News/Commentary

FCS Coaches' Poll - South Dakota State No. 1 As Top 5 Remain Same

September 13, 2023 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

There was no movement among the top 5 in the second regular season FCS Coaches' Poll for 2023, but Samford fell from 7th to 14th after the 30-7 loss in Cullowhee to Western Carolina.

The poll is conducted by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).

The big game this past week saw top-ranked South Dakota State preserve a 20-16 win at home over No. 3 Montana State.

Meanwhile, Idaho was one of three FCS schools to defeat an FBS program last weekend and the Vandals moved up to 10th. The other two were Southern Illinois, which climbed from 23 to 20 after a 14-11 win at Northern lllinois, and Fordham entered the rankings at No. 22 after a 40-37 win at Buffalo.

This week will see 23 of the Top 25 teams in action with Furman (21) and Stonehill (t22)  idle.

Eight of the Top 25 teams will play schools from outside the FCS this week, with 6 of those facing FBS opposition on the road, and 2 other schools stepping down to take on D2 programs. (Each is noted in parenthesis in the "Next Game" column).

The Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com have No. 6 Sacramento State favored by 6.31 when the Hornets and new head coach Andy Thompson visit his former boss, Troy Taylor, at Stanford.

No. 24 Florida A&M is at the other end of that spectrum as the Rattlers are a 4.79 home underdog to West Florida, the No. 4 team in the D2 Poll.

There is just one Top 25 matchup this week as 15th-ranked Southeast Missouri hosts  No. 18 Southern Illinois with the home team Redhawks favored by 8.38

(ALSO SEE: FCS Picks and scores, FCS Odds)

Rank School (1st votes) Rec. Pts. Prev. Week 2 Next Game
1 South Dakota St. (26) 2-0 650 1 W 20-16 (3) Montana St. 9/16 Drake (Minneapolis)
2 North Dakota St. 2-0 624 2 L 44-7 Maine 9/16 Central Arkansas
3 Montana St. 1-1 555 3 L. 20-16 at (1) South Dakota St. 9/16 Stetson
4 William & Mary 2-0 545 4 W 23-6 vs Wofford 9/16 at Charleston Southern
5 Holy Cross 1-1 523 5 L 31-28 at Boston College (FBS) 9/16 at Yale
6 Sacramento St. 2-0 500 8 W 34-6 Texas A&M-Commerce 9/16 at Stanford (FBS)
7 Weber St. 2-0 486 9 W 34-17 at (20) No. Iowa 9/16 at Utah (FBS)
8 Furman 1-1 445 6 L 47-21 at South Carolina (FBS) 9/16 at Kennesaw St.
9 UIW 1-1 424 10 W 42-7 at No. Colorado 9/16 at Abilene Christian
10 Idaho 2-0 393 12 W 33-6 at at Nevada (FBS) 9/16 at California (FBS)
11t. Montana 2-0 343 13 W 42-13 at Utah Tech 9/16 Ferris St.
11t. New Hampshire 1-1 343 11 L 45-42 at Central Michigan (FBS) 9/16 Dartmouth
13 North Dakota 2-0 329 15 W 37-22 No. Arizona 9/16 at Boise State (FBS)
14 Samford 1-1 289 7 L 30-7 at Western Carolina 9/16 at Auburn (FBS)
15 Southeast Missouri 1-1 287 16 W 45-7 Lindenwood 9/16 (18) Southern Illinois
16 UC Davis 1-1 241 14 L 55-7 at Oregon St. (FBS) 9/16 Southern Utah
17 NC Central 2-0 239 18 W 30-16 at NC A&T 9/16 at UCLA (FBS)
18 Southern Illinois 2-0 214 23 W 14-11 at No. Illinois (FBS) 9/16 at (15) Southeast Missouri
19 Delaware 1-1 161 19 L 63-7 at Penn St. (FBS) 9/16 St. Francis (Pa.)
20 Rhode Island 1-1 159 22 W 35-14 Stony Brook 9/16 at Maine
21 Mercer 2-1 114 24 W 48-22 Morehead St. 9/23 at (8) Furman
22t. Fordham 2-1 97 NR W 40-37 at Buffalo (FBS) 9/23 Stonehill
22t. SE Louisiana 0-2 97 17 L 35-17 at South Alabama (FBS) 9/16 at Eastern Washington
24 Florida A&M 1-1 91 21 L 38-24 at USF (FBS) 9/16 West Florida
25 Illinois St. 2-0 50 NR W 34-18 at Western Illinois 9/16 at Eastern Illinois

Dropped Out: Northern Iowa (20), Youngstown St. (25)

Others Receiving Votes: Northern Iowa, 45; Youngstown St., 39; Yale, 29; Gardner-Webb, 25; Central Arkansas, 17; Richmond, 17; Jackson St., 15; Murray St., 14; Harvard, 10; Eastern Kentucky, 9; Princeton, 9; Villanova, 5; Western Carolina, 5; St. Thomas (Minn.), 4; Stephen F. Austin, 3; Austin Peay, 2; Chattanooga, 1; Morgan St., 1; Tarleton, 1.