I am grateful to again have a vote in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 media poll for the 2022 season. I’ll publish my ballot every week and provide some reasoning for my order.
Notes at the bottom.
FCS Top 25
25. Fordham
24. SEMO
23. Eastern Kentucky
22. Mercer
21. Southeastern Louisiana University
20. North Dakota
19. Delaware
18. Elon
17. New Hampshire
16. Montana
15. Idaho
14. UC Davis
13. Jackson State
12. Chattanooga
11. Holy Cross
10. Furman
9. Richmond
8. Incarnate Word
7. William & Mary
6. Weber State
5. Samford
4. North Dakota State
3. Montana State
2. Sacramento State
1. South Dakota State
Notes
I reevaluate my order every week, which can result in big jumps and falls. I don’t like to slot teams based on last week’s order since every week of more games we get a clearer picture. So Team A can jump Team B even if both teams had similar wins. And a team can drop even after wins or a bye based on what happens all across the country.
Fordham (8-1 vs. the FCS) re-enters my Top 25 as Rhode Island gets knocked out.
A notable change near the top was moving Samford one spot up to No. 5. At 9-0 vs. the FCS with two ranked wins and a solid strength of schedule ranked 18th, Samford continues to impress. Its offense has remained explosive while the defense has noticeably toughed up compared to past teams.
Holy Cross (10-0 with an FBS win) dropped some spots like Jackson State did last week even though HC keeps on winning. When you have a weaker SOS (Holy Cross 72nd, Jackson State 114th), I need to see you dominate and outclass inferior opponents. Holy Cross having a 36-29 battle this weekend with a 3-7 Bryant team, plus single-digit wins against unranked Harvard and Lafayette, made me rethink if it’s truly a Top 10 team. But I bet they still get a Top 8 seed if they win at Georgetown.
South Dakota State (10-0 vs. the FCS) stays my No. 1 because I believe they are the best and most complete team in the FCS, although I think Sac State (10-0 overall with an FBS win) will be the No. 1 playoff seed if it beats UC Davis.
Montana State (9-0 vs. the FCS) stays ahead of North Dakota State (8-1 vs. the FCS) as MSU keeps on winning and the Bison are still searching for a statement win. An injury to Hunter Luepke (had his arm in a sling) is a major injury to keep an eye on in the national title picture as Luepke was a dominant force when NDSU needed him the most in last year’s semis and title game.
I was one of a few people that had UC Davis (6-3 vs. the FCS) ranked due to it crushing inferior opponents and having its FCS losses being to Top 10 teams. The Aggies proved it and then some by winning decisively at Idaho, who I had in my Top 10 last week. UC Davis moves way up to No. 14 and Idaho (6-2 vs. the FCS) drops to No. 15 but stays one spot ahead of Montana (7-3 vs. the FCS).
Richmond (8-1 vs. the FCS) moved up a few spots after an impressive road win at Delaware with some last-minute clutch plays. And Furman moves into my Top 10 after beating ranked Mercer on the road. Furman is 7-1 vs. the FCS with two ranked wins and its only loss is a 34-27 game vs. Samford.
