Two teams that have supplanted some of the old guard are Colorado State-Pueblo of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, which won the 2014 national championship, and Ohio Dominican, which has quickly moved into the upper echelon of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

MORE: SN Top 25 (FBS) | FCS Top 25 | Coach rankings, 1 to 128 | All-Americans

Colorado State-Pueblo didn’t field a team from 1984 until 2008, but it took only seven years for coach John Wristen to build the Thunderwolves into a national champion.

Ohio Dominican has only been playing football since 2004, but coach Bill Conley has the Panthers knocking on the door of their first national title. 

How close is Ohio Dominican to that first championship?

“Pueblo beat us 31-28 in the playoffs,” Conley notes.

Sporting News’ Division II Top 25 entering the 2015 season:

  1. Minnesota-Duluth

  2. Ferris State

  3. Colorado State-Pueblo

  4. Ohio Dominican

  5. Concord

  6. Minnesota State-Mankato

  7. Northwest Missouri

  8. West Georgia

  9. Slippery Rock

  10. West Texas A&M

  11. Valdosta State

  12. Colorado School of Mines

  13. Bloomsburg

  14. Pittsburg State

  15. Angelo State

  16. North Alabama

  17. Ouachita Baptist

  18. West Chester

  19. Lenoir-Rhyne

  20. Sioux Falls

  21. Delta State

  22. Central Washington

  23. Virginia State

  24. Tuskegee

  25. Azusa Pacific