Even with the uncertainty still surrounding the 2020 college football season the AGS Poll presses on and has produced its first set of rankings of the 2020 season. The top of the first 2020 poll looks a lot like most of the 2019 polls did with three-time defending national champion North Dakota State at #1 pulling in all but one first place vote and defending national runner-up James Madison right behind them at #2. Northern Iowa trended up to #3 for their highest AGS Poll ranking since the 2016 preseason. South Dakota State came in at #4 putting 3 of the top 4 teams from MVFC. Weber State rounded out the top 5 at #5.
The teams the AGS community see making the biggest jump heading into the 2020 season are headlined by Eastern Washington who moved up 12 spots from their final 2019 ranking up to #17 in the preseason poll. Southern Illinois also made a 7 spot jump up to #20 as they seem poised to get back into the playoff conversation again. Sam Houston State came from completely out of the final 2019 poll up to #19 in the preseason poll. Other teams pulling off that same feat were Jacksonville State who was listed at #23 and The Citadel who rounded it out at #25.
As for teams the voters see going in the opposite direction in 2020 Albany fell 7 spots from the final 2019 poll to #24 in the preseason 2020 poll. Monmouth and Central Connecticut State dropped out of the top 25 after surprisingly successful 2019 campaigns. North Carolina A&T and San Diego both narrowly missed staying in the top 25 and Dartmouth fell completely out of the poll after finishing 2019 in the top 25.
In terms of conference representation the MVFC led the way placing 6 teams into the top 25. They were followed by the Big Sky with 5, the Southland with 4, and the CAA, OVC, and SOCON with 3 each. Only 7 conferences were represented in the top 25 which is somewhat low compared to previous seasons.
Full results below:
| Rank | Change | Team | Total Points | First Place Votes |
| 1 | – | North Dakota State Bison | 1423 | 56 |
| 2 | – | James Madison Dukes | 1259 | |
| 3 | 3 | Northern Iowa Panthers | 1210 | |
| 4 | 5 | South Dakota State Jackrabbits | 1183 | |
| 5 | -2 | Weber State Wildcats | 1143 | |
| 6 | -1 | Montana Grizzlies | 1115 | 1 |
| 7 | -3 | Montana State Bobcats | 1095 | |
| 8 | -1 | Illinois State Redbirds | 997 | |
| 9 | 3 | Central Arkansas Bears | 865 | |
| 10 | 3 | Kennesaw State Owls | 752 | |
| 11 | -1 | Sac State Hornets | 745 | |
| 12 | -4 | Austin Peay Governors | 724 | |
| 13 | -2 | Nicholls State Colonels | 641 | |
| 14 | 2 | Villanova Wildcats | 549 | |
| 15 | 5 | Furman Paladins | 501 | |
| 16 | -2 | Southeastern Louisiana Lions | 497 | |
| 17 | 12 | Eastern Washington Eagles | 452 | |
| 18 | – | Wofford Terriers | 446 | |
| 19 | NR | Sam Houston State Bearkats | 372 | |
| 20 | 7 | Southern Illinois Salukis | 332 | |
| 21 | -2 | Southeast Missouri State Redhawks | 323 | |
| 22 | – | North Dakota Fighting Hawks | 215 | |
| 23 | NR | Jacksonville State Gamecocks | 196 | |
| 24 | -7 | Albany Great Danes | 182 | |
| 25 | NR | The Citadel Bulldogs | 164 | |
| ORV: | ||||
| 26T | -11 | Monmouth Hawks | 103 | |
| 26T | NR | Elon Phoenix | 103 | |
| 28 | 5 | New Hampshire Wildcats | 101 | |
| 29 | -5 | San Diego Torreros | 100 | |
| 30 | 7 | UC Davis Aggies | 87 | |
| 31 | 6 | Chattanooga Mocs | 79 | |
| 32 | -7 | North Carolina A&T Aggies | 67 | |
| 33 | 1 | Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks | 59 | |
| 34 | -13 | Central Connecticut State Blue Devils | 54 | |
| 35 | NR | Youngstown State Penguins | 41 | |
| 36T | NR | Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens | 35 | |
| 36T | 4 | McNeese State Cowboys | 35 | |
| 36T | NR | South Dakota Coyotes | 35 | |
| 39 | -9 | Towson Tigers | 28 | |
| 40 | NR | Eastern Kentucky Colonels | 22 | |
Dropped out of the poll:
Alcorn State Braves
Dartmouth Big Green
Florida A&M Rattlers
Harvard Crimson
Holy Cross Crusaders
Princeton Tigers
South Carolina State Bulldogs
Yale Bulldogs
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