Top 3 for Mo Valley

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Maybe I’m drinking the Missouri Valley Kool-Aid and I don’t even know it, but my top three teams are from that league in my Sports Network FCS top 25 media poll ballot today. NDSU is the easy No. 1 pick right now. Youngstown is a solid No. 2 and Illinois State is third. All three own FBS wins, all three are unbeaten and all three are from a league that has the defending FCS champ.

It was a good month for the Valley, with South Dakota State having a solid start and Indiana State hanging tough. The poll comes out on Monday.

  • 1. NDSU
  • 2. Youngstown
  • 3. Illinois State
  • 4. Montana State
  • 5. Wofford
  • 6. Old Dominion
  • 7. Cal Poly
  • 8. Eastern Washington
  • 9. Georgia Southern
  • 10. Northern Arizona
  • 11. Stony Brook
  • 12. James Madison
  • 13. Delaware
  • 14. Towson State
  • 15. South Dakota State
  • 16. New Hampshire
  • 17. Lehigh
  • 18. Appalachian State
  • 19. Villanova
  • 20. Eastern Kentucky
  • 21. Sam Houston
  • 22. Albany
  • 23. Citadel
  • 24. McNeese State
  • 25. Indiana State

21 thoughts on “Top 3 for Mo Valley”

  1. Seems a little high for Illinois which barely got by USD this weekend. Would like to see Illinois State, Youngstown, NDSU and SDSU earn playoff spots.

  2. Sure seems strange not to see the Montana Grizzlies in a poll, but rightly so. I really believe even the undies will whoop’em.

    • About the UNDies, not so sure, it’ll be a shoot-out, whichever D runs out of gas first, will likely lose.

  3. Watched Illinois State and South Dakota play Saturday afternoon. South Dakota was unimpressive, and Illinois State will need to play alot better to make a dent in the post season. I agree Northern Iowa should not be ranked…but they would beat at least half the teams on this list.

  4. Montana had an epic collapse in their game against EWU. That has to be a by product of all of their offseason issues.

  5. Guarantee there will still be people voting for Montana because it’s Montana. Throw Northern Iowa in that class, too.

  6. Hey guys I have a question. Does anyone know is Moorhead Spud RB Chase Morlock a D-I prospect and are the Bison looking at him??? I wonder is USD that good or is Illinois State maybe overrated?

    • Morlock is definitely a DI prospect. Not sure who is looking at him at this time, but the kid is a state champion wrestler also.

      • I know it may be a little early to discuss recruits but there are three guys in MN who are two plus star recruits that haven’t committed to a college yet and would look nice in green and gold.
        Michael Waren, DT 6’5 – 270 Providence Academy (Plymouth, MN) UND has an outstanding scholarship offer
        Jamison Whiting, DB 6’3 – 170 Minneapolis Washburn – UNI has an outstanding scholarship offer
        Mike Redmond, LB 6’4 – 225 Minnetonka, MN- would be a nice defensive end for the Bison
        Nick Jacobsen, DT 6’5 – 295 Prescott, WI
        Brad Ambrosius, DE 6’5 225 West De Pere, WI has already committed to the Bison

      • Hope the Bison are looking at him for wrestling also! Could always use more tough, big guys like that.

  7. With Stony Brook’s win over Army, did FCS make the 10-win mark against FBS this year?

    • My one clarifying question is from when is Jeff and Dom counting? In 1978, I-A (FBS) schools lost 29 times to I-AA (FCS) opponents, which to this day represents the largest number of victories FCS (I-AA) has held over FBS (I-A) in a single year.

  8. Not ready to drink the koolaid until the Bison beat a good team (winning record = good). RMU, PV, CSU and UNI have a combine record of 3-16, granted UNI is a better team that their record indicates.
    Pour me a big red glass of Ooooooooooooooooh Yeah if/when the Bison beat Youngstown Stage this weekend.
    (Side note…who knew Army was a FBS program?)

    • A winning record does not always equal a good team, and a losing record does not always equal a bad team. NDSU beat a good UNI team on the road.

      • Agreed. That comparison is wrong on a lot of levels but appeals to the person that generally buys into media propaganda ie MSNBC etc.

        It fails utterly to take into consideration a teams strength of schedule. It only makes sense if the teams had the same competition. Duh…..

        • I must have missed the memo stating that all I have to do to determine how good a team is, is to look at their record.

  9. UNI is down, and we will also be down again at some point. The difference is hopfully we have 2-3 NC on the shelf and can get back up with the recent history. UNI is in financial trouble and has choked too many times in the big playoff games.

    We are building another long run. Way to go.

    BTW, the coverage in Western ND for the game was TERRIBLE. I am boycotting NBC for covering the UofMary game over the bison. The internet feed was very bad. HOOTERS had the best coverage by streaming the Fargo feed over their intranet. All Bison games, no UND, no Mary on any TVs. Way to Go. I encourage everyone to look past the bad food and service and go there for some scenery and beer.

  10. Memorandum

    FBS and FCS ranking and playoff committees look at a team’s records in determining playoff position and bowl selection.

    Caveat: Bison Media anonymous blog posters are smarter and are able to determine that a 1-3 Robert Morris, 1-4 CSU, UNI and 0-5 Prairie View teams are considered good teams and should be playing for a national title or in a FBS bowl.

    Disclaimer: These are facts Big Ten Hockey and not my opinion.