PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne football team is receiving three votes in the 2018 STATS FCS Preseason Top 25 released on Monday.
Defending national champion North Dakota State claimed the top spot in the poll with 151 first-place votes followed by James Madison second with six first-place votes. South Dakota State sits third followed by Sam Houston State fourth and Kennesaw State fifth.
The Dukes and Central Connecticut State are the only two teams from the Northeast Conference represented as the Blue Devils are receiving 23 votes in the preseason poll.
A national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries select the STATS FCS Top 25. A first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote 24 points, all the way down to one point for a 25th-place vote.
The Top 25 will be released every Monday afternoon during the regular season, except for Sunday morning, Nov. 18, prior to the selection of the 24-team FCS playoff field. A final Top 25 will follow the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 5 in Frisco, Texas.
Duquesne has captured at least a share of four NEC titles in the last seven seasons. The Dukes open the 2018 slate on Saturday, Aug. 25 at 5:30 p.m. at Massachusetts.
2018 STATS FCS Preseason Top 25
1. North Dakota State (14-1), 3,919 points (151 first-place votes)
2. James Madison (14-1), 3,764 (6)
3. South Dakota State (11-3), 3,470
4. Sam Houston State (12-2), 3,228
5. Kennesaw State (12-2), 3,120
6. Jacksonville State (10-2), 3,041
7. New Hampshire (9-5), 2,873
8. Weber State (11-3), 2,815
9. Eastern Washington (7-4), 2,541
10. Wofford (10-3), 2,087
11. Samford (8-4), 2,003
12. Elon (8-4), 1,812
13. Northern Iowa (8-5), 1,612
14. North Carolina A&T (12-0), 1,480
15. Delaware (7-4), 1,470
16. Central Arkansas (10-2), 1,383
17. McNeese (9-2), 1,133
18. Nicholls (8-4), 1,056
19. Villanova (5-6), 920
20. Stony Brook (10-3), 798
21. Illinois State (6-5), 795
22. Austin Peay (8-4), 709
23. Furman (8-5), 685
24. Montana (7-4), 626
25. Youngstown State (6-5), 541
Others Receiving Votes: South Dakota (8-5) 496, Western Illinois (8-4) 401, Southern Utah (9-3) 357, Northern Arizona (7-5) 312, Grambling State (11-2) 289, Idaho (4-8) 287, Yale (9-1) 252, Sacramento State (7-4) 208, San Diego (10-3) 202, Richmond (6-5) 91, Monmouth (9-3) 53, Colgate (7-4) 45, Lehigh (5-7) 27, Central Connecticut State (8-4) 23, North Dakota (3-8) 13, UC Davis (5-6) 12, Western Carolina (7-5) 10, Bethune-Cookman (7-4) 9, Montana State (5-6) 8, Stephen F. Austin (4-7) 7, Mercer (5-6) 6, Eastern Illinois (6-5) 6, Harvard (5-5) 4, Southern Illinois (4-7) 4, Howard (7-4) 4, DUQUESNE (7-4) 3, North Carolina Central (7-4) 3, Columbia (8-2) 3, Dartmouth (8-2) 3, Alcorn State (7-5) 2, The Citadel (5-6) 2, UT Martin (6-5) 1, Southeastern Louisiana (6-5) 1
