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.
A precursor (so you understand my reasoning) … if an FCS team lost to an FBS team, they'll never drop because of a loss. If an FCS beat up on a D-2 or NAIA team? I'll never vote for them to rise. Only if an FBS win (or maybe a very close game or OT game) or a D-2/NAIA loss occur would I change my vote from last week's 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 or float a team up if they're off that weekend. I'll wait for their next result.
[divider]MORE FCS FOOTBALL:
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EXPLAIN YOUR WORK
(full ballot is below)
QUICK SUMMARY: The clearcut top two — James Madison and North Dakota State — both romped. We're still rock solid there. Of the Top 25 teams I voted for last week, four of them lost to FBS teams and I won't dump them, as mentioned above. Several, like Central Arkansas (UCA), Northern Iowa (UNI), Villanova and Montana had really strong results. At any rate, let's dig in here:
THE RISE: I bumped up South Dakota State, Northern Iowa and Montana on my ballot. All three were beyond impressive in FCS play. Also, I did raise North Carolina A&T a notch or two (even with the Duke loss) because I think its win over Elon and Elon's win over a very strong team at The Citadel necessitated us making sure all three were recognized. The Citadel shouldn't be dropped from this poll, and Elon was impressive this weekend — and was beaten by NC A&T last week. For now, in week two, this is how it rolls.
THE FALL: I have no choice but to drop Chattanooga, Indiana State and New Hampshire for now. I'm not ready to rank Jacksonville State again (yet) or Dayton or Holy Cross, until we get some more results. Jacksonville State obviously I'm curious and cautious about, but I can't rank them and not Southeastern Louisiana, and I'm not ready to rank either just yet. Too early.
STAYING STATIC: Again, if a team is "open" or beat a lower division team or lost to an FBS, I don't change their status in my vote unless there are special circumstances (see NC A&T above). The FCS Playoff committee goes by this, so I'm sticking with this method. Call it a "push". I want to see FCS results. The key team I'm spotlighting with this category? It's The Citadel. I just don't believe the Bulldogs should be dumped, even though they're 0-2. They had both Towson and Elon on the ropes, two FCS Playoff teams from 2018. El Cid hasn't lost my respect at all. Both losses were razor thin and it could be 2-0 easily for El Cid. I still feel this is a good team and I'm keeping them ranked unless they prove otherwise. I also kept Kennesaw State static, even though they took an FBS (Kent State) to OT. Debated moving the Owls up, but want to see more results before I do that. This is a program destined for 10+ wins but against weaker competition. Don't want to inflate the Owls too much yet, BUT … today's showing was impressive.
NEW BLOOD: This is easy, Montana State, Elon (welcome back from my preseason ballot) and Youngstown State.
MORE DATA: Really curious about Jacksonville State, Southern Illinois, Mercer and Delaware. I can't rank SIU just yet because of the UMass/FBS win because if I rank SIU I need to have SEMO in there (last week's SIU loss) and I just need more data. SEMO took it on the chin this weekend at Montana State, so I'd need to have SIU behind SEMO and obviously behind Montana State, at least for now. More data please!
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B-MAC'S FCS POLL BALLOT
| RK | WEEK 2 VOTE | WEEK 2 RESULT | WK 2 NOTES |
| 1 | JMU | W. St. Francis 44-7 | BLOWOUT FCS NON-CONF WIN |
| 2 | NDSU | W. North Dakota 38-7 | BLOWOUT FCS NON-CONF WIN |
| 3 | SDSU | W. Long Island 38-3 | BLOWOUT FCS NON-CONF WIN |
| 4 | UC DAVIS | W. at San Diego 38-35 | ESCAPED WITH FCS NON-CONF WIN |
| 5 | MAINE | L. at FBS Ga. Southern 26-18 | LOST BY 8 TO FBS |
| 6 | EWU | W. D-2 Lindenwood 59-31 | BEAT A LOW-DIV TEAM |
| 7 | TOWSON | W. N.C. Central 42-3 | BLOWOUT FCS NON-CONF WIN |
| 8 | UCA | W. at Austin Peay 24-16 | COMEBACK ROAD WIN VS GOOD FCS |
| 9 | ILL. ST | W. Morehead State 42-14 | BLOWOUT FCS NON-CONF WIN |
| 10 | NICHOLLS | OPEN | DIDN'T PLAY |
| 11 | FURMAN | L. at FBS Ga. State 48-42 | LOST BY 6 TO FBS |
| 12 | UNI | W. vs Southern Utah 34-14 | BEAT BIG SKY TEAM HANDILY |
| 13 | WEBER | W vs. Cal Poly 41-24 | BEAT BIG SKY TEAM HANDILY |
| 14 | VILLANOVA | W. vs Lehigh 38-10 | BLOWOUT FCS NON-CONF WIN |
| 15 | YALE | SEASON HASN'T STARTED | DIDN'T PLAY |
| 16 | MONTANA | W vs. North Alabama 61-17 | BLOWOUT FCS NON-CONF WIN |
| 17 | MONTANA ST. | W. vs SEMO 38-17 | BLOWOUT FCS PLAYOFF TEAM |
| 18 | ALCORN | W. D-2 Mississippi Coll. 45-7 | BEAT A LOW-DIV TEAM |
| 19 | EKU | L. at. P5 Louisville 42-0 | LOST TO P5 TEAM |
| 20 | SAM HST | W. D-2 Oklah. Pan. State 77-0 | BEAT A LOW-DIV TEAM |
| 21 | YOUNGSTOWN | W. Howard 54-38 | BLOWOUT FCS NON-CONF WIN |
| 22 | KSU | L. OT to FBS Kent St. 26-23 | LOST IN OT TO FBS TEAM |
| 23 | NC A&T | L. at P5 Duke 45-13 | LOST TO P5 TEAM |
| 24 | ELON | W. The Citadel 35-28 | BEAT A RANKED FCS TEAM |
| 25 | THE CITADEL | L. Elon 35-28 | TWO CAA NAIL BITER LOSSES |
| ARV | MERCER | W. Presbyterian 45-7 | ONE MORE BIG WIN |
| ARV | JACKSONVILLE ST. | W. Chattanooga 41-20 | TWO MORE BIGGIES AT HOME |
| ARV | SEMO | L. at Montana St. 38-17 | LOST BADLY TO MSU |
| ARV | SIU | W. FBS UMass 45-20 | LOST BADLY TO SEMO |
| ARV | DELAWARE | W. at Rhode Island 44-26 OT | 2-0 BUT HOW GOOD? |
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NEXT: Playoff Field Predictions
RELATED: Sam's Top 15 National Title Favorites
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