The 2025 FCS season will begin as so many have before it: with the rest of the nation chasing North Dakota State.
The Bison, who upset No. 1 Montana State to win their 10th FCS national title in 14 seasons (but their first since 2021), checked in as a near-unanimous No. 1 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, released Monday. Tim Polasek's team garnered 54 of 56 possible first-place votes. Reigning national runner-up Montana State and South Dakota earned the others. North Dakota State returns 11 starters from the 2024 title team, five of whom are preseason All-Americans.
Both No. 1 NDSU and No. 2 Montana State must replace their starting quarterbacks. Ironically, NDSU's Cam Miller and MSU's Tommy Mellott are now teammates; they were taken within two picks of each other in the sixth round of April's NFL draft by the Las Vegas Raiders.
“I like our leadership,” Polasek told The Analyst. “We don’t have the big group of seniors that we had last year. And I hope people write about that. Because whatever this team is, about Week 5 or 6, we’re gonna know. And one thing we do have is leadership within all levels of offense, defense and special teams.”
Rounding out the top five, 2022-23 national champion South Dakota State checked in at No. 3, South Dakota at No. 4, and Incarnate Word at No. 5. The Dakotas and Montana have dominated the sport of late, gobbling up all eight spots in the last four FCS national title games and at least one spot in eight straight championship bouts. UIW has been among the best of the rest of late, reaching the semifinals under GJ Kinne in 2022 and the quarters under Clint Killough last fall. The Cardinals have won or shared the Southland Conference championship in four of the last seven seasons.
South Dakota State, who played under John Stiegelmeier from 1997-2022, plays under its second head coach in three seasons after Jimmy Rogers took the Washington State job. New head coach Dan Jackson was a Jackrabbits linebacker from 2003-05 and coached under Stiegelmeier from 2012-19.
Rhode Island is the highest-ranked CAA team at No. 9, Tarleton leads the United Athletic Conference at No. 10, Mercer paces the SoCon at No. 11, Lehigh leads the Patriot League at No. 14, and Jackson State represents the SWAC at No. 17. The Big Sky led all conferences with six ranked teams, followed by the MVFC's five (four of whom are in the top 10).
The full rankings:
1. North Dakota State -- 1,398 total points (54 first-place votes)
2. Montana State -- 1,335 (1)
3. South Dakota State -- 1,266
4. South Dakota -- 1,227 (1)
5. Incarnate Word -- 1,138
6. Illinois State -- 1,015
7. Montana -- 1,004
8. UC Davis -- 938
9. Rhode Island -- 928
10. Tarleton -- 912
11. Mercer -- 824
12. Idaho -- 747
13. Villanova -- 737
14. Lehigh -- 493
15. Sacramento State -- 492
16. Abilene Christian -- 436
17. Jackson State -- 336
18. Western Carolina -- 335
19. Northern Arizona -- 312
20. Southern Illinois -- 310
21. Tennessee Tech -- 284
22. Monmouth -- 274
23. Stephen F. Austin -- 183
24. Stony Brook -- 181
25. Richmond -- 154