Happy Thursday everyone. I talk about the FBS in nearly every post, but not tonight. We are beginning rivalry week for the FCS, the last week of the regular season, and preparing for the FCS playoffs. First, let’s look at how the FCS conferences line up. I looked at overall records, non-conference records, and average GCR ranking. Remember as you look through this that there are 261 teams, 130 in the FCS. Any rank better than 131 (really the worst FBS team is 152nd) means the team is ranked higher than at least one FBS team. Let’s look at the chart, from worst conference to best:
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| Rank | Conf (Teams) | Avg Rank | Best Team | W-L (Pct) | NCW/L |
| 15 | Patriot (7) | 216.14 | Holy Cross (10-0/111) | 30-40 (.429) | 12-22 (.352) |
| 14 | Big South (6) | 208.50 | NC A&T (7-3/167) | 21-39 (.350) | 8-26 (.235) |
| 13 | Southland (8) | 207.25 | Incarnate Word (9-1/126) | 34-46 (.425) | 12-24 (.333) |
| 12 | Northeast (8) | 202.75 | St Francis (8-2/144) | 33-45 (.423) | 9-21 (.300) |
| 11 | Ohio Valley (7) | 201.71 | SEMO (8-2/145) | 32-38 (.457) | 16-22 (.421) |
| 10 | MEAC (6) | 200.17 | NC Central (8-2/146) | 25-35 (.417) | 12-22 (.352) |
| 9 | Pioneer (11) | 198.45 | St Thomas (9-1/131) | 52-56 (.481) | 14-18 (.438) |
| 8 | Southern Conf (9) | 194.00 | Samford (9-1/128) | 46-44 (.511) | 14-12 (.538) |
| 7 | SWAC (12) | 192.75 | Jackson St (10-0/96) | 57-63 (.475) | 14-20 (.412) |
| 6 | Colonial (13) | 192.38 | William & Mary (9-1/129) | 70-61 (.534) | 24-15 (.615) |
| 5 | WAC (6) | 190.50 | Abilene Christian (7-3/164) | 30-28 (.517) | 15-13 (.536) |
| 4 | Missouri Valley (11) | 187.64 | South Dakota St (10-1/130) | 55-56 (.495) | 16-17 (.485) |
| 3 | ASUN (6) | 182.50 | Jacksonville St (8-2/147) | 32-28 (.533) | 19-15 (.559) |
| 2 | Big Sky (12) | 185.42 | Sacramento St (10-0/117) | 60-60 (.500) | 18-18 (.500) |
| 1 | Ivy (8) | 185.25 | Princeton (8-1/148) | 43-29 (.597) | 19-5 (.792) |
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The 24-team playoff structure for the FCS does indeed have rules the committee must follow. Unlike the FBS where their committee teases what might be, the FCS committee reports just once so we don’t really know what they are thinking. The rules they have to follow are:
- The Ivy League and the MEAC never have a team included. The SWAC can have a member as an at-large, but their champion (most likely Jackson St) is already committed to the Celebration Bowl against the MEAC champion. The Ivy doesn’t play any post-season games as a rule.
- Automatic bids exist for the champion of these conferences: Big Sky, Big South, Colonial, MFVC, Northeast, Patriot, Pioneer, and SoCon. A single automatic bid goes to the best team in either the ASUN or WAC as they share the bid. The same applies to Ohio Valley and Southland. The other 14 bids are at-large.
- At-large bids can only be offered to teams with 7 or more wins during the regular season.
- 9 teams are not eligible this year because they are transitioning in (4-year probation) the FCS or promoting up to FBS (unclear what the rule actually is) in the near future. They are (Jacksonville St, Lindenwood, Merrimack, Sam Houston, Stonehill, St Thomas, Tarleton, TAM Commerce, and Utah Tech). When those teams would have made the playoffs or earned an AQ, I took the next best choice.
- The top 8 teams are seeded and receive a bye before hosting round 2.
- The remaining 16 teams are paired up (usually to minimize travel) with the higher ranked team, according to the polls and the committee, hosting the first round.
- All rounds up to and including the semifinals are hosted by the higher ranked team
- The championship game is played in Frisco, Texas
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I almost never talk about the polls other than to state how silly pre-season polls are (see: Texas A&M ranked #6 preseason), but the FCS poll has South Dakota St as the #1 team at 10-1 and they are idle this week, so will probably remain. Just like I do with the senior circuit, I only used the GCR for by version of what the playoffs should be as of today. Before I show these, there are 1 5-win team (currently) that has a shot at getting an AQ: Gardner Webb of the Big South is 5-5, but 4-0 in the conference. They play fellow conference undefeated NC A&T this week. If GW wins, they get the bid and NCAT will be left out (see how bad the Big South is above). Here’s the current line up according to the GCR:
| Home | Conf | Away | Conf |
| Holy Cross (10-0/111) | Patriot (AQ) | BYE | BYE |
| Sacramento St (10-0/117) | Big Sky (AQ) | BYE | BYE |
| Incarnate Word (9-1/126) | Southland (AQ) | BYE | BYE |
| Samford (9-1/128) | SoCon (AQ) | BYE | BYE |
| William & Mary (9-1/129) | Colonial (AQ) | BYE | BYE |
| South Dakota St (10-1/130) | MVFC (AQ) | BYE | BYE |
| Montana St (9-1/132) | Big Sky | BYE | BYE |
| Weber St (9-1/140) | Big Sky | BYE | BYE |
| St Francis (8-2/144) | Northeast (AQ) | Fordham (8-2/149) | Patriot |
| Abilene Christian (7-3/164) | WAC (AQ) | Chattanooga (7-3/159) | SoCon |
| NC A&T (7-3/167) | Big South (AQ) | Elon (8-3/156) | Colonial |
| Dayton (8-2/153) | Pioneer (AQ) | Delaware (7-3/157) | Colonial |
| Richmond (8-2/143) | Colonial | SEMO (8-2/145) | Ohio Valley |
| Furman (8-2/141) | SoCon | Austin Peay (7-3/162) | ASUN |
| Mercer (7-3/158) | SoCon | SELA (7-3/161) | Southland |
| North Dakota St (8-2/142) | MVFC | Montana (7-3/160) | Big Sky |
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That’s it for tonight. I hope everyone has a safe and warm weekend. Just a reminder that the Virginia/Coastal Carolina game was cancelled following the shooting at VIR. Every team in the ACC is going to be wearing helmet decals in support as the university is trying to understand and heal. Thanks for reading and sharing with others, G
