FHSU Athletics
WACO, Texas – Fort Hays State is receiving votes in the 2025 AFCA Preseason Top 25 Poll for NCAA Division II, released on Monday (Aug. 11). The MIAA has three teams ranked among the Top 25, including two in the Top 10, and FHSU joins Northwest Missouri State among the receiving votes list to give the MIAA five teams referenced in the first release of the poll. FHSU was fourth-highest vote receiving team outside the Top 25.
On paper, the Tigers look to have a strong strength of schedule going into the 2025 season. The Tigers will face a pair of preseason nationally ranked teams in non-conference play before facing three ranked MIAA teams later in the season. The three ranked MIAA teams include No. 5 Central Oklahoma, No. 9 Pittsburg State, and No. 22 Central Missouri.
Three of FHSU's first four games are against teams in the AFCA Preseason Top 25. Angelo State will come to Hays with a No. 13 national ranking for the season opener on August 28. A week later FHSU heads out west to face a CSU Pueblo squad that holds a preseason No. 6 ranking. In week four, FHSU faces Pittsburg State.
Central Oklahoma won the MIAA title last year at 8-1 and went 12-2 overall, while Pittsburg State placed second at 7-2 in MIAA action and went 8-3 overall. Both made the seven-team super regional field of the NCAA playoffs. FHSU (8-3 overall) and Central Missouri (9-3 overall) tied for third in conference play at 6-3, but FHSU won the head-to-head meeting in Hays. FHSU hosts UCO and UCM in home games this year.
Fort Hays State goes into its season opener with the same role it held last year, a receiving votes team looking to knock off a nationally ranked team. Angelo State came to Hays in the season opener last year with a No. 24 ranking and FHSU won that contest 21-7. Angelo State went 0-2 in non-conference play in 2024 before running the table in their conference (9-0) and making the NCAA playoffs. The Rams fell in the opening round of the playoffs in Super Region 4, making them 0-3 in non-conference games last year.
This year, the contests against Angelo State and CSU Pueblo will be within Fort Hays State's NCAA super region. The MIAA and GAC have now shifted to Super Region 4, while the NSIC moves over to Super Region 3. The MIAA and GAC are now aligned with the Lone Star Conference (LSC) and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). Also new this year, the playoff field in each super region expands to eight teams. FHSU likely would have been in the playoffs last year if the eight-team format existed then, as it went into the final game of the 2024 season ranked No. 8 in the super region and just missed a playoff berth.
AFCA Preseason Top 25 Poll
Rank School (1st votes) 2024 ▪ Rec. ▪ Pts. ▪ 2024 Final Rank ▪ Season Opener
1. Ferris State (30) ▪ 14-1 ▪ 773 ▪ 1 ▪ Aug. 28 vs. No. 9 Pittsburg State
2. Harding ▪ 12-2 ▪ 734 ▪ 4 ▪ Sept. 4 at Northwestern Oklahoma State
3. Grand Valley State ▪ 11-2 ▪ 669 ▪ 6 ▪ Aug. 30 vs. Lincoln (Pa.)
4. Slippery Rock (1) ▪ 12-2 ▪ 576 ▪ 3 ▪ Sept. 5 at Franklin Pierce
5. Central Oklahoma ▪ 11-2 ▪ 569 ▪ 9 ▪ Aug. 30 at UT-Permian Basin
6. Colorado State-Pueblo ▪ 10-2 ▪ 549 ▪ 8 ▪ Aug. 28 vs. South Dakota Mines
7. Kutztown ▪ 11-1 ▪ 517 ▪ 5 ▪ Sept. 4 vs. Assumption
8. West Florida ▪ 7-3 ▪ 504 ▪ NR ▪ Aug. 29 vs. No. 17 Lenoir-Rhyne.
9. Pittsburg State ▪ 8-3 ▪ 451 ▪ 17 ▪ Aug. 28 at No. 1 Ferris State
10. Western Colorado ▪ 11-2 ▪ 450 ▪ 10 ▪ Aug. 28 vs. West Texas A&M
11. Minnesota State ▪ 11-4 ▪ 449 ▪ 7 ▪ Aug. 28 vs. Northwest Missouri State
12. Valdosta State ▪ 13-1 ▪ 402 ▪ 2 ▪ Aug. 30 vs. Clark Atlanta
13. Angelo State ▪ 9-3 ▪ 352 ▪ 20 ▪ Aug. 28 at Fort Hays State
14. Charleston ▪ 11-1 ▪ 337 ▪ 15 ▪ Aug. 28 vs. Livingstone
15. California (Pa.) ▪ 10-3 ▪ 275 ▪ 12 ▪ Sept. 4 vs. No. 14 Charleston
16. Bemidji State ▪ 10-4 ▪ 254 ▪ 13 ▪ Aug. 28 at Michigan Tech
17. Lenoir-Rhyne ▪ 10-3 ▪ 248 ▪ 16 ▪ Aug. 29 at No. 8 West Florida
18. Ouachita Baptist ▪ 10-2 ▪ 246 ▪ 14 ▪ Sept. 4 at East Central
19. Virginia Union ▪ 10-4 ▪ 228 ▪ 11 ▪ Aug. 31 vs. No. 24t Miles
20. UIndy ▪ 10-2 ▪ 191 ▪ 19 ▪ Aug. 28 at Marian
21. Central Washington ▪ 8-4 ▪ 176 ▪ 24 ▪ Aug. 28 vs. Colorado Mesa
22. Central Missouri ▪ 9-3 ▪ 149 ▪ NR ▪ Aug. 28 at Delta State
23. Augustana (S.D.) ▪ 8-4 ▪ 127 ▪ 25 ▪ Aug. 30 vs. Missouri Western State
24t. Ashland ▪ 9-4 ▪ 114 ▪ 23 ▪ Sept. 4 at Indiana (Pa.)
24t. Miles ▪ 10-3 ▪ 114 ▪ 22 ▪ Aug. 31 vs. No. 19 Virginia Union
Receiving Votes: West Alabama, 113; Carson-Newman, 100; Wingate, 74; Fort Hays St., 66; Colorado School of Mines, 42; Saginaw Valley State, 35; Minnesota-Duluth, 29; Albany St., 26; Northwest Missouri St., 21; Indiana (Pa.), 16; UT-Permian Basin, 16; Delta State, 13; Findlay, 12; UNC-Pembroke, 12; Davenport, 10; Johnson C. Smith, 9; East Stroudsburg, 7; Fairmont State, 7; Southern Arkansas, 6; Texas A&M-Kingsville, 5; Colorado Mesa, 1; Truman State, 1.