Week 5 FCS Power Rankings

October 4, 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 James Madison 45.48 4 0 3 1 MISSOURI VALLEY 23.63
2 Sam Houston State 35.63 4 0 7 2 COLONIAL 19.65
3 Missouri State 35.24 3 1 4 3 AQ7 19.24
4 Montana 34.04 3 1 1 4 SOUTHERN 19.07
5 Montana State 33.37 4 1 13 5 BIG SKY 16.88
6 Villanova 32.24 3 1 6 6 IVY LEAGUE 14.69
7 Harvard 29.96 3 0 15 7 BIG SOUTH 14.11
8 Princeton 29.62 3 0 5 8 SOUTHLAND 13.42
9 Northern Iowa 29.56 3 1 9 9 OHIO VALLEY 11.26
10 Southern Illinois 29.15 4 1 2 10 PATRIOT 9.91
11 East Tennessee State 28.85 5 0 12 11 PIONEER 6.52
12 North Dakota State 28.40 4 0 10 12 NORTHEAST 5.60
13 South Dakota State 26.99 4 0 8 13 SOUTHWESTERN 5.56
14 Eastern Washington 26.52 5 0 20 14 MID-EASTERN 3.94
15 Mercer 26.50 3 1 17 15 WESTERN 1.64
16 Incarnate Word 25.37 4 1 11      
17 UC-Davis 25.28 5 0 22      
18 Rhode Island 23.60 4 0 18      
19 Samford 22.96 2 3 21      
20 Dartmouth 22.92 3 0 14      
21 South Dakota 22.48 3 2 36      
22 Stephen F. Austin 22.32 3 2 28      
23 Holy Cross 22.06 3 2 16      
24 Campbell 21.57 2 2 30      
25 North Dakota 21.25 2 2 23      
26 William & Mary 20.83 3 1 34      
27 Monmouth 20.65 3 2 53      
28 Southeastern Louisiana 20.24 3 1 27      
29 Central Arkansas 20.21 2 3 52      
30 Austin Peay 20.03 2 3 24      
31 Weber State 19.89 2 3 38  
32 North Carolina A&T 18.73 2 2 45  
33 Furman 18.44 2 2 47  
34 Charleston Southern 18.42 1 2 51      
35 Nicholls 17.81 2 2 41  
36 Illinois State 17.72 2 3 29      
37 Youngstown State 17.70 1 3 19      
38 Tennessee-Martin 17.61 3 1 26      
39 Western Illinois 17.60 1 4 35  
40 New Hampshire 17.46 3 2 40  
41 Delaware 17.39 3 1 32  
42 Abilene Christian 17.16 3 2 25      
43 Chattanooga 16.86 2 2 37  
44 Virginia Military 16.80 3 2 33  
45 Columbia 16.27 2 1 31  
46 Eastern Kentucky 16.25 3 2 42  
47 Wofford 15.94 1 3 56  
48 Elon 15.90 2 3 59  
49 Kennesaw State 15.60 3 1 61  
50 The Citadel 15.57 2 2 71  
51 Northern Arizona 15.49 2 3 64  
52 Jacksonville State 15.29 2 3 39  
53 Duquesne 14.84 3 1 78  
54 Murray State 14.67 2 2 62  
55 Stony Brook 13.83 1 4 58  
56 Southern Utah 13.57 1 4 55  
57 Towson 13.56 1 3 49      
58 Merrimack 13.56 3 2 43  
59 Maine 13.50 1 3 57  
60 Richmond 13.48 2 3 44  
61 Idaho 13.35 1 3 68  
62 Fordham 13.10 2 3 75  
63 Lafayette 12.99 1 4 48      
64 Norfolk State 12.92 3 2 76  
65 Albany 12.88 0 4 50      
66 Southeast Missouri State 12.56 1 4 46  
67 Prairie View A&M 12.22 4 1 69  
68 Indiana State 11.53 2 3 54  
69 Northern Colorado 11.44 2 3 67  
70 Portland State 11.41 2 3 87  
71 Bryant 11.39 3 2 70  
72 Gardner-Webb 11.16 2 3 63  
73 Davidson 10.95 3 1 85  
74 Dayton 10.78 2 2 60  
75 Yale 10.77 2 1 66  
76 Morehead State 10.72 2 2 96  
77 Lamar 10.65 2 2 65  
78 Colgate 9.83 2 3 77  
79 Hampton 9.69 2 2 86  
80 Jackson State 9.61 3 1 79  
81 Georgetown 9.33 1 3 80  
82 Sacramento State 8.81 2 2 81      
83 Presbyterian 8.11 2 2 93  
84 Alabama A&M 8.07 3 1 73  
85 Tennessee State 8.03 2 3 100  
86 Stetson 7.99 2 2 83  
87 Western Carolina 7.84 0 5 74  
88 Eastern Illinois 7.57 1 5 89  
89 St. Francis 7.13 2 3 95  
90 Florida A&M 7.13 2 2 104  
91 North Alabama 6.97 0 5 101  
92 Alcorn State 6.77 2 2 82  
93 Northwestern State 6.77 0 4 103  
94 McNeese 6.70 1 4 72  
95 Penn 6.47 1 2 102  
96 Cal Poly 6.16 1 4 84  
97 Robert Morris 6.02 1 2 94  
98 Houston Baptist 5.97 0 4 90  
99 Idaho State 5.66 0 4 88  
100 Brown 5.62 0 3 109  
101 Sacred Heart 5.36 2 3 98  
102 Marist 5.28 1 2 114  
103 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 4.98 1 3 106  
104 Drake 4.90 2 3 111  
105 Butler 4.88 2 3 91  
106 Tarleton State 4.87 2 3 92  
107 Grambling State 4.46 2 3 119  
108 Tennessee Tech 4.41 1 4 115  
109 Southern 4.38 2 2 105  
110 South Carolina State 4.19 1 3 112  
111 Bucknell 4.18 1 3 116  
112 St. Thomas 3.90 2 2 99  
113 Delaware State 3.69 2 3 113  
114 San Diego 3.66 1 4 118  
115 Cornell 3.44 0 3 97  
116 Bethune-Cookman 3.39 0 5 107  
117 North Carolina Central 3.35 2 3 108  
118 Howard 2.60 1 4 121  
119 Alabama State 2.12 2 2 110  
120 Lehigh 1.57 0 5 117  
121 Wagner 1.42 0 5 120  
122 Mississippi Valley State 1.31 1 3 126  
123 Valparaiso 0.70 1 4 123  
124 Texas Southern 0.18 0 3 122  
125 Morgan State -0.25 0 4 125  
126 Central Connecticut State -0.61 1 3 124  
127 Long Island -2.05 0 3 127  
128 Dixie State -4.46 0 4 128