Ranking the MVFC 1-through-10, heading into conference play
- Tom Weber
- Sep 28
- 5 min read
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Missouri Valley Football Conference plays its first full slate of league games this week, and StrongDawgs Week 5 Power Ratings ranks them 1-through-10, including a few surprises.
The top team is no surprise, however, as North Dakota State towers over the league. One power-rating system has the Bison at No. 39 in ALL of college football (just ahead of Kentucky, Pittsburgh and Florida.) NDSU’s analytics are off the charts on both sides of the ball.
No outcome is predetermined, of course. Because the league is blessed with an abundance of talented quarterbacks, many of them dual-threat, upsets are guaranteed to happen. Injuries can also have a dramatic effect on a team's week-to-week performance. Here's how we see it, heading into Week 6.
StrongDawgs Week 5 Power Ratings
#1 North Dakota State (4-0, 1-0), Best win: South Dakota, 51-13
The Bison are in a league of their own. They’ve demolished all four of their FCS opponents so far by a margin of 189-30. What makes them so special? It starts with senior quarterback Cole Payton. The dual-threat passer has the highest Pro Football Focus grade of any player in the conference. Primarily used as a runner when he was Cam Miller’s backup, Payton’s 73 percent completion rate and eight TD passes this season show that he’s far from a one-dimensional player. He has an outstanding offensive line in front of him, led by the league’s highest-rated tackle in Beau Johnson, and a future pro in wide receiver Bryce Lance. As usual, the Bison have the league’s most potent running game, averaging 233 yards per game on the ground. An offense that averages 47 points per game is paired with the league’s top-rated defense that allows only seven points. You can say that NDSU hasn’t played the league's toughest schedule so far, and that would be true. Still, the way they are overwhelming opponents, including a solid South Dakota squad, makes them the clear favorite.
