FCS POLL: Brian McLaughlin’s Week 12 FCS Poll Ballot

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: Like last week, I'll keep this short since we dug into the playoff picture a few hours ago — we did have some pretty major upheaval in the Top 10, which was to be expected with the SDSU-UNI, Montana-Weber St. and Furman-Wofford matchups. There was no way to avoid it. Those three were massive games with major seeding implications tied to them. I do think we also now know 13 of our 24 FCS Playoff teams. Six of them are locked in thanks to automatic bids, with four more to be determined this final weekend coming up. I feel strongly that seven teams are in thanks to winning the 8-win mark in the Power Three conferences — the Big Sky, CAA and Missouri Valley. Precedent has shown this to be the win mark that guarantees a spot. At the very least, these seven 8-win teams should get an at-large berth, and in the case of the Big Sky one of them will nab the automatic bid next weekend when the championship is settled.

THE FALL: Obviously, Weber State, UNI and Furman had to drop some after falling in their massive matchups. None of the three is out of the poll though. I also had to drop Dartmouth considerably after its totally out-of-leftfield loss to Cornell.

STAYING STATIC: I've continued to hold the MEAC leader (FAMU) and NEC leader (CCSU) static because I don't feel with their schedule strength they should float too highly up in the poll. I'd still contend that at least half (if not more) of the teams in conferences like the CAA, Big Sky and MVFC would likely defeat a FAMU or CCSU, but at the same time, with only one loss apiece to FBS teams, these two programs have earned the right to be on this week's ballot.

NEW BLOOD: North Dakota's not really "new blood". The Fighting Hawks have been in and out of the poll all year. We'll see if they can win their final game and be in the playoff bubble discussion a week from today.[divider]

B-MAC'S FCS POLL BALLOT

(LW – Last week's B-Mac ballot; SOS– Massey's FCS Strength of Schedule ratings will be updated later Sunday)

NO	WEEK 12 BALLOT	REC	STRK	LW	SOS	WEEK 12 RESULT	FINAL OPPONENT
1	NDSU	11-0	W11	1	16	Def. South Dakota 49-14	at SIU (7-4)
2	JMU	10-1	W9	2	22	Def. Richmond 48-6	at Rhode Isl. (2-9)
3	MONTANA	9-2	W4	6	5	Def. Weber State 35-16	at Montana St. (8-3)
4	SACRAMENTO ST.	8-3	W2	5	1	Def. Idaho 31-7	vs. UC Davis (5-6)
5	ILLINOIS ST.	8-3	W2	7	18	Def. Missouri St. 17-12	at YSU (5-6)
6	SDSU	8-3	W1	8	13	Def. UNI 38-7	at So. Dak (4-7)
7	WEBER	8-3	L1	3	3	LOST AT MONTANA 35-16	vs. Idaho St. (3-8)
8	WOFFORD	7-3	W2	11	58	Def. Furman 24-7	at The Citadel (6-5)
9	UNI	7-4	L1	4	6	LOST AT SDSU 38-7	vs. WIU (1-10)
10	MONTANA ST.	8-3	W3	10	11	Def. UC Davis 27-17	vs. Montana (9-2)
11	VILLANOVA	8-3	W2	12	31	Def. LIU 35-7	vs. Delaware (5-6)
12	SOUTHERN ILL.	7-4	W5	14	23	Def. WIU 45-21	vs. NDSU (11-0)
13	SE LOUISIANA	7-3	W4	15	48	Def. Abilene Chr. 35-14	vs. Nicholls (7-4) on Thurs.
14	UCA	8-3	W1	16	26	Def. SFA 30-7	at UIW (5-6) on Fri.
15	AUSTIN PEAY	8-3	W5	18	74	Def. Murray St. 42-7	vs. EIU (1-10)
16	SEMO	8-3	W5	19	44	Def. EIU 26-12	vs. Murray St. (4-7)
17	MONMOUTH	9-2	W7	17	69	Def. Campbell 47-10	vs. Hampton (5-6)
18	FURMAN	7-4	L1	9	46	LOST AT Wofford 24-7	vs. NAIA Point (5-6)
19	ALBANY	7-4	W2	23	41	Def. UNH 24-17	at Stony Brook (5-6)
20	TOWSON	7-4	W3	24	15	Def. W & Mary 31-10	vs. Elon (4-6)
21	SAN DIEGO	8-2	W8	21	86	Def. Morehead St. 52-20	at Jacksonville (3-8)
22	FAMU	9-1	W9	20	88	Def. Howard 39-7	vs. BCU (6-4)
23	CCSU	10-1	W7	22	102	Def. RMU 49-28	at Duquesne (6-4)
24	NORTH DAKOTA	6-4	W1	AC	7	Def. No. Colo. 45-38	vs. So. Utah (3-8)
25	DARTMOUTH	8-1	L1	13	54	LOST TO CORNELL 20-17	at Brown (2-7)
	ALSO CONSIDERED (AC)
AC	YALE	8-1	W5	AC	55	Def. Princeton 51-14	vs. Harvard (4-5)
AC	NICHOLLS	7-4	W3	AC	40	Def. McNeese 34-20	at SE La. (7-3) on Thurs.
AC	MAINE	6-5	W4	AC	21	Def. Rhody 34-30	at UNH (5-5)
AC	EASTERN WASH.	6-5	W3	OUT	10	Def. Cal Poly 42-41	vs. Portland St. (5-6)
25	THE CITADEL	6-5	L1	25	53	LOST AT 'NOOGA 34-33	vs. Wofford (7-3)
AC	KENNESAW	9-2	W2	OUT	109	Def. Hampton 50-7	vs. Gardner-Webb (3-8)
AC	N.C. A&T	7-3	W1	OUT	81	Def. BCU 47-17	vs. NC Central (4-7)
AC	S.C. STATE	7-3	W2	OUT	95	Def. NC Central 24-0	at Norfolk St. (5-6)
	DROPPED
DRP	PRINCETON	7-2	L2	AC	64	LOST TO Yale 51-14	at Penn (5-4)
DRP	SAM HOUSTON ST.	6-5	L1	AC	60	LOST TO NW St. 31-28	vs. HBU (5-6)
DRP	TENN. TECH	6-5	L1	AC	68	LOST TO EKU 22-10	vs. Tenn. St. (2-9)
DRP	UC DAVIS	5-6	L1	AC	2	LOST TO Montana St. 27-17	at Sac. St (8-3)