The Missouri Valley Football Conference isn’t making it easy on any voter these days.

With league title contenders beating up on each other weekly, there is murkiness and congestion near the top of my ballot because of the MVFC.

This spring, I’m one of 40 voters for the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and each Monday throughout the season I’ll post my ballot and some thoughts about how it came together.

First let’s start with my vote:

And now, some thoughts …

- North Dakota State’s 34-13 romp of North Dakota showed the Bison are getting better as this spring campaign moves along, which is why they’ve catapulted from No. 6 on my ballot last week to No. 2 this week.

On offense, NDSU rushed for 316 yards and three touchdowns. The 456 yards of total offense the Bison posted were the most they have all spring.

They move ahead of UND because they beat UND. The Fighting Hawks only fall from my previous No. 1 to No. 4 because they still have one of the best resumes nationally with wins over Southern Illinois, South Dakota State, South Dakota and Western Illinois. UND’s 11-point win over South Dakota State keeps them in front of the Jackrabbits.

- Assessing Weber State, James Madison and Sam Houston State versus MVFC teams has been difficult for one reason – the Wildcats (2-0), Dukes (3-0) and Bearkats (3-0) haven’t played as many games as programs in the MVFC have.

Weber State at least beat Cal Davis earlier this month, though. Cal Davis racked up 768 yards of total offense and 73 points in a win this past Saturday, but only mustered 324 yards of offense while turning the ball over twice in its matchup against Weber State. Knowing that the Wildcats can win with defense like they did against a good Aggies bunch and understanding they can win with offense like they did when they scored 49 against Idaho State gave me enough reason to put them in the No. 1 spot this week.

JMU isn’t being penalized because of the COVID issues, but the Dukes have fallen to No. 3 in my evaluation because their three wins – Morehead State, Robert Morris and Elon – aren’t as strong as what Weber State and North Dakota State have done to this point. Especially since JMU didn’t look all that great against RMU and Elon.

If Sam Houston State keeps pummeling opponents, it’s going to be hard not to move the Bearkats up next week.

- Further down the ballot, teams trending in the right direction are Rhode Island, Chattanooga, VMI and Murray State. Those schools – none of which reached the FCS playoffs in 2019 – are a combined 13-0.