BILLINGS — The NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee unveiled its first in-season top 10 rankings Wednesday, and Montana State and Montana are both among the top five.
Montana State, on a bye this week with a five-game winning streak, came in at No. 4 while the Grizzlies, who have yet to lose this season, are in the No. 5 position. Montana steps out of conference this Saturday to host FCS independent Sacred Heart.
Here is the committee's initial top 10 for Oct. 15:
1, North Dakota State (6-0)
2, South Dakota State (6-0)
3, Tarleton State (7-0)
4, Montana State (5-2)
5, Montana (6-0)
6, UC Davis (5-1)
7, Lehigh (7-0)
8, North Dakota (4-2)
9, Monmouth (5-1)
10, Tennessee Tech (6-0)
The top of the rankings features familiar title contenders. No. 1 North Dakota State is the defending national champion; the Bison have won an astounding 10 titles since 2011 and are undefeated again this season,
No. 2 South Dakota State won back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023. The Jackrabbits, currently 6-0, will host NDSU on Oct. 25 in prime time and on national television in their annual Dakota Marker rivalry game.
SDSU, which has three ranked wins, defeated Montana State in a double-overtime thriller in a key non-league game Sept. 6 in Bozeman.
Upstart Tarleton State is No. 3 after a 7-0 start that includes a double-overtime victory over FBS Army on Aug. 29. The Texans moved up to the FCS from Division II in 2020 and are members of the United Athletic Conference. They made the playoffs last season, beating Drake in the first round but losing to eventual semifinalist South Dakota in the second round.
The Bobcats' two losses this year are to FBS power Oregon in the season opener and the aforementioned defeat at home to SDSU. Their one ranked victory came over then-No. 13 Northern Arizona on Oct. 4.
The Grizzlies have two ranked wins on their résumé — a one-point victory over then-No. 16 North Dakota on Sept. 13 and an 11-point win over then-No. 8 Idaho on Sept. 27.
Big Sky contender UC Davis is ranked No. 6. The Aggies blew past ranked Northern Arizona last week and are tied atop the league with a 3-0 record with both Montana and Montana State. They visit the Bobcats for a prime time, nationally televised game on Nov. 15.
According to the NCAA, the committee's top 10 rankings provide midseason insight into which teams are in contention for first-round byes given to the eight seeded teams in the FCS playoff bracket.
Teams seeded 9-16 will also be seeded, increasing the importance of the last two teams ranked in the committee's rankings, the NCAA says.. The NCAA stated that the FCS coaches poll and the STATS Perform top 25 are not considered among the criteria for the rankings this year.
Here is the some of the other criteria for the committee's ranking process, provided by the NCAA:
- Regional Advisory Committee rankings
- Committee review of 3-4 games nationally each week
- Each team’s won-lost record
- Each team's strength of schedule
The committee also has four metrics available as a secondary consideration for evaluating teams:
- Two predictive methods (Massey and ESPN)
- Two results-based metrics (KPI and ESPN. KPI is a metric developed by Kevin Pauga)
The NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee will release a second set of rankings on Nov. 5.
