The 2023 college football season is fast approaching so with the calendar turning to August we have the first release of the AGS Top 25 for the 2023 season. To no one’s surprise the leader out of the gate is defending national champion South Dakota State who picked up 41 of 42 first place votes. They were followed by 2022 national runner-up North Dakota State. Montana State came in at #3 and Furman moved up to #4 for their highest ranking in the AGS Poll since 2006. Holy Cross rounded out the top 5 with their highest ranking in the history of the AGS Poll.
Other teams on the rise from the final 2022 poll were Big Sky brethren Idaho and UC Davis who moved up 5 and 6 spots to #10 and #16, respectively. Northern Iowa shot back into the top 25 climbing up from the ORV to #20. Rhode Island also opened the season in the top 25 at #22 after ending 2022 in the ORV category.
Coaching changes were a common theme amongst the teams moving down from their 2022 finish – that included Incarnate Word and Sac State who dropped 5 and 4 spots to #8 and #9, respectively. Weber State fell 6 spots to #15. CAA league-mates Richmond and Elon each dropped 7 spots to #18 and #25, respectively. Fordham and Jackson State fell out of the top 25 after finishing 2022 inside of it.
In terms of conference representation the Big Sky and CAA led the way each placing 6 teams into the top 25. They were followed by the MVFC and SOCON with 4 each and the Southland with 2 teams in the top 25. In total 8 conferences were presented in this preseason top 25.
Full results below:
| Rank | Change | Team | Total Points | First Place Votes |
| 1 | – | South Dakota State Jackrabbits | 1049 | 41 |
| 2 | – | North Dakota State Bison | 973 | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | Montana State Bobcats | 967 | |
| 4 | 6 | Furman Paladins | 857 | |
| 5 | 1 | Holy Cross Crusaders | 810 | |
| 6 | 2 | William & Mary Tribe | 786 | |
| 7 | – | Samford Bulldogs | 690 | |
| 8 | -5 | Incarnate Word Cardinals | 686 | |
| 9 | -4 | Sac State Hornets | 589 | |
| 10 | 5 | Idaho Vandals | 588 | |
| 11 | 2 | New Hampshire Wildcats | 539 | |
| 12 | – | Southeastern Louisiana Lions | 520 | |
| 13 | 4 | Southeast Missouri State Redhawks | 510 | |
| 14 | – | Montana Grizzlies | 490 | |
| 15 | -6 | Weber State Wildcats | 463 | |
| 16 | 6 | UC Davis | 421 | |
| 17 | -1 | North Dakota Fighting Hawks | 399 | |
| 18 | -7 | Richmond Spiders | 326 | |
| 19 | 2 | Mercer Bears | 322 | |
| 20 | 12 | Northern Iowa Panthers | 233 | |
| 21 | 3 | North Carolina Central Eagles | 181 | |
| 22 | -2 | Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens | 178 | |
| 23 | 4 | Rhode Island Rams | 147 | |
| 24 | 1 | Chattanooga Mocs | 125 | |
| 25 | -7 | Elon Phoenix | 107 | |
| ORV: | ||||
| 26 | NR | Southern Illinois Salukis | 82 | |
| 27 | 3 | Eastern Kentucky Colonels | 76 | |
| 28 | -9 | Fordham Rams | 73 | |
| 29 | -1 | Youngstown State Penguins | 60 | |
| 30 | NR | Missouri State Bears | 58 | |
| 31 | -5 | Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs | 49 | |
| 32 | 2 | Tennesee-Martin Skyhawks | 44 | |
| 33 | -10 | Jackson State Tigers | 34 | |
| 34 | NR | Florida A&M Panthers | 32 | |
| 35 | NR | Central Arkansas Bears | 30 | |
| 36 | -5 | Yale Bulldogs | 25 | |
| 37 | -1 | Austin Peay Governors | 22 | |
| 38 | NR | Princeton Tigers | 21 | |
| 39 | -10 | St. Francis Red Flash | 20 | |
| 40 | NR | Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks | 15 | |
Dropped out of the poll:
North Carolina A&T Aggies
St. Thomas Tommies
Join the discussion here: AGS Poll Results 2023 Wk0