The FCS poll that HERO Sports' Sam Herder and I vote in is the official media poll put out by Craig Haley and STATS. Below you'll find my weekly take on where I think teams should fit in, based on the final results of the weekend, etc etc. — as well as taking the entire season into account.
A precursor (so readers understand the reasoning) … if an FCS team lost to an FBS team, they won't drop massively (or at all) because of that loss — and if they took it down to the wire, I may even reward the FCS team if the circumstances allow for it. If an FCS beat up on a D-2 or NAIA team? I'll never vote for them to rise. An FBS win or a D-2/NAIA loss will always significantly affect my vote. I want my ballot to basically reflect FCS on FCS action, with an FBS win being a bonus, or a lower division loss being reason to drop a team several spots. I also will never drop a team and rarely will float a team up if they're idle that weekend. I'll wait for the next result.
[divider]MORE FCS FOOTBALL:
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EXPLAIN YOUR WORK
(full ballot is below)
QUICK SUMMARY: We'll make this short and sweet since we dug into the playoff picture a few hours ago — now that we're just a few weeks away from FCS Selection Sunday?: Weber State made a massive statement, and so did Northern Iowa — and remember, Weber State knocked off UNI earlier this year. The other biggie wins were Monmouth over Kennesaw State by a mile and … more to come below. Again? It was a crazy weekend.
THE FALL: It is very, very tough to keep Kennesaw State in my poll ballot after a 24-point loss at home to Monmouth. If the Owls improve and finish 10-2, we'll have to take another look … and though Stony Brook has been tough at times this year, we'll need to take a second look after today's 20-point loss to a Richmond team that I can't quite rank. The Seawolves do have a path ahead of them that might make them playoff eligible though.
STAYING STATIC: For the time being, I'm freezing my ascension for any Ivy League teams after Harvard nearly blew up the league in the past nine days. The league might not be quite as strong as last year, it would appear. Also, in the HBCUs? NC A&T really should have lost at S.C. State if you were following the game. All of these programs need to hold steady for now.
NEW BLOOD: Austin Peay at No. 23 is a program that completely controls its own destiny, but is also doing the circular firing squad thing with UT Martin and SEMO. The Govs control their own destiny, so they enter the poll fray for now. San Diego has done nothing but roll so far since taking two Big Sky teams to the woodshed in Sept. before falling. USD did beat Harvard, too. Lastly, New Hampshire had a big win this weekend against Villanova at home. Can UNH mess with JMU in November too?.
MORE DATA: You can see the teams in this category. We need some statement wins, folks. Badly.[divider]
B-MAC'S FCS POLL BALLOT
(LW – Last week's B-Mac ballot)
| NO | WEEK 10 BALLOT | REC | STRK | LW | WEEK 10 RESULT | WEEK 10 NOTES |
| 1 | NDSU | 9-0 | W9 | 1 | Won at YSU 56-17 | Goodness gracious – need I say more? |
| 2 | JMU | 8-1 | W8 | 2 | IDLE | Never move Idle teams |
| 3 | WEBER | 7-2 | W6 | 4 | Won at Sac. State 36-17 | Must move to No. 3 – only FBS losses |
| 4 | SDSU | 7-2 | W1 | 5 | Won at Mo. State 35-14 | Solid road win in the MVFC – Gibbs? |
| 5 | UNI | 6-3 | W3 | 7 | Won at Ill. State 27-10 | Rock solid result, move up |
| 6 | SACRAMENTO ST. | 6-3 | L1 | 3 | LOST TO Weber State 36-17 | Still very viable team, even w/QB out |
| 7 | MONTANA | 7-2 | W2 | 8 | Won at Portland St. 38-23 | Rallied to win – but Sneed didn't play |
| 8 | ILLINOIS ST. | 6-3 | L1 | 6 | LOST VS. UNI 27-10 | Only FCS losses – NDSU and UNI |
| 9 | FURMAN | 6-3 | W2 | 12 | Won at Chattan. 35-20 | Dins should rise for now |
| 10 | UCA | 7-2 | W4 | 15 | Won at Lamar 45-17 | UCA looking like Southland's best |
| 11 | MONTANA ST. | 6-3 | W1 | 18 | Won vs. So. Utah 42-7 | Solid win for now, tough ones ahead |
| 12 | WOFFORD | 5-3 | L1 | 13 | LOST AT CLEMSON 59-14 | Never drop teams for P5 losses |
| 13 | VILLANOVA | 6-3 | L3 | 10 | LOST AT UNH 28-20 | Have to drop some |
| 14 | PRINCETON | 7-0 | W7 | 9 | Won at Cornell 21-7 | Ivys should probably be mid teens |
| 15 | DARTMOUTH | 7-0 | W7 | 16 | Won at Harvard 9-6 | Going to hold – nearly fell |
| 16 | NORTH DAKOTA | 5-3 | W2 | 17 | IDLE | Never move Idle teams |
| 17 | MONMOUTH | 7-2 | W5 | 24 | Won at Kennesaw 45-21 | Hammered a top team, bump up |
| 18 | SEMO | 6-3 | W3 | 22 | Won at Tenn. State 32-13 | Lost to APSU, have to figure in |
| 19 | SOUTHERN ILL. | 5-4 | W3 | 23 | Won at Ind. State 23-14 | Big FBS win at Umass begins to loom |
| 20 | FAMU | 8-1 | W8 | 19 | Won vs. Delaw. St. 45-23 | Looking like MEAC reg season champs |
| 21 | NC A&T | 6-2 | W2 | 20 | Won at S.C. State 22-20 | Escaped Orangeburg with a win |
| 22 | CCSU | 8-1 | W5 | 21 | Won at Wagner 27-13 | Solid here, but can't move up too much |
| 23 | AUSTIN PEAY | 6-3 | W2 | AC | Won at EKU 28-21 (OT) | Govs control their own destiny |
| 24 | SAN DIEGO | 6-2 | W6 | AC | Won vs. Drake 49-7 | Giant killers looking scary again |
| 25 | NEW HAMP. | 5-3 | W1 | AC | Won vs. Villanova 28-20 | Only playing 11 games this year |
| ALSO CONSIDERED | ||||||
| AC | ALCORN ST. | 6-2 | W5 | 25 | IDLE | Idle team gets bumped, for 1 week |
| AC | THE CITADEL | 6-4 | W3 | AC | Won at ETSU 31-27 | P5 win may loom large |
| AC | SE LOUISIANA | 4-3 | W1 | AC | Won. SFA 47-30 | BCU 'Cane CCD hurts more and more |
| AC | UT MARTIN | 6-3 | W1 | OUT | Won vs. Jacksonville St. 22-17 | Back in the mix after SEMO loss |
| AC | YALE | 6-1 | W3 | AC | Won vs. Columbia 45-10 | Holding for now |
| AC | TOWSON | 5-4 | W1 | OUT | Won vs. Delaware 31-24 | Has potential to finish 8-4 |
| AC | RICHMOND | 5-4 | W2 | OUT | Won vs. Stony Brook 30-10 | Has won 4 of 5, now 4-1 in CAA |
| DROPPED | ||||||
| DRP | KSU | 7-2 | L1 | 11 | LOST VS. MONMOUTH 45-21 | Must be behind Monmouth now |
| DRP | STONY BROOK | 5-4 | L1 | 14 | LOST AT RICHMOND 30-10 | Have to drop for now |
Listen to the latest episodes of B-Mac and Herd's FCS Podcast, which is also available on iTunes, Spotify, iHeart, Stitcher and Spreaker.[divider]
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