MISSOULA — The NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee unveiled its updated in-season top 10 rankings Wednesday, and Montana State and Montana are sitting in strong positions heading into the final three games of the regular season.
The committee ranked the Bobcats second and the Grizzlies third behind reigning national champion North Dakota State. The Bison, who are now 9-0, were also first in the committee's initial rankings on Oct. 15.
Montana State (7-2) and Montana (9-0) moved up from Nos. 4 and 5 in the original rankings. The Bobcats' two losses on the season are to FBS Oregon and South Dakota State, which is still ranked sixth by the committee despite losing its past two games.
Following NDSU, MSU and UM in the rankings are No. 4 Lehigh and No. 5 Tarleton State. Lehigh (9-0) is up from its prior No. 7 ranking, while Tarleton State (9-1) fell from second to fifth following last week's loss to Abilene Christian.
SDSU (7-2) is sixth, followed by Tennessee Tech (9-0), Monmouth (8-1), Harvard (7-0) and UC Davis (6-2). Only Harvard is new to the top 10 from the initial rankings. The Crimson replaced North Dakota, which fell out of the top 10 after being ranked eighth in October.
To view the committee's initial in-season rankings and learn about the criteria used to determine the rankings, click here.
The updated rankings were revealed Wednesday on ESPN2's "College Football Live" broadcast. According to the NCAA, "these in-season rankings serve as a snapshot as to where the committee has teams ranked heading into the final three weeks of the regular season."
The FCS playoffs begin with the first round Nov. 29. The top eight seeds receive first-round byes and will host second-round games the weekend of Dec. 6.
Montana has games versus Eastern Washington and Portland State remaining before the Brawl of the Wild on Nov. 22. Montana State plays Weber State and UC Davis the next two weeks.
Here are the top 10 rankings announced Nov. 5.
| RANK | SCHOOL | RECORD | RANK IN 1ST COMMITTEE RANKINGS |
| 1 | North Dakota State | 9-0 | No. 1 |
| 2 | Montana State | 7-2 | No. 4 |
| 3 | Montana | 9-0 | No. 5 |
| 4 | Lehigh | 9-0 | No. 7 |
| 5 | Tarleton State | 9-1 | No. 3 |
| 6 | South Dakota State | 7-2 | No. 2 |
| 7 | Tennessee Tech | 9-0 | No. 10 |
| 8 | Monmouth | 8-1 | No. 9 |
| 9 | Harvard | 7-0 | NR |
| 10 | UC Davis | 6-2 | No. 6 |
Dropped out of committee's previous top 10: North Dakota (No. 8).
