Week 7 FCS Power Rankings

October 18, 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 36.80 5 1 1 1 MISSOURI VALLEY 23.65
2 Sam Houston State 34.26 5 0 2 2 SOUTHERN 19.95
3 Eastern Washington 30.33 7 0 9 3 AQ7 19.52
4 Incarnate Word 30.26 5 1 11 4 COLONIAL 18.60
5 Southern Illinois 30.16 6 1 3 5 BIG SKY 18.13
6 North Dakota State 29.85 6 0 5 6 IVY LEAGUE 15.73
7 Missouri State 29.59 4 2 13 7 BIG SOUTH 15.26
8 Montana State 29.50 6 1 6 8 SOUTHLAND 15.15
9 South Dakota State 29.25 5 1 10 9 OHIO VALLEY 13.84
10 Princeton 28.80 5 0 12 10 PATRIOT 10.93
11 Northern Iowa 28.43 3 3 8 11 PIONEER 7.79
12 Villanova 27.10 5 1 4 12 SOUTHWESTERN 7.13
13 East Tennessee State 26.54 6 1 7 13 NORTHEAST 7.00
14 Harvard 25.93 5 0 16 14 MID-EASTERN 4.73
15 Dartmouth 25.43 5 0 18 15 WESTERN 1.89
16 Montana 25.23 4 2 14      
17 South Dakota 24.76 5 2 22      
18 Holy Cross 24.55 4 2 29      
19 UC-Davis 24.02 6 1 24      
20 Southeastern Louisiana 23.89 5 1 23      
21 Tennessee-Martin 23.82 5 1 21      
22 Monmouth 23.69 4 3 33      
23 Virginia Military 23.22 5 2 36      
24 Samford 22.62 3 3 17      
25 Mercer 21.84 4 2 20      
26 Chattanooga 21.66 3 3 49  
27 Jacksonville State 21.65 3 3 30  
28 Rhode Island 21.59 5 1 15      
29 Furman 21.02 4 2 25      
30 Campbell 20.78 3 3 19      
31 Stephen F. Austin 20.74 3 3 28      
32 North Dakota 20.39 2 4 31      
33 Eastern Kentucky 20.35 5 2 34  
34 Kennesaw State 20.33 5 1 32  
35 Youngstown State 20.21 2 3 27      
36 Towson 19.65 3 3 60      
37 Central Arkansas 19.20 2 4 35      
38 Nicholls 19.02 2 4 43  
39 Weber State 18.82 2 4 38  
40 Austin Peay 18.40 2 4 45      
41 Northern Arizona 18.09 3 3 46  
42 New Hampshire 17.81 3 3 42  
43 Fordham 17.56 4 3 61  
44 Duquesne 17.42 4 1 44  
45 Columbia 17.24 4 1 48  
46 William & Mary 17.06 4 2 26      
47 Jackson State 16.78 5 1 59  
48 Charleston Southern 16.42 2 3 64      
49 Davidson 16.41 4 1 73  
50 Western Illinois 16.37 1 6 41  
51 Murray State 16.06 3 3 55  
52 Illinois State 16.04 2 4 50      
53 North Carolina A&T 16.01 3 3 37  
54 Elon 16.01 3 3 39  
55 Southeast Missouri State 15.64 2 5 51  
56 Abilene Christian 15.40 3 3 53      
57 Maine 15.37 2 4 78  
58 Stony Brook 15.01 2 5 69  
59 The Citadel 14.94 2 4 52  
60 Idaho 14.91 2 4 58  
61 Sacramento State 14.82 4 2 72      
62 Richmond 14.72 2 4 56  
63 Lafayette 14.69 2 5 47      
64 Wofford 14.60 1 5 54  
65 Merrimack 13.96 4 3 71  
66 Bryant 13.78 4 3 62  
67 Delaware 13.52 3 3 40  
68 Morehead State 13.48 4 2 65  
69 Portland State 13.14 3 4 75  
70 Indiana State 12.81 3 4 63  
71 Prairie View A&M 11.92 5 1 70  
72 Southern Utah 11.86 1 6 68  
73 Norfolk State 11.82 4 2 66  
74 Dayton 11.72 3 3 57  
75 Northern Colorado 11.48 2 5 77  
76 Marist 11.47 3 2 82  
77 Florida A&M 11.31 4 2 85  
78 Robert Morris 11.28 2 3 74  
79 Albany 11.19 0 6 67      
80 North Alabama 11.04 1 6 90  
81 Tennessee State 10.77 3 3 89  
82 Gardner-Webb 10.76 2 4 80  
83 Brown 10.57 1 4 84  
84 Idaho State 10.51 1 5 76  
85 Alcorn State 10.46 4 2 95  
86 Georgetown 10.15 1 4 79  
87 McNeese 9.44 2 4 101  
88 Western Carolina 9.39 0 6 88  
89 Hampton 9.06 2 4 83  
90 Sacred Heart 9.06 4 3 98  
91 St. Francis 9.01 3 4 86  
92 Yale 8.98 2 3 81  
93 Eastern Illinois 8.95 1 6 94  
94 San Diego 8.79 3 4 91  
95 Presbyterian 8.22 2 4 87  
96 Northwestern State 8.16 1 5 92  
97 Penn 8.13 2 3 93  
98 Tennessee Tech 7.74 2 5 97  
99 Alabama A&M 6.94 3 3 102  
100 St. Thomas 6.91 4 2 105  
101 Cal Poly 6.64 1 5 100  
102 Cornell 6.63 1 4 117  
103 Colgate 6.50 2 5 96  
104 Southern 6.48 3 3 108  
105 Grambling State 6.38 3 4 109  
106 Delaware State 5.94 3 3 99  
107 Tarleton State 5.91 3 3 106  
108 Stetson 5.41 2 4 103  
109 Houston Baptist 5.40 0 6 107  
110 South Carolina State 5.35 2 4 116  
111 Lamar 5.06 1 4 118  
112 Texas Southern 4.99 1 4 119  
113 Bucknell 4.52 1 5 114  
114 Howard 4.29 2 4 104  
115 Butler 4.13 2 5 112  
116 Alabama State 4.07 3 3 111  
117 Drake 3.94 2 5 110  
118 Bethune-Cookman 3.89 0 7 120  
119 North Carolina Central 3.79 2 4 115  
120 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3.47 1 5 113  
121 Mississippi Valley State 2.63 2 4 121  
122 Lehigh 1.74 0 6 122  
123 Valparaiso 0.99 1 5 123  
124 Wagner 0.94 0 6 124  
125 Central Connecticut State 0.16 1 5 125  
126 Morgan State -0.45 0 6 126  
127 Long Island -2.14 0 5 127  
128 Dixie State -2.38 0 6 128