Week 9 FCS Power Rankings

November 1, 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 37.04 7 1 1 1 MISSOURI VALLEY 22.29
2 Sam Houston State 36.53 7 0 2 2 AQ7 20.07
3 North Dakota State 34.13 8 0 3 3 SOUTHERN 19.93
4 Northern Iowa 30.72 5 3 7 4 COLONIAL 18.77
5 Montana State 29.32 7 1 8 5 BIG SKY 18.16
6 Eastern Washington 28.49 7 1 10 6 SOUTHLAND 16.23
7 Southern Illinois 28.45 6 2 4 7 BIG SOUTH 16.07
8 Missouri State 27.52 5 3 9 8 IVY LEAGUE 15.33
9 Princeton 27.27 7 0 5 9 OHIO VALLEY 14.87
10 Villanova 27.17 6 2 6 10 PATRIOT 11.82
11 Southeastern Louisiana 26.75 7 1 14 11 PIONEER 8.85
12 South Dakota State 26.57 6 2 17 12 SOUTHWESTERN 7.92
13 East Tennessee State 26.49 7 1 11 13 NORTHEAST 7.69
14 Chattanooga 26.25 5 3 13 14 MID-EASTERN 5.80
15 Monmouth 25.79 5 3 19 15 WESTERN 3.37
16 Incarnate Word 24.91 6 2 12      
17 Montana 24.84 6 2 16      
18 Holy Cross 24.83 6 2 15      
19 Virginia Military 24.72 6 2 20      
20 UC-Davis 24.05 7 1 21      
21 William & Mary 23.66 6 2 34      
22 Harvard 23.34 5 2 18      
23 Mercer 23.11 6 2 22      
24 Eastern Kentucky 22.91 6 2 23  
25 Tennessee-Martin 22.56 7 1 24      
26 Weber State 22.41 4 4 26  
27 Austin Peay 22.09 3 5 25      
28 Dartmouth 21.73 6 1 30      
29 Samford 21.71 3 5 32      
30 South Dakota 21.67 5 3 27      
31 Central Arkansas 21.03 4 4 39      
32 Kennesaw State 20.81 7 1 28  
33 Sacramento State 20.79 6 2 41      
34 Stephen F. Austin 20.71 5 3 37      
35 Nicholls 20.37 4 4 40  
36 North Dakota 19.84 3 5 33      
37 Jacksonville State 19.33 3 5 29  
38 Davidson 19.10 6 1 45  
39 Maine 18.71 4 4 52  
40 Campbell 18.49 3 5 31      
41 Fordham 18.17 5 3 43  
42 Elon 18.04 4 4 42  
43 Furman 17.99 4 4 35      
44 Rhode Island 17.67 5 3 36      
45 Southeast Missouri State 17.56 3 6 48  
46 Northern Arizona 17.28 4 4 51  
47 Towson 17.26 4 4 44      
48 Jackson State 17.20 7 1 46  
49 Columbia 16.90 5 2 38  
50 Western Carolina 16.03 2 6 59  
51 Youngstown State 15.98 2 5 49      
52 Stony Brook 15.93 3 5 54  
53 Charleston Southern 15.23 3 4 74      
54 Illinois State 15.07 3 5 47      
55 Abilene Christian 15.06 3 4 53      
56 New Hampshire 14.63 3 5 50  
57 Richmond 14.59 3 5 71  
58 Western Illinois 14.50 2 7 65  
59 Lafayette 14.39 3 5 62      
60 Tennessee State 14.21 5 3 73  
61 Gardner-Webb 14.20 3 5 75  
62 Delaware 14.04 4 4 60  
63 Prairie View A&M 14.01 6 1 66  
64 North Alabama 13.88 2 6 67  
65 Portland State 13.80 4 4 70  
66 Morehead State 13.70 5 3 58  
67 North Carolina A&T 13.69 3 5 57  
68 Florida A&M 13.48 6 2 76  
69 Idaho 13.40 2 6 61  
70 Murray State 13.20 3 5 72  
71 Norfolk State 13.10 6 2 64  
72 Bryant 13.00 5 3 63  
73 Indiana State 12.80 4 5 68  
74 Merrimack 12.74 4 4 56  
75 Duquesne 12.55 4 3 55  
76 San Diego 12.42 5 4 94  
77 Yale 12.33 4 3 88  
78 McNeese 12.27 3 5 83  
79 Hampton 12.17 3 5 80  
80 The Citadel 12.08 2 6 77  
81 St. Francis 11.58 4 4 91  
82 Robert Morris 11.56 3 4 92  
83 Northern Colorado 11.51 3 6 90  
84 Wofford 11.38 1 7 69  
85 Southern Utah 11.24 1 8 89  
86 Georgetown 10.95 2 5 82  
87 Alcorn State 10.83 5 3 81  
88 Albany 10.68 0 8 85      
89 Sacred Heart 10.60 5 3 86  
90 Idaho State 10.26 1 7 87  
91 Dayton 10.02 4 4 84  
92 Tennessee Tech 10.02 3 5 93  
93 Marist 9.83 3 4 78  
94 Penn 9.78 3 4 101  
95 Brown 9.44 2 5 79  
96 St. Thomas 9.15 5 2 102  
97 Alabama A&M 8.98 4 3 99  
98 Colgate 8.64 3 6 100  
99 Northwestern State 8.46 1 7 96  
100 Stetson 8.31 3 4 110  
101 Cal Poly 8.14 1 7 97  
102 South Carolina State 7.88 4 4 107  
103 Southern 7.81 4 4 106  
104 Eastern Illinois 7.79 1 8 95  
105 Cornell 6.92 1 6 104  
106 Houston Baptist 6.60 0 8 108  
107 Texas Southern 6.56 2 5 119  
108 Presbyterian 6.21 2 6 98  
109 Delaware State 6.14 4 4 111  
110 Tarleton State 6.14 4 4 109  
111 Lamar 6.09 1 6 105  
112 Grambling State 5.89 3 5 103  
113 Butler 5.17 2 7 113  
114 Bucknell 4.78 1 7 112  
115 Howard 4.77 2 6 115  
116 North Carolina Central 4.61 3 5 114  
117 Drake 4.42 2 5 116  
118 Alabama State 4.31 3 4 117  
119 Lehigh 3.99 0 8 121  
120 Bethune-Cookman 3.84 0 8 118  
121 Mississippi Valley State 3.74 2 6 120  
122 Valparaiso 3.18 2 6 123  
123 Central Connecticut State 2.26 2 6 125  
124 Long Island 2.05 2 5 126  
125 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 1.99 1 7 122  
126 Wagner 1.28 0 8 124  
127 Morgan State 0.28 0 8 127  
128 Dixie State -1.50 0 8 128