I am grateful to again have a vote in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 media poll for the 2023 season. I’ll publish my ballot every week and provide some reasoning for my order.
Notes at the bottom.
FCS Top 25
- South Dakota State
- Montana State
- Idaho
- Furman
- Western Carolina
- South Dakota
- North Dakota State
- Sacramento State
- North Carolina Central
- UIW
- Southern Illinois
- Harvard
- Holy Cross
- North Dakota
- Delaware
- Youngstown State
- Eastern Washington
- UAlbany
- Montana
- Florida A&M
- Elon
- William & Mary
- Central Arkansas
- Chattanooga
- UC Davis
Leaving: Eastern Kentucky, UT Martin, Austin Peay
Entering: Youngstown State, Montana, Chattanooga
After last week’s madness, only four teams in my Top 25 lost this weekend. One was against a P5 team (W&M), one was against a team I had ranked (Elon losing to NC Central), another was against a team ranked in the media Top 25 (UC Davis losing to Montana), and only one was against an unranked team (SIU losing to YSU).
That led to some tough calls at the bottom of my ballot. I felt that three teams were deserving to move in. That left my bottom three from last week getting bumped out despite either having a bye or winning (Eastern Kentucky, UT Martin, Austin Peay). These teams did nothing wrong, but sometimes moves like this happen as teams are more deserving to move in and the losses within my ballot weren’t bad enough to move anyone out.
Youngstown State moved back in after getting bumped out the previous week due to a loss at Northern Iowa. It rises up to No. 16 after thumping media poll No. 6 Southern Illinois 31-3. This was a butt-whooping. SIU gained just 100 total yards. YSU moves to 3-2 overall and 3-1 vs. the FCS. We’re at a point now where body of work can trump head-to-head. Despite the lopsided result, Southern Illinois stays ahead of YSU and ranks No. 11 for me. YSU had a loss last week to unranked UNI that set it back. SIU is 4-1 overall featuring an FBS win and two wins over solid FCS teams in Austin Peay (who I nearly had ranked) and SEMO (much better than its record). YSU’s other two FCS wins were to weaker teams Valpo and RMU.
I didn’t think Montana was playing like a Top 25 team in September despite being 4-1. But after winning at media poll No. 20 UC Davis, the Grizzlies looked to have found their stride. The o-line looked much better, and QB Clifton McDowell came into his own with a strong performance. Montana solidifies its place in the Top 25 at this point in the season after much online argument. I kept UC Davis on my ballot at 3-3 overall and 3-2 vs. the FCS. I was high on the Aggies this offseason and throughout September, and I still believe them to be one of the 25 best teams in the FCS. Their two losses were close games to ranked teams (EWU, Montana).
Chattanooga also enters my ballot. The Mocs were very close to making my Top 25 last week, and after being stride for stride with WCU (a Top 5 team for me) in a 52-50 loss, I believe they are worthy of a spot inside my Top 25 at 4-2 overall. An earlier loss to North Alabama keeps them in the 20s for me.
For more FCS coverage, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
My top five is the same as last week. I will say that I’d like to see more out of Western Carolina’s defense. I get Chattanooga’s offense is electric, but when we’re judging a team on a higher-end scale, WCU will need to tighten up defensively if it wants to win multiple games in the playoff bracket. But still, the Catamounts got UTC’s absolute best shot and still found a way to win on the road at a ranked opponent, and they did it with All-American-level RB Desmond Reid leaving the game with what looked like a leg injury.
SIU and UIW slid down. SIU’s performance vs. YSU was a head-scratcher as I referenced above. And UIW is a bit inconsistent for me. It looks very good at times, and other times it just doesn’t leave you overly impressed with some lulls in games. The Cardinals will be tough to gauge due to its strength of schedule. And after letting SLU (now 0-6) back into the game to only win 33-26, it knocked UIW back a few spots. The Cardinals can’t help who they play, but they can help how they play vs. the inferior competition.
South Dakota and NDSU moved up. The Bison looked closer to their impressive non-conference showings than last week’s loss to USD in beating Missouri State 38-10 on Saturday. But USD still deserves to be ranked ahead of the Bison. A reminder that I vote based on what I’ve seen at this point in the season, not projecting ahead. The Coyotes are 4-1 overall and 4-0 vs. the FCS. They have outscored three inferior opponents 97-13 and own the best FCS win of the season so far, winning 24-19 in Fargo where they held a double-digit lead for most of the game.
NC Central also enters the Top 10. The Eagles won decisively at Elon (final score 34-23) a week after Elon beat then-No. 5 W&M. Their defense played great vs. Elon, and the offense has some dudes.
Elon falls a couple of spots after the loss but stays ahead of William & Mary. I’m not as high on W&M as others are. I realize No. 22 may seem very low. The Tribe are 4-2 overall and 4-1 vs. the FCS. But it has underwhelmed in most of its games this season. I love its defense, but I’m watching a limited offense, especially in the passing game, which has W&M falling in my Top 25.
Expect a lot of movement next week with this list of games:
Furman at Samford
UAlbany at UNH
Elon at Nova
Gardner-Webb at Austin Peay
NDSU at UND
YSU at USD
UNI at SDSU
Chattanooga at Mercer
SFA at UCA
UC Davis at Weber
Montana at Idaho
