–The Missouri Valley Football Conference remains the strongest league in the national FCS football ratings.

Four matchups pitted top-25 teams against one another last week, while another five teams that received votes took on ranked opponents. Nine teams in last week’s Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Coaches Poll fell on Saturday creating a shakeup in this week’s top 25.

North Dakota State was picked as the unanimous No. 1 pick this week, receiving all 26 first-place votes for a total of 650 points. The Bison improved to 6-0 on the season with a 38-10 win over then No. 13 Southern Illinois. NDSU scored the final 21 points of the game to pull away from the Salukis and extend its FCS-record winning streak to 30 games. The Bison will face their third ranked opponent in four games when they host No. 23 Indiana State this Saturday.

Ten conferences were again represented among the 25 teams. The Missouri Valley Football Conference once again led all conferences with seven teams in the top 25. The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) placed four teams in the poll to come in second. The Big Sky and the Southland Conference followed with three schools apiece.   The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference.

 

FCS Coaches Poll – Week 7 (October 13, 2014)

Team (First-Place Votes)       Record              Points           Last Week

1. North Dakota State (26)         6-0                    650                   1

2. Eastern Washington               6-1                    624                   2

3. Coastal Carolina                    7-0                    583                   3

4. Villanova                               5-1                    566                   5

5. New Hampshire                     5-1                    549                   6

6. Montana                                4-2                    516                   7

7. Jacksonville State                 5-1                    498                   8

8. Southeastern Louisiana          5-2                    461                   9

9. Illinois State                          5-0                    401                   15

10. McNeese State                    3-2                    388                   4

11. Montana State                     5-2                    385                   14

12. Eastern Kentucky                 6-0                    337                   16

13. Fordham                             6-1                    286                   18

14. Bethune-Cookman               5-1                    268                   17

15. Chattanooga                        3-3                    256                   12

16. South Dakota State             4-2                    246                   19

17. Southern Illinois                   5-2                    245                   13

18. William & Mary                     4-2                    236                   11

19. Youngstown State               4-2                    216                   10

20. Richmond                            4-2                    208                   20

21. Northern Iowa                      3-3                    148                   21

22. Charleston Southern             5-1                    109                   23

23. Indiana State                       4-2                    77                     22

24. Harvard                               4-0                    59                     NR

25. Sam Houston State              3-3                    58                     NR

 

Dropped From Rankings: Alcorn State, Tennessee State

Others Receiving Votes: Sacred Heart 18, Delaware 12, Tennessee State 11, Alcorn State 5, Bryant 5, James Madison 5, Cal Poly 4, Central Arkansas 4, Southeast Missouri State 4, Bucknell 3, Missouri State 3, Samford 2, Stephen F. Austin 2, Dartmouth 1, Liberty 1