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Montana State Leads First NCAA FCS Committee Rankings

Note: Stay tuned to this Substack for analysis of the committee’s rankings.

The NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee placed defending national champion Montana State atop its first FCS Top 10 rankings Tuesday, ahead of undefeated Tarleton State and Stephen F. Austin.

Montana State (6-1) received the No. 1 ranking despite a 35-34 loss to Idaho on Oct. 2. The Vandals entered that contest winless in four games before rallying from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Bobcats. Tarleton State (7-0) was ranked second, followed by Youngstown State (6-2), SFA (7-0) and South Dakota State (5-2).

The committee’s rankings differ significantly from the two major national polls released Monday. Tarleton State was No. 1 in both the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll and Stats Perform FCS Top 25, followed by SFA, Montana State, Youngstown State and South Dakota State.

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Tarleton State received 24 of 26 first-place votes in the coaches poll and 49 of 57 in the Stats Perform poll. The Texans’ undefeated résumé includes a 20-13 road victory over FBS Bowling Green and a 40-32 road win against Austin Peay, which the committee ranked ninth Tuesday. Tarleton also defeated Central Arkansas 49-35 last Saturday.

SFA has won all seven games, including a 26-7 road victory over Abilene Christian and Saturday’s 56-0 shutout at Nicholls. The Lumberjacks received the remaining two first-place votes in the AFCA poll and four in the Stats Perform poll.

Montana State’s victories include a 20-7 road win over FBS Nevada and a 28-14 home victory against Northern Arizona, which the committee ranked seventh.

The first rankings provide an early look at the committee’s evaluation of potential playoff teams. They do not determine the final postseason seeds, which will be established after the regular season.

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NCAA FCS Committee Top 10 — Oct. 20

  1. Montana State (6-1)

  2. Tarleton State (7-0)

  3. Youngstown State (6-2)

  4. Stephen F. Austin (7-0)

  5. South Dakota State (5-2)

  6. North Dakota (6-2)

  7. Northern Arizona (6-2)

  8. South Dakota (6-2)

  9. Austin Peay (6-2)

  10. Harvard (5-0)

Others receiving votes: Illinois State, Lehigh, Tennessee Tech.

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