I am grateful to have a vote in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll. I will publish my Top 25 every week for everyone to see, and I’m sure rationally discuss with a clear lens.
Some notes at the bottom.
Top 25
25. Duquesne
24. Stephen F. Austin
23. Nicholls
22. UIW
21. Rhode Island
20. Mercer
19. Kennesaw State
18. Weber State
17. UT Martin
16. Northern Iowa
15. Villanova
14. Southeastern Louisiana University
13. Missouri State
12. ETSU
11. Delaware
10. North Dakota
9. Montana State
8. UC Davis
7. Southern Illinois
6. Montana
5. Eastern Washington
4. North Dakota State
3. James Madison
2. Sam Houston
1. South Dakota State
Notes
Welcome to the party, EWU. The Eagles join Tier 1 of the FCS after beating Montana this weekend. I had EWU No. 11 last week and moved the Eagles to No. 5 this week, then moved NDSU to No. 4 from No. 5, and placed Montana at No. 6.
No. 3 JMU had a scare at UNH, and No. 2 SHSU nearly lost to SFA but pulled out a close win without its All-American QB Eric Schmid. Those two teams remained where they were on my ballot, behind SDSU at No. 1. Schmid, by the way, was held out as a precaution and for him to rest up a sore body. So he’ll be back, which is very important for the defending champs.
I ended up moving SFA into my Top 25. The Lumberjacks were already close to making my ballot last week with a 3-1 record and a close loss to Texas Tech. They looked impressive again versus SHSU, even if it was a loss and the Bearkats didn’t have Schmid. Plus, with a few other teams losing, SFA slid in.
Holy Cross moved out of my Top 25 after a blowout loss to Harvard. That led me to also move Monmouth out for now despite it beating Gardner-Webb 54-17 this weekend. Monmouth lost 45-15 to Holy Cross last week. I’d have a hard time ranking Monmouth and not Holy Cross, right?
Teams can make up for bad early-season losses as it wins more games. So Monmouth, who I still lean slightly as my Big South favorite, isn’t gone forever. Kennesaw has looked pretty dang good against its two FCS opponents, though. Case in point for overcoming bad early losses is UIW. I had not ranked UIW up until this point even though it has an FBS win. What made me pause was the Cardinals losing at Youngstown State in Week 1, a team that isn’t too good this year. But with a 4-1 overall record and the FBS win, we’re getting to a point in the season where UIW moves into my Top 25.
Alabama A&M, VMI, and Holy Cross losing have helped UIW slide in as I moved those three teams out.
Nicholls moves into my Top 25. I think SLU, UIW, and Nicholls are interchangeable right now as a solid Top 3 in the Southland. Conference play will sort it out, as I believe one of those teams will end up missing the playoffs.
Duquense is also back in my Top 25. The Dukes are 3-1 overall with an FBS loss to TCU, an FBS win against Ohio, a non-counter win, and an impressive win this weekend against Merrimack, a team that beat Holy Cross decisively earlier this year.
