| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | North Dakota State | North Dakota State catapults into the top spot after winning at UNI. A tough game at Indiana State is next. | 4 |
| 2 |  | Appalachian State | Appalachian State is back in the SoCon race and should win if Georgia Southern can beat Wofford in a couple weeks. | 5 |
| 3 |  | Montana State | Montana State has just one more game, at Weber State, before their finale against Montana on 11/19. | 3 |
| 4 |  | Northern Iowa | Northern Iowa lost a thriller to NDSU. There is a lot of season left and UNI can get momentum agaisnt YSU. | 1 |
| 5 |  | Georgia Southern | GSU was also a top team that lost to another top team in another close game. GSU won't go away though. | 2 |
| 6 |  | Wofford | Wofford rebounded from their loss two weeks ago and has a game against WCU before the schedule gets tough. | 6 |
| 7 |  | Montana | Montana can make a run into the top five with the 11/19 showdown in Bozeman the only tough game left. | 7 |
| 8 |  | Sam Houston State | Nobody but New Mexico has scored against SHSU. Barring a major upset, they will go undefeated. | 10 |
| 9 |  | Maine | Maine can take a huge step towards winning the CAA with a win against Towson on Saturday. | 11 |
| 10 |  | Lehigh | Lehigh just keeps cruising along. However, they may face their toughest conference test this week against HC. | 9 |
| 11 |  | New Hampshire | New Hampshire has a huge game this week against James Madison with plenty of playoff hopes on the line. | 13 |
| 12 |  | Massachusetts | Umass may have spoiled any hope Richmond had to reach the playoffs last week. More opportunities await. | 16 |
| 13 |  | Jacksonville State | Jacksonville State faced their toughest conference test to date and lost. Now they have to play a good EKU team. | 8 |
| 14 |  | Old Dominion | ODU had a nice win against James Madison and can keep rolling with a game against Richmond this week. | 22 |
| 15 |  | Tennessee Tech | Tennessee Tech had a huge win over Jacksonville State last week, but they can't overlook Murray State. | 24 |
| 16 |  | Jackson State | Jackson State has turned into one of the best teams in the SWAC, but they still have a lot of work to do. | 18 |
| 17 |  | Towson | Towson lost a heartbreaker to Delaware, but can still win a CAA title if they can win at Maine this week. | 14 |
| 18 |  | Cal Poly | Cal Poly had a big come from behind win over South Dakota last week and are the lone 3-0 team in the Great West. | NR |
| 19 |  | Delaware | Delaware won't win the CAA, but they took Towson out of the ranks of the unbeaten last Saturday. | NR |
| 20 |  | Harvard | Harvard is the last of the Ivy League unbeatens and that will continue against a winless Columbia squad. | 21 |
| 21 |  | James Madison | James Madison lost at ODU last week and have another tough road trip to New Hampshire this week. | 12 |
| 22 |  | Liberty | Liberty has a game against VMI before what should be a season finale clash for the auto bid against Stony Brook. | 17 |
| 23 |  | Indiana State | Indiana State stayed at home last week and watched their next opponent, NDSU, beat top ranked Northern Iowa. | 23 |
| 24 |  | Illinois State | Illinois State had a nice win at SIU last week and the Redbirds can make a playoff push starting with WIU. | NR |
| 25 |  | William & Mary | William & Mary's will need to win on the road against Rhode Island this week to get their momentum back. | 20 |
Week 9 FCS Football Top 25
Sat, 10/29/2011
