Despite Loss, No Drop for South Dakota State in Latest Rankings
Despite a hard-fought defeat in their opening game of the season, 3rd ranked South Dakota State remains in the same spot in the latest AFCA FCS Top 25 rankings heading into Week 2.
In total, there are 5 MVFC teams featured in the poll, including an additional 4 in the receiving votes category.
South Dakota State traveled East this past week to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes, falling in a touchdown-less game 7-3. This weekend, the Jacks open their home schedule as they host UC-Davis, a 6:00 pm kickoff.
Here is the complete poll (MVFC teams in BOLD):
| School (1st votes) | Pts. | Prev. | Next Game | |
| 1 | North Dakota St. (26) | 698 | 1 | Sept. 10 vs. North Carolina A&T |
| 2 | Montana (1) | 666 | 2 | Sept. 10 vs. South Dakota |
| 3 | South Dakota St. (1) | 634 | 3 | Sept. 10 vs. No. 25 UC Davis |
| 4 | Montana St. | 624 | 4 | Sept. 10 vs. Morehead St. |
| 5 | Villanova | 586 | 5 | Sept. 10 at LIU |
| 6 | Sacramento St. | 539 | 7 | Sept. 17 at No. 24 Northern Iowa |
| 7 | Missouri St. | 506 | 8 | Sept. 10 vs. No. 14 UT Martin |
| 8 | East Tennessee St. | 417 | 11 | Sept. 10 at The Citadel |
| 9 | UIW | 410 | 14 | Sept. 10 at Nevada |
| 10 | Chattanooga | 405 | 13 | Sept. 10 at Eastern Illinois |
| 11 | Eastern Washington | 390 | 12 | Sept. 10 at Oregon |
| 12 | Stephen F. Austin | 368 | 10 | Sept. 10 at Louisiana Tech |
| 13 | Delaware | 354 | 19 | Sept. 10 vs. Delaware St. |
| 14 | UT Martin | 346 | 15 | Sept. 10 at No. 7 Missouri St. |
| 15 | Jackson St. | 343 | 17 | Sept. 10 at Tennessee St. |
| 16 | Holy Cross | 244 | 18 | Sept. 10 at Buffalo |
| 17 | Weber St. | 225 | 20 | Sept. 10 at Utah St. |
| 18 | Kennesaw St. | 216 | 6 | Sept. 10 at Cincinnati |
| 19 | Southern Illinois | 175 | 9 | Sept. 10 vs. Southeast Missouri St. |
| 20t. | Rhode Island | 160 | 24t | Sept. 10 at Bryant |
| 20t. | SE Louisiana | 160 | 16 | Sept. 10 at Florida Atlantic |
| 22 | William & Mary | 124 | NR | Sept. 10 vs. Campbell |
| 23 | Mercer | 84 | 23 | Sept. 17 vs. The Citadel |
| 24 | Northern Iowa | 72 | 21 | Sept. 10 at North Dakota |
| 25 | UC Davis | 67 | 22 | Sept. 10 at No. 3 South Dakota St. |
Others Receiving Votes: Samford, 59; Richmond, 44; Furman, 30; Harvard, 22; Portland St., 18; Illinois St., 17; Dartmouth, 16; Austin Peay, 14; Princeton, 12; Fordham, 10; Central Arkansas, 7; Houston Baptist, 7; South Dakota, 5; VMI, 5; Youngstown St., 4; Florida A&M, 3; North Carolina Central, 3; Elon, 2; Georgetown, 2; North Dakota, 2; Eastern Illinois, 1; Eastern Kentucky, 1; Idaho, 1; Nicholls, 1; South Carolina St., 1.
The South Dakota Coyotes are in the others receiving votes category, but will need to be at their best this week, as they travel to take on #2 Montana. That game is scheduled to kick off on Saturday at 2pm from Missoula.
It's an impressive start for the Missouri Valley, a conference that could see a lot of teams in and out of the rankings this season as one of the most competitive conferences in the country.
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