FCS Top 25: Brian McLaughlin’s Poll Vote After Week 5

When it came to the top 10 part of the vote — to me it wasn’t that hard to put in order. I feel very firm in how that order formed on my ballot this week.

After that? Oh man. You could argue so many angles.

But this is how I submitted it for the media poll. I spent many hours on my Excel spreadsheet debating the logic behind it, and this is how it came out.

THE PRESTIGIOUS TOP 8

NOTE: These are the schools that would receive a first-round playoff bye and host a second-round game. Also, in parenthesis after the ranked team () is what I had them ranked last week.

NO. 1 – MONTANA STATE (1^ST)

LAST WEEK NO. 1 TEAM: Montana State  

WHY?: Montana State is now one of two 5-0 teams in the FCS (Mercer being the only other). The Bobcats disposed of the lone FBS team on the schedule in Week 0 (New Mexico on the road). They haven’t exactly faced the most brutal schedule so far, but they’ve had no problems handling any of the teams that have been scheduled. Tougher games are about to come within the Big Sky in October and November, but it’s hard to deny that with this offensive line and quarterback? This will be a tough team to beat. Impossible? No. Tough? Yes. 

NO. 2 – NORTH DAKOTA STATE (2^ND)

LAST WEEK NO. 2 TEAM: North Dakota State

WHY?: NDSU seems to be “back”, by its own definition. When you consider that Colorado hammered UCF this past weekend, but barely escaped NDSU on its own field? Does that tell you anything? I thought hard about swapping No. 1 and No. 2 this week, moving NDSU to No. 1 and Montana State to No. 2 – but I’m not quite ready to do that. 

NO. 3 – SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (3^rd)

LAST WEEK NO. 3 TEAM: South Dakota State

WHY?: The two-time defending national champions were idle this weekend, but everybody who follows the FCS knows the Jackrabbits are as good as any team in the level. They’re just warming up, falling to P5 Oklahoma State, and handling a lower-division Augustana, as well as non-conference FCS foes SE Louisiana by a ton, and a Top 25 candidate Incarnate Word by 21 points.

NO. 4 – SOUTH DAKOTA (5^th)

LAST WEEK NO. 4 TEAM: Idaho

WHY?: Finally, we got to see what this powerful South Dakota program has in it – with a blowout win over a challenging Southern Illinois team. Before that, we had a lower-division win, a win over Pioneer League Drake (though Drake did knock off Eastern Washington), and a loss to P5 Wisconsin. But overall? It was tough to gauge this team before this week. USD gets the one-spot bump based on the SIU win.

NO. 5 – UC DAVIS (8^th)

LAST WEEK NO. 5 TEAM: South Dakota

WHY?: The Aggies got a clutch win over a very, very good Idaho team this past weekend. They also own a win over a decent Southern Utah program that has beaten an FBS (UTEP). Along with that is a road trip to P5 California (loss) and a road win at Texas A&M-Commerce.

NO. 6 –VILLANOVA (6^th)

LAST WEEK NO. 6 TEAM: Villanova

WHY?: We’re still looking for that signature win from Villanova. Everything has gone as expected so far. The teams the Wildcats have played so far? They should be wins. The game at P4 Maryland? Nobody would expect Villanova to have been favored and they did lose by 18. There are some good tests ahead, starting this weekend at a rankable Stony Brook team. One strike against Villanova? It may have the weakest schedule among the top 10 rankable teams, so I’ll be cautious in moving it up too much.

NO. 7 – NORTH DAKOTA (11^TH)

LAST WEEK NO. 7 TEAM: Montana

WHY?: Finally, I feel good about slipping North Dakota ahead of Montana after the Fighting Hawks’ 3-point win over the Griz a few weeks back. I just wasn’t ready to do it, but I am now. The Griz nearly lost to 1-4 Eastern Washington on the red turf in Cheney, escaping with a 3-point win over the Eagles this past weekend. Yep, for now? We have all four Dakota schools as seeds. Obviously, that won’t hold up by November because they have to play one another and somebody will drop – but right now? It’s warranted.

NO. 8 – CENTRAL ARKANSAS (9^TH)

LAST WEEK NO. 8 TEAM: UC Davis

WHY?: To be honest? Central Arkansas has a better resume than Villanova at No. 6 – and I thought long and hard about that when the Bears knocked off one of the strongest Lamar teams in memory by 20+ points. Keep in mind, UCA had FBS Arkansas State beaten with just seconds remaining before a last-second TD gave the Red Wolves a 3-point win. If UCA was 5-0 right now? They’d be a tad higher on this list and they’re clearly the best FCS team in the south right now (yes, Mercer).

Week 5 Top 25 FCS Scoreboard

FROM NO. 9 TO NO. 16

NOTE: This is the tier that would be seeded (if they participate in the playoffs) but would still have to play in the first round.

9 Montana
10 Idaho
11 Mercer
12 William & Mary
13 SEMO
14 Tarleton St
15 McNeese
16 Incarnate Word

WHY?: Regardless of the loss at UC Davis this past weekend, Idaho is a program to be reckoned with when it comes to the FCS big picture. That’s why I refuse to let the Vandals leave my top 10, even with the UCD loss. Keep in mind, Idaho has beaten FBS Wyoming, beat one of the top Abilene Christian FCS teams ever, and hammered what has in recent history been a typically strong UAlbany team. Mercer is one of only two 5-0 teams in the FCS, William & Mary has hammered the teams it should beat, and only has a loss to FBS Coastal Carolina. The SEMO-Tarleton-McNeese-UIW traffic jam is in this order based on results so far, but that could all loosen up and subside soon enough.

FROM NO. 17 TO NO. 25

NOTE: This is the tier that would not be seeded, but would be battling for a spot in the playoffs (if they aren’t conference champions)

17 Northern Arizona
18 So. Illinois
19 Stony Brook
20 Sacramento St
21 Northern Iowa
22 Abilene Chr.
23 Lafayette
24 Monmouth
25 New Hampshire

WHY?: This (as usual) is where it got really tricky. I mean, how do you put this in order? Northern Arizona came up with a big win against Sacramento State this past weekend. But the Lumberjacks recently lost by a ton to Incarnate Word. We could go on and on about this, but with this gaggle in the No. 17 to No. 25 range? It’s not easy. Southern Illinois beat Incarnate Word but lost to SEMO (head spinning) – and the Salukis have lost two games in a row now. Anyway, as usual? This area of the vote will always be confusing and hard to put into any kind of order.

OUTSIDE THE TOP 25 AND READY TO MOVE IN

Rhode Island
Brown
ETSU
Illinois State