I am grateful to have a vote in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll. I’ll publish my ballot every week and provide some reasoning for everyone to see and discuss.
Some notes at the bottom.
RELATED: Week 11 Reactions & Playoff Locks
Top 25
25. Northern Iowa
24. FAMU
23. William & Mary
22. Dartmouth
21. Mercer
20. VMI
19. UT Martin
18. Jackson State
17. Southeastern Louisiana University
16. UIW
15. South Dakota State
14. UC Davis
13. Southern Illinois
12. South Dakota
11. Kennesaw State
10. Montana
9. ETSU
8. Missouri State
7. Villanova
6. Sacramento State
5. Eastern Washington
4. North Dakota State
3. James Madison
2. Montana State
1. Sam Houston
Notes
Chattanooga and Prairie View A&M dropped out of my ballot. Entering was Mercer and FAMU. Mercer is 6-1 against the FCS and FAMU is 7-1 against the FCS.
SHSU, MSU, and JMU remained my Top 3. NDSU is now No. 4 while SDSU drops back to No. 15 with three FCS losses.
EWU is back in the Top 5 at 8-2 overall, including an FBS win and two ranked wins. I like how Sac State is playing and getting better every week. The Hornets are 8-1 vs. the FCS. Villanova is also 8-1 against the FCS with a win against JMU.
Missouri State has one of the toughest strength of schedules in the country, yet is still 7-2 against the FCS with three ranked wins. ETSU is 7-1 against the FCS plus an FBS win. And Montana is back in the Top 10 at 8-2 overall with an FBS win. The Griz are getting healthy at the right time.
After the Top 10, USD is the biggest riser, going from No. 18 to No. 12. The Coyotes are 7-2 against the FCS with two ranked wins. UIW and SLU have good FCS records, but I personally would take the Top 15 teams over them on a neutral field.
Jackson State continues to rise and keeps on winning despite some adversity. UT Martin is undefeated against the FCS, but there are some close games in there against a bad strength of schedule. Mercer enters the Top 25 after beating UTC but stays behind VMI due to a decisive head-to-head. Dartmouth is 8-1 and has decisive wins against Sacred Heart, UNH, and Princeton. W&M is 6-3 against the FCS and dominated Villanova. FAMU is 7-1 against the FCS with a close loss to Jackson State. UNI is 5-4 against the FCS but has three wins against ranked teams and three losses to ranked teams.
