It was sheer chaos amongst the AGS top 25 in week 5 with 9 previously top 25 ranked teams taking losses – 7 of which to teams ranked lower or not at all last week. Despite that it stayed the same at the top with South Dakota State taking the #1 spot claiming all 51 first place votes. They were once again followed by Montana State at #2. Idaho climbed up a spot to #3 setting yet another all-time high for the program in the AGS Poll. They were followed by Furman who got back into the top 5 climbing up 2 spots to 4 and Southern Illinois who continued their season long climb rising up 4 spots to #5.
Other teams climbing this week included Tennessee-Martin who rose up 5 spots to #11. South Dakota, riding an upset road win at MVFC powerhouse NDSU, shot all the way up #12 after barely cracking the ORV section last week. Albany continued their resurgent 2023 campaign moving up 6 spots to #18 after a big win over CAA rival Villanova. Harvard was another team who used a massive upset, in their case over Holy Cross, to come from the fringes of the ORV all the way up to #19. Elon, riding their own upset win over William & Mary, came from completely out of last week’s poll up to #23 and Florida A&M cracked the AGS Top 25 for the first time since the 2019 season coming in at #25.
The teams falling this week were headlined by North Dakota State who fell 5 spots to #8 after their previously mentioned loss to South Dakota. Holy Cross and William & Mary fell 8 and 6 spots to #13 and #14, respectively, due to their aforementioned losses. Villanova, New Hampshire, Youngstown State, and Fordham all dropped out of the top 25 after taking week 5 losses.
In terms of conference representation the Big Sky led the way placing 7 teams into the top 25. They were followed by the MVFC with 5, the CAA with 4, and the SOCON with 3 teams in the top 25. A season high 10 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 | – | Montana State Bobcats | 1215 | |
| 3 | 1 | Idaho Vandals | 1172 | |
| 4 | 2 | Furman Paladins | 1081 | |
| 5 | 4 | Southern Illinois Salukis | 1049 | |
| 6 | 1 | Sac State Hornets | 1011 | |
| 7 | 3 | Incarnate Word Cardinals | 911 | |
| 8 | -5 | North Dakota State Bison | 878 | |
| 9 | 3 | Western Carolina Catamounts | 836 | |
| 10 | 1 | Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens | 809 | |
| 11 | 5 | Tennesee-Martin Skyhawks | 620 | |
| 12 | 26 | South Dakota Coyotes | 606 | |
| 13 | -8 | Holy Cross Crusaders | 578 | |
| 14 | -6 | William & Mary Tribe | 488 | |
| 15 | 2 | North Carolina Central Eagles | 445 | |
| 16 | -3 | North Dakota Fighting Hawks | 436 | |
| 17 | 1 | Weber State Wildcats | 415 | |
| 18 | 6 | Albany Great Danes | 390 | |
| 19 | 18 | Harvard Crimson | 321 | |
| 20 | 3 | Chattanooga Mocs | 303 | |
| 21 | 1 | UC Davis Aggies | 284 | |
| 22 | -2 | Eastern Washington Eagles | 175 | |
| 23 | NR | Elon Phoenix | 161 | |
| 24 | 1 | Montana Grizzlies | 151 | |
| 25 | 1 | Florida A&M Panthers | 143 | |
| ORV: | ||||
| 26 | 3 | Eastern Illinois Panthers | 126 | |
| 27 | – | Central Arkansas Bears | 119 | |
| 28 | -13 | Villanova Wildcats | 104 | |
| 29 | -1 | Mercer Bears | 95 | |
| 30 | 3 | Austin Peay Governors | 84 | |
| 31 | 3 | Eastern Kentucky Colonels | 57 | |
| 32 | 3 | Northern Iowa Panthers | 52 | |
| 33 | -19 | New Hampshire Wildcats | 51 | |
| 34 | -4 | Rhode Island Rams | 47 | |
| 35 | -3 | Illinois State Redbirds | 41 | |
| 36 | 2 | Tarleton Texans | 15 | |
| 37 | -18 | Youngstown State Penguins | 14 | |
| 38 | -7 | Southeast Missouri State Redhawks | 10 | |
| 39 | NR | Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks | 6 | |
| 40 | -19 | Fordham Rams | 1 | |
Most significant win: South Dakota Coyotes
Most significant loss: North Dakota State Bison
Dropped out of the poll:
Richmond Spiders
Samford Bulldogs
Join the discussion here: AGS Poll Results 2023 Wk5 (anygivensaturday.com)
