After a relatively quiet first few weeks of the 2023 season week 4 saw a multitude of upsets that really shook up the AGS Top 25. Things stayed the same at the top with South Dakota State retaining the #1 spot garnering all 51 first place votes. They were followed by Montana State at #2 who moved up a spot following a dominating win over Big Sky Weber State. North Dakota State dropped a spot to #3 and Idaho moved up 2 spots to #4 – their highest ranking ever in the AGS Poll. Holy Cross dropped a spot to round out the top 5.
Other teams moving up this week included Delaware who shot up 9 spots after a big win over CAA rival New Hampshire. Villanova was another CAA team making a big leap moving up to #15 for their first appearance this season in the AGS Top 25. Tennessee-Martin took advantage of some turmoil in front of them to move up 7 spots to #16. Eastern Washington and Fordham each made their first appearance in the AGS Top 25 this year coming in at #20 and #21, respectively. Chattanooga also got back into the top 25 coming in at #23.
Those dropping this week were headlined by a trio of Big Sky teams; Weber State dropped 6 spots to #18, UC Davis dropped 7 spots to #22, and Montana plummeted 12 spots to #25 after each took surprising losses in league play this past Saturday. With all the new teams making their way into the top 25 there had to be just as many who left it – those teams dropping out of the top 25 this week included Mercer, Rhode Island, Southeast Missouri State, and Samford.
In terms of conference representation the Big Sky led the way placing 7 teams in the top 25. They were followed by the CAA and MVFC with 5 each, the SOCON with 3, and the Patriot League with 2 teams in the top 25. Once again 8 conferences were represented in this week’s top 25.
Full results below:
| Rank | Change | Team | Total Points | First Place Votes |
| 1 | – | South Dakota State Jackrabbits | 1275 | 51 |
| 2 | 1 | Montana State Bobcats | 1189 | |
| 3 | -1 | North Dakota State Bison | 1187 | |
| 4 | 2 | Idaho Vandals | 1096 | |
| 5 | -1 | Holy Cross Crusaders | 1054 | |
| 6 | 1 | Furman Paladins | 1009 | |
| 7 | -2 | Sac State Hornets | 928 | |
| 8 | – | William & Mary Tribe | 909 | |
| 9 | 2 | Southern Illinois Salukis | 876 | |
| 10 | – | Incarnate Word Cardinals | 854 | |
| 11 | 9 | Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens | 691 | |
| 12 | 5 | Western Carolina Catamounts | 659 | |
| 13 | 1 | North Dakota Fighting Hawks | 658 | |
| 14 | -5 | New Hampshire Wildcats | 564 | |
| 15 | 13 | Villanova Wildcats | 439 | |
| 16 | 7 | Tennesee-Martin Skyhawks | 431 | |
| 17 | 4 | North Carolina Central Eagles | 375 | |
| 18 | -6 | Weber State Wildcats | 373 | |
| 19 | 3 | Youngstown State Penguins | 316 | |
| 20 | 9 | Eastern Washington Eagles | 289 | |
| 21 | 6 | Fordham Rams | 186 | |
| 22 | -7 | UC Davis Aggies | 182 | |
| 23 | 15 | Chattanooga Mocs | 149 | |
| 24 | 1 | Albany Great Danes | 138 | |
| 25 | -12 | Montana Grizzlies | 135 | |
| ORV: | ||||
| 26 | – | Florida A&M Panthers | 122 | |
| 27 | 6 | Central Arkansas Bears | 82 | |
| 28 | -9 | Mercer Bears | 71 | |
| 29 | 10 | Eastern Illinois Panthers | 65 | |
| 30 | -12 | Rhode Island Rams | 58 | |
| 31 | -15 | Southeast Missouri State Redhawks | 45 | |
| 32 | 4 | Illinois State Redbirds | 44 | |
| 33 | NR | Austin Peay Governors | 29 | |
| 34 | NR | Eastern Kentucky Colonels | 28 | |
| 35 | -4 | Northern Iowa Panthers | 19 | |
| 36 | -12 | Samford Bulldogs | 10 | |
| 37 | NR | Harvard Crimson | 9 | |
| 38T | 1 | South Dakota Coyotes | 8 | |
| 38T | NR | Tarleton Texans | 8 | |
| 40 | NR | Richmond Spiders | 7 | |
Most significant win: Idaho Vandals
Most significant loss: Montana Grizzlies
Dropped out of the poll:
Abilene Christian Wildcats
Campbell Fighting Camels
Princeton Tigers
Southeastern Louisiana Lions
Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks
Yale Bulldogs
Join the discussion here: AGS Poll Results 2023 Wk4 (anygivensaturday.com)
