The top 25 teams in the Sports Network Division I Championship Subdivision football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2011 records and previous ranking:
| No. |
Team |
Record |
Points |
Previous |
| 1. |
North Dakota State (125) |
14-1 |
3,125 |
4 |
| 2. |
Sam Houston State |
14-1 |
2,998 |
1 |
| 3. |
Montana |
11-3 |
2,801 |
5 |
| 4. |
Georgia Southern |
11-3 |
2,795 |
3 |
| 5. |
Lehigh |
11-2 |
2,466 |
6 |
| 6. |
Northern Iowa |
10-3 |
2,455 |
2 |
| 7. |
Montana State |
10-3 |
2,387 |
7 |
| 8. |
Maine |
9-4 |
2,105 |
13 |
| 9. |
Towson |
9-3 |
2,058 |
8 |
| 10. |
Old Dominion |
10-3 |
2,009 |
10 |
| 11. |
New Hampshire |
8-4 |
1,869 |
11 |
| 12. |
Appalachian State |
8-4 |
1,825 |
9 |
| 13. |
Wofford |
8-4 |
1,651 |
12 |
| 14. |
Central Arkansas |
9-4 |
1,411 |
15 |
| 15. |
James Madison |
8-5 |
1,307 |
17 |
| 16. |
Harvard |
9-1 |
996 |
16 |
| 17. |
Delaware |
7-4 |
961 |
14 |
| 18. |
Stony Brook |
9-4 |
957 |
22 |
| 19. |
Norfolk State |
9-3 |
829 |
19 |
| 20. |
Illinois State |
7-4 |
694 |
18 |
| 21. |
Tennessee Tech |
7-4 |
669 |
21 |
| 22. |
Jackson State |
9-2 |
523 |
20 |
| 23. |
North Dakota |
8-3 |
371 |
23 |
| 24. |
Eastern Kentucky |
7-5 |
298 |
NR |
| 25. |
Liberty |
7-4 |
215 |
24 |
Others receiving votes: Albany 214, Jacksonville State 151, San Diego 74, Furman 59, Grambling State 48, Bethune-Cookman 44, Alabama State 42, Drake 37, Duquesne 26, Southern Utah 21, Portland State 21, Cal Poly 20, Eastern Washington 19, William & Mary 13, Murray State 12, Tennessee State 8, South Dakota 8, Youngstown State 7, Georgetown 6, Alabama A&M 5, Brown 5, Chattanooga 4, South Carolina State 3, Stephen F. Austin 2, Indiana State 1.