North Dakota State remains No. 1 in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll this week as NDSU was idle on Saturday. The Bison received 25 of 26 first-place votes and 648 out of a possible 650 points. Montana State moved up one spot to No. 2 after defeating Stephen F. Austin 43-35 on Saturday. The game saw five lead changes, including four in the fourth quarter. Cody Kirk’s 5-yard run with 2:26 left to play gave the Bobcats the lead for good. The Bobcats are 3-0 for the first time since 1978.Sam Houston State and Youngstown State tied for No. 3 this week. The Bearkats fell to FBS-foe Baylor, 48-23, and Youngstown State jumped five spots after defeating Albany 31-24. Old Dominion fell one spot to No. 5, while Wofford rose three spots to No. 6. James Madison (No. 7) and Northern Iowa (No. 8) each fell two spots in the poll after dropping contests to FBS schools West Virginia and Iowa, respectively.  Eastern Washington and Georgia Southern rounded out the top ten as both teams were idle last week.  The Citadel made this week’s biggest jump after defeating then-No. 7 Appalachian State 52-28 in Boone, N.C. The Bulldogs entered the poll for the first time last week at No. 23 and are now ranked at No. 14. The Mountaineers fell to No. 18. Nine conferences are represented in the poll. The Colonial Athletic Association leads the way with six teams, followed by the Missouri Valley with five ranked teams. The Southern Conference has four ranked teams, while the Southland and Big Sky have three teams in the Top 25. The Patriot League, Ivy League, Ohio Valley and Big South are all represented with one team in this week’s poll. The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference.

2012 FCS Coaches Week 3 Poll (September 17, 2012)
Team              (No. 1 Votes) Record Point Last Week
1. North Dakota State (25)        2-0   648     1
2. Montana State      (1)         3-0   607     3T-
3. Sam Houston State              1-1   552     2T-
3. Youngstown State               3-0   552     8
5. Old Dominion                   3-0   547     4
6. Wofford                        3-0   485     9
7. James Madison                  2-1   480     5
8. Northern Iowa                  1-2   417     6
9. Eastern Washington             1-1   405    11
10. Georgia Southern              1-1   404    10
11. Montana                       2-1   380    12
12. Delaware                      3-0   333    14
13. Lehigh                        3-0   309    13
14. The Citadel                   3-0   305    23
15. Illinois State                3-0   276    17
16. Towson                        1-1   270    15
17. McNeese State                 3-0   229    19
18. Appalachian State             1-2   223     7
19. New Hampshire                 2-1   209    18
20. Stony Brook                   2-1   200    16
21. Central Arkansas              2-1   130    20
22. Maine                         2-1   102    21
23. Eastern Kentucky              2-1    77    25
24. Harvard                       1-0    68    24
25. Indiana State                 2-1    42    NR

Others Receiving Votes: Jacksonville State (33), Cal Poly (25), Stephen F. Austin (21), Samford (19), Bethune-Cookman (17), Norfolk State (15), North Dakota (14), Sacramento State (13), Tennessee State (13), Northern Arizona (10), Alabama A&M (8), Albany (5), Lafayette (4), Florida A&M (1), South Dakota State (1), Tennessee Tech (1).