With fall camps around the country just starting (or about to start) the 2017 college football season is just around the corner and with that comes the first set of AGS top 25 rankings for the 2017 season. The defending national champion James Madison Dukes claimed the #1 spot securing the top position in 64 of the 75 ballots cast. The were followed by the defending MVFC co-champs in North Dakota State and South Dakota State coming in at #2 and #3, respectively. The rest of the top 5 was rounded out by defending Big Sky co-champ Eastern Washington at #4 and defending Southland champ Sam Houston State at #5.
The teams the AGS community see taking the biggest steps forward are Western Illinois, who moved up 10 spots from the 2016 postseason poll to #20, and Northern Iowa, who moved up 12 spots to #22. Along with those two teams Fordham and Albany also cracked the preseason top 25 after finishing last season in the ORV section coming in at #23 and #25, respectively.
As for teams the AGS community believes will go the opposite direction in 2017 the first team that jumps out is 2016 runner up Youngstown State, who dropped 7 spots to #10. The Citadel also dropped 4 spots to #14 following their improbable undefeated SOCON run in 2016. The top 25 teams to end 2016 that dropped out of the 2017 preseason poll were San Diego, Grambling State, North Carolina A&T, and North Carolina Central.
The MVFC led the way in terms of representation placing 6 teams in the top 25. They were followed by the CAA with 5 teams and then the Big Sky and SOCON with 4 each. The Southland and Patriot League each placed 2 teams and the remaining top 25 was rounded out by a team each from the OVC and Big South.
Full results below:
| Rank | Team: | Total Points | First Place Votes |
| 1 | James Madison Dukes | 1862 | 64 |
| 2 | North Dakota State Bison | 1784 | 8 |
| 3 | South Dakota State Jackrabbits | 1624 | 2 |
| 4 | Eastern Washington Eagles | 1541 | |
| 5 | Sam Houston State Bearkats | 1464 | 1 |
| 6 | Richmond Spiders | 1447 | |
| 7 | Jacksonville State Gamecocks | 1326 | |
| 8 | Wofford Terriers | 1308 | |
| 9 | Villanova Wildcats | 1199 | |
| 10 | Youngstown State Penguins | 1175 | |
| 11 | North Dakota Fighting Hawks | 1114 | |
| 12 | Chattanooga Mocs | 953 | |
| 13 | Central Arkansas Bears | 934 | |
| 14 | The Citadel Bulldogs | 902 | |
| 15 | New Hampshire Wildcats | 798 | |
| 16 | Charleston Southern Buccaneers | 653 | |
| 17 | Samford Bulldogs | 623 | |
| 18 | Illinois State Redbirds | 529 | |
| 19 | Lehigh Mountain Hawks | 507 | |
| 20 | Western Illinois Leathernecks | 351 | |
| 21 | Cal Poly Mustangs | 344 | |
| 22 | Northern Iowa Panthers | 338 | |
| 23 | Fordham Rams | 155 | |
| 24 | Weber State Wildcats | 147 | |
| 25 | Albany Great Danes | 146 | |
| ORV: | |||
| 26 | Northern Arizona Lumberjacks | 138 | |
| 27 | San Diego Toreros | 131 | |
| 28 | Montana Grizzlies | 121 | |
| 29 | McNeese State Cowboys | 98 | |
| 30 | Grambling State Tigers | 96 | |
| 31 | North Carolina A&T Aggies | 94 | |
| 32 | North Carolina Central Eagles | 56 | |
| 33 | South Dakota Coyotes | 44 | |
| 34 | Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens | 42 | |
| 35 | William & Mary Tribe | 39 | |
| 36 | Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks | 34 | |
| 37T | Harvard Crimson | 33 | |
| 37T | Saint Francis Red Flash | 33 | |
| 39 | Maine Black Bears | 28 | |
| 40 | Southern Utah Thunderbirds | 26 | |