After week five of the FCS college football season, both rankings polls agree on the top six teams after a swap between Montana and Montana State in the Stats Perform FCS rankings this week: North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Tarleton State, Montana, Montana State, and Illinois State.

The Butler University football program is coming off three solid seasons and will look to continue that momentum in 2025 under the guidance of a new head coach.

Long gone are the days of collegiate athletic conferences consisting primarily of teams that are geographically close and convenient for conference games and tournaments – at least at the NCAA Division I level, where there are rivals on both coasts and scattered in between.

North Carolina A&T Football is looking to bounce back from a 1-11 2024 season and are returning several key players to do so in 2025.

The Hampton Pirates are looking to improve on a 5-7 overall and 2-6 conference performance in 2025 and are armed with several returning players. They have also added some key players from the transfer portal, hoping to transform the Pirates into a winning team.

After a 5-7 2024 season, the Maine Black Bears are looking to use their veteran roster to have a winning season. With graduate student Carter Peevy returning to lead the Black Bears offense, Maine has all of the right tools to succeed in 2025.

After a 5-7 2024 season, the Maine Football is looking to use their veteran roster to have a winning season. With graduate student Carter Peevy returning to lead the Black Bears offense, Maine has all of the right tools to succeed in 2025.

After a 6-6 finish last season, the Elon Phoenix is looking to break .500 again and is opening up its season with a challenge, playing ACC team Duke – in Durham. They went 5-3 in conference play last season and are looking to follow it up with another strong conference performance paired with a strong non-conference showing.

The Bryant Bulldogs are looking to bounce back from a subpar 2024 season where they finished 2-10 with a 0-8 conference record. Not only are the Bulldogs looking to bounce back from the 2024 season, but they are going to have to do so without star wide receiver Landon Ruggieri, an All-American.

The Villanova Wildcats celebrated a 10-4 overall record in 2024 and their second consecutive season with 10 wins. They went on to compete through the second round of the FCS Playoffs, holding Incarnate Word to just 13 points but taking a loss. Now they look to revamp on both sides of the ball to keep the success going.

The New Hampshire Wildcats ended at No. 24 in the FCS with a 8-5 overall, 6-2 conference record, and could very well see a repeat if incoming quarterback Matt Vezza rises to the ocassion in wake of quarterback Seth Morgan's departure.

The UAlbany Great Danes finished at 4-8 overall and 2-6 in conference play in 2024 after over a decade under head coach Greg Gattuso, who had just brought the squad to a 11-4 record in 2023. Gattuso has since exited the program and put it in the hands of interim head coach and former associate head coach Jared Ambrose ahead of a daunting 2025 season.

The Towson Tigers completed its most successful season in six years in 2024, and now hope to have another historical run in 2025. The Tigers finished at 7-5 overall and 5-2 in conference play, their best finish since 2019, led by quarterback Sean Brown.

The Stony Brook Seawolves dug themselves out of a winless season in 2023 into a 8-4 overall record in 2024, but are now without the quarterback that made it all possible in just one year.

The Rhode Island Rams are leaving a 11-3 overall, 7-1 conference record in 2024 and look to do it all over again with the return of their best performing quarterback and wide receiver duo, Devin Ferrell and Marquis Buchanan.