MISSOULA — The top five teams held steady in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll on Monday with all five receiving at least one first-place vote.
Tarleton State remained atop the rankings with 39 of 57 first-place votes. Stephen F. Austin and Montana State both received seven first-place votes to place second and third, respectively, and Youngstown State (three first-place votes) and South Dakota State (one) stayed at fourth and fifth.
Northern Arizona and Austin Peay both leapfrogged South Dakota to climb to Nos. 6 and 7 in the poll, while the Coyotes dropped to eighth after their 31-21 loss to rival SDSU. Tennessee Tech moved up to No. 9, and Illinois State stayed at No. 10.
Montana, coming off a 42-33 win at Eastern Washington, climbed two spots to No. 12, one place behind North Dakota.
Weber State at No. 18 and Idaho State at No. 22 are the only other teams from the Big Sky Conference ranked. UC Davis fell out of the top 25 after its 38-14 loss to Weber State last week.
Montana State (61-7 over Cal Poly), Northern Arizona (34-27 over Southern Utah) and Idaho State (34-27 over Utah Tech) all won last week, as well.
With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, Montana State and Northern Arizona sit atop the Big Sky standings with 5-1 conference records. The Bobcats beat the Lumberjacks 28-14 earlier this season. NAU plays at Cal Poly this Saturday, while MSU is at Idaho State for another top-25 matchup in the Big Sky.
The FCS playoff committee will release its second in-season top 10 on Thursday.
The current Big Sky standings and this week's schedule are below.
Big Sky Conference standings
Monday, Nov. 2
| Conf. | Overall | |
| Montana State | 5-1 | 8-1 |
| Northern Arizona | 5-1 | 7-2 |
| Weber State | 5-2 | 6-4 |
| Montana | 4-2 | 6-3 |
| Idaho | 4-2 | 4-5 |
| Idaho State | 3-3 | 6-3 |
| UC Davis | 3-3 | 5-4 |
| Cal Poly | 3-4 | 4-6 |
| Northern Colorado | 2-4 | 3-6 |
| Southern Utah | 2-4 | 3-6 |
| Portland State | 2-4 | 2-7 |
| Eastern Washington | 1-5 | 2-7 |
| Utah Tech | 1-5 | 1-8 |
Big Sky Conference schedule
(All times Mountain)
Saturday, Nov. 7
Portland State at No. 12 Montana, 1 p.m.
Northern Colorado at Southern Utah, 1 p.m.
Eastern Washington at Idaho, 3 p.m.
No. 6 Northern Arizona at Cal Poly, 3 p.m.
No. 3 Montana State at No. 22 Idaho State, 4 p.m.
Utah Tech at (RV) UC Davis, 5 p.m.
No. 22 Weber State idle.
