Top 25 FCS Teams In ESPN's 2025 Preseason SP+ Rankings

The 2025 season is set to kick off this weekend with five FCS games that headline the Week 0 schedule. With the season rapidly approaching, ESPN's Bill Connelly has released the final preseason SP+ rankings that feature every team in college football across every subdivision.

ESPN's SP+ formula was created by Bill Connelly in 2008. He describes the formula as a predictive and forward-facing model. The SP+ model is a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency.

North Dakota State is the highest-ranked FCS team in the preseason SP+ rankings. The Bison rank ahead of multiple notable FBS teams, including Stanford, Wake Forest, Washington State, Purdue, and over 30 different FBS programs. An interesting note is that Division II powerhouse Ferris State would rank No. 14 among FCS programs.

Below are the preseason ESPN SP+ rankings ahead of the 2025 college football season.

Preseason ESPN SP+ Top 25 Rankings

1. North Dakota State (24.5)

2. Montana State (23.6)

3. South Dakota State (22.9)

4. South Dakota (20.5)

5. Montana (18.9)

6. UC Davis (17.7)

7. Incarnate Word (16.8)

8. Mercer (15.8)

T9. Illinois State (15.1)

T9. Idaho (15.1)

11. Villanova (14.9)

12. Rhode Island (14.2)

13. Tarleton State (14.1)

14. Harvard (12.0)

15. UT Martin (11.5)

16. Northern Arizona (11.4)

17. Monmouth (10.9)

18. Abilene Christian (10.6)

19. Jackson State (10.5)

20. Stephen F. Austin (10.3)

T21. Chattanooga (10.0)

T21. Yale (10.0)

23. SEMO (9.8)

24. Sacramento State (9.5)

25. Dartmouth (9.3)

Next Five Teams: Western Carolina, Richmond, New Hampshire, North Carolina Central, Tennessee Tech

Preseason SP+ Offensive Rankings

1. North Dakota State (42.3)

2. Montana State (41.6)

3. Monmouth (38.5)

4. Montana (38.5)

5. South Dakota State (38.1)

6. South Dakota (38.0)

7. UC Davis (37.4)

8. Incarnate Word (36.7)

9. Eastern Washington (36.2)

10. Sacramento State (36.1)

Next Five Teams: Idaho, Yale, Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, Western Carolina

Preseason SP+ Defensive Rankings

1. Villanova (15.0)

2. South Dakota State (15.2)

3. Rhode Island (16.7)

4. South Dakota (17.4)

5. North Dakota State (17.8)

6. Mercer (17.9)

7. Montana State (18.1)

T8. Columbia (19.0)

T8. Northern Arizona (19.0)

10. Chattanooga (19.3)

Next Five Teams: Richmond, Illinois State, Montana, UC Davis, Incarnate Word

Week 0 Predictions From ESPN's SP+ Model

The SP+ model was also used to predict every Week 0 game at the FCS level. Below are the predicted results for each game.

Incarnate Word 33.2, Nicholls 18.2

Tarleton State 37.6, Portland State 22.1

UC Davis 28.1, Mercer 26.2

North Carolina Central 28.4, Southern 23

UNLV 44.8, Idaho State 16.4

THE PRESEASON COLLEGE FOOTBALL SP+ TOP 767:

Ohio State -147 New England College
Montana State -0.5 Stanford
Central Michigan PK Ferris State
Grand Valley State -2 Kent State
North Central -1 Butler
Maine -89 Maine Maritime

WELCOME, NEW PROGRAMS. IT'S COLLEGE FOOTBALL TIME. pic.twitter.com/frs0aNztpS
— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) August 15, 2025

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