There weren’t many losses amongst last week’s AGS Top 25 but the few that did happed shook things up a bit as we head into the last quarter of the regular season. As they have all year South Dakota State stayed at #1 garnering all 49 first place votes. Behind them Furman moved up to #2, their highest ranking in the AGS Poll since 2005, and Idaho climbed back into the top 5 coming at #3 after a big win over previously 2nd ranked Montana St. Delaware moved up to #4 and Montana State dropped to #5 after their previously mentioned loss to Idaho.

Other teams on the rise included Southern Illinois who moved up 3 spots to #9 after demolishing WIU. Villanova who moved up 4 spots to #14 after their 3rd straight convincing win. Northern Iowa climbed up 5 spots to #19 after edging MVFC foe Illinois State on the road. Mercer got back into the top 25 coming in at #23 after upsetting Western Carolina and Harvard also crept back into the top 25 to round it out at #25.

Teams falling this week were headlined by South Dakota who fell 4 spots to #8 after taking a convincing home loss to in-state rival SDSU. Western Carolina tumbled 6 spots into a tie at #15 due to their aforementioned loss to Mercer. Tennessee-Martin plummeted 10 spots down to #21 after being stunned by unranked Gardner-Webb. Central Arkansas and New Hampshire each fell out of the top 25 after taking losses on Saturday.

In terms of conference representation the MVFC led the way once again placing 7 teams into the top 25. They were followed by Big Sky and SOCON with 4 each and the CAA with 3 teams in the top 25. 11 conferences were represented in this week’s AGS Top 25.

Full results below:

Rank Change Team Total Points First Place Votes
1 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 1225 49
2 1 Furman Paladins 1142
3 4 Idaho Vandals 1085
4 1 Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens 1055
5 -3 Montana State Bobcats 1013
6 2 Montana Grizzlies 987
7 -1 Sac State Hornets 952
8 -4 South Dakota Coyotes 820
9 3 Southern Illinois Salukis 760
10 Incarnate Word Cardinals 754
11 1 North Dakota State Bison 694
12 2 Chattanooga Mocs 585
13 2 North Carolina Central Eagles 581
14 4 Villanova Wildcats 480
15T 1 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 451
15T -6 Western Carolina Catamounts 451
17 2 Youngstown State Penguins 432
18 2 Albany Great Danes 381
19 5 Northern Iowa Panthers 352
20 1 Lafayette Leopards 345
21 -10 Tennesee-Martin Skyhawks 342
22 1 Austin Peay Governors 304
23 5 Mercer Bears 248
24 -2 Florida A&M Panthers 215
25 2 Harvard Crimson 75
ORV:
26 Holy Cross Crusaders 63
27 -10 Central Arkansas Bears 38
28 4 Richmond Spiders 37
29 1 William & Mary Tribe 25
30 NR Tarleton Texans 11
31 3 Eastern Illinois Panthers 8
32 NR Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs 6
33 5 Elon Phoenix 3
34T NR Eastern Kentucky Colonels 2
34T NR Tennessee State Tigers 2
36 NR Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 1

Most significant win: Idaho Vandals
Most significant loss: Montana State Bobcats

Dropped out of the poll:
Fordham Rams
Illinois State Redbirds
Lamar Cardinals
New Hampshire Wildcats
Nicholls Colonels
Pennsylvania Quakers
UC Davis Aggies

Join the discussion here: AGS Poll Results 2023 Wk9 (anygivensaturday.com)