With the final installment of the AGS Top 25 for 2017 (even though it’s technically 2018) there was a new #1 for the first time all year as North Dakota State took the top spot garnering all 71 first places after defeating defending champion James Madison in a classic title game. James Madison slipped to #2. South Dakota State moved up 2 spots to #3 after an impressive run to the semifinals and Weber State shot up 6 spots to #4 after nearly knocking off JMU in the quarters. Sam Houston State, the final semifinalist, moved up 1 spot to round out of the top 5 at #5.
Besides Weber State the other big mover was Kennesaw State as the 3rd year program moved up 11 spots all the way up to #6 after a quarterfinal run that included an upset over #3 seed Jacksonville State. New Hampshire was a bubble team in our last poll release but used an improbable quarterfinal run to move up 10 spots to #13 and reinforce the selection committee’s somewhat controversial decision to include them in the field as an at-large team. San Diego made the first appearance in the top 25 by a Pioneer League team this year rising a whopping 16 spots to come in at #20 after dominating previously ranked Northern Arizona in their first playoff game. Despite losing their first round playoff game to South Dakota, Nicholls moved up 9 spots into the top 25 at #22. Grambling State also made the first appearance by a SWAC team in the AGS top 25 this year rising 1 spot to come in at #25 after taking NC A&T to the wire in the Celebration Bowl.
As previously noted Jacksonville State was among those dropping the furthest as they fell 4 spots to #8 after losing their first playoff game for the 3rd time in 4 years as the #3 seed. Central Arkansas tumbled 6 spots to #9 after dropping their first playoff game to unseeded UNH as the #4 seed. Samford also dropped 6 spots to #19 after losing their first round playoff game to Kennesaw State. Northern Arizona and Monmouth dropped out of the top 25 after sustaining blowout losses in each of their respective first round playoff games. Yale also dropped out of the top 25 despite not participating in any postseason games.
In terms of conference representation the CAA and MVFC led the way with 5 teams each in the top 25. They were followed by the Southland 4 and the Big Sky and SOCON with 3 teams each in the top 25.
Full results below:
Rank | Team | Total Points | First Place Votes |
1 | North Dakota State Bison | 1775 | 71 |
2 | James Madison Dukes | 1680 | |
3 | South Dakota State Jackrabbits | 1589 | |
4 | Weber State Wildcats | 1541 | |
5 | Sam Houston State Bearkats | 1486 | |
6 | Kennesaw State Owls | 1322 | |
7 | Wofford Terriers | 1301 | |
8 | Jacksonville State Gamecocks | 1105 | |
9 | Central Arkansas Bears | 1054 | |
10T | Southern Utah Thunderbirds | 993 | |
10T | Stony Brook Seawolves | 993 | |
12 | Northern Iowa Panthers | 960 | |
13 | New Hampshire Wildcats | 923 | |
14 | South Dakota Coyotes | 920 | |
15 | Western Illinois Leathernecks | 892 | |
16 | North Carolina A&T Aggies | 751 | |
17 | Furman Paladins | 727 | |
18 | Elon Phoenix | 564 | |
19 | Samford Bulldogs | 518 | |
20 | San Diego Toreros | 372 | |
21 | Eastern Washington Eagles | 282 | |
22 | Nicholls State Colonels | 274 | |
23 | McNeese State Cowboys | 231 | |
24 | Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens | 165 | |
25 | Grambling State Tigers | 132 | |
ORV: | |||
26 | Northern Arizona Lumberjacks | 120 | |
27 | Yale Bulldogs | 92 | |
28 | Monmouth Hawks | 85 | |
29 | Austin Peay Governors | 42 | |
30 | Montana Grizzlies | 41 | |
31 | Illinois State Redbirds | 40 | |
32 | Central Connecticut State Blue Devils | 29 | |
33 | Sacramento State Hornets | 21 | |
34 | Lehigh Mountain Hawks | 16 | |
35T | Richmond Spiders | 13 | |
35T | Western Carolina Catamounts | 13 | |
37 | Colgate Raiders | 8 | |
38 | Youngstown State Penguins | 5 |