Big Sky Conference

Early Season Showdowns Fill STATS FCS Top 25

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Every FCS win over an FBS program is felt across college football, but a strong intersectional matchup early in the season is just as important for the FCS.

No FCS conferences do intersectional match-ups quite like the Big Sky and Missouri Valley conferences.

On Saturday, they will collide three times inside the STATS FCS Top 25 – No. 8 Eastern Washington at No. 1 North Dakota State, No. 14 Montana at No. 3 Northern Iowa and No. 19 Northern Arizona at No. 18 Western Illinois. The Missouri Valley has home-field advantage in each game.

Eastern Washington and Northern Iowa were two of the four FCS teams to knock off FBS programs in the first full week of the season. The upsets caused five teams to gain first-place votes in Monday’s new Top 25, although North Dakota State, the five-time reigning national champion, still held firm with the top ranking, gaining 137 of the 165 first-place votes.

“I think it’s a great matchup for us early,” Montana coach Bob Stitt said in looking forward to UNI, “because if you want to be great in the FCS, you’re gonna play teams like that once you get into the playoffs.”

North Dakota State, following an overtime win over Charleston Southern in the standalone FCS Kickoff on Aug. 27, was the only ranked team to have a bye this past weekend. During that time, Eastern Washington scored a 45-42 win at Washington State from the Pac-12, with senior wide receiver Cooper Kupp becoming the all-time FCS leader in touchdown receptions with 59.

Saturday’s showdown at the Fargodome is the first time EWU and NDSU will meet since EWU beat the Bison in overtime in the 2010 national quarterfinals on their way to winning their only FCS title. That’s the only time NDSU has lost in its FCS playoff history, winning every national title since 2011.

Northern Iowa beat Big 12 member Iowa State 25-20 to kick off its season, but the Panthers have never beaten Montana in five all-time meetings – the last three in the playoffs. Montana is coming off a 41-31 victory over Saint Francis.

Northern Arizona lost its opener to an FBS opponent – 44-13 at Arizona State – although 2015 STATS FCS Freshman of the Year Case Cookus got his season going with 369 passing yards and a touchdown. Western Illinois already has a key FCS win, 38-21 over rival Eastern Illinois from the Ohio Valley Conference.

Richmond, whose 21 first-place votes were the second most in Monday’s Top 25, jumped two spots to No. 2 behind NDSU following a 37-20 victory over Virginia that ended the ACC’s 68-game winning streak over the FCS. The Spiders were the second CAA Football team to beat an FBS opponent on opening weekend after unranked Albany topped Buffalo from the Mid-American Conference.

After UNI at No. 3, the rest of the Top 25 was Sam Houston State (1-0), Jacksonville State (1-0), Chattanooga (1-0), Charleston Southern (1-1), Eastern Washington, South Dakota State (0-1) and Illinois State (1-0).

EWU led five Big Sky Conference teams in this week’s Top 25. Montana fell one spot to No. 14 despite its 41-31 win over Saint Francis of the Northeast Conference in Missoula on Saturday night. Portland State held tight at No. 16 after holding off Division II Central Washington, 43-26. Northern Arizona is No. 19 despite a 44-13 loss at Pac 12 Arizona State on Saturday night. North Dakota fell out of the top 20 but came in at No. 25 after a 13-9 loss at Stony Brook.

McNeese (1-0) and James Madison (1-0) remained at Nos. 11 and 12, respectively. They were followed by William & Mary (0-1), Montana, The Citadel (1-0), Portland State, Coastal Carolina (1-0), Western Illinois, Northern Arizona and Youngstown State (1-0), which joined the poll as a sixth Missouri Valley team – the most of any conference.

Rounding out the Top 25 were No. 21 Colgate (0-1), Villanova (0-1), North Carolina A&T (1-0), New Hampshire (0-1) and North Dakota (0-1).

Towson fell from the Top 25 after a loss to South Florida.

A national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries select the STATS FCS Top 25. In the voting, a first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote 24 points, all the way down to one point for a 25th-place vote.

The Top 25 is released every Monday afternoon during the regular season, except for Sunday morning, Nov. 20, prior to the selection of the 24-team FCS playoff field. A final Top 25 will follow the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 7 in Frisco, Texas.

STATS FCS Poll
Rankings as of 9/5/2016
Rank School Votes Prev
1 North Dakota State (1-0) 4067 (137) 1
2 Richmond (1-0) 3860 (21) 4
3 UNI (1-0) 3699 (5) 5
4 Sam Houston State (1-0) 3627 2
5 Jacksonville State (1-0) 3535 (1) 3
6 Chattanooga (1-0) 3004 6
7 Charleston Southern (1-1) 2937 7
8 Eastern Washington (1-0) 2849 (1) 14
9 South Dakota State (0-1) 2641 8
10 Illinois State (1-0) 2584 10
11 McNeese (1-0) 2352 11
12 James Madison (1-0) 2350 12
13 William & Mary (0-1) 2195 9
14 Montana (1-0) 1994 13
15 Citadel (1-0) 1667 15
16 Portland State (1-0) 1539 17
17 Coastal Carolina (1-0) 1428 16
18 Western Illinois (1-0) 1280 20
19 Northern Arizona (0-1) 1108 18
20 Youngstown State (1-0) 692 NR
21 Colgate (0-1) 600 21
22 Villanova (0-1) 554 23
23 North Carolina A&T (1-0) 528 25
24 New Hampshire (0-1) 460 22
25 North Dakota (0-1) 253 19
Others: Towson (243) , Stony Brook (207) , Central Arkansas(200) , Harvard (183) , Albany (181) , Fordham (131) ,Grambling State (111) , Eastern Kentucky (105) , Southern Utah(67) , Alcorn State (50) , Delaware (37) , Wofford (37) , Bethune-Cookman (30) , Eastern Illinois (28) , Dartmouth (26) , Samford(24) , Penn (20) , Cal Poly (18) , Maine (18) , Weber State (14) ,Liberty (13) , Dayton (12) , Montana State (10) , Furman (10) ,Tennessee State (8) , Duquesne (7) , South Dakota (7) , Indiana State (5) , UT Martin (4) , Western Carolina (4) , San Diego (3) ,Alabama State (2) , Prairie View A&M (2) , Monmouth (2) , Saint Francis U (1) , Sacred Heart (1) , Mercer (1)

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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