NDSU Football Ranked No. 2, UND No. 8 in Preseason Poll
The Bison and Fighting Hawks both make top 10 in first STATS Poll of 2017
FARGO, N.D. — North Dakota State couldn’t squeeze ahead of defending National Champion James Madison in the STATS Preseason Top-25 Poll.
The Bison scored 19 of 163 first-place votes to sit at No. 2.
Fresh off of its first-ever trip to the FCS Playoffs, the University of North Dakota comes in at No. 8 with a strong corps of returners.
| STATS FCS Preseason Top 25 | ||||
| Team (First-Place Votes) | W-L | Pts | Prev | |
| 1 | James Madison (134) | 14-1 | 4034 | 1 |
| 2 | North Dakota State (19) | 12-2 | 3874 | 3 |
| 3 | Sam Houston State (7) | 12-1 | 3610 | 5 |
| 4 | South Dakota State (2) | 9-4 | 3385 | 6 |
| 5 | Eastern Washington | 12-2 | 3270 | 4 |
| 6 | Jacksonville State (1) | 10-2 | 3081 | 7 |
| 7 | Richmond | 10-4 | 3041 | 8 |
| 8 | North Dakota | 9-3 | 2871 | 12 |
| 9 | Youngstown State | 12-4 | 2658 | 2 |
| 10 | Villanova | 9-4 | 2628 | 11 |
| 11 | Wofford | 10-4 | 2543 | 9 |
| 12 | Chattanooga | 9-4 | 1995 | 13 |
| 13 | New Hampshire | 8-5 | 1741 | 17 |
| 14 | Charleston Southern | 7-4 | 1710 | 15 |
| 15 | Central Arkansas | 10-3 | 1685 | 14 |
| 16 | The Citadel | 10-2 | 1545 | 10 |
| 17 | Lehigh | 9-3 | 1369 | 21 |
| 18 | Northern Iowa | 5-6 | 924 | NR |
| 19 | Samford | 7-5 | 893 | 23 |
| 20 | Illinois State | 6-6 | 876 | NR |
| 21 | Grambling State | 11-1 | 692 | 16 |
| 22 | Fordham | 8-3 | 604 | NR |
| 23 | Cal Poly | 7-5 | 427 | 24 |
| 24 | Albany | 7-4 | 418 | NR |
| 25 | Western Illinois | 6-5 | 367 | NR |
