Montana State is now the No. 2-ranked team in the FCS.
The Bobcats moved up one spot in the latest STATS Perform FCS Top 25 Poll, which was released Monday. Montana also moved up one spot to No. 17.
Voters shook up the top 25 this week, with North Dakota State's slide the biggest eye-opener. The Bison, who lost to previously unranked South Dakota 24-19 last week, have been ranked inside the top 25 for 179 consecutive polls, but they fell from last week's No. 2 ranking to No. 7 this week. It's NDSU's lowest position since Oct. 26, 2015.
Three Big Sky Conference teams are ranked ahead of the Bison: Montana State, Idaho and Sacramento State. Montana State used a strong second half to pull away for a 38-22 win over visiting Portland State last week. Idaho moved up to third after earning a 44-19 win over then-No. 19 Eastern Washington, and Sac State climbed to fourth after a 31-30 win over Northern Arizona.
South Dakota State is still ranked No. 1 and received all 56 first-place votes. The Jackrabbits rolled to a 42-12 win over then-No. 12 North Dakota. Furman, which was idle last week, is now ranked fifth.
Weber State won 28-21 at Northern Colorado last week to hold steady at No. 13, two spots ahead of South Dakota. The Coyotes went from unranked to No. 15 after their win over NDSU.
Montana slots in at No. 17 this week. The Grizzlies got back in the win column, weathering a challenge from Idaho State for a 28-20 win. Up next for the Griz: a road game at UC Davis, which is ranked 20th. The Aggies defeated Cal Poly 31-13 last week.
Eastern Washington is the final Big Sky team ranked. The Eagles are 22nd coming off a 44-36 loss to Idaho.
The rankings saw a rare amount of movement after an upset-laden weekend. In addition to South Dakota, Harvard (now ranked No. 21), Chattanooga (No. 24) and Elon (No. 25) went from unranked to ranked this week. New Hamsphire (previously ranked No. 14), Villanova (No. 16), Youngstown State (No. 23) and Rhode Island (No. 24) went from ranked to out of the top 25.
Southern Illinois (No. 10 to No. 6), Western Carolina (No. 17 to No. 11) and UT Martin (No. 22 to No. 18) saw big jumps this week, while William & Mary (No. 5 to No. 10), Holy Cross (No. 6 to No. 12) and North Dakota (No. 12 to No. 16) fell down the rankings.
