| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | North Dakota State | North Dakota State pulled away from UNI in the second half. With a win over YSU this week, NDSU will be on fire. | 1 |
| 2 |  | Montana State | Montana State did not look like the number two team in the nation, but they at least got the win against SUU. | 2 |
| 3 |  | Youngstown State | After beating Northern Iowa, the Penguins got a week off to prepare for the game of the year at NDSU. | 3 |
| 4 |  | James Madison | After a week off James Madison will host Towson on Saturday. That game will be huge in the CAA title race. | 4 |
| 5 |  | Old Dominion | Old Dominion gave up 20 points in the fourth quarter in Richmond, but held on for a 45-37 victory. | 5 |
| 6 |  | Eastern Washington | It took an onside kick and some great plays for Eastern Washington to cap off their comeback against Montana. | 6 |
| 7 |  | Sam Houston State | Sam Houston State got back on track Thursday night by routing Texas Southern. A tough game against SFA is next. | 7 |
| 8 |  | Towson | Towson looked pretty good against LSU for most of the first half. A trip to James Madison will not be much easier. | 8 |
| 9 |  | Wofford | Wofford ran all over Elon. This week they should do the same at home against Furman to go 5-0. | 9 |
| 10 |  | Georgia Southern | Georgia Southern got a quality home victory over Samford. This week they head to Western Carolina. | 10 |
| 11 |  | Appalachian State | The Mountaineers laid 55 points on a pretty good Coastal Carolina squad. This week they take on Elon. | 11 |
| 12 |  | Eastern Kentucky | Eastern Kentucky got a quality road win at Tennessee-Martin. A trip to TSU will be even tougher. | 12 |
| 13 |  | New Hampshire | New Hampshire got off to a slow start against undefeated Delaware, but pulled away in the second half. | 17 |
| 14 |  | Illinois State | Illinois State held on to get a 34-31 at South Dakota. This week they head home to get another win against SIU. | 14 |
| 15 |  | Lehigh | Lehigh got all they could handle from Fordham. Fordham is a good team, but Lehigh should be blowing people out. | 15 |
| 16 |  | Central Arkansas | Losing at Stephen F. Austin is not a bad loss at all. Central Arkansas' tough stretch ends with Nicholls State. | 16 |
| 17 |  | Stony Brook | Stony Brook's defense shut down Army in a 23-3 victory. Charleston Southern will not be able to score much either. | 23 |
| 18 |  | Citadel | The Citadel's magical run came to an end at the hands of Chattanooga. A trip to Samford could continue the streak. | 18 |
| 19 |  | Delaware | There is no shame in losing at New Hampshire. Delaware has another tough game against Maine on Saturday. | 21 |
| 20 |  | Harvard | Harvard was up 49-3 at halftime over Holy Cross and cruised to an easy victory. Cornell should be a bit tougher. | 22 |
| 21 |  | Jacksonville State | Jacksonville State got a much needed win against Southeast Missouri State. The schedule remains difficult though. | 20 |
| 22 |  | Cal Poly | A great fourth quarter gave Cal Poly a big win at North Dakota. They'll stay on the road and head to WSU on Friday. | 25 |
| 23 |  | Montana | Montana gave up two very late touchdowns to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory at Eastern Washington. | 19 |
| 24 |  | Northern Iowa | With their loss to North Dakota State, Northern Iowa has no margin for error the rest of the way. | 13 |
| 25 |  | McNeese State | McNeese State had a relatively tough time against Northwestern State. They get a week off and then host UCA. | NR |
Week 5 FCS Football Top 25 Rankings
Sat, 09/29/2012
