North Dakota State Storms Back To No. 1 In AGS Poll
Special to College Sports Journal
MISSOULA, MT. — North Dakota State used an impressive 28-7 road win over Missouri Valley Conference rival South Dakota State to soar back into the top spot as as Any Given Saturday released its Football Championship Subdivision Top-25 poll on Monday.
The Bison, coming off four consecutive FCS national championships, had been ranked No. 1 in the AGS preseason poll, but fell down the rankings after a season-opening loss at Montana. NDSU (3-1) received 30 of the 84 first-place votes and flopped spots at the top with Jacksonville State.
JSU, which had been ranked No. 1 for the four previous weeks, fell to No. 2 despite a 49-7 crushing of Mississippi Valley State. The Gamecocks (4-1)actually received the most first-place votes with 36.
Another team continuing to surge in the poll was James Madison (5-0), which held off Stony Brook for a 38-20 home win, just one week after beating the Football Bowl Subdivision’s SMU. The Dukes rose from fifth to third and picked up 10 first-place votes.
Coastal Carolina (5-0) stormed past Alabama A&M at home, 55-0, but fell one slot to No. 4. The Chanticleers received the other eight first-place votes.
The fan-based and moderated AGS poll has been widely recognized as the most accurate in FCS since its debut as a fan-based voting service over a decade ago.
Readers can read more about the poll and other FCS topics at www.anygivensaturday.com.
Results for 10/05/2015 AGS Poll:
| Previous Wk. | Rank | Team: | Total Points | First Place Votes |
| 2 | 1 | North Dakota State Bison | 2010 | 30 |
| 1 | 2 | Jacksonville State Gamecocks | 1994 | 36 |
| 5 | 3 | James Madison Dukes | 1899 | 10 |
| 3 | 4 | Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | 1876 | 8 |
| 7 | 5 | Illinois State Redbirds | 1824 | |
| 8 | 6 | Chattanooga Mocs | 1531 | |
| 9 | 7 | Eastern Washington Eagles | 1452 | |
| 4 | 8 | South Dakota State Jackrabbits | 1449 | |
| 6 | 9 | Northern Iowa Panthers | 1384 | |
| 12 | 10 | Montana Grizzlies | 1189 | |
| 15 | 11 | Youngstown State Penguins | 1154 | |
| 14 | 12 | Fordham Rams | 1093 | |
| 16 | 13 | Liberty Flames | 960 | |
| 19 | 14 | Southeastern Louisiana Lions | 731 | |
| 17 | 15 | Sam Houston State Bearkats | 728 | |
| 20 | 16 | Indiana State Sycamores | 706 | |
| 21 | 17 | McNeese State Cowboys | 649 | |
| 22 | 18 | Eastern Kentucky Colonels | 566 | |
| 10 | 19 | Portland State Vikings | 513 | |
| 18 | 20 | Villanova Wildcats | 476 | |
| 24 | 21 | Richmond Spiders | 452 | |
| 23 | 22 | Harvard Crimson | 432 | |
| 11 | 23 | Montana State Bobcats | 421 | |
| 13 | 24 | William & Mary Tribe | 372 | |
| 25 | 25 | New Hampshire Wildcats | 249 | |
| Most Significant Win: | ||||
| North Dakota State Bison | ||||
| Most Significant Loss: | ||||
| Portland State Vikings | ||||
| ORV: | ||||
| 28 | 26 | Furman Paladins | 218 | |
| 34 | 27 | North Dakota | 213 | |
| 32 | 28 | Western Illinois Leathernecks | 174 | |
| 26 | 29 | Cal Poly Mustangs | 142 | |
| NR | 30 | Northern Arizona Lumberjacks | 101 | |
| 33 | 31 | Dartmouth Big Green | 67 | |
| 31 | 32 | Samford Bulldogs | 53 | |
| 27 | 33 | Lamar Cardinals | 47 | |
| 29 | 34 | Southern Illinois Salukis | 34 | |
| 35 | 35 | Jacksonville Dolphins | 30 | |
| 36 | 36 | Wofford Terriers | 29 | |
| 30 | 37 | Stony Brook Seawolves | 22 | |
| 40 | 38 | Yale Bulldogs | 19 | |
| NR | 39 | Southern Utah Thunderbirds | 12 | |
| 37 | 40 | Princeton Tigers | 9 | |
| Fell Out Of Poll: | ||||
| 38 | South Dakota Coyotes | |||
| 39 | Weber State Wildcats | |||
