WACO, TX – Defending national champion North Dakota State will begin the 2022 season as the No. 1 team in the AFCA FCS Coaches Top 25 poll, which was released Monday, Aug. 15.
North Dakota State went 14-1 overall and won its ninth national title in 11 seasons last year. The Bison earned 24 of 25 possible first-place votes in the poll.
Montana, a national quarterfinalist last year, is No. 2 in the preseason poll followed by South Dakota State, which received one first-place vote. National runner-up Montana State starts the year No. 4 followed by Villanova at No. 5.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference has five ranked teams including No. 8 Missouri State, No. 9 Southern Illinois and No. 21 Northern Iowa.
2022 Preseason AFCA FCS Coaches Top 25
| Team (First-Place Votes) | 2021 W-L |
Pts | Final 2021 |
|
| 1. | North Dakota St. (24) | 14-1 | 624 | 1 |
| 2. | Montana | 10-3 | 567 | 6 |
| 3. | South Dakota St. (1) | 11-4 | 566 | 5 |
| 4. | Montana St. | 12-3 | 560 | 2 |
| 5. | Villanova | 10-3 | 493 | 8 |
| 6. | Kennesaw St. | 11-2 | 453 | 10 |
| 7. | Sacramento St. | 9-3 | 452 | 11 |
| 8. | Missouri St. | 8-4 | 405 | 14 |
| 9. | Southern Illinois | 8-5 | 379 | 17 |
| 10. | Stephen F. Austin | 8-4 | 362 | 18 |
| 11. | East Tennessee St. | 11-2 | 352 | 7 |
| 12. | Eastern Washington | 10-3 | 337 | 9 |
| 13. | Chattanooga | 6-5 | 294 | NR |
| 14. | Incarnate Word | 10-3 | 277 | 13 |
| 15. | Tennessee-Martin | 10-3 | 257 | 12 |
| 16. | Southeastern Louisiana | 9-4 | 254 | 15 |
| 17. | Jackson St. | 11-2 | 245 | 19 |
| 18. | Holy Cross | 10-3 | 184 | 22 |
| 19. | Delaware | 5-6 | 172 | NR |
| 20. | Weber St. | 6-5 | 141 | NR |
| 21. | Northern Iowa | 6-6 | 119 | 25 |
| 22. | UC Davis | 8-4 | 101 | 16 |
| 23. | Mercer | 7-3 | 78 | NR |
| 24t. | Rhode Island | 7-4 | 66 | NR |
| 24t. | Richmond | 6-5 | 66 | NR |
Others receiving votes: South Dakota 49, Florida A&M 44, Harvard 38, South Carolina St. 38, Princeton 29, Central Arkansas 23, Eastern Kentucky 18, Dartmouth 17, Nicholls 8, Furman 6, North Carolina A&T 6, William & Mary 6, Murray St. 5, Davidson 3, Fordham 3, Southeast Missouri St. 3, North Dakota 2, Utah Tech 2, Austin Peay 1, Elon 1.
