Week 4 FCS Power Rankings

September 27, 2021 · Jason Groomes
 
The Madness FCS Power Rankings
 
The Madness FCS Power Rankings are a relatively basic power rating system when compared to the highly complex systems involving comparative scoring formulas. This system uses no comparative scoring, so any parallel between this and other ranking systems is purely coincidental. There is also no momentum involved in these rankings, so “What have you done for me lately?” does not apply. Everything is valued as a whole. The objective remains the same though; to create an unbiased mechanism to sort the general strength of the 128 teams within the Football Championship Subdivision.
 
Teams are awarded for Wins and Points Scored, then penalized for Losses and Points Allowed. Teams also receive a ‘Stature Constant’. These have been backed by historical data, but can and will be adjusted, if an obvious error has been identified. Teams from the full-scholarship automatic qualifying FCS conferences get the highest value. Non- or less than full-scholarship FCS conference teams get a middle value. And those from non-automatic leagues get the lowest value. This is done to lessen the effects of a superior team in a weak conference from building huge point margins and manipulating the system.
 
Teams will also gain bonuses for beating FCS teams. This has also been tweaked, giving a little more weight to those who beat Power Five teams as opposed to Group of Five teams. Also, a team will be penalized for losing to a school from a class below FCS (Division II, Division III, NAIA, NCCAA). The final piece of the puzzle is an RPI-style Strength of Schedule multiplier, where teams get bonuses and demerits just for playing teams listed previously in this paragraph.
 
The first rankings will appear after Week 4, September 25. These will be available on the Madness no later than Monday every week. There will also be a final edition released after the FCS Championship game in January. Like most ranking systems, a very strong or weak schedule or huge upsets, one way or the other, can have a drastic impact early on. As the season progresses the numbers, and teams, will sort themselves out and be much truer towards the end. So, if the rankings appear a little skewed early on, give it a little time. There’s no bias involved in the ratings and no human factors whatsoever.
 
RANK TEAM RATING Won Lost Prev RANK CONFERENCE RATING
1 Montana 40.13 3 0 N/A 1 MISSOURI VALLEY 24.94
2 Southern Illinois 38.10 3 1 N/A 2 COLONIAL 19.47
3 James Madison 35.70 3 0 N/A 3 AQ7 18.82
4 Missouri State 32.48 2 1 N/A 4 SOUTHERN 17.68
5 Princeton 32.46 2 0 N/A 5 IVY LEAGUE 15.77
6 Villanova 32.43 3 1 N/A 6 BIG SKY 15.70
7 Sam Houston State 31.39 3 0 N/A 7 SOUTHLAND 14.14
8 South Dakota State 30.11 3 0 N/A 8 BIG SOUTH 11.78
9 Northern Iowa 29.43 2 1 N/A 9 OHIO VALLEY 10.96
10 North Dakota State 28.53 3 0 N/A 10 PATRIOT 9.25
11 Incarnate Word 27.89 3 1 N/A 11 PIONEER 5.56
12 East Tennessee State 27.47 4 0 N/A 12 SOUTHWESTERN 5.15
13 Montana State 27.05 3 1 N/A 13 NORTHEAST 4.47
14 Dartmouth 25.63 2 0 N/A 14 MID-EASTERN 2.89
15 Harvard 25.08 2 0 N/A 15 WESTERN 2.68
16 Holy Cross 24.61 3 1 N/A      
17 Mercer 24.44 2 1 N/A      
18 Rhode Island 23.90 3 0 N/A      
19 Youngstown State 23.52 1 2 N/A      
20 Eastern Washington 23.37 4 0 N/A      
21 Samford 22.08 2 2 N/A      
22 UC-Davis 22.04 4 0 N/A      
23 North Dakota 21.88 2 1 N/A  
24 Austin Peay 21.83 2 2 N/A      
25 Abilene Christian 21.40 3 1 N/A      
26 Tennessee-Martin 21.39 3 1 N/A      
27 Southeastern Louisiana 21.21 2 1 N/A      
28 Stephen F. Austin 21.20 3 1 N/A      
29 Illinois State 20.01 2 2 N/A      
30 Campbell 19.73 1 2 N/A      
31 Columbia 19.34 2 0 N/A  
32 Delaware 18.21 2 1 N/A  
33 Virginia Military 18.05 3 1 N/A  
34 William & Mary 18.04 3 1 N/A  
35 Western Illinois 17.95 1 3 N/A  
36 South Dakota 17.48 2 2 N/A  
37 Chattanooga 17.37 1 2 N/A  
38 Weber State 17.30 1 3 N/A  
39 Jacksonville State 17.09 2 2 N/A  
40 New Hampshire 17.07 3 1 N/A  
41 Nicholls 17.04 1 2 N/A  
42 Eastern Kentucky 16.71 2 2 N/A  
43 Merrimack 16.09 3 1 N/A  
44 Richmond 16.02 2 2 N/A  
45 North Carolina A&T 15.89 1 2 N/A  
46 Southeast Missouri State 15.83 1 3 N/A  
47 Furman 14.89 2 2 N/A  
48 Lafayette 14.78 1 3 N/A      
49 Towson 14.72 1 3 N/A      
50 Albany 14.44 0 3 N/A      
51 Charleston Southern 14.39 1 2 N/A      
52 Central Arkansas 14.35 1 3 N/A      
53 Monmouth 14.13 2 2 N/A      
54 Indiana State 14.03 2 2 N/A  
55 Southern Utah 13.84 1 3 N/A  
56 Wofford 13.31 1 2 N/A  
57 Maine 13.30 1 3 N/A  
58 Stony Brook 13.02 1 3 N/A  
59 Elon 12.60 1 3 N/A  
60 Dayton 12.59 1 1 N/A  
61 Kennesaw State 12.40 2 1 N/A  
62 Murray State 11.94 1 2 N/A  
63 Gardner-Webb 11.67 2 2 N/A  
64 Northern Arizona 11.64 1 3 N/A  
65 Lamar 11.30 2 2 N/A  
66 Yale 11.14 1 1 N/A  
67 Northern Colorado 10.71 2 2 N/A  
68 Idaho 10.70 1 2 N/A  
69 Prairie View A&M 10.32 3 1 N/A  
70 Bryant 10.18 2 2 N/A  
71 The Citadel 9.60 1 2 N/A  
72 McNeese 9.39 1 3 N/A  
73 Alabama A&M 9.21 3 0 N/A  
74 Western Carolina 9.18 0 4 N/A  
75 Fordham 9.18 1 3 N/A  
76 Norfolk State 8.87 2 2 N/A  
77 Colgate 8.70 1 3 N/A  
78 Duquesne 8.56 2 1 N/A  
79 Jackson State 8.56 3 1 N/A  
80 Georgetown 8.25 1 2 N/A  
81 Sacramento State 8.03 2 2 N/A      
82 Alcorn State 8.00 2 2 N/A  
83 Stetson 7.72 2 1 N/A  
84 Cal Poly 7.65 1 3 N/A  
85 Davidson 7.64 2 1 N/A  
86 Hampton 7.63 2 1 N/A  
87 Portland State 7.33 1 3 N/A  
88 Idaho State 7.07 0 3 N/A  
89 Eastern Illinois 7.00 1 4 N/A  
90 Houston Baptist 6.99 0 3 N/A  
91 Butler 6.44 2 2 N/A  
92 Tarleton State 6.42 2 2 N/A  
93 Presbyterian 6.23 2 2 N/A  
94 Robert Morris 6.18 1 1 N/A  
95 St. Francis 5.72 1 3 N/A  
96 Morehead State 5.55 0 2 N/A  
97 Cornell 5.32 0 2 N/A  
98 Sacred Heart 5.31 2 2 N/A  
99 St. Thomas 5.13 2 1 N/A  
100 Tennessee State 5.06 1 3 N/A  
101 North Alabama 4.67 0 4 N/A  
102 Penn 4.58 1 1 N/A  
103 Northwestern State 4.31 0 3 N/A  
104 Florida A&M 4.20 1 2 N/A  
105 Southern 4.00 2 2 N/A  
106 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3.99 1 2 N/A  
107 Bethune-Cookman 3.86 0 4 N/A  
108 North Carolina Central 3.85 2 2 N/A  
109 Brown 3.75 0 2 N/A  
110 Alabama State 3.70 2 1 N/A  
111 Drake 3.56 1 3 N/A  
112 South Carolina State 2.63 0 3 N/A  
113 Delaware State 2.21 1 3 N/A  
114 Marist 2.06 0 2 N/A  
115 Tennessee Tech 1.73 0 4 N/A  
116 Bucknell 1.69 0 3 N/A  
117 Lehigh 1.54 0 4 N/A  
118 San Diego 0.57 0 4 N/A  
119 Grambling State 0.57 1 3 N/A  
120 Wagner 0.53 0 4 N/A  
121 Howard 0.40 0 4 N/A  
122 Texas Southern 0.30 0 3 N/A  
123 Valparaiso -0.03 1 3 N/A  
124 Central Connecticut State -0.55 1 3 N/A  
125 Morgan State -0.65 0 3 N/A  
126 Mississippi Valley State -0.86 0 3 N/A  
127 Long Island -1.80 0 3 N/A  
128 Dixie State -2.09 0 3 N/A