News/Commentary

FCS Coaches' Poll: Montana State Moves To No. 3 as Jackrabbits, Bison Remain 1-2

September 3, 2024 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff and AFCA.com

The first in-season AFCA Coaches' Poll, presented by HUDL, was released Tuesday morning with no change at the top. Even though South Dakota State and North Dakota State lost over the Labor Day weekend to big-name FBS schools, those two programs remain in front of the field.

Montana State crept up to No. 3 after the defense allowed Utah Tech just 41 yards of offense through three quarters and didn’t give up a first down until the fourth. The 31-7 victory helps the Bobcats move up a spot with their 2-0 record.

The Jackrabbits fell 44-20 at Oklahoma State, and also lost some first-place votes after controlling all of them in the preseason poll.

The Bison actually picked up 5 of those votes after a 31-26 loss at Colorado. while Montana State grabbed four endorsements for the top spot. North Dakota State is now 9-5 vs. FBS schools. The Bison had a 6-game winning streak in such games until it was snapped in 2022 by Arizona. They had a $700,000 guaranteed payday to play the Buffaloes which was tied for the second-highest of all 121 FBS-FCS matchups scheduled. According to Hero Sports, Nicholls will top that payday this year. by getting $760,000 to visit LSU this week.

Montana dropped one spot to No. 4 despite beating Missouri State, 29-24. Villanova moved into the top five after upending then-No. 23 Youngstown State, 24-17.

There are two games between Top 25 teams on this Saturday's list of fixtures as South Dakota State hosts No. 11 UIW, and 4th-ranked Montana travels to No. 20 North Dakota.

South Dakota opened at home against D2 Northern State for an easy 45-3 win, but the No. 6 Coyotes dropped two spots before heading to Wisconsin this week.

The next four teams in the poll all lost at FBS schools this past weekend.

Idaho stays at No. 7 after holding Oregon to 24 points in a 24-14 loss; Sacramento State moved up from No. 10 to No. 8 on the heels of a 42-24 setback at San Jose State; Central Arkansas got a 4-spot boost for its solid showing at Arkansas State where the Bears fell 34-31; and Chattanooga only dropped from 8th to 9th after getting trucked 69-3 in Knoxville by the Tennessee Volunteers.

Three of the schools in the top six reside in the Missouri Valley Football Conference - South Dakota State, North Dakota State and South Dakota.

Four schools in the top ten are members of the Big Sky - Montana, Montana State, Idaho and Sacramento State.

Villanova plays in the Coastal Athletic Association, while Chattanooga represents the Southern Conference (SoCon), and Central Arkansas is a member of the United Athletic Conference which is a collection of schools from the Atlantic Sun (ASUN) and Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

Rank School (1st votes) W-L Points LW Last Game Next Game (all on 9/7)
1 South Dakota St. (17) 0-1 630 1 L 20-44, at Oklahoma St. vs 11 UIW
2 North Dakota St. (5) 0-1 624 2 L 26-31 at Colorado vs Tennessee St.
3 Montana St. (4) 2-0 589 4 W 31-7 at Utah Tech vs Maine
4 Montana 1-0 572 3 W29-24 vs Missouri St. at 20 North Dakota
5 Villanova 1-0 527 6 W 24-17 vs 23 Youngstown at Colgate
6 South Dakota 1-0 493 5 W 45-3 vs. Northern State (SD) at Wisconsin
7 Idaho 0-1 489 7 L 14-24 at Oregon at Wyoming
8 Sacramento St. 0-1 397 10 L 24-42 at San Jose St. at Fresno St.
9 Central Arkansas 0-1 359 13 L 31-34 at Arkansas St. at Lindenwood
10 Chattanooga 0-1 342 8 L 3-69 at Tennessee at Georgia St.
11 UIW 1-0 340 15 W 28-7 vs N. Colorado at 1 South Dakota St.
12 Southern Illinois 0-1 331 11 L 13-41 at BYU at Austin Peay
13 UAlbany 1-0 302 14 W 27-21 vs LIU at West Virginia
14 William & Mary 1-0 300 16 W 41-7 vs VMI at Coastal Carolina
15 Richmond 0-1 289 12 L 13-34 at Virginia vs. Wofford
16 Furman 0-1 270 9 L 0-76 at Ole Miss vs. Charleston Southern
17 Western Carolina 0-1 221 19 L. 21-38 at NC State vs. Campbell
18 UC Davis 0-1 197 17 L 13-31 to California vs. Texas A&M-Commerce
19 Lafayette 0-1 156 18 L 13-30 at Buffalo at Monmouth
20 North Dakota 0-1 152 22 L 3-21 at Iowa St. vs. 4 Montana
21 Tarleton St. 1-1 109 21 L 3-45 at Baylor at Houston Christian
22 Illinois St. 0-1 95 20 L 0-40 at Iowa at North Alabama
23 Youngstown St. 0-1 88 23 L 17-24 at 6 Villanova vs. Valparaiso
24 Florida A&M 2-0 82 25 W 22-18 vs SC State at Miami (Fla.)
25 Nicholls 0-1 74 24 L 17-25 at Louisiana Tech at LSU

Dropped Out: None

Others Receiving Votes: Northern Iowa, 55; ACU, 43; Mercer, 41; Eastern Washington, 40; North Carolina Central, 33; Eastern Illinois, 30; Rhode Island, 26; Southeast Missouri St., 20; Weber St., 17; Delaware St., 14; Harvard, 14; Missouri St., 14; Princeton, 14; Elon, 13; McNeese, 13; Stephen F. Austin, 12; UT Martin, 11; Wagner, 10; Northern Arizona, 5; Wofford, 5; Indiana St., 3; Yale, 3; Tennessee St., 2; Alabama A&M, 1; Murray St., 1; North Carolina A&T, 1; Samford, 1.

For more information about the AFCA, visit www.AFCA.com.