MISSOULA — Montana State is third and Montana ninth in the latest Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll, which was released Monday.
The Bobcats, who were idle last week after beginning the season 3-0, maintained their No. 3 ranking from the previous poll, while the Grizzlies slipped from No. 8 to No. 9 despite their 59-2 win over Morehead State.
Southern Illinois was ranked ninth last week, but leapfrogged Montana and Central Arkansas to No. 7 after earning a 35-28 win at then-No. 12 Incarnate Word. Incarnate Word fell to 15th in this week's poll.
Overall, the Big Sky Conference and Missouri Valley Football Conference combined for 10 of the top 13 spots in the rankings, led by No. 1 South Dakota State and No. 2 North Dakota State of the MVFC. The two-time reigning FCS champion Jackrabbits have held the No. 1 ranking for 25 consecutive polls and received 41 of 56 first-place votes this week. SDSU beat Augustana 24-3 last week.
NDSU, which rallied to a 38-35 win last week to survive East Tennessee State's upset bid, received five first-place votes. Montana State received seven first-place votes, and fourth-ranked Idaho got three. The Vandals drubbed then-No. 17 Albany 41-13 on Saturday.
Villanova is ranked fifth after squeaking out a 14-13 win over Towson last week. The Wildcats join MSU and No. 14 Mercer as the only 3-0 teams in the rankings.
Joining Montana State, Idaho and Montana in the polls from the Big Sky Conference are No. 11 Sacramento State and No. 13 UC Davis. Sac State got an impressive 34-7 win over then-No. 24 Nicholls last week, and UC Davis defeated Southern Utah 24-21.
Weber State and Northern Arizona each received votes. View the complete poll.
Coming up this week, No. 4 Idaho and No. 9 Montana each have another top-25 matchup. The Vandals are at No. 19 Abilene Christian, while the Grizzlies host No. 24 Western Carolina.
