The 24-team FCS playoff bracket is increasing its number of seeds from eight to 16 this fall.
More seeds result in less regionalization, more balanced early-round matchups, and more transparency on who hosts in the first round.
For a glimpse at the new format, we used the Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25 Media Poll and preseason conference polls to form a preseason bracket.
Keeping scrolling for the bracket
Seeds
Via preseason Top 25 media poll
1. South Dakota State
2. North Dakota State
3. Montana
4. Montana State
5. South Dakota
6. Villanova
7. Idaho
8. Sacramento State
9. Chattanooga
10. Southern Illinois
11. Central Arkansas
12. Furman
13. Richmond
14. UIW
15. William & Mary
16. UAlbany
Auto-Bids
Via preseason conference polls
Big Sky – Montana
Big South-OVC – UT Martin
CAA – Villanova
MVFC – South Dakota State
NEC – Duquesne
Patriot – Lafayette
Pioneer – Drake
SoCon – Chattanooga
Southland – Nicholls
UAC – Central Arkansas
At-Large Bids
Via preseason Top 25 media poll
North Dakota State (seed)
Montana State (seed)
South Dakota (seed)
Idaho (seed)
Sacramento State (seed)
Southern Illinois (seed)
Furman (seed)
Richmond (seed)
UIW (seed)
William & Mary (seed)
UAlbany (seed)
Last 3 In
UC Davis
Illinois State
Western Carolina
Bubble
Via preseason Top 25 media poll
Tarleton State
Weber State
North Dakota
Youngstown State
The Bracket
Instead of first-round host sites being determined by a combination of bid amount, revenue potential, facilities, athlete experience, and team performance, seeds 9-16 will host the remaining unseeded teams based on proximity. The No. 1 seed plays the winner of the No. 16 vs. unseeded matchup, the No. 2 seed plays the winner of the No. 15 vs. unseeded matchup, and so on.
