| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | North Dakota State | Maybe the Bison can play Alabama for the FCS-FBS overall national championship. | 1 |
| 2 |  | Montana State | The final score of 42-24 against Monmouth was misleading; Montana State led 39-3 in the first half. | 2 |
| 3 |  | Georgia Southern | The Eagles didn't have to break a sweat in their opener against Savannah State. | 3 |
| 4 |  | South Dakota State | The MVC is really strong again this year. There are six conference teams in the top 21. | 4 |
| 5 |  | Eastern Washington | There's "Johnny Football." Now there's "Vernon Football" as EWU's Vernon Adams leads upset of Oregon State. | 8 |
| 6 |  | Towson | Towson's Terrance West rushes for 156 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers' impressive win over Uconn. | 9 |
| 7 |  | Central Arkansas | Central Arkansas quarterback Wynrick Smothers completes 27-of-31 passes in easy win over Incarnate Word. | 7 |
| 8 |  | Villanova | With Villanova's returning personnel, an upset over Boston College was possible. But it didn't happen. | 6 |
| 9 |  | Northern Iowa | School's first win over FBS school since 2007. Jake Farley (coach's son) leads way with 12 tackles. | 10 |
| 10 |  | Sam Houston State | Sam Houston State, which has made the FCS finals the last two years, starts strong against Houston Baptist. | 12 |
| 11 |  | Montana | The Grizzlies, who were rocked by off-the-field incidents last year, are back. Their win over App State was impressive. | 14 |
| 12 |  | Old Dominion | QB Taylor Heinecke does his thing, but ODU falls to East Carolina, 52-28, as the Pirates break away late. | 13 |
| 13 |  | Appalachian State | This isn't the way Scott Satterfield wanted to start his coaching career at Appalachian State, losing big to Montana. | 11 |
| 14 |  | Wofford | It's back to the drawing board for Wofford after losing to Baylor, 69-3. It was a bad, bad matchup for the Terriers. | 5 |
| 15 |  | New Hampshire | The Wildcats open at Central Michigan on Saturday. Michigan took care of CMU on Saturday, 59-9. | 15 |
| 16 |  | Richmond | The defense looks strong for the Spiders as they open the season with a 31-0 victory over in-state foe VMI. | 17 |
| 17 |  | Eastern Illinois | The Panthers, a 40-19 winner over San Diego State, register their first victory over a FBS team since 2004. | 19 |
| 18 |  | Coastal Carolina | Coastal Carolina opens season with a hard-fought 27-20 victory over South Carolina State. | 18 |
| 19 |  | Illinois State | Illinois State enjoyed a 21-9 second-quarter advantage, but it couldn't hold on against Ball State. | 16 |
| 20 |  | Bethune-Cookman | Bethune-Cookman comes away with a hard-fought 12-9 victory over Tennessee State in its opener. | 20 |
| 21 |  | Youngstown State | It was a big night for Youngstown State running Adaris Bellamy, who had 203 rushing yards on 17 attempts. | 23 |
| 22 |  | Northern Arizona | Northern Arizona hung with Arizona for a while with the key phrase being "for a while." | 21 |
| 23 |  | Stony Brook | Stony Brook, which is in its first season as a member of the CAA, opens at Rhode Island on Saturday. | 24 |
| 24 |  | Samford | A 24-7 second-half advantage helped the Bulldogs overcome a slow start against Georgia State. | 25 |
| 25 |  | James Madison | The Dukes breeze in their home opener at Harrisonburg, Va., against outmanned Central Connecticut State. | NR |
Week 1 FCS Football Top 25 Rankings
Sun, 09/01/2013
