For the second straight season, North Dakota State will start the season as the No. 1 ranked team in the FCS coaches preseason football poll.
The two-time defending national champs received 23-of-26 first place votes to earn the top spot in the opening poll of the 2013 campaign. Montana State earned the No. 2 preseason ranking and received one first-place vote after finishing 11-2 in 2012. Fellow Big Sky member Eastern Washington is third in the poll, followed by Sam Houston State. Sam Houston State earned a first place vote, as did Eastern Kentucky, which sits at No. 19 in the poll.
Wofford holds down the No. 5 spot, while Central Arkansas, South Dakota State, New Hampshire, Villanova and Illinois State round out the top 10.