The defending national champion North Dakota State Bison ranked the No. 1 team in the AFCA FCS Coaches Top 25 poll.
Last season NDSU finished 14-1 overall and won its ninth national championship in the past 11 seasons. The Bison earned 24 of the 25 first place votes, with South Dakota State getting the last vote.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference has five ranked teams including No. 1 North Dakota State, No. 3 South Dakota State, No. 8 Missouri State, No. 9 Southern Illinois, and No. 21 Northern Iowa.
2022 Preseason AFCA FCS Coaches Top 25
Team (First-Place Votes)
2021 2021
W-L Pts Final
1. North Dakota St. (24) 14-1 624 1
2. Montana 10-3 567 6
3. South Dakota St. (1) 11-4 566 5
4. Montana St. 12-3 560 2
5. Villanova 10-3 493 8
6. Kennesaw St. 11-2 453 10
7. Sacramento St. 9-3 452 11
8. Missouri St. 8-4 405 14
9. Southern Illinois 8-5 379 17
10. Stephen F. Austin 8-4 362 18
11. East Tennessee St. 11-2 352 7
12. Eastern Washington 10-3 337 9
13. Chattanooga 6-5 294 NR
14. Incarnate Word 10-3 277 13
15. Tennessee-Martin 10-3 257 12
16. Southeastern Louisiana 9-4 254 15
17. Jackson St. 11-2 245 19
18. Holy Cross 10-3 184 22
19. Delaware 5-6 172 NR
20. Weber St. 6-5 141 NR
21. Northern Iowa 6-6 119 25
22. UC Davis 8-4 101 16
23. Mercer 7-3 78 NR
24t. Rhode Island 7-4 66 NR
24t. Richmond 6-5 66 NR
Others receiving votes: South Dakota 49, Florida A&M 44, Harvard 38, South Carolina St. 38, Princeton 29, Central Arkansas 23, Eastern Kentucky 18, Dartmouth 17, Nicholls 8, Furman 6, North Carolina A&T 6, William & Mary 6, Murray St. 5, Davidson 3, Fordham 3, Southeast Missouri St. 3, North Dakota 2, Utah Tech 2, Austin Peay 1, Elon 1.