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. Eastern Kentucky
24. Fordham
23. Austin Peay
22. UT Martin
21. Missouri State
20. William & Mary
19. Richmond
18. North Dakota
17. Southern Illinois
16. Incarnate Word
15. Southeastern Louisiana University
14. Samford
13. SEMO
12. Mercer
11. Elon
10. Chattanooga
9. Jackson State
8. Holy Cross
7. Weber State
6. Delaware
5. Sacramento State
4. Montana State
3. Montana
2. South Dakota State
1. North Dakota State
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.
New to my Top 25 ballot this week is North Dakota after beating Missouri State. Dropping is Furman after its loss to Samford.
My Top 10 mostly stayed the same besides moving Holy Cross up and moving Mo State down. I continue to be impressed with Holy Cross on both sides of the ball, a team that is 5-0 with an FBS win over Buffalo.
A lot of my week-to-week adjustments happened between teams 11-23, so let’s break down how I ordered them like I did…
No. 11 Elon is 4-1 overall and 4-0 against the FCS, including back-to-back ranked wins against W&M and Richmond. Nos. 12-14 Mercer, SEMO, and Samford are also 4-1 overall and 4-0 vs. the FCS. I really like how Mercer is playing. SEMO has a head-to-head win against SIU, so it should be ranked ahead of the Salukis, and it also owns a win against UCA, who just beat ranked Austin Peay. Samford beat then-ranked Kennesaw to open the season and also beat Furman this last weekend, who I had ranked.
No. 15 Southeastern is 3-2 overall and 3-0 vs. the FCS. It has a head-to-head on and should be ranked ahead of UIW. So UIW is No. 16. UIW is 4-1 overall with an FBS win and a head-to-head win against SIU. So Southern Illinois is No. 17 at 3-2 overall with an FBS win and a head-to-head on UND. So North Dakota is No. 18 at 3-2 overall and 3-1 vs. the FCS featuring a ranked win this last weekend against No. 7 Missouri State.
No. 19 Richmond is 3-2 overall and 3-1 with a close loss to Elon. No. 20 William & Mary is 4-1 overall with an FBS win and a close loss to Elon. W&M has the better resume but I like Richmond’s play a little better so far.
No. 21 Missouri State and No. 22 UT Martin saw significant drops in my ballot. Which may seem weird because I had Mo State No. 8 last week and UT Martin No. 13, and UT Martin won by 17 points against Tennessee Tech. But again, I reevaluate and reorder my Top 25 every week. Mo State dropped because it is currently on a three-game losing streak and the team’s energy was a concern in the second-half beatdown by UND. But … the Bears do have a head-to-head win on UT Martin, who is 3-2 overall and 3-1 vs. the FCS. The three wins are against not great quality opponents WIU, Lindenwood, and Tennesee Tech. I want to keep UT Martin behind Mo State for now, and I really like SEMO out of the OVC now. UT Martin still looks like a playoff team, though. Oddly, SEMO and UT Martin do not play each other in the OVC schedule this year.
No. 23 Austin Peay lost decidedly to UCA this week but is 4-1 vs. the FCS with a win against No. 25 EKU. No. 24 Fordham is 4-1 overall with a close loss to FBS Ohio.
