Ranking School 1. North Dakota State 2. Illinois State 3. Sam Houston State 4. Villanova 5. Coastal Carolina 6. Eastern Washington 7. Jacksonville State 8. Chattanooga 9. New Hampshire 10. Northern Iowa 11. Montana State 12. James Madison 13. Montana 14. Youngstown State 15. Liberty 16. South Dakota State 17. Eastern Kentucky 18. Richmond 19. Southeastern Louisiana 20. Fordham 21. Indiana State 22. Idaho State 23. Harvard 24. Stephen F. Austin 25. McNeese State

OGDEN, Utah (August 10, 2015)- Four Big Sky teams are ranked in the preseason edition of the STATS FCS Top-25, and two others received votes.Eastern Washington, Montana State, Montana and Idaho State are all ranked in the poll, while Northern Arizona and Cal Poly received votes in the preseason rankings.Four-time defending FCS national champion North Dakota State opens the season as the top team. The Bison were an overwhelming No. 1 in the national media poll, collecting 144 of the 147 first-place votes and 3,671 points. Illinois State received the other three first-place votes.Three-time defending conference champion Eastern Washington was the conference’s highest-ranked team, coming in sixth. The Eagles finished last season at 11-3, losing to Illinois State in the FCS quarterfinals. Illinois State is ranked second in the preseason poll.Montana State comes in at 11in the opening poll. The Bobcats will travel to Cheney to face Eastern Washington in a non-conference game on September 19. MSU will also play at Cal Poly on Sept. 26, at 22-ranked Idaho State on Nov. 14 and will host 13-ranked Montana in the annual “Brawl of the Wild” game on November 21.Montana hosts North Dakota State on August 29, in a 1:30 game that will be televised on ESPN as part of the network’s “FCS Kickoff.” The Grizzlies will face four teams ranked in the preseason poll- North Dakota State, 15-ranked Liberty on Sept. 19, Montana State and Idaho State on Nov. 7.Idaho State opens the season nationally ranked for the first time since 2003. The Bengals will play at Cal Poly on October 3, and at Eastern Washington on Oct. 17.A national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries selects the STATS FCS Top 25. In the voting, a first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote 24 points, all the way down to one point for a 25th-place vote.The Top 25 is released every Monday afternoon during the regular season, except for Sunday morning, Nov. 22, prior to the selection of the 24-team FCS playoff field. A final Top 25 will follow the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 9 in Frisco, Texas.

Receiving Votes: Cal Poly, Northern Arizona