I am grateful to have a vote in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 media poll for the 2024 season. I’ll publish my ballot every week and provide some reasoning for my order.
Notes at the bottom.
Delaware and Missouri State, FCS-to-FBS transitioning teams, are not eligible to be voted on in the Media Poll.
FCS Top 25
1. North Dakota State
2. Montana State
3. South Dakota State
4. South Dakota
5. UC Davis
6. Mercer
7. SEMO
8. UIW
9. Idaho
10. Montana
11. Richmond
12. Rhode Island
13. Villanova
14. Tarleton State
15. Abilene Christian
16. Western Carolina
17. Chattanooga
18. ETSU
19. Stony Brook
20. UT Martin
21. Illinois State
22. William & Mary
23. Southeastern Louisiana
24. Central Arkansas
25. Harvard
Leaving: North Dakota, NC Central
Entering: Southeastern Louisiana, Harvard
Six teams on my ballot lost in Week 10. Let’s track their movement in this week’s ballot.
In the SoCon, my No. 9 Chattanooga lost 38-34 to my No. 22 Western Carolina and my No. 17 ETSU lost 37-31 to my No. 7 Mercer.
Mercer jumped up to No. 6 this week at 8-1 overall/vs. the FCS with four then-ranked wins and three victories over teams that will likely be ranked this week (Chattanooga, WCU, ETSU). ETSU went to No. 18 at 5-4 overall and 4-3 vs. the FCS. The three FCS losses were all one-score games against ranked opponents (NDSU, Chattanooga, Mercer).
Chattanooga dropped to No. 17 at 5-4 overall and 5-2 vs. the FCS, one spot behind WCU and one spot ahead of ETSU due to the head-to-head results and the same overall number of wins. Western Carolina rose to No. 16 at 5-4 overall and 5-3 vs. the FCS with two ranked wins and competitive losses to ranked Montana and Mercer.
My No. 11 Tarleton State lost 17-13 to unranked Eastern Kentucky. The Texans drop to No. 14 at 7-2 overall and 7-1 vs. the FCS with no ranked wins. They will get potential opportunities for ranked wins in the final two games of the regular season, hosting ACU and UCA.
My No. 14 Central Arkansas lost 34-21 to winless Utah Tech in a baffling performance. UCA reminds me of Jacksonville State in the 2010s — very talented, looks like a deep playoff threat one week, and then has a dud of a performance the next week. UCA drops to No. 24 at 6-3 overall and 6-2 vs. the FCS with one then-ranked win.
In another baffling performance, my No. 16 North Dakota lost 35-31 at Indiana State. I dropped UND out of my ballot after back-to-back embarrassing road losses at Youngstown State (3-7) and Indiana State (4-5). The Fighting Hawks are 5-4 overall and 5-3 vs. the FCS with one ranked win. They have three ranked opponents ahead — vs. SDSU, vs. USD, at Illinois State. Beating both Top 5 South Dakota schools at home would be very on-brand for UND. But how much can home turf fix one’s defensive woes?
My No. 23 NC Central lost 24-21 to SC State. NC Central got bumped out of my ballot at 6-3 to make room for two teams.
Entering my ballot are Southeastern Louisiana and Harvard.
Harvard defeated Media Poll No. 22 Dartmouth 31-27 to improve to 6-1 overall/vs. the FCS. It usually takes a lot for me to rank an Ivy League team due to it being tough to gauge how good they are. Harvard has decent data points and owns one then-ranked win over New Hampshire while also beating Holy Cross, who is the favorite to win the Patriot League.
Southeastern Louisiana is 5-5 overall and 5-3 vs. the FCS. The Lions lost to ranked teams Tarleton State and UIW by a combined six points, beat a rankable SFA team, beat a Lamar team in the hunt for a playoff bid, and also beat an EWU team that is giving top Big Sky teams competitive games.
