The 2025 STATS PERFORM FCS Poll is out and HBCU national champion Jackson State is the only one in the top 25.
Jackson State, the reigning SWAC champion and Celebration Bowl winner, was ranked 17th in the 56-person poll. North Dakota State was the top-ranked school overall.
Three other HBCU football programs were listed in the receiving votes category.
Defending MEAC champion South Carolina State, which went 9-3 last season including a loss to JSU in the Celebration Bowl, received 35 votes. It will play this season without reigning MEAC Offensive Player of the Year Eric Phoenix, who led the team as its starting quarterback. Tennessee State received 21 votes after a 9-4 season that included a three-way tie for the Ohio Valley/Big South Conference championship and an FCS playoff game. It will start this season under new head coach Reggie Barlow following the departure of Eddie George. The final HBCU in the receiving votes category was North Carolina Central. NC Central went 8-3 last season, with its loss to South Carolina State the only blemish in five conference games.
Jackson State went 12-2 last season en route to its third SWAC title in four seasons and its fourth Celebration Bowl. It lost leading rusher Irv Mulligan but returns a solid cast of players including starting quarterback Jacobian Morgan and defensive tackle Jeremiah Williams, one of the final holdovers from the Deion Sanders Era. JSU is predicted to win the SWAC East four the fourth time in five seasons.