Week 1 FCS Football Top 25 Rankings
September 3, 2018 · CSM Staff
| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  |
North Dakota State | NDSU (1-0) cruised by Cal Poly in step one of repeating. They get a quirky bye after one game before North Alabama comes to town. | 1 |
| 2 |  |
James Madison | JMU (0-1) gave FBS NCSU all they could handle before losing at the end. Norfolk State won’t be as fortunate next weekend. | 2 |
| 3 |  |
Kennesaw State | KSU (0-1) probably should have beaten FBS Georgia State. Tennessee Tech will be sorry these guys are coming to town upset. | 3 |
| 4 |  |
Eastern Washington | EWU (1-0) looked very efficient, destroying D-II Central Washington. Huge “non-conference” game at Northern Arizona next week. | 5 |
| 5 |  |
Samford | SU (1-0) delivered big against an overmatched opponent. Traveling to FBS Florida State will probably make them feel “Shorter”. | 7 |
| 6 |  |
South Dakota State | SDSU (0-0) was canceled this week. The weather still trumps football when it wants to. They’ll go home and wait for Montana State. | 6 |
| 7 |  |
Northern Arizona | NAU (1-0) whooped FBS UTEP, in Texas. Scary, the offense was good but not as good as it could be. This week will be fun. | 11 |
| 8 |  |
North Carolina A&T | A&T (2-0) have huge wins over Jax State and FBS East Carolina to kickoff the year. Host Gardner-Webb next. Undefeated again? | 14 |
| 9 |  |
Villanova | VU (1-0) went across town and handed FBS Temple a loss. They’ll travel upstate to Lehigh next weekend. Who rules the Penn? | 12 |
| 10 |  |
Sam Houston State | SHSU (0-0) started their season with a bye. They’ll open with Prairie View A&M, who will be playing their third game. Interesting. | 10 |
| 11 |  |
Nicholls | NU (1-0) jumped into the national spotlight, taking down Power Five Kansas. Can they do it again at Tulane? Why not? | 17 |
| 12 |  |
Montana | UM (1-0) jumped all over Northern Iowa, then held on after a furious come back. Host another Iowa school next – Drake. | 15 |
| 13 |  |
McNeese State | MSU (1-0) held off Northern Colorado, but the Cowboys tamed the Bears. They start conference play at houston Baptist next. | 13 |
| 14 |  |
Elon | Elon (0-1) was drubbed by FBS USF. But their fall is more a product of others doing well. They’ll host neighbor, Furman next. | 9 |
| 15 |  |
Jacksonville State | JSU (0-1) lost the kickoff opener to NC A&T. This week they rested for MVSU next week, after whcih another bye awaits. Zzzzz! | 8 |
| 16 |  |
UC Davis | UCD (1-0) opened the year beating FBS San Jose State. The offense is real, the defense? Not sure. San Diego just might test them. | NR |
| 17 |  |
Montana State | MSU (1-0) came from behind to beat Western Illinois. They’ll try to double-dip the MVFC next week at South Dakota State. | 22 |
| 18 |  |
Wofford | WC (1-0) outlasted The Citadel in a low-scoring affair. You can figure on the Terriers running all over VMI next week. | 23 |
| 19 |  |
Illinois State | ISU (1-0) destroyed St. Xavier, IL in a glorified scrimmage. Next week’s home game with Eastern Illinois will count for later on. | 24 |
| 20 |  |
New Hampshire | UNH (0-1) had one of the most shocking season opening losses in some time. And you can figure Colgate will try and continue it. | 4 |
| 21 |  |
South Dakota | USD (0-1) came up just short against Kansas State. Would have been a huge statement win. They’ll try against NoCo next week. | 21 |
| 22 |  |
Northern Iowa | UNI (0-1) gave a valiant comeback after a horrible first half at Montana. Now they get a week to think about it, then FBS Iowa. | 16 |
| 23 |  |
Maine | UM (1-0) were horrible hosts to the previous #4 team in the land. It’ll be more difficult at FBS Western Kentucky though. | NR |
| 24 |  |
Austin Peay | APU (0-1) FBS Georgia treated the Governors very badly. A rebound against Presbyterian is likely and needed. | 19 |
| 25 |  |
Furman | Furman (0-1) was treated even worse by FBS Clemson. A trip to Elon will be easier, comparatively speaking, but definitely not a gimme. | 20 |
FCS Football Power Rankings
