Week 6 FCS Power Rankings

October 11, 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 39.39 4 1 1 1 MISSOURI VALLEY 24.05
2 Sam Houston State 35.64 5 0 2 2 SOUTHERN 19.81
3 Southern Illinois 33.76 5 1 10 3 COLONIAL 19.27
4 Villanova 32.18 4 1 6 4 AQ7 19.25
5 North Dakota State 31.08 5 0 12 5 BIG SKY 17.53
6 Montana State 30.70 5 1 5 6 IVY LEAGUE 15.24
7 East Tennessee State 30.63 6 0 11 7 BIG SOUTH 14.87
8 Northern Iowa 30.43 3 2 9 8 SOUTHLAND 13.72
9 Eastern Washington 29.65 6 0 14 9 OHIO VALLEY 13.17
10 South Dakota State 29.62 4 1 13 10 PATRIOT 10.21
11 Incarnate Word 29.26 4 1 16 11 PIONEER 7.64
12 Princeton 28.97 4 0 8 12 NORTHEAST 6.43
13 Missouri State 28.76 3 2 3 13 SOUTHWESTERN 6.27
14 Montana 27.99 4 1 4 14 MID-EASTERN 4.86
15 Rhode Island 25.84 5 0 18 15 WESTERN 1.46
16 Harvard 25.31 4 0 7      
17 Samford 25.12 2 3 19      
18 Dartmouth 24.41 4 0 20      
19 Campbell 23.92 3 2 24      
20 Mercer 23.56 4 1 15      
21 Tennessee-Martin 23.16 4 1 38      
22 South Dakota 22.97 4 2 21      
23 Southeastern Louisiana 22.79 4 1 28      
24 UC-Davis 22.56 5 1 17      
25 Furman 22.34 3 2 33      
26 William & Mary 21.35 4 1 26      
27 Youngstown State 20.59 2 3 37      
28 Stephen F. Austin 20.33 3 3 22      
29 Holy Cross 20.23 3 2 23      
30 Jacksonville State 20.01 3 3 52  
31 North Dakota 19.80 2 3 25      
32 Kennesaw State 19.66 4 1 49  
33 Monmouth 19.60 3 3 27      
34 Eastern Kentucky 18.53 4 2 46  
35 Central Arkansas 18.31 2 3 29      
36 Virginia Military 18.15 4 2 44  
37 North Carolina A&T 17.95 3 2 32  
38 Weber State 17.90 2 3 31  
39 Elon 17.60 3 3 48  
40 Delaware 17.56 3 2 41  
41 Western Illinois 17.50 1 5 39  
42 New Hampshire 17.29 3 2 40  
43 Nicholls 17.20 2 3 35  
44 Duquesne 17.04 4 1 53  
45 Austin Peay 16.90 2 4 30      
46 Northern Arizona 16.79 2 3 51  
47 Lafayette 16.78 2 4 63      
48 Columbia 16.50 3 1 45  
49 Chattanooga 16.50 2 3 43  
50 Illinois State 16.49 2 3 36      
51 Southeast Missouri State 16.45 2 4 66  
52 The Citadel 16.11 2 3 50  
53 Abilene Christian 15.19 3 3 42      
54 Wofford 15.16 1 4 47  
55 Murray State 15.14 2 3 54  
56 Richmond 14.96 2 3 60  
57 Dayton 14.95 3 2 74  
58 Idaho 14.77 2 3 61  
59 Jackson State 14.70 4 1 80  
60 Towson 14.69 2 3 57      
61 Fordham 14.24 3 3 62  
62 Bryant 13.81 3 3 71  
63 Indiana State 13.75 3 3 68  
64 Charleston Southern 13.41 1 3 34      
65 Morehead State 13.26 3 2 76  
66 Norfolk State 12.80 3 2 64  
67 Albany 12.56 0 5 65      
68 Southern Utah 12.53 1 5 56  
69 Stony Brook 12.41 1 5 55  
70 Prairie View A&M 12.14 4 1 67  
71 Merrimack 11.92 3 3 58  
72 Sacramento State 11.91 3 2 82      
73 Davidson 11.80 3 1 73  
74 Robert Morris 11.67 2 2 97  
75 Portland State 11.66 2 4 70  
76 Idaho State 11.64 1 4 99  
77 Northern Colorado 11.38 2 4 69  
78 Maine 11.33 1 4 59  
79 Georgetown 10.86 1 3 81  
80 Gardner-Webb 10.81 2 4 72  
81 Yale 10.61 2 2 75  
82 Marist 10.41 2 2 102  
83 Hampton 10.29 2 3 79  
84 Brown 9.98 1 3 100  
85 Florida A&M 9.47 3 2 90  
86 St. Francis 9.45 3 3 89  
87 Presbyterian 9.17 2 3 83  
88 Western Carolina 8.85 0 6 87  
89 Tennessee State 8.63 2 3 85  
90 North Alabama 8.60 0 6 91  
91 San Diego 8.58 2 4 114  
92 Northwestern State 8.51 1 4 93  
93 Penn 8.38 2 2 95  
94 Eastern Illinois 8.34 1 5 88  
95 Alcorn State 7.98 3 2 92  
96 Colgate 7.77 2 4 78  
97 Tennessee Tech 7.68 2 4 108  
98 Sacred Heart 7.60 3 3 101  
99 Delaware State 6.54 3 3 113  
100 Cal Poly 6.50 1 5 96  
101 McNeese 6.44 1 4 94  
102 Alabama A&M 6.20 3 2 84  
103 Stetson 6.17 2 3 86  
104 Howard 5.26 2 4 118  
105 St. Thomas 5.23 3 2 112  
106 Tarleton State 4.92 2 3 106  
107 Houston Baptist 4.74 0 5 98  
108 Southern 4.50 2 3 109  
109 Grambling State 4.43 2 4 107  
110 Drake 4.42 2 4 104  
111 Alabama State 4.42 3 2 119  
112 Butler 4.40 2 4 105  
113 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 4.38 1 4 103  
114 Bucknell 4.28 1 4 111  
115 North Carolina Central 4.06 2 4 117  
116 South Carolina State 3.90 1 4 110  
117 Cornell 3.90 0 4 115  
118 Lamar 3.71 1 3 77  
119 Texas Southern 3.61 1 3 124  
120 Bethune-Cookman 3.36 0 6 116  
121 Mississippi Valley State 2.44 2 3 122  
122 Lehigh 1.83 0 6 120  
123 Valparaiso 0.96 1 5 123  
124 Wagner 0.89 0 6 121  
125 Central Connecticut State -0.11 1 4 126  
126 Morgan State -0.66 0 5 125  
127 Long Island -1.83 0 4 127  
128 Dixie State -3.54 0 5 128