| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | North Dakota State | To paraphrase John Belushi from the movie Animal House,"It's not over until NDSU (1-0) says it's over." We believe. | 3 |
| 2 |  | Eastern Washington | Nothing wrong with the Eagles (2-0), a 41-9 winner over Montana-Western, but the Bison deserve top billing. | 1 |
| 3 |  | Southeastern Louisiana | SE Louisiana (1-0) hardly broke a sweat in topping Jacksonville, 44-3. It led 27-0 after one quarter. | 2 |
| 4 |  | Villanova | The Wildcats lost a heartbreaker in double OT to Syracuse, but dominated possession time with almost 38 minutes. | 6 |
| 5 |  | Montana | The Grizzlies (0-1) lost a tough one to Wyoming, 17-12, after holding a 6-3 advantage at halftime. | 5 |
| 6 |  | Northern Iowa | Northern Iowa lost 31-23 to a strong Iowa team. QB Sawyer Kollmorgen and RB David Johnson put on impressive show. | 7 |
| 7 |  | New Hampshire | The Wildcats (0-1) lose to a strong Toledo squad, but gave up an alarming 38 second-half points and 674 yards. | 4 |
| 8 |  | McNeese State | McNeese (0-0) gets a late opener this year. The Cowboys open up Saturday in Lincoln, Nebraska. | 8 |
| 9 |  | Chattanooga | Chattanooga (0-1) let one get away at Central Michigan, losing 20-16 after leading 16-0. | 9 |
| 10 |  | South Dakota State | South Dakota State (0-1) was within three in the second half, but Missouri pulled away for a 38-18 win. | 10 |
| 11 |  | Coastal Carolina | The Chanticleers pick up where they left off last year with a 31-16 win over The Citadel. It was 21-3 after three. | 12 |
| 12 |  | Sam Houston State | KC Keeler gets his first win as coach of the BearKats as they bounce back after the loss to EWU with a 51-20 route of Alabama State. | 16 |
| 13 |  | Fordham | Chase Edmonds rushes for 181 yards in an easy win over St. Francis (PA). The Rams expect to make noise again in 2014. | 14 |
| 14 |  | Richmond | Richmond has a lot of weapons and they showed them in a 55-10 win over Morehead State - over 400 yards passing. | 18 |
| 15 |  | Central Arkansas | We'll buy in - at least for now. CA's narrow loss to Texas Tech was impressive, but Southland race will be tough | NR |
| 16 |  | Tennessee State | The Tigers (1-0) open with an easy win against Edward Waters. Tennessee State figures to be in thick of OVC chase. | 15 |
| 17 |  | Jacksonville State | Jax State (0-1) was pummeled by Michigan State. It has a huge game with Chattanooga this week. | 11 |
| 18 |  | Montana State | MSU trailed Arkansas State by just six late in the third quarter before Arkansas State pulled away for a 37-10 win. | 17 |
| 19 |  | William & Mary | The Tribe (0-1) falls to Virginia Tech, 34-9, but were in the contest late in the third when it trailed just 20-9. | 19 |
| 20 |  | Wofford | Its effort against Georgia Tech on Saturday was much better than last year's season opener at Baylor. | NR |
| 21 |  | Bethune-Cookman | B-CU (1-0) gets a good win against Florida International, thanks to its defense. | NR |
| 22 |  | Furman | The Paladins (1-0) knock off pesky Gardner-Webb, but lose starting quarterback Reese Hannon for the season. | 20 |
| 23 |  | Southern Illinois | With loads of returning starters, Salukis (1-0) could be team to watch in tough MVFC. | NR |
| 24 |  | Northern Arizona | Not a good start against San Diego State in opener, but NAU's schedule is conducive to making a playoff run. | 24 |
| 25 |  | Youngstown State | The Penguins (0-1) were leading Illinois, 9-7, entering the final quarter but couldn't hold the lead. | NR |
Week 1 FCS Football Top 25 Rankings
Sun, 08/31/2014
