The top 25 teams in the Sports Network Division I Championship Subdivision football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2008 records and previous ranking:
| No. |
Team |
Record |
Points |
Previous |
| 1. |
Richmond (80) |
13-3 |
2,000 |
7 |
| 2. |
Montana |
14-2 |
1,903 |
5 |
| 3. |
James Madison |
12-2 |
1,797 |
1 |
| 4. |
Northern Iowa |
12-3 |
1,733 |
4 |
| 5. |
Appalachian State |
11-3 |
1,711 |
2 |
| 6. |
Villanova |
10-3 |
1,584 |
6 |
| 7. |
Weber State |
10-4 |
1,441 |
12 |
| 8. |
New Hampshire |
10-3 |
1,434 |
10 |
| 9. |
Wofford |
9-3 |
1,331 |
8 |
| 10. |
Cal Poly |
8-3 |
1,315 |
3 |
| 11. |
Southern Illinois |
9-3 |
1,165 |
9 |
| 12. |
Central Arkansas |
10-2 |
1,072 |
11 |
| 13. |
South Carolina State |
10-3 |
1,023 |
13 |
| 14. |
Liberty |
10-2 |
791 |
14 |
| 15. |
Harvard |
9-1 |
716 |
15 |
| 16. |
Colgate |
9-3 |
716 |
16 |
| 17. |
Elon |
8-4 |
680 |
17 |
| 18. |
Maine |
8-5 |
597 |
20 |
| 19. |
Eastern Kentucky |
8-4 |
564 |
21 |
| 20. |
William & Mary |
7-4 |
440 |
19 |
| 21. |
McNeese State |
7-4 |
420 |
18 |
| 22. |
Texas State |
8-5 |
322 |
23 |
| 23. |
Jacksonville State |
8-3 |
264 |
22 |
| 24. |
Grambling State |
11-2 |
235 |
NR |
| 25. |
Prairie View A&M |
9-1 |
172 |
25 |
Others receiving votes: Tennessee-Martin 124, Albany 116, South Dakota State 91, Furman 55, Tennessee State 43 Brown 40, Massachusetts 32, Florida A&M 24, Jacksonville 19, Eastern Washington 17, Western Illinois 14, Holy Cross 13, Georgia Southern 12, North Dakota State 11, Northwestern State 7, Montana State 5, San Diego 4, Bethune-Cookman.