Forty-six votes out of 57
Montana State head the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll released on Monday, and for the first time this season they do not head it unanimously. The national media panel cast 57 first-place votes. The Bobcats took 46, South Dakota State 10 and Illinois State one.
Saturday explains the slippage. Montana State needed a late stand to hold off Central Connecticut State 35-30 in Bozeman, moving to 4-0 and stretching their winning run to 18 games going back to last season. Voters noticed the margin.
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The Missouri Valley makes its case
South Dakota State stay second after beating then-No. 9 Youngstown State 27-20 in the opening Missouri Valley Football Conference game of the year. The Jackrabbits are 3-1, their only defeat coming against FBS opposition at Northwestern, and they have now appeared in 194 consecutive Top 25 polls.
Illinois State jumped from fifth to third at 4-0, a record that includes a win over an FBS team, after a 49-13 rout of Eastern Illinois. Montana State own the second-longest active streak of poll appearances at 77, tied, with Illinois State sixth on 35.
Youngstown State slid from ninth to 11th. Montana dropped from third to fifth following a 52-19 loss at Oregon State, and face a trip to No. 10 UC Davis on 26 September. Tarleton State hold fourth at 4-0 without playing.
Campbell return after 19 years away
The one new name is Campbell. The CAA Football side beat North Carolina A&T 42-14 to reach 3-1 and enter at No. 22, earning a national ranking for the first time in 19 seasons at FCS level. William & Mary dropped out to make room.
Rhode Island took the heaviest fall, from eighth to 19th, after losing 56-24 at Stony Brook and watching an 11-game CAA winning streak end. The Ivy League moved the other way, with Harvard climbing from 25th to 21st on the back of a 31-7 win at New Hampshire and Yale rising to 17th.
Week 4 puts No. 18 Northern Arizona at Montana State on 26 September, a Big Sky test that will decide whether the champions keep 46 votes or start losing more. The poll lands every Monday of the regular season, with first place worth 25 points down to one point for a 25th-place vote, and runs until the championship game on 11 January in Nashville.
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