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 poll.
FCS Top 25
1. South Dakota State
2. North Dakota State
3. Montana State
4. South Dakota
5. Villanova
6. UC Davis
7. Idaho
8. Mercer
9. Abilene Christian
10. Central Arkansas
11. SEMO
12. UIW
13. Chattanooga
14. ETSU
15. North Dakota
16. Montana
17. William & Mary
18. Northern Arizona
19. Sacramento State
20. Illinois State
21. Tarleton State
22. Lamar
23. Weber State
24. Western Carolina
25. McNeese
Leaving: Southern Illinois, Wofford
Entering: Weber State, Western Carolina
Nine teams on my ballot last week lost on Saturday. So that’s fun!
Let’s break down the movement.
My No. 5 Central Arkansas lost to my No. 16 Abilene Christian, 41-34. It was Central Arkansas’ first FCS loss, which slid them back to No. 10. They have one ranked win over Lamar and a near FBS win. Abilene Christian moves to No. 9. ACU is now 4-2 overall and 4-1 vs. the FCS with one-possession losses to Top 10 Idaho and FBS Texas Tech.
My No. 8 North Dakota lost to my No. 3 North Dakota State, 41-17. North Dakota State moved ahead of Montana State to my No. 2 spot. The Bison do have the resume to be ranked No. 1 — 5-1 overall, 5-0 vs. the FCS with two then-ranked wins, and three now-ranked wins compared to SDSU’s 4-1 overall record, 3-0 mark vs. the FCS, and one ranked win. But I kept South Dakota State No. 1 for now. The Jackrabbits have dominated in back-to-back road wins, including 41-3 at Northern Iowa this weekend in a complete performance. SDSU stays No. 1, although that may change in a couple of weeks in Fargo. UNI counts as a ranked win for SDSU using the coaches poll, but I use the media poll to be consistent instead of trying to track ranked wins in both polls. The media poll is stronger than the coaches SID/grad assistant poll, an opinion also shared by a majority of national and local media that follow the FCS closest. Montana State is 6-0 with an FBS win over New Mexico (1-4), but we’ll learn more about MSU as it faces its first ranked FCS opponent next weekend (Idaho).
North Dakota moves back to No. 15, one spot ahead of Montana due to head-to-head, same number of wins, and one less FCS loss.
My No. 11 Montana lost to unranked Weber State, 55-48 in OT. The Grizzlies are legit on offense, but have uncharacteristic flaws on defense, allowing 35, 49, and 55 points in the last three games. Montana drops back to No. 16 at 4-2 overall/vs. the FCS. Weber State moves into my ballot at 3-3 overall and 3-2 vs. the FCS. Weber State stays behind Montana and in the 20s due to its overall body of work, losing to two Southland teams who were unranked at the time (Lamar and McNeese).
My No. 13 William & Mary lost to unranked Towson, 34-27. That moves William & Mary back to No. 17. W&M is 4-2 overall and 4-1 vs. the FCS but is lacking a ranked win.
My No. 14 ETSU lost to my No. 25 Chattanooga, 17-10. Chattanooga moves up to No. 13 at 2-3, but two losses are vs. the FBS (including a one-score loss to Georgia State), and its third loss is a one-score game to Top 10 Mercer. ETSU ended up staying at No. 14 due to some other results and also because this was a close game. ETSU is 3-3 overall and 2-2 vs. the FCS with the two FCS losses being one-score finals to ranked Chattanooga and NDSU.
My No. 17 Northern Arizona lost to No. 7 Idaho, 23-17. Idaho (4-2 overall, 3-1 vs. the FCS) now has three then-ranked wins and an FBS win, but it stays behind UC Davis because Davis has the head-to-head and a 5-0 record vs. the FCS. Northern Arizona moves back one spot and is now 3-3 overall and 2-2 vs. the FCS, staying ahead of Sac State due to the head-to-head. Its other FCS loss is to ranked UIW.
My No. 18 Southern Illinois lost to my No. 21 Illinois State, 45-10. Southern Illinois moves out of my Top 25 at 2-4 overall and 2-3 vs. the FCS. It’s a beat-up team that is now down to its third-string QB. Illinois State moves up one spot, now 4-2 overall and 4-1 vs. the FCS (loss to NDSU).
My No. 22 McNeese lost to unranked Houston Christian, 43-22. McNeese stays in my Top 25 at No. 25 due to its win over Weber State and 4-2 record vs. the FCS. But this was an ugly loss to a 2-3 HCU team.
And finally, my No. 23 Wofford lost to unranked Western Carolina, 21-17. Wofford moves out of my rankings at 2-3 overall/vs. the FCS. Western Carolina moves back into my ballot at 2-3 overall and 2-2 vs. the FCS, including a then-ranked win over Elon.
Another notable movement is Villanova going from No. 10 to No. 5. Nova was my preseason No. 5 team, but it moved back because I thought other teams had better performances/resumes. But I had to move UCA out of my Top 5 after its loss. I didn’t feel good about moving UC Davis from No. 6 to No. 5 after it barely beat Portland State. I didn’t want to move Idaho past UC Davis. Mercer had a bye. Meanwhile, Villanova improved to 5-1 overall and 5-0 vs. the FCS, beating Stony Brook 42-24. The Wildcats do have a then-ranked win over YSU, although the Penguins are no longer ranked. The Stony Brook win was a convincing one, beating a team that entered this weekend 4-0 vs. the FCS and receiving votes in the media poll.
