Week 10 FCS Power Rankings

November 8, 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 38.29 7 1 1 1 MISSOURI VALLEY 21.94
2 Sam Houston State 35.78 8 0 2 2 AQ7 20.23
3 North Dakota State 33.01 8 1 3 3 SOUTHERN 19.60
4 Montana State 30.74 8 1 5 4 COLONIAL 18.69
5 Incarnate Word 29.71 7 2 16 5 BIG SKY 18.33
6 Missouri State 29.51 6 3 8 6 BIG SOUTH 16.93
7 Villanova 29.51 7 2 10 7 SOUTHLAND 16.83
8 Eastern Washington 28.76 7 2 6 8 IVY LEAGUE 15.68
9 South Dakota State 28.18 7 2 12 9 OHIO VALLEY 15.53
10 East Tennessee State 28.16 8 1 13 10 PATRIOT 12.39
11 Southern Illinois 27.43 6 3 7 11 PIONEER 9.15
12 Southeastern Louisiana 27.33 7 2 11 12 SOUTHWESTERN 8.24
13 Holy Cross 27.14 7 2 18 13 NORTHEAST 8.17
14 Monmouth 27.07 6 3 15 14 MID-EASTERN 6.26
15 Northern Iowa 26.41 5 4 4 15 WESTERN 3.77
16 Tennessee-Martin 26.31 8 1 25      
17 Montana 25.48 7 2 17      
18 UC-Davis 25.19 8 1 20      
19 Virginia Military 25.03 6 3 19      
20 Chattanooga 25.02 6 3 14  
21 Harvard 24.99 6 2 22      
22 Princeton 24.52 7 1 9  
23 Dartmouth 24.07 7 1 28      
24 Kennesaw State 23.29 8 1 32  
25 Mercer 23.12 6 2 23      
26 Stephen F. Austin 23.04 6 3 34      
27 South Dakota 22.13 6 3 30      
28 Austin Peay 21.92 4 5 27      
29 Eastern Kentucky 21.91 6 3 24  
30 Jacksonville State 21.77 4 5 37  
31 Central Arkansas 21.23 5 4 31      
32 Nicholls 21.15 5 4 35  
33 William & Mary 20.66 6 3 21      
34 Samford 20.61 4 5 29      
35 Sacramento State 20.43 7 2 33      
36 Weber State 20.35 4 5 26  
37 Davidson 20.27 7 1 38  
38 Fordham 19.47 6 3 41  
39 North Dakota 19.44 4 5 36      
40 Northern Arizona 18.71 4 5 46  
41 Rhode Island 18.30 6 3 44      
42 Jackson State 17.58 8 1 48  
43 Stony Brook 17.46 4 5 52  
44 Western Carolina 17.37 3 6 50  
45 Maine 17.33 4 5 39  
46 Furman 17.22 4 5 43      
47 Southeast Missouri State 17.13 3 6 45  
48 Delaware 16.47 5 4 62  
49 Campbell 16.38 3 6 40      
50 Towson 16.27 4 5 47      
51 Yale 16.13 5 3 77  
52 Richmond 16.07 4 5 57  
53 Illinois State 15.98 4 5 54      
54 Elon 15.92 4 5 42  
55 Columbia 15.87 5 3 49  
56 Portland State 15.50 5 4 65  
57 North Carolina A&T 15.43 4 5 67  
58 Charleston Southern 15.30 3 5 53      
59 Youngstown State 14.82 2 6 51      
60 North Alabama 14.58 2 7 64  
61 Gardner-Webb 14.58 3 6 61  
62 Tennessee State 14.57 5 4 60  
63 Prairie View A&M 14.54 7 1 63  
64 Murray State 14.52 4 5 70  
65 Western Illinois 14.20 2 8 58  
66 Idaho 14.09 3 6 69  
67 Hampton 14.08 4 5 79  
68 Abilene Christian 13.84 3 5 55      
69 Duquesne 13.78 5 3 75  
70 Lafayette 13.25 3 6 59      
71 San Diego 13.08 6 4 76  
72 Merrimack 12.90 5 4 74  
73 Morehead State 12.84 5 4 66  
74 Florida A&M 12.66 7 2 68  
75 Robert Morris 12.60 3 5 82  
76 New Hampshire 12.52 3 6 56  
77 Indiana State 12.19 4 5 73  
78 Norfolk State 12.08 6 3 71  
79 Albany 11.72 1 8 88      
80 Sacred Heart 11.65 6 3 89  
81 Bryant 11.49 5 4 72  
82 Dayton 11.46 5 4 91  
83 St. Francis 11.38 4 5 81  
84 McNeese 11.29 3 6 78  
85 Alabama A&M 11.18 5 3 97  
86 The Citadel 11.17 2 7 80  
87 Wofford 10.78 1 8 84  
88 Georgetown 10.75 2 6 86  
89 Northern Colorado 10.71 3 7 83  
90 Southern Utah 10.41 1 9 85  
91 Tennessee Tech 10.26 3 6 92  
92 Idaho State 9.97 1 8 90  
93 Marist 9.74 4 4 93  
94 Alcorn State 9.47 5 4 87  
95 Northwestern State 9.22 2 7 99  
96 Colgate 9.19 3 6 98  
97 Brown 9.03 2 6 95  
98 South Carolina State 8.83 5 4 102  
99 Penn 8.56 3 5 94  
100 St. Thomas 8.22 5 3 96  
101 Eastern Illinois 8.16 1 9 104  
102 Cal Poly 7.92 1 8 101  
103 Southern 7.68 4 5 103  
104 Cornell 7.58 2 6 105  
105 Stetson 7.29 3 5 100  
106 Tarleton State 7.03 5 4 110  
107 Houston Baptist 6.80 0 9 106  
108 Lehigh 6.54 1 8 119  
109 Presbyterian 6.34 2 7 108  
110 North Carolina Central 6.33 4 5 116  
111 Texas Southern 6.27 2 6 107  
112 Lamar 5.98 1 7 111  
113 Grambling State 5.51 3 6 112  
114 Bethune-Cookman 5.40 1 8 120  
115 Delaware State 5.36 4 5 109  
116 Butler 5.34 2 7 113  
117 Valparaiso 5.07 3 6 122  
118 Alabama State 4.88 3 5 118  
119 Howard 4.72 2 7 115  
120 Drake 4.34 2 6 117  
121 Bucknell 4.21 1 8 114  
122 Central Connecticut State 3.67 3 6 123  
123 Mississippi Valley State 3.46 2 7 121  
124 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3.12 2 7 125  
125 Long Island 2.50 2 6 124  
126 Wagner 1.74 0 9 126  
127 Morgan State 1.26 1 8 127  
128 Dixie State -2.46 0 9 128