After big win over South Dakota State, UND football reaches its highest-ever ranking in FCS era

Mar. 2—The UND football team is now the No. 4 team in the nation.

After beating then-No. 3 South Dakota State 28-17 last Saturday at the Alerus Center, the Fighting Hawks moved up 10 spots in the FCS STATS national poll.

UND received two of the 40 first-place votes.

"I was really proud of our guys responding in the game," UND coach Bubba Schweigert said on Monday. "We gave up some big plays we have to correct, but we were able to handle it emotionally. South Dakota State was what we expected — a big, physical team that was tough to move the ball against. We just made plays at key points to flip field position, and our special teams played a big part in our result, and we limited our penalties."

James Madison is No. 1, Weber State is No. 2 and Northern Iowa is No. 3. The Panthers are No. 3, despite holding a 1-1 record with a loss against SDSU.

North Dakota State, which lost 38-14 at Southern Illinois last Saturday, dropped to No. 6.

RELATED: 5 things you might've missed in UND's 28-17 win over South Dakota State

SIU, which UND beat in Week 1, is now No. 11.

After a Big Sky Conference championship in 2016, UND was ranked No. 8 in the country before losing to Richmond in the FCS playoffs at the Alerus Center.

UND hosts No. 20 South Dakota on Thursday at 5 p.m.

UND redshirt freshman linebacker Josh Navratil was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Pine Island, Minn., native finished second on the team with five tackles, including 1.5 for loss. He had a sack on third down in the fourth quarter and recovered a blocked punt in the third quarter, which led to UND's go-ahead touchdown.

Top 25

1. James Madison (2-0, 0-0 CAA), 992 points (34 first-place votes)

2. Weber State (1-0 Big Sky), 945 (4)

3. Northern Iowa (1-1 Missouri Valley), 855

4. North Dakota (2-0 Missouri Valley), 846 (2)

5. Villanova (0-0 CAA), 788

6. North Dakota State (2-1, 1-1 Missouri Valley), 784

7. Nicholls (2-0, 1-0 Southland), 756

8. South Dakota State (1-1 Missouri Valley), 736

9. Kennesaw State (1-0, 0-0 Big South), 714

10. Jacksonville State (4-1, 1-0 Ohio Valley), 597

11. Southern Illinois (2-1, 1-1 Missouri Valley), 594

12. Sam Houston (1-0 Southland), 552

13. Albany (0-0 CAA), 456

14. New Hampshire (0-0 CAA), 382

15. Illinois State (0-1 Missouri Valley), 374

16. Southeast Missouri (1-1, 1-0 Ohio Valley), 329

17. Furman (1-1 Southern), 277

18. Chattanooga (1-1, 1-0 Southern), 268

19. Idaho (1-0 Big Sky), 267

T20. South Dakota (1-0 Missouri Valley), 229

T20. Wofford (1-1 Southern), 229

22. Eastern Washington (0-1 Big Sky), 228

T23. Monmouth (0-0 Big South), 165

T23. Southeastern Louisiana (0-1 Southland), 165

25. Delaware (0-0 CAA), 101

Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Austin Peay 75, UIW 58, McNeese 39, VMI 32, Jackson State 22, Richmond 17, Gardner-Webb 16, San Diego 16, Dixie State 14, ETSU 14, Tennessee Tech 13, Tarleton 11, South Carolina State 10, Southern 8, UC Davis 7.