With the regular season for most FCS teams in the books the AGS top 25 took some interesting turns ahead of this morning’s release of the NCAA tournament bracket. For the first time since week 7 there was a change at the top as North Dakota State edged in front of Eastern Washington. James Madison pulled into a tie at #3 with Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State cracked back into the top 5 at #5 pushing The Citadel down to #6.
South Dakota State, North Dakota, Youngstown State, and Villanova all took advantage of teams in front of them losing to move into the top 10. New Hampshire shot up 8 spots to crack the top 25 at #18 after their huge road win at Maine. Weber State and North Carolina Central each moved up 6 spots to get into the top 25 at #21 and #22, respectively. Albany also got back into the top 25 coming in at #25, a 5 spot jump from last week.
We saw the typical last week chaos as several teams sustained losses to either give themselves a Selection Sunday sweat or end their playoff hopes altogether. Richmond and Central Arkansas likely lost playoff seeds each falling 5 and 4 spots, respectively, to come in tied at #12. Samford dropped 8 spots all the way to #20 after their head scratching loss to East Tennessee State. North Carolina A&T also plummeted 9 spots to #24 following their loss to North Carolina Central which, while knocking them out of the Celebration Bowl, may allow them to be selected for the FCS playoffs. Maine, Montana, Western Illinois, and Northern Iowa all lost to drop out of the 25 this week and likely end their seasons when wins would’ve likely put any one of them in the playoffs.
The CAA led the way placing 5 teams in the top 25. They were followed by the Big Sky, MVFC, and SOCON who each played 4. The FCS playoff bracket will be revealed at 11AM ET on ESPNU.
Full results below:
| Rank | Team: | Total Points | First Place Votes |
| 1 | North Dakota State Bison | 1636 | 32 |
| 2 | Eastern Washington Eagles | 1631 | 24 |
| 3T | Jacksonville State Gamecocks | 1509 | 4 |
| 3T | James Madison Dukes | 1509 | 4 |
| 5 | Sam Houston State Bearkats | 1505 | 4 |
| 6 | The Citadel Bulldogs | 1364 | |
| 7 | South Dakota State Jackrabbits | 1284 | |
| 8 | North Dakota Fighting Hawks | 1208 | |
| 9 | Youngstown State Penguins | 1019 | |
| 10 | Villanova Wildcats | 1004 | |
| 11 | Chattanooga Mocs | 966 | |
| 12T | Richmond Spiders | 917 | |
| 12T | Central Arkansas Bears | 917 | |
| 14 | Charleston Southern Buccaneers | 814 | |
| 15 | Lehigh Mountain Hawks | 788 | |
| 16 | Wofford Terriers | 755 | |
| 17 | Cal Poly Mustangs | 585 | |
| 18 | New Hampshire Wildcats | 393 | |
| 19 | Grambling State Tigers | 357 | |
| 20 | Samford Bulldogs | 334 | |
| 21 | Weber State Wildcats | 277 | |
| 22 | North Carolina Central Eagles | 270 | |
| 23 | Illinois State Redbirds | 267 | |
| 24 | North Carolina A&T Aggies | 216 | |
| 25 | Albany Great Danes | 214 | |
| ORV: | |||
| 26 | Fordham Rams | 89 | |
| 27 | San Diego Toreros | 56 | |
| 28 | Princeton Tigers | 51 | |
| 29 | Southeastern Louisiana Lions | 36 | |
| 30 | Saint Francis Red Flash | 27 | |
| 31 | Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks | 25 | |
| 32 | Maine Black Bears | 24 | |
| 33 | Pennsylvania Quakers | 17 | |
| 34 | Western Illinois Leathernecks | 12 | |
| 35 | Montana Grizzlies | 11 | |
| 36 | Southern Utah Thunderbirds | 6 | |
| 37 | Northern Iowa Panthers | 4 | |
| 38t | Duquesne Dukes | 1 | |
| 38t | Northern Colorado Bears | 1 | |
| 38t | Southern Jaguars | 1 | |