NDSU No. 1 in FCS Coaches' Preseason Poll

For the second consecutive season, North Dakota State will start the season as the No. 1 ranked team in the FCS Coaches’ Preseason Poll.

The Bison are coming off back-to-back FCS National Championships in 2011 and 2012, going 28-2 during that stretch with victories against FBS schools Minnesota and Colorado State. North Dakota State defeated Sam Houston State 39-13 in the FCS National Championship to cap a 14-1 campaign in 2012, the second consecutive season in which the two teams met in the title game.

The Bison will return 18 starters, including All-American selections Billy Turner at tackle and Marcus Williams at cornerback. The Bison also bring back starting quarterback and 2012 FCS National Championship MVP Brock Jensen who threw for 2,331 yards and 17 touchdowns last season.

NDSU received 23 of 26 first place votes to earn the top spot in the opening poll of the 2013 campaign. Montana State earned the No. 2 preseason ranking and received one first-place vote after finishing 11-2 in 2012. Fellow Big Sky member Eastern Washington is third in the poll, followed by Sam Houston State. Sam Houston State earned a first place vote, as did Eastern Kentucky, which sits at No. 19 in the poll.

Wofford holds down the No. 5 spot, while Central Arkansas, South Dakota State, New Hampshire, Villanova and Illinois State round out the top 10.

Six Colonial Athletic Association schools earned a top-25 selection, the most from any conference. The Big Sky and Missouri Valley each placed five teams in the poll. In all, nine conferences had representatives in the preseason poll.

The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference.

The following programs are ineligible for the Coaches Poll due to their transition to the FBS- Appalachian State, Charlotte, Georgia Southern and Old Dominion.

RANK	SCHOOL (FIRST-PLACE VOTES)	2012 RECORD	POINTS	FINAL 2012 RANK
1	North Dakota State (23)	14-1	645	1
2	Montana State (1)	11-2	591	5
3	Eastern Washington	11-3	549	4
4	Sam Houston State (1)	11-4	534	2
5	Wofford	9-4	450	7
6	Central Arkansas	9-3	428	10
7	South Dakota State	9-4	410	17
8	New Hampshire	8-4	386	13
9	Villanova	8-4	381	16
10	Illinois State	9-4	379	9
11	Cal Poly	9-3	348	11
12	Towson	7-4	347	15
13	Stony Brook	10-3	326	12
14	Richmond	8-3	274	18
15	James Madison	7-4	235	21
16	Northern Iowa	5-6	218	NR
17	Lehigh	10-1	198	14
18	Northern Arizona	8-2	196	20
19	Eastern Kentucky (1)	8-3	188	19
20	Bethune-Cookman	9-3	159	23
21	Coastal Carolina	8-5	140	24
22	Montana	6-2*	135	NR
23	Eastern Illinois	7-5	120	25
24	Youngstown State	7-4	107	NR
25	Chattanooga	6-5	104	NR

 

Others receiving votes: Wagner (87), Colgate (67), Tennessee State (52), Harvard (48), Delaware (47), The Citadel (39), Liberty (39), Arkansas Pine-Bluff (35), Indiana State (27), Stephen F. Austin (19), McNeese State (16), Penn (13), Alcorn State (12), Jacksonville State (11), Samford (10), Norfolk State (7), Alabama State (7), UC Davis (7), Southern Illinois (6), Maine (5), Albany (5), Tennessee Tech (5), UT Martin (4), Gardner Webb (4), Sacramento State (3), Hampton (3), San Diego (2), Jackson State (1), Missouri State (1), Brown (1).