Nicholls ranked No. 14, SLU No. 21 in Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25

Nicholls was ranked No. 14 and Southeastern placed at No. 21 21 in the Stats Perform Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Top 25 released on Tuesday.

All 13 FCS conferences have postponed league play to the spring. Nicholls, the defending Southland co-champoons, and Southeastern will participate in a conference-only schedule during the spring.

In 2019, the Colonels earned a No. 12 preseason ranking and finished the year at No. 14 with a 9-5 record after winning their second straight Southland Conference title. Nicholls went on to win their first-round FCS playoff game for the second year in a row before falling on the road to eventual national champion North Dakota State in the second round.

The Lions finished 8-5 overall a season ago and finished ranked nationally in both the final Stats Perform Top 25 (No. 19) and FCS Coaches (No. 18) polls. SLU opened its third trip to the FCS playoffs in program history with a 45-44 come-from-behind first-round win at home over No. 8 Villanova. The Lions lost in the second round at Montana.

Four Southland Conference schools made the preseason Top 25, along with Central Arkansas (No. 11) and Sam Houston State (No. 22). Houston Baptist, UIW and McNeese were among those receiving votes.

Stats Perform 2020 FCS Preseason Top 25
1. North Dakota State – 3,675 points (147 first-place votes)
2. James Madison – 3,411
3. Northern Iowa – 3,269
4. Weber State – 3,198
5. South Dakota State – 2,911
6. Montana State – 2,884
7. Montana – 2,753
8. Villanova – 2,499
9. Illinois State – 2,471
10. Kennesaw State – 2,178
11. Central Arkansas – 2,093
12. Sacramento State – 2,085
13. Austin Peay – 2,030
14. Nicholls – 1,392
15. Furman – 1,239
16. Wofford – 1,089
17. Albany – 825
18. Eastern Washington – 817
19. North Carolina A&T – 809
20. New Hampshire – 759
21. Southeastern Louisiana – 652
22. Sam Houston State – 597
23. Monmouth – 577
24. Southern Illinois – 568
25. Southeast Missouri – 499

Others Receiving Votes: Jacksonville State 357, Florida A&M 301, The Citadel 283, Central Connecticut State 200, Towson 199, Dartmouth 195, Delaware 193, Yale 193, Princeton 143, San Diego 104, North Dakota 66, South Carolina State 25, Alcorn State 22, Houston Baptist 19, Richmond 18, Chattanooga 16, Elon 15, Holy Cross 15, UIW 15, UT Martin 14, Portland State 12, Youngstown State 12, McNeese 10, UC Davis 9, Maine 7, Duquesne 5, Charleston Southern 4, Eastern Kentucky 2.