Each week, throughout the college football season, alumni, fans, media and the teams themselves look to the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll to see who is rising and moving within the national rankings. Montana State puts its stamp on the final 2025 poll.
Montana State players, coaches and fans lingered on the field long after the Bobcats captured the FCS national championship Monday night in Nashville, Tennessee.
Surely, nobody was ready to say goodbye to a magical night, when the first title game to go to overtime ended with Montana State outlasting Illinois State 35-34.
The Bobcats love the feeling of being No. 1 – it was unanimous in the season-ending Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll – and they seem intent on keeping it.
Coach Brent Vigen all but told other national powers – North Dakota State, South Dakota State, whoever – “Come and get us.”
“Players and coaches are champions, but all Bobcats are champions,” said Vigen, who’s 61-12 in five seasons. “To be able to clear that hurdle and know that, yes, this ’25 group accomplished what hadn’t been done in a long time … but we’re building for more.”
Montana State, the national runner-up in 2021 and ’24, had only nine seniors this season while joining its 1984 squad as a national champion. Transfer quarterback Justin Lamson helped fuel the team and was selected as the championship game’s outstanding player.
Illinois State (12-5), the first team to win four road games in a single FCS playoff, was second in the final national media rankings, with fellow semifinalists Montana (12-2) and Villanova (12-3) third and tied for fourth, respectively. NDSU (12-1), which was unbeaten in the regular season, but fell to Illinois State in the second round of the playoffs, also tied for fourth.
Ten conferences had a team ranked in the final Top 25, led by the Missouri Valley with seven.
A national media panel selected the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll this season. A first-place vote was worth 25 points, a second-place vote 24 points, all the way down to one point for a 25th-place vote.
Graphic by Graham Bell.Final Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll
1. Montana State (14-2, 8-0 Big Sky)
Points: 1,400 (56 of 56 first-place votes); Previous Ranking: 2; Postseason Results: 21-13 win over Yale; 44-28 win over Stephen F. Austin; 48-23 win over Montana; 35-34 OT win over Illinois State
2. Illinois State (12-5, 5-3 MVFC)
Points: 1,327; Previous Ranking: T17; Postseason Results: 21-3 win at Southeastern Louisiana; 29-28 win at North Dakota State; 42-31 win at UC Davis; 30-14 win at Villanova; 35-34 OT loss to Montana State
3. Montana (13-2, 7-1 Big Sky)
Points: 1,271; Previous Ranking: 3; Postseason Results: 50-29 win over South Dakota State; 52-22 win over South Dakota; 48-23 loss at Montana State
T4. North Dakota State (12-1, 8-0 MVFC)
Points: 1,181; Previous Ranking: 1; Postseason Result: 29-28 loss to Illinois State
T4. Villanova (12-3, 7-1 CAA)
Points: 1,181; Previous Ranking: 9; Postseason Results: 52-7 win over Harvard; 14-7 win at Lehigh; 26-21 win at Tarleton State; 30-14 loss to Illinois State
6. Tarleton State (12-2, 7-1 UAC)
Points: 1,112; Previous Ranking: 5; Postseason Results: 31-13 win over North Dakota; 26-21 loss to Villanova
7. Stephen F. Austin (11-3, 8-0 Southland)
Points: 992; Previous Ranking: 10; Postseason Results: 41-34 win over Abilene Christian; 44-28 loss at Montana State
8. UC Davis (9-4, 6-2 Big Sky)
Points: 985; Previous Ranking: 11; Postseason Results: 47-26 win over Rhode Island; 42-31 loss to Illinois State
9. South Dakota (10-5, 6-2 MVFC)
Points: 947; Previous Ranking: 12; Postseason Results: 38-17 win over Drake; 47-0 win at Mercer; 52-22 loss at Montana
10. Lehigh (12-1, 7-0 Patriot)
Points: 902; Previous Ranking: 4; Postseason Results: 14-7 loss to Villanova
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1 month ago Craig Haley11. Rhode Island (11-3, 8-0 CAA)
Points: 816; Previous Ranking: 8; Postseason Results: 27-19 win over Central Connecticut State; 47-26 loss at UC Davis
12. Abilene Christian (9-5, 7-1 UAC)
Points: 711; Previous Ranking: 13; Postseason Results: 38-20 win over Lamar; 41-34 loss at Stephen F. Austin
13. South Dakota State (9-5, 4-4 MVFC)
Points: 686; Previous Ranking: 16; Postseason Results: 41-3 win over New Hampshire; 50-29 loss at Montana
14. North Dakota (8-6, 5-3 MVFC)
Points: 633; Previous Ranking: 19; Postseason Results: 31-6 win at Tennessee Tech; 31-13 loss at Tarleton State
15. Yale (9-3, 6-1 Ivy)
Points: 628; Previous Ranking: 24; Postseason Results: 43-42 win at Youngstown State; 21-13 loss at Montana State
16. Tennessee Tech (11-2, 8-0 OVC-Big South)
Points: 607; Previous Ranking: 6; Postseason Result: 31-6 loss to North Dakota
17. Mercer (9-3, 8-0 SoCon)
Points: 584; Previous Ranking: 7; Postseason Results: 47-0 loss to South Dakota
18. Youngstown State (8-5, 5-3 MVFC)
Points: 433; Previous Ranking: 14; Postseason Result: 43-42 loss to Yale
19. Southeastern Louisiana (9-4, 7-1 Southland)
Points: 358; Previous Ranking: T17; Postseason Results: 21-3 loss to Illinois State
20. Harvard (9-2, 6-1 Ivy)
Points: 242; Previous Ranking: 15; Postseason Result: 52-7 loss at Villanova
21. South Carolina State (10-3, 5-0 MEAC)
Points: 206; Previous Ranking: NR; Postseason Result: 40-38, four-OT win over Prairie View A&M
22. Monmouth (9-3, 6-2 CAA)
Points: 187; Previous Ranking: 21; Postseason Results: No games
23. New Hampshire (8-5, 6-2 CAA)
Points: 165; Previous Ranking: 22; Postseason Result: 41-3 loss at South Dakota State
24. Lamar (8-5, 5-3 Southland)
Points: 159; Previous Ranking: 25; Postseason Result: 38-20 loss at Abilene Christian
25. Southern Illinois (7-5, 4-4 MVFC)
Points: 147; Previous Ranking: 23; Postseason Results: No games
Dropped Out of FCS Top 25: Jackson State (20)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots)
Prairie View A&M (10-4, 7-1 SWAC), 76; Jackson State (9-3, 7-1 SWAC), 58; Alabama State (10-2, 7-1 SWAC), 41; West Georgia (8-3, 5-3 UAC), 38; Austin Peay (7-5, 4-4 UAC), 29; Southern Utah (7-5, 6-2 UAC), 25; Drake (8-4, 7-1 Pioneer), 21; Central Connecticut State (8-5, 6-1 NEC), 18; Lafayette (8-4, 6-1 Patriot), 16; Northern Arizona (7-5, 4-4 Big Sky), 11; UT Rio Grande Valley (9-3, 5-3 Southland), 3
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll Voting Panel
Stats Perform: Craig Haley. Big Sky Conference: Riley Corcoran, Tyson Rodgers, Larry Weir.CAA Football: Roger Brown, Matt Harmon, Rob Washburn. Ivy League: JJ Klein, Craig Larson. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Kendrick Lewis, Patricia Porter-Mayfield. Missouri Valley Football Conference: Kyle Grooms, Dom Izzo, Randy Reinhardt.Northeast Conference: Sarah Boissonneault, Brian Cleary.OVC-Big South Football Association: Mike Bradd, Kyle Schwartz, Mark Simpson.Patriot League: Eric Malanoski, Ryan Sakamoto.Pioneer Football League: Cody Bush, Larry Hansgen.Southern Conference: Scott Keeler, Andrew Miller, Ralan Wardlaw. Southland Conference: Matthew Bonnette, James Dixon, James Hill. Southwestern Athletic Conference: Curtis Ford, Ronnie Johnson. United Athletic Conference: Brian Morgan, Benjamin Ray, Jake Withee. National Representatives: Sean Anderson, Stan Becton, Zack Carlton, Gene Clemons, Joe DeLeone, Matt Dixon, Steven J. Gaither, Sam Herder, Emory Hunt, Doug Kelly, Kyle Kensing, Brandon Lawrence, Zach McKinnell, Jon Passman, Omar Rashon Borja, Ryan Roberts, Timothy Rosario, Kent Schmidt, Phil Sokol, Reggie Thomas, Ralph Ventre, Jamie Williams.
For more FCS football coverage, follow on social media at X, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.
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