College football is not a game with a lot of parity, at least not at the very top. In FBS, Alabama has won five of the last nine national championships and enter 2018 as the favorite. In Division III, Mount Union has won two of the last three and (coughs) 13 of the last 25 national titles, and the Purple Raiders enter 2018 as the favorites.
Such is life in FCS as well.
North Dakota State won five straight national championships from 2011-15, lost a stunner to eventual champion James Madison in the 2016 FCS semifinals, then avenged that loss in January with a 17-13 triumph over the Dukes to make it six crowns in seven tries.
The STATS FCS preseason Top 25 came out Monday, and the Bison are the clear No. 1, earning 151 of the 157 available first-place votes. Reigning runner-up James Madison checked in at No. 2, while South Dakota State was No. 3 and perennial contender Sam Houston State was No. 4. In just its fourth year of existence, Kennesaw State came in at No. 5.
The 2018 season begins with No. 14 North Carolina A&T against No. 6 Jacksonville State at Montgomery, Ala.'s Cramton Bowl on Aug. 25 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).
The full poll:
1. North Dakota State -- 3,919 total points (151 first-place votes)
2. James Madison -- 3,764 (6)
3. South Dakota State -- 3,470
4. Sam Houston State -- 3,228
5. Kennesaw State -- 3,120
6. Jacksonville State -- 3,041
7. New Hampshire -- 2,873
8. Weber State -- 2,815
9. Eastern Washington -- 2,541
10. Wofford -- 2,087
11. Samford -- 2,003
12. Elon -- 1,812
13. Northern Iowa -- 1,612
14. North Carolina A&T -- 1,480
15. Delaware -- 1,470
16. Central Arkansas -- 1,383
17. McNeese -- 1,133
18. Nicholls -- 1,056
19. Villanova -- 920
20. Stony Brook -- 798
21. Illinois State -- 795
22. Austin Peay -- 709
23. Furman -- 685
24. Montana -- 626
25. Youngstown State -- 541
North Dakota State has been ranked in the Top 10 for 99 consecutive weeks, which is 21 weeks longer than their next-closest competitor (South Dakota State) has been ranked in the Top 25.
