Final FCS Football Top 25 Rankings
January 12, 2020 · Jason Groomes
| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  |
North Dakota State | NDSU (16-0) won their 8th FCS Championship in 9 years. Look for the Bison to start 2020 in this same spot. Congrats. | 1 |
| 2 |  |
James Madison | JMU (14-2) go wire-to-wire as the #2 team. Just about any other year, the Dukes would have won it all. | 2 |
| 3 |  |
Weber State | WSU (11-4) ran into the JMU buzzsaw in the semis. Wildcats are moving into the conversation as FCS’ third best program annually. | 4 |
| 4 |  |
Montana State | MSU (11-4) made the semifinals but fall to NDSU. Great season for the Bobcats, who are trying to get to national prominence. | 5 |
| 5 |  |
Montana | UM (10-4) used their #6 seed and punished Southeastern Louisiana in the 2nd Round, before losing a toughie to Weber State. | 7 |
| 6 |  |
Northern Iowa | UNI (10-5) gave San Diego and SDSU playoff pink slips before getting shutout by JMU in the quarterfinals. | 8 |
| 7 |  |
Austin Peay | APSU (11-4) crushed Furman and cruised by Sacramento State in the firt two rounds. The trip to Montana State was a bit too much. | 11 |
| 8 |  |
Illinois State | ISUred (10-4) won at SE Missouri State and at Central Arkansas before falling in a tight one to North Dakota State. | 12 |
| 9 |  |
Sacramento State | Sac State (9-4) made the playoffs for their first time and was the #4 seed. That wasn’t impressive enough for Austin Peay to care. | 3 |
| 10 |  |
South Dakota State | SDSU (8-5) lost their first playoff game in the Second Round to UNI. Another solid season for the Jackrabbits. | 13 |
| 11 |  |
Central Arkansas | UCA (9-4) was seed #8 and had a great year. One of three to beat an FBS team, but fell short at home to Illinois State. | 9 |
| 12 |  |
Kennesaw State | KSU (11-3) earned their playoff spot, finishing the season hot and beating Wofford. The trip to Weber State was just a little too tough. | 16 |
| 13 |  |
Monmouth | Hawks (11-3) had a very productive season, winning their first Big South title. Beat Holy Cross before falling hard to JMU. | 15 |
| 14 |  |
Nicholls | NU (9-5) won the Southland automatic bid this year and beat North Dakota. North Dakota State? That’s a different animal. | 17 |
| 15 |  |
Albany | Albany (9-5) had a great run into the playoffs, then whipped CCSU. Unfortunately, the game at Montana State was not their day. | 21 |
| 16 |  |
Southeastern Louisiana | SLU (8-5) had a terrific First Round win over Villanova, but was completely overmatched at Montana. Still, a fine season. | 18 |
| 17 |  |
Villanova | Nova (9-4) lost a First Round heart breaker to SE Louisiana. | 10 |
| 18 |  |
Wofford | Wofford (8-4) couldn’t run with the Owls in the First Round, falling to KSU. | 6 |
| 19 |  |
SE Missouri State | SEMO (9-4) dropped their opening round game to Illinois State at home. | 19 |
| 20 |  |
Central Connecticut State | CCSU (11-2) had a rough go in the First Round at Albany. Still a great year for the Blue Devils. | 20 |
| 21 |  |
North Carolina A&T | NCA&T (9-3) started slow but erupted for a 64-44 Celebrations Bowl win over Alcorn State. It’s the Aggies fourth Bowl win in five years. | NR |
| 22 |  |
San Diego | USD (9-3) gave UNI all they could, but their offense couldn’t solve the Panthers’ defense. | 22 |
| 23 |  |
North Dakota | UND (7-5) dropped a stinker at Nicholls. No more independence, the Fightin’ Hawks move to the MVFC in 2020. | 23 |
| 24 |  |
Southern Illinois | SIU (7-5) was not invited to the playoffs. Would they have shown better than Furman? Probably. | 24 |
| 25 |  |
Furman | Furman (8-5) was waxed by Austin Peay in the First Round. Probably shouldn’t have been in the playoffs. | 14 |
FCS Football Final Power Rankings
