UND football bumps one spot to No. 3 in latest national poll

Tom Miller, Grand Forks Herald
·2 min read

Mar. 8—The UND football team will hit the road this weekend for the first time this season with a lofty national ranking.

The Fighting Hawks were ranked No. 3 in Monday's STATS FCS national poll — the highest ranking in the program's history.

UND went from unranked in the preseason to No. 14 following a Week 1 win over Southern Illinois. After beating then-No. 3 South Dakota State, the Hawks jumped to No. 4 in the country.

After beating South Dakota last Thursday, UND moved ahead one spot, jumping Northern Iowa, which holds a loss to South Dakota State, which the Hawks beat in Week 2.

UND plays at Western Illinois in Macomb on Saturday at noon. The game can be seen on ESPN3 or ESPN-Plus.

WIU is 0-2 this year, with losses at home to Missouri State (30-24) and last weekend in Brookings against South Dakota State (45-10).

The last time UND went 4-0 to start the year was 2008 when it beat Texas A&M-Kingsville, St. Cloud State, Wisconsin-Lacrosse and Idaho State. The 2008 UND team then lost 38-35 at Southeastern Louisiana.

Top 25 poll

1. James Madison (3-0, 1-0 CAA), 981 points (29 first-place votes)

2. Weber State (1-0 Big Sky), 928 (2)

3. North Dakota (3-0 Missouri Valley), 919 (9)

4. Northern Iowa (2-1 Missouri Valley), 863

5. North Dakota State (3-1, 2-1 Missouri Valley), 778

6. Villanova (1-0 CAA), 777

7. Nicholls (3-0, 2-0 Southland), 754

8. South Dakota State (2-1 Missouri Valley), 752

9. Kennesaw State (1-0, 0-0 Big South), 653

T10. Jacksonville State (5-1, 2-0 Ohio Valley), 652

T10. Southern Illinois (3-1, 2-1 Missouri Valley), 652

12. Sam Houston (1-0 Southland), 557

13. Albany (1-0 CAA), 538

14. Chattanooga (2-1, 2-0 Southern), 402

15. Furman (2-1 Southern), 351

16. Eastern Washington (1-1 Big Sky), 317

17. New Hampshire (0-1 CAA), 272

18. Southeastern Louisiana (1-1 Southland), 239

19. Delaware (1-0 CAA), 233

20. Wofford (1-1 Southern), 222

21. South Dakota (1-1 Missouri Valley), 185

22. Illinois State (0-2 Missouri Valley), 148

23. UC Davis (1-0 Big Sky), 140

24. Monmouth (0-0 Big South), 119

25. UIW (2-0 Southland), 115