North Dakota State maintained its No. 1 ranking in this week’s FCS Coaches Poll after a 38-20 victory over then-No. 11 Illinois State on Saturday. The Bison

received 24 first-place votes and 647 total points. Montana State also maintained its No. 2 ranking after a 16-7 victory over Montana.
The Bobcats are one of four teams in this week’s poll to reach the 10-win mark this season. Old Dominion rose one spot to No. 3 (586 points, one first-place vote) after a 38-23 victory over then-No. 14 James Madison, while Eastern Washington also rose one spot to No. 4 (556 points). Sam Houston State received one first-place vote and 552 total points to round out the top five. 
Appalachian State rose two spots to No. 6 after being idle last week, while Georgia Southern dropped one spot to No. 7 after falling to in-state FBS-foe Georgia. Central Arkansas used a 48-30 victory over then-No. 25 Eastern Illinois to climb two spots to No. 8, while Wofford fell to in-state FBS-foe South Carolina and maintained its No. 9 ranking. Lehigh, the final 10-win team in this week’s poll, rounds out the top 10. Previously unranked Colgate entered this week’s poll at No. 25 after a 41-39 victory over Fordham on Saturday, finishing out the regular season at 8-3. Ten conferences are represented in the poll.
The Colonial Athletic Association has the most teams in the top 25 with six. The Big Sky and Missouri Valley are represented by four teams each, while the Southern Conference has three teams in this week’s poll. The Patriot League and Southland Conference are represented by two teams each, and the Big South, Ivy League, Mid-Eastern Athletic, and Ohio Valley have one team apiece in the top 25.
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 12 Poll
(November 19, 2012)
             Team (No. 1 Votes)  Record      Points   Last Week
1. North Dakota State (24)        10-1        647         1
2. Montana State                  10-1        619         2
3. Old Dominion        (1)        10-1        586         4
4. Eastern Washington              9-2        556         5
5. Sam Houston State   (1)         8-3        552         3
6. Appalachian State               8-3        503         8
7. Georgia Southern                8-3        492         6
8. Central Arkansas                9-2        473        10
9. Wofford                         8-3        430         9
10. Lehigh                        10-1        355        12
11. Stony Brook                    9-2        345        13
12. Cal Poly                       9-2        324        18
13. New Hampshire                  8-3        322         7
14. Towson                         7-4        303        16
15. Illinois State                 8-3        268        11
16. Eastern Kentucky               8-3        246        17
17. Richmond                       8-3        238        20
18. Villanova                      8-3        226        21
19. Northern Arizona               8-2        176        15
20. James Madison                  7-4        162        14
21. South Dakota State             8-3        154        23
22. Bethune-Cookman                9-2        148        22
23. Harvard                        8-2         58        24
24. Indiana State                  7-4         51        19
25. Colgate                        8-3         46        NR

Others Receiving Votes: Eastern Illinois (40), Albany (28), UT Martin (16), The Citadel (14), Samford (12), Youngstown State (10), Wagner (10), Tennessee State (9), Pennsylvania (4), Jackson State (2), Arkansas Pine Bluff (2), Tennessee Tech (1).