The STATS Perform Pre-season poll has been released. North Dakota State has been picked as the heavy favorite as the best team in the FCS, followed by South Dakota State. The rest of the poll goes as follows:
| 1 | North Dakota State (52) | 14-1 | 1,348 |
| 2 | South Dakota State (2) | 11-4 | 1,285 |
| 3 | Montana | 10-3 | 1,218 |
| 4 | Montana State | 12-3 | 1,203 |
| 5 | Missouri State | 8-4 | 1,066 |
| 6 | Villanova | 10-3 | 997 |
| 7 | Sacramento State | 9-3 | 991 |
| 8 | Kennesaw State | 11-2 | 959 |
| 9 | Southern Illinois | 8-5 | 915 |
| 10 | Stephen F. Austin | 8-4 | 813 |
| 11 | ETSU | 11-2 | 750 |
| 12 | Chattanooga | 6-5 | 562 |
| 13 | Eastern Washington | 10-3 | 538 |
| 14 | UIW | 10-3 | 533 |
| 15 | Jackson State | 11-2 | 515 |
| 16 | Holy Cross | 10-3 | 503 |
| 17 | Southeastern Louisiana | 9-4 | 440 |
| 18 | UT Martin | 10-3 | 404 |
| 19 | Delaware | 5-6 | 401 |
| 20 | Weber State | 6-5 | 391 |
| 21 | Northern Iowa | 6-6 | 289 |
| 22 | Rhode Island | 7-4 | 242 |
| 23 | Mercer | 7-3 | 215 |
| 24 | Richmond | 6-5 | 166 |
| 25 | UC Davis | 8-4 | 153 |
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): South Dakota 151, Eastern Kentucky 129, Florida A&M 78, William & Mary 66, Dartmouth 59, Monmouth 23, Harvard 19, Princeton 18, Central Arkansas 14, Furman 14, South Carolina State 13, Sacred Heart 12, Elon 8, North Carolina A&T 4
