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. UT Martin
24. Eastern Kentucky
23. Austin Peay
22. Fordham
21. Campbell
20. Southeastern Louisiana University
19. Richmond
18. North Dakota
17. Samford
16. Southern Illinois
15. SEMO
14. Chattanooga
13. Incarnate Word
12. Jackson State
11. Delaware
10. William & Mary
9. Elon
8. Holy Cross
7. Mercer
6. Sacramento State
5. Weber State
4. Montana State
3. Montana
2. South Dakota State
1. North 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.
Dropping out of my ballot is Missouri State after suffering its fourth straight loss, this one to Southern Illinois. I debated between UNH, Idaho, Campbell, Monmouth, Nova, or Furman to jump into my Top 25. I ended up going with Campbell, and I actually slid the Camels to No. 21. They are 3-1 vs. the FCS with a 16-point loss to Top 10 W&M. They hammered NC Central, who beat UNH, who beat Monmouth, who beat Nova.
My Top 4 stayed the same. How the two teams are playing right now, Saturday’s Dakota Marker game between NDSU and SDSU does not look like a good matchup for the Bison. I can see the Jacks winning by double digits. I can also see NDSU reminding the FCS who it is with a home win. I’ll keep them No. 1 and 2 and then see how the game plays out. Montana State continues to make a claim for a higher ranking, but I also like what Montana is doing. Tough games are ahead for the Griz, so they can prove they are a Top 3 team, maybe even a Top 2 team this month.
I switched Weber State to No. 5 and Sac State to No. 6. After reevaluating six weeks of action, Weber has a slightly better resume. They share similar dominant FBS wins, but Weber has more impressive FCS wins against experienced playoff teams from last year in UC Davis and EWU. And Weber has a little tougher strength of schedule (29th to Sac State’s 33rd) despite playing one non-counter game vs. Western Oregon. I think Weber has the better defense and is showing just as much offensive explosiveness.
My biggest jump is Mercer to No. 7. The Bears pass the eyeball test offensively and defensively. Fred Payton has been fantastic with 16 TDs to zero INT. They have dominated their FCS opponents to a 5-0 vs. FCS record. While the opponents may not jump off the page as far as ranked wins, Mercer did hammer Gardner-Webb 45-14 a week after G-W narrowly lost 30-24 to my now-No. 9 Elon and two weeks after G-W lost 31-27 to G5 power Coastal Carolina. And I know comparing scores isn’t fair because every week is different and performances vary week to week, which is why I don’t lean on that argument. (Because Montana beat Indiana State by more points than NDSU did, and Montana State beat Idaho State by more points than Montana did.) The score comparison is dangerous, but my main point is Mercer isn’t just beating up on crappy teams. And if that’s not enough for ya, Mercer’s strength of schedule through games played is 42nd, much higher than Montana’s 75th and just behind NDSU’s 41st.
William & Mary jumped into the Top 10 after beating Delaware. W&M is 5-1 with an FBS win, and UD is also 5-1 with an FBS win. They are both behind Elon, who is 5-1 overall and 5-0 vs. the FCS with two ranked wins vs. W&M and Richmond.
Fans may notice teams like Jackson State, Chattanooga, SEMO, Samford, and UT Martin dropping spots despite winning or being on byes. This isn’t me “punishing” them for anything, but every week I reevaluate and I bumped some teams up. It’s not you, it’s them.
UIW bumps up after some reevaluation, plus SLU losing. UIW is 5-1 overall with an FBS win, a ranked win vs. SIU, and a loss to SLU. Southeastern does stay in my Top 25 at 3-1 vs. the FCS despite its tough loss to Texas A&M-Commerce.
Southern Illinois jumped some teams after its ranked win vs. Mo State, but it stays behind teams it lost to (SEMO and UIW) for now. Keep on winning and the body of work can override head-to-head results. Fordham also bumped up a couple of spots with a 5-1 record featuring a close loss to FBS Ohio.
I almost dropped UT Martin out of my Top 25, who is 4-1 vs. the FCS with a loss to Mo State, who will now be out of the Top 25. The four wins aren’t great vs. WIU, Lindenwood, TN Tech, and Murray State. I kept them in for now because they do have a talented squad and are beating the teams they should after winning a playoff game last year, but other teams who go on to get stronger wins could bump the Skyhawks out.
