The UND football team rose in the FCS playoff committee's Top 10 rankings, but the Fighting Hawks are still sitting outside ideal positioning.
UND was ranked No. 9 in the committee's rankings, announced late Tuesday night on ESPNU.
The top eight seeds receive first-round byes. The official bracket will be released Sunday morning at 10 a.m. on ESPNU.
North Dakota State climbed to No. 1 for the first time in the committee rankings, followed by Eastern Washington, Jacksonville State, James Madison, Sam Houston State, The Citadel, Central Arkansas, Richmond, UND and South Dakota State.
UND, which has a bye week this week, will want to keep an eye on two key games on Saturday.
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No. 5 Sam Houston State hosts No. 7 Central Arkansas and No. 10 South Dakota State travels to tournament-hopeful Northern Iowa.
The Fighting Hawks, who have won nine straight, are 9-2 overall and 8-0 in the Big Sky Conference.
Eastern Washington is 7-0 and the Eagles play at Portland State on Friday night to conclude their regular season.
Schweigert named finalist for coach of the year
UND coach Bubba Schweigert was announced Tuesday as one of 15 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, which is given annually to the top coach in the Football Championship Subdivision.
The list includes at least one representative from all 13 FCS conferences. STATS will present the Robinson Award at the national awards banquet on the eve of the NCAA Division I FCS Championship Game on Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas.
North Dakota State coach Chris Klieman also is a finalist.
Schweigert led the Fighting Hawks (9-2 overall, 8-0 Big Sky Conference) to their ninth-straight win this past Saturday in dramatic fashion. The 38-31 win over the Lumberjacks included 28 unanswered second-half points by UND, who capped a perfect season in Big Sky play.
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Schweigert turned around a program that went 3-8 overall and 2-6 in league play the season before he took over in 2014.
UND's No. 10 and No. 8 national rankings in the STATS FCS and FCS Coaches Top 25 polls are the highest for the program since joining the Division I ranks prior to the 2008 season.
