MISSOULA — The top six teams held their respective rankings in the latest Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll, which was released Monday.
Montana State, which improved to 3-0 and extended its program-record winning streak to 17 games with a 20-7 victory at Nevada on Saturday, again received all 57 first-place votes to top the rankings. The Bobcats are yet to trail in a game this season.
South Dakota State, Montana, Tarleton State, Illinois State and North Dakota are the Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 teams in the poll. All five won last week with SDSU rolling New Haven 57-14, Montana beating Utah Tech 35-14, Tarleton State edging McNeese 27-24, Illinois State toppling Northern Illinois 28-24 and North Dakota routing Portland State 47-23.
The Big Sky Conference continues to have five ranked teams. UC Davis slipped from seventh to 11th after its 56-10 loss to SMU. Idaho State and Northern Arizona climbed in the rankings, with the Bengals up one spot to No. 16 and the Lumberjacks up four places to No. 20.
Cal Poly and Southern Utah also received votes.
Big Sky teams are playing their final non-conference games this week, as they get set to return to league play next week. No. 1 Montana State hosts Central Connecticut State, which has made the playoffs each of the past two years but is 0-2 to start this season, at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman. That game will be broadcast by Scripps Sports and air on The Spot – MTN.
Third-ranked Montana travels to Corvallis, Ore., to face the Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-12. Kickoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. Mountain time, and the game will be broadcast on the USA Network.
The rest of the Big Sky schedule is below.
All times Mountain
Friday, Sept. 18
Portland State at Oregon, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 19
Stetson at No. 11 UC Davis, 8 p.m.
No. 20 Northern Arizona at Utah Tech, 6 p.m.
(RV) Southern Utah at St. Thomas, 12 p.m.
San Diego at (RV) Cal Poly, 6 p.m.
Abilene Christian at Idaho, 2 p.m.
Eastern Washington at Washington, 5:15 p.m.
Northeastern State at Northern Colorado, 6 p.m.
Northwestern State at Weber State, 6 p.m.
