FARGO – North Dakota State University (NDSU) was ranked No. 2 and the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) claimed three of the top five spots in the Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25 announced Monday, August 5.

Two-time defending national champion South Dakota State was picked first with 52 of 56 first-place votes, NDSU received three first-place votes, last year’s national runner-up Montana was ranked third, Montana State was fourth with one first-place vote, and South Dakota was fifth.

Seven MVFC teams were ranked in the preseason poll, the most of any conference. Others included No. 10 Southern Illinois, No. 19 Illinois State, No. 24 North Dakota and No. 25 Youngstown State.

North Dakota State is scheduled to open the regular season at Colorado on Thursday, Aug. 29. The game will be televised on ESPN starting at 7 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. MT.

2024 Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25

Team (First Place) W-L Pts. Prv 1.

South Dakota St. (52) 15-0 1396 1 2.

North Dakota St. (3) 11-4 1327 3 3.

Montana 13-2 1285 2 4.

Montana St. (1) 8-4 1199 9 5.

South Dakota 10-3 1155 4 6.

Villanova 10-3 1151 6 7.

Idaho 9-4 1021 8 8.

Sacramento St. 8-5 874 13 9.

Chattanooga 8-5 868 14 10.

Southern Illinois 8-5 832 12 11.

Central Arkansas 7-4 724 NR 12.

Furman 10-3 678 7 13.

Richmond 9-4 625 15 14.

Incarnate Word 8-2 605 22 15.

William & Mary 6-5 546 NR 16.

Albany 11-4 527 5 17.

Lafayette 9-3 359 21 18.

UC Davis 7-4 351 24 19.

Illinois St. 6-5 350 NR 20.

Western Carolina 7-4 318 23 21.

Tarleton St. 8-3 302 NR 22.

Weber St. 6-5 268 NR 23.

Nicholls St. 6-5 201 NR 24.

North Dakota 7-5 197 16 25.

Others receiving votes: Youngstown St. 177, Elon 174, Tennessee-Martin 169, Eastern Illinois 139, Mercer 98, Florida A&M 65, North Carolina Central 52, Austin Peay 51, Alabama St. 17, Holy Cross 17, Eastern Washington 14, Drake 8, Duquesne 8, Harvard 6, Samford 6, Northern Iowa 4