Let’s try this again shall we. It’s been a year and a day since the last AGS Poll was released with the full complement of teams eligible. That was just a few days before the majority of FCS teams decided to move their seasons to the spring. We did keep voting on the top 25 teams in the spring for those that were playing but it feels like we’re *knock on wood* heading towards more of a normal fall season so with it comes the return of the AGS Poll.
So without further ado let’s get to the fall 2021 preseason AGS Top 25. We lead off with the defending national champion Sam Houston taking the top spot garnering 38 of 46 first place votes which was an 18 spot rise from their preseason ranking in fall 2020. The were followed by mainstays South Dakota State, James Madison, and North Dakota State (all of whom beaten by Sam Houston in the spring playoffs) at #2 through #4. The top 5 was rounded out by Delaware who shot up 31 spots from their 2020 preseason ranking following their impressive run to the semifinals in the spring.
Since it has been a year since our last full poll release there was plenty of movement from the 2020 preseason poll. The moves were headlined by Sam Houston and Delaware as previously highlighted but North Dakota also made a 15 spot rise to #7 after sharing the MVFC title in the spring. Southern Illinois and Jacksonville State each moved up 11 spots to #9 and #12 respectively after each bowed out in the quarterfinals this past spring. Monmouth and Chattanooga both moved into the top 25 after strong springs coming in at #10 and #18, respectively. New additions to the top 25 to come from completely out of the poll in preseason 2020 were VMI (#17), Missouri State (T-#19), Murray State (#21), and Richmond (#22) after some very surprisingly strong springs from all.
Teams moving in the opposite direction from fall 2020 were headlined by Northern Iowa who fell 16 spots into a tie at #19. Austin Peay and Nicholls each dropped 11 spots to #23 and #24, respectively, after stumbling in the spring. Kennesaw State fell out of the top 25 for the first time since late 2017 snapping a streak of 42 consecutive polls in the AGS Top 25. Sacramento State, Albany, Illinois State, Southeast Missouri State, Furman, Wofford, and The Citadel all dropped out of the top 25 after appearing in the 2020 preseason top 25.
The MVFC led the way placing 6 teams into the top 25. They were followed by the Big Sky with 5, the CAA with 4, the AQ7 (Atlantic Sun and WAC) with 3, and the OVC, SOCON, and Southland with 2 teams each in the top 25. In all 9 conferences (counting the ASUN and WAC as two conferences) were represented in the top 25.
Full results below (the Ch1 column is the change from the 2020 preseason poll and the Ch2 column is the change from the final 2021 spring poll):
| Rank | Ch1 | Ch2 | Team | Total Points | First Place Votes |
| 1 | 18 | – | Sam Houston State Bearkats | 1137 | 38 |
| 2 | 2 | – | South Dakota State Jackrabbits | 1080 | 4 |
| 3 | -1 | – | James Madison Dukes | 1054 | 4 |
| 4 | -3 | 1 | North Dakota State Bison | 1019 | |
| 5 | 31 | -1 | Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens | 920 | |
| 6 | -1 | 3 | Weber State Wildcats | 871 | |
| 7 | 15 | -1 | North Dakota Fighting Hawks | 743 | |
| 8 | -2 | 27 | Montana Grizzlies | 718 | |
| 9 | 11 | -2 | Southern Illinois Salukis | 715 | |
| 10 | 16 | 1 | Monmouth Hawks | 615 | |
| 11 | 6 | 1 | Eastern Washington Eagles | 614 | |
| 12 | 11 | -4 | Jacksonville State Gamecocks | 610 | |
| 13 | -4 | NR | Central Arkansas Bears | 569 | |
| 14 | -7 | NR | Montana State Bobcats | 501 | |
| 15 | 1 | 1 | Southeastern Louisiana Lions | 458 | |
| 16 | -2 | -1 | Villanova Wildcats | 433 | |
| 17 | NR | -7 | Virginia Military Institute Keydets | 410 | |
| 18 | 13 | 18 | Chattanooga Mocs | 360 | |
| 19T | NR | -6 | Missouri State Bears | 198 | |
| 19T | -16 | 10 | Northern Iowa Panthers | 198 | |
| 21 | NR | -1 | Murray State Racers | 184 | |
| 22 | NR | -5 | Richmond Spiders | 158 | |
| 23 | -11 | – | Austin Peay Governors | 156 | |
| 24 | -11 | 1 | Nicholls State Colonels | 154 | |
| 25 | 5 | -11 | UC Davis Aggies | 150 | |
| ORV: | |||||
| 26 | -16 | -8 | Kennesaw State Owls | 149 | |
| 27 | 5 | NR | North Carolina A&T Aggies | 124 | |
| 28 | NR | -2 | Samford Bulldogs | 69 | |
| 29 | NR | -10 | Sacred Heart Pioneers | 65 | |
| 30 | -19 | NR | Sac State Hornets | 62 | |
| 31 | NR | -7 | East Tennessee State Buccaneers | 59 | |
| 32 | -4 | NR | New Hampshire Wildcats | 50 | |
| 33T | NR | -12 | Rhode Island Rams | 49 | |
| 33T | NR | -11 | Holy Cross Crusaders | 49 | |
| 35 | NR | NR | Alcorn State Braves | 30 | |
| 36 | NR | -9 | Davidson Wildcats | 27 | |
| 37T | -13 | NR | Albany Great Danes | 22 | |
| 37T | -29 | NR | Illinois State Redbirds | 22 | |
| 37T | NR | NR | Princeton Tigers | 22 | |
| 40 | -19 | NR | Southeast Missouri State Redhawks | 21 | |
Dropped out of the poll:
Central Connecticut State Blue Devils
Eastern Kentucky Colonels
Elon Phoenix
Furman Paladins
McNeese State Cowboys
San Diego Torreros
South Dakota Coyotes
Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
The Citadel Bulldogs
Towson Tigers
Wofford Terriers
Youngstown State Penguins
Join the discussion here: https://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?276793-AGS-Poll-Results-Preseason-Poll-2021
