the STATS poll for the first time this season after Saturday’s 54-37 win over Cal Poly. SUU is now 5-0 in Big Sky Conference play and riding a six-game winning streak overall. SUU is No. 20 in this week’s STATS poll and rose from No. 24 to No. 18 in the FCS Coaches’ poll. The latter is the highest SUU has ever been ranked in an FCS poll.
“It’s an honor, especially the coaches’ poll, to have other coaches recognize the work of the guys and the staff,” said SUU eighth-year head coach Ed Lamb said, whose team plays at Montana State on Saturday. “I honestly didn’t expect we would be that high because we are not in the mode of being concerned with that because we general are unranked. We like having that chip on our shoulder being an underrated team. Hopefully, we can stay worthy of being rated.”
Southern Utah’s entrance into means four Big Sky Conference teams are ranked in the STATS poll and five are ranked in the FCS Coaches’ poll. Eastern Washington moved up one spot to No. 4 in each poll following its 14-13 win over Weber State. EWU is now 5-0 in Big Sky play and on a six-game winning streak overall that began with a 55-50 win over Montana State in September.
Portland State moved up from No. 12 to No. 9 in the coaches’ poll and from No. 10 to No. 12 in the STATS poll. The Vikings defeated Montana for the first time since 2004. The 35-16 win in Portland helped PSU snap an eight-game losing streak to the Griz. The Vikings received a first-place vote in the STATS poll.
Despite the loss, Montana held on in both polls. The 4-4 Griz fell from No. 17 to No. 22 in both polls.
Southern Utah’s STATS ranking means nine of the 13 teams in the Big Sky Conference have been ranked at some point this season. Weber State (4-5), Sacramento State (2-6), Northern Colorado (4-4) and UC Davis (1-7) are the Big Sky teams that have not been ranked. Idaho State (2-6) was ranked No. 23 in the preseason poll. Northern Arizona (5-3) was ranked No. 24 for a week after a season-opening win over preseason No. 24 Stephen F. Austin. North Dakota (5-4) was ranked No. 23 for a week after a 19-16 win over Portland State earlier this season. Cal Poly (2-6) climbed as high as No. 20 after a season opening win over Montana and a good performance in a narrow loss at FBS Arizona State.
Jacksonville State earned 23 first-place votes to take over the top spot in the FCS Coaches’ poll. Coastal Carolina, the No. 1 in the coaches’ poll for the better part of the last two months, fell to No. 8 after 33-25 loss to Charleston Southern. JSU also tightened its hold on No. 1 in the STATS poll, earning 139 votes. Illinois State earned 18 first-place votes in the STATS poll and the remaining three in the coaches’ poll to secure No. 2 in both polls. Chattanooga is No. 3 in both polls.
*Schools in BOLD indicate Big Sky Conference teams.
STATS FCS Top 25 : Media Poll
| RANK | SCHOOL | VOTES | RECORD | PREV |
| 1 | Jacksonville State (139) | 3953 | 7-1 | 1 |
| 2 | Illinois State (18) | 3825 | 7-1 | 3 |
| 3 | Chattanooga | 3540 | 7-1 | 4 |
| 4 | Eastern Washington | 3275 | 6-2 | 5 |
| 5 | Richmond | 3240 | 7-1 | 6 |
| 6 | North Dakota State | 3097 | 6-2 | 7 |
| 7 | Sam Houston State | 2843 | 6-2 | 8 |
| 8 | Coastal Carolina | 2753 | 7-1 | 2 |
| 9 | McNeese State (1) | 2710 | 8-0 | 10 |
| 10 | Portland State (1) | 2699 | 7-1 | 12 |
| 11 | South Dakota State | 2280 | 6-2 | 14 |
| 12 | William & Mary | 2268 | 6-2 | 16 |
| 13 | Harvard | 1964 | 7-0 | 15 |
| 14 | James Madison | 1841 | 7-2 | 9 |
| 15 | Charleston Southern | 1738 | 7-1 | 24 |
| 16 | Fordham | 1349 | 7-2 | 11 |
| 17 | UNI | 1282 | 4-4 | 18 |
| 18 | Eastern Kentucky | 1227 | 5-3 | 13 |
| 19 | North Carolina A&T | 1176 | 7-1 | 20 |
| 20 | Southern Utah | 799 | 6-2 | NR |
| 21 | Youngstown State | 670 | 4-4 | 25 |
| 22 | Montana | 609 | 4-4 | 17 |
| 23 | Indiana State | 436 | 4-4 | 21 |
| 24 | Dartmouth | 335 | 6-1 | 22 |
| 25 | Citadel | 295 | 6-2 | NR |
Dropped from polls: Montana State, Western Illinois
Others receiving votes: Montana State (286), Grambling State (224), Eastern Illinois (176), Bethune-Cookman (173), Western Illinois (153), Central Arkansas (97), Alcorn State (82), North Dakota (60), Dayton (43), UT Martin (36), Northern Arizona (33), Villanova (27) , Towson (15) , Southeastern Louisiana (13) , Western Carolina (11), New Hampshire (9), South Dakota (8), Liberty (6), Colgate (5), Kennesaw State (5), Penn (4), Southern Illinois (2), Duquesne (2), South Carolina State (1)
FCS Top 25: Coaches Poll
| RANK | SCHOOL | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
| 1. | Jacksonville State (23) | 7-1 | 647 | 2 |
| 2. | Illinois State (3) | 7-1 | 625 | 3 |
| 3. | Chattanooga | 7-1 | 586 | 4 |
| 4. | Eastern Washington | 6-2 | 536 | 5 |
| 5. | McNeese State | 8-0 | 517 | 7 |
| — | North Dakota State | 6-2 | 517 | 6 |
| 7. | Richmond | 7-1 | 498 | 8 |
| 8. | Coastal Carolina | 7-1 | 471 | 1 |
| 9. | Portland State | 7-1 | 435 | 12 |
| — | Sam Houston State | 6-2 | 435 | 10 |
| 11. | South Dakota State | 6-2 | 382 | 13 |
| 12. | William & Mary | 6-2 | 346 | 15 |
| 13. | Charleston Southern | 7-1 | 341 | 19 |
| 14. | James Madison | 7-2 | 298 | 9 |
| 15. | Harvard | 7-0 | 277 | 16 |
| 16. | North Carolina A&T | 7-1 | 241 | 20 |
| 17. | Fordham | 7-2 | 213 | 11 |
| 18. | Southern Utah | 6-2 | 182 | 24 |
| 19. | Eastern Kentucky | 5-3 | 161 | 14 |
| 20. | Northern Iowa | 4-4 | 158 | 21 |
| 21. | Youngstown State | 4-4 | 95 | 25 |
| 22. | The Citadel | 6-2 | 83 | NR |
| — | Montana | 4-4 | 83 | 17 |
| 24. | Montana State | 4-4 | 56 | 18 |
| 25. | Bethune-Cookman | 7-2 | 44 | NR |
Dropped from rankings: Dartmouth, Indiana State
Others receiving votes: Indiana State 42, Dartmouth 37, Towson 32, Eastern Illinois 32, Central Arkansas 20, Grambling State 16, Alcorn State 13, Southern Illinois 8, Western Illinois 6, Villanova 5, Furman 5, Northern Arizona 5, North Dakota 1, UT Martin 1
