Big Sky Conference

UND breaks into top 25; EWU, UM move up while MSU, PSU fall

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In the latest Football Championship Subdivision polls, the Big Sky Conference still has five teams ranked with some climbing and others falling.

Eastern Washington (2-2) remains the only Big Sky team in the top 10. Following a bye week, the Eagles moved up one spot in each the FCS Coaches and the STATS polls to No. 8.

Following Saturday’s 27-14 win at winless UC Davis, the Montana Grizzlies moved up one spot in each poll. UM is No. 11 in the coaches’ poll, No. 12 in the STATS poll.

Following their second loss in three weeks, the Montana State Bobcats plummeted, falling seven spots to No. 18 in the STATS poll and eight spots to No. 19 in the coaches’ poll. MSU fell behind 42-14 to Northern Arizona before rallying but falling short in a 49-41 loss.

Portland State entered the weekend as the only unbeaten team in the Big Sky. But the Vikings fell 19-17 to North Dakota on Saturday and fell in both polls. PSU went from No. 16 to No. 23 in the coaches’ poll and fell from No. 16 to No. 25 in the STATS poll. North Dakota broke into the rankings, coming in at No. 23 in the STATS poll and No. 25 in the coaches’ poll.

Northern Arizona accumulated the 28th-most points in the coaches’ poll and the 26th-most in the STATS poll. Cal Poly, a 58-26 winner over Idaho State last week, earned the 27th-most points in the STATS poll and the 29th-most in the coaches’ poll.

 

FCS COACHES POLL

RANK SCHOOL RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Coastal Carolina (16) 5-0 633 1
2 North Dakota State (6) 3-1 622 2
3 Jacksonville State (4) 4-1 601 3
4 Illinois State 3-1 572 4
5 James Madison 5-0 559 5
6 Chattanooga 3-1 491 8
7 Youngstown State 3-1 446 10
8 Eastern Washington 2-2 436 9
9 South Dakota State 3-1 410 7
10 Northern Iowa 2-2 389 6
11 Montana 3-2 362 12
12 Fordham 4-1 358 13
13 McNeese State 4-0 331 15
14 Sam Houston State 2-2 282 14
15 Liberty 3-2 263 18
16 Villanova 2-2 230 17
17 Southeastern Louisiana 3-1 214 19
18 Richmond 3-1 202 20
19 Montana State 2-2 199 11
20 Eastern Kentucky 2-2 165 21
21 Indiana State 3-1 129 24
22 New Hampshire 3-2 126 23
23 Portland State 3-1 119 16
24 Harvard 3-0 87 25
25 North Dakota 4-1 53 NR

Dropped from rankings: William & Mary

Others receiving votes: Charleston Southern (27), North Carolina A&T (27), Northern Arizona (26), Cal Poly (24), Furman (23), Alcorn State (13), Idaho State (7), William & Mary (5), Lamar (5), Western Illinois (5), Samford (2), Towson (2), Central Arkansas (2), Dartmouth (1), Jacksonville (1), Southern Utah (1).

STATS FCS Top 25

RANK SCHOOL RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS
1 Jacksonville State 4-1 3802 (82) 1
2 Coastal Carolina 5-0 370p (39) 2
3 North Dakota State 3-1 3646 (20) 3
4 Illinois State 3-1 3472 (1) 4
5 James Madison 5-0 3344 (8) 6
6 Chattanooga 3-1 2932 (8) 8
7 Eastern Washington 2-2 2746 (1) 9
8 South Dakota State 3-1 2637 5
9 Youngstown State 3-1 2504 10
10 Northern Iowa 2-2 2472 7
11 Sam Houston State 2-2 2075 12
12 Montana 3-2 2047 13
13 Fordham 4-1 1886 15
14 Villanova 2-2 1701 14
15 Liberty 3-2 1524 18
16 Richmond 3-1 1361 19
17 Eastern Kentucky 2-2 1314 17
18 Montana State 2-2 1111 11
19 Indiana State 3-1 799 21
20 Southeastern Louisiana 3-1 972 22
21 New Hampshire 3-2 966 20
22 McNeese State 4-0 950 23
23 North Dakota 4-1 682 NR
24 Harvard 3-0 676 24
25 Portland State 3-1 645 16

Others receiving votes: Northern Arizona (281) , Cal Poly (84) , Alcorn State (82) , North Carolina A&T (77) , Western Illinois (75) , Lamar (70) , Furman (51) , William & Mary (40) , Dartmouth (31) , Bethune-Cookman (15) , Charleston Southern (15) , Samford (14) , Princeton (12) , Tennessee State (7) , Stony Brook (7) , Southern Illinois (5) , South Carolina State (3) , Jacksonville (3) , UT Martin (2) , Delaware (2) , Wofford (2) , Duquesne (1) , Western Carolina (1) , Southern University (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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