Another season of FCS football is almost upon us signaling the return of the AGS Top 25. As is normal with the preseason poll there was plenty of movement from the previous poll but the top was full of familiar faces starting with defending champion North Dakota State coming it at #1 getting all but 1 of the 42 first place votes. They were followed by rival South Dakota State at #2. Treasure State brethren Montana and Montana State came in at #3 and #4, respectively. The top 5 was rounded out by CAA favorite Villanova at #5.
Teams on the rise from the final 2021 AGS Top 25 were led by Missouri State who went up 7 spots to #8 which tied for their highest ranking ever in the AGS Poll. Stephen F Austin also made a 9 spot jump to #12 as they look to take control of the WAC with the exit of Sam Houston to the FBS. A couple teams the AGS voters expect to bounce back are Chattanooga, who shot up 23 spots to #15, and Delaware, who came from completely out of the final 2021 rankings all the way to #16. Weber State and Rhode Island each moved up 11 spots from their final 2021 rankings to get into the top 25 at #20 and #25, respectively. Mercer was another team that climbed back into the top 25 moving up 5 spots to #21.
There wasn’t much for big movers going down. UC Davis took a 6 spot dip to #24 in this initial 2022 release. Three Ivy League teams – Dartmouth, Harvard, and Princeton – all dropped out of the consensus top 25. We also had a couple notable omissions due to FBS defections with James Madison and Sam Houston no longer being eligible for votes and therefore not appearing in this poll. James Madison broke a streak of 100 consecutive polls in the top 25 which was the 6th longest streak in AGS Poll history.
The Big Sky and MVFC led the way each putting 6 teams into the top 25 representing nearly half of it by themselves. They were followed by the CAA and SOCON with 3 each and the Southland with 2 teams in the top 25. 10 conferences were represented by at least one team in the top 25.
Full results below:
| Rank | Change | Team | Total Points | First Place Votes |
| 1 | – | North Dakota State Bison | 1048 | 41 |
| 2 | 2 | South Dakota State Jackrabbits | 992 | 1 |
| 3 | 3 | Montana Grizzlies | 950 | |
| 4 | -1 | Montana State Bobcats | 932 | |
| 5 | 2 | Villanova Wildcats | 794 | |
| 6 | 4 | Sac State Hornets | 753 | |
| 7 | 4 | Kennesaw State Owls | 733 | |
| 8 | 7 | Missouri State Bears | 719 | |
| 9 | 5 | Southern Illinois Salukis | 624 | |
| 10 | -2 | East Tennessee State Buccaneers | 615 | |
| 11 | -2 | Eastern Washington Eagles | 506 | |
| 12 | 9 | Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks | 493 | |
| 13 | 3 | Southeastern Louisiana Lions | 462 | |
| 14 | -2 | Incarnate Word Cardinals | 435 | |
| 15 | 23 | Chattanooga Mocs | 398 | |
| 16 | NR | Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens | 366 | |
| 17 | -4 | Tennesee-Martin Skyhawks | 359 | |
| 18 | 5 | Northern Iowa Panthers | 357 | |
| 19 | – | Holy Cross Crusaders | 348 | |
| 20 | 11 | Weber State Wildcats | 267 | |
| 21 | 5 | Mercer Bears | 192 | |
| 22 | -2 | South Dakota Coyotes | 174 | |
| 23 | 2 | Jackson State Tigers | 158 | |
| 24 | -6 | UC Davis Aggies | 157 | |
| 25 | 11 | Rhode Island Rams | 140 | |
| ORV: | ||||
| 26 | -9 | Dartmouth Big Green | 130 | |
| 27 | 11 | Richmond Spiders | 98 | |
| 28 | -4 | Harvard Crimson | 74 | |
| 29 | -1 | Eastern Kentucky Colonels | 47 | |
| 30 | NR | Central Arkansas Bears | 45 | |
| 31 | 6 | William & Mary Tribe | 42 | |
| 32 | -5 | Sacred Heart Pioneers | 39 | |
| 33 | -11 | Princeton Tigers | 36 | |
| 34 | -5 | North Dakota Fighting Hawks | 31 | |
| 35T | NR | Illinois State Redbirds | 23 | |
| 35T | -2 | Nicholls Colonels | 23 | |
| 37 | -8 | Florida A&M Rattlers | 14 | |
| 38 | NR | Elon Phoenix | 12 | |
| 39 | NR | Southeast Missouri State Redhawks | 11 | |
| 40 | -6 | Monmouth Hawks | 10 | |
Dropped out of the poll:
Davidson Wildcats
James Madison Dukes
Maine Black Bears
Sam Houston Bearkats
South Carolina State Bulldogs
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