Week 8 FCS Power Rankings

October 25, 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 36.21 6 1 1 1 MISSOURI VALLEY 22.43
2 Sam Houston State 35.32 6 0 2 2 SOUTHERN 20.40
3 North Dakota State 32.09 7 0 6 3 AQ7 20.01
4 Southern Illinois 30.42 6 1 5 4 COLONIAL 18.53
5 Princeton 30.04 6 0 10 5 BIG SKY 18.18
6 Villanova 29.99 6 1 12 6 SOUTHLAND 15.76
7 Northern Iowa 29.66 4 3 11 7 IVY LEAGUE 15.59
8 Montana State 28.58 7 1 8 8 BIG SOUTH 15.51
9 Missouri State 28.17 4 3 7 9 OHIO VALLEY 14.53
10 Eastern Washington 26.99 7 1 3 10 PATRIOT 11.56
11 East Tennessee State 26.82 7 1 13 11 PIONEER 8.35
12 Incarnate Word 26.68 5 2 4 12 SOUTHWESTERN 7.51
13 Chattanooga 26.52 4 3 26 13 NORTHEAST 7.39
14 Southeastern Louisiana 26.23 6 1 20 14 MID-EASTERN 5.26
15 Holy Cross 25.76 5 2 18 15 WESTERN 2.02
16 Montana 25.76 5 2 16      
17 South Dakota State 25.68 5 2 9      
18 Harvard 25.63 5 1 14      
19 Monmouth 24.53 4 3 22      
20 Virginia Military 23.87 5 2 23      
21 UC-Davis 23.77 7 1 19      
22 Mercer 23.14 5 2 25      
23 Eastern Kentucky 22.85 5 2 33  
24 Tennessee-Martin 22.79 6 1 21      
25 Austin Peay 22.58 3 4 40      
26 Weber State 22.13 3 4 39  
27 South Dakota 21.88 5 3 17      
28 Kennesaw State 21.38 6 1 34  
29 Jacksonville State 21.16 3 4 27  
30 Dartmouth 21.12 5 1 15      
31 Campbell 20.89 3 4 30      
32 Samford 20.71 3 4 24      
33 North Dakota 20.46 3 4 32      
34 William & Mary 20.41 5 2 46      
35 Furman 20.09 4 3 29      
36 Rhode Island 19.63 5 2 28      
37 Stephen F. Austin 19.58 4 3 31      
38 Columbia 19.46 5 1 45  
39 Central Arkansas 19.45 3 4 37      
40 Nicholls 19.44 3 4 38  
41 Sacramento State 19.21 5 2 61      
42 Elon 18.02 4 3 54  
43 Fordham 17.59 5 3 43  
44 Towson 17.51 3 4 36      
45 Davidson 17.31 5 1 49  
46 Jackson State 17.24 6 1 47  
47 Illinois State 17.15 3 4 52      
48 Southeast Missouri State 16.86 2 6 55  
49 Youngstown State 16.63 2 4 35      
50 New Hampshire 15.96 3 4 42  
51 Northern Arizona 15.86 3 4 41  
52 Maine 15.64 3 4 57  
53 Abilene Christian 15.61 3 3 56      
54 Stony Brook 15.29 3 5 58  
55 Duquesne 14.84 4 2 44  
56 Merrimack 14.82 4 3 65  
57 North Carolina A&T 14.70 3 4 53  
58 Morehead State 14.60 5 2 68  
59 Western Carolina 14.44 1 6 88  
60 Delaware 13.99 3 4 67  
61 Idaho 13.90 2 5 60  
62 Lafayette 13.72 2 5 63      
63 Bryant 13.55 5 3 66  
64 Norfolk State 13.52 5 2 73  
65 Western Illinois 13.48 1 7 50  
66 Prairie View A&M 13.31 6 1 71  
67 North Alabama 13.26 2 6 80  
68 Indiana State 13.20 4 4 70  
69 Wofford 13.17 1 6 64  
70 Portland State 13.11 3 4 69  
71 Richmond 13.06 2 5 62  
72 Murray State 12.88 3 4 51  
73 Tennessee State 12.83 4 3 81  
74 Charleston Southern 12.66 2 4 48      
75 Gardner-Webb 12.48 3 4 82  
76 Florida A&M 12.40 5 2 77  
77 The Citadel 12.20 2 5 59  
78 Marist 11.80 3 3 76  
79 Brown 11.79 2 4 83  
80 Hampton 11.75 3 4 89  
81 Alcorn State 11.67 5 2 85  
82 Georgetown 11.44 2 4 86  
83 McNeese 11.43 3 4 87  
84 Dayton 11.01 3 3 74  
85 Albany 10.74 0 7 79      
86 Sacred Heart 10.74 5 3 90  
87 Idaho State 10.70 1 6 84  
88 Yale 10.59 3 3 92  
89 Southern Utah 10.59 1 7 72  
90 Northern Colorado 10.41 2 5 75  
91 St. Francis 9.85 3 4 91  
92 Robert Morris 9.55 2 4 78  
93 Tennessee Tech 9.06 3 5 98  
94 San Diego 8.92 4 4 94  
95 Eastern Illinois 8.60 1 7 93  
96 Northwestern State 8.48 1 6 96  
97 Cal Poly 7.86 1 6 101  
98 Presbyterian 7.66 2 5 95  
99 Alabama A&M 7.46 3 3 99  
100 Colgate 7.42 2 6 103  
101 Penn 7.29 2 4 97  
102 St. Thomas 7.27 4 2 100  
103 Grambling State 6.78 3 4 105  
104 Cornell 6.43 1 5 102  
105 Lamar 6.42 1 5 111  
106 Southern 6.35 3 4 104  
107 South Carolina State 6.30 3 4 110  
108 Houston Baptist 5.78 0 7 109  
109 Tarleton State 5.75 4 3 107  
110 Stetson 5.40 2 4 108  
111 Delaware State 5.38 3 4 106  
112 Bucknell 5.13 1 6 113  
113 Butler 4.94 2 6 115  
114 North Carolina Central 4.74 3 4 119  
115 Howard 4.56 2 5 114  
116 Drake 4.24 2 5 117  
117 Alabama State 4.16 3 3 116  
118 Bethune-Cookman 3.77 0 8 118  
119 Texas Southern 3.73 1 5 112  
120 Mississippi Valley State 3.37 2 5 121  
121 Lehigh 3.14 0 7 122  
122 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 2.78 1 6 120  
123 Valparaiso 2.76 1 5 123  
124 Wagner 1.07 0 7 124  
125 Central Connecticut State 0.16 1 6 125  
126 Long Island 0.07 1 5 127  
127 Morgan State -0.08 0 7 126  
128 Dixie State -1.92 0 7 128