Week 9 FCS Football Power Rankings

October 31, 2022 · 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 Holy Cross 40.89 8 0 1 1 MISSOURI VALLEY 19.49
2 Sacramento State 36.15 8 0 2 2 COLONIAL 19.45
3 Incarnate Word 33.06 8 1 4 3 BIG SKY 19.24
4 William & Mary 31.58 7 1 5 4 ATLANTIC SUN 19.17
5 South Dakota State 30.46 8 1 8 5 SOUTHERN 18.67
6 Samford 29.79 7 1 9 6 IVY LEAGUE 15.53
7 Delaware 29.74 6 2 3 7 PATRIOT 15.47
8 Montana State 29.57 7 1 6 8 OHIO VALLEY 13.85
9 Weber State 29.50 7 1 11 9 WESTERN 13.83
10 North Dakota State 28.74 6 2 15 10 SOUTHLAND 13.73
11 Jackson State 27.80 8 0 17 11 BIG SOUTH 12.79
12 Fordham 27.27 6 2 20 12 SOUTHWESTERN 8.38
13 Mercer 27.13 7 2 12 13 PIONEER 8.24
14 Southeast Missouri 26.79 6 2 7 14 MID-EASTERN 7.43
15 Elon 26.63 6 3 25 15 NORTHEAST 7.42
16 Chattanooga 26.61 6 2 10      
17 Richmond 26.53 6 2 14      
18 UC-Davis 26.49 4 4 18      
19 Montana 26.24 5 3 13      
20 Eastern Kentucky 25.68 5 3 23      
21 Princeton 25.65 7 0 21      
22 Idaho 25.33 5 3 22      
23 Southern Illinois 24.74 5 4 16      
24 Rhode Island 24.28 5 3 19      
25 Furman 24.22 7 2 27      
26 North Dakota 24.00 5 3 28      
27 Southeastern Louisiana 23.96 5 3 24      
28 Tennessee-Martin 23.71 5 3 35      
29 Central Arkansas 23.21 4 4 32      
30 Austin Peay 21.89 5 3 30      
31 New Hampshire 21.27 6 2 34      
33 Northern Iowa 21.05 5 4 38      
32 Campbell 20.99 4 4 33      
34 Monmouth 20.64 4 5 29      
35 Stephen F. Austin 20.29 5 4 26      
36 Youngstown State 20.20 5 3 36      
37 Missouri State 19.70 3 5 45  
38 Harvard 19.63 5 2 39      
39 Penn 19.24 6 1 31  
40 Villanova 18.66 5 3 51  
41 Yale 18.34 5 2 41  
42 Gardner-Webb 18.17 4 5 40      
43 North Carolina A&T 17.42 5 3 53  
44 Illinois State 17.27 5 3 37  
45 Abilene Christian 17.17 5 3 49  
46 Southern Utah 16.83 3 5 42      
47 North Carolina Central 16.70 6 2 48  
49 Davidson 16.61 6 2 52  
50 Albany 16.55 2 6 55  
48 St. Francis 16.40 6 2 57  
51 Western Carolina 16.30 3 5 43      
52 Kennesaw State 16.03 4 4 54  
53 Butler 15.31 6 2 60  
54 Eastern Washington 15.28 2 6 46      
55 Cal Poly 15.28 2 6 47  
56 East Tennessee State 15.03 3 6 44  
57 Southern 14.77 5 3 50  
58 Prairie View A&M 14.42 5 3 63  
59 Tennessee Tech 13.38 2 6 62  
60 Portland State 13.34 3 5 68  
61 Towson 13.21 3 5 75  
62 South Dakota 13.19 2 6 56  
63 Colgate 13.02 3 5 61  
64 Merrimack 12.67 7 2 64  
65 St. Thomas 12.59 7 1 72  
66 Northern Arizona 12.40 3 5 70  
67 Columbia 12.16 3 4 59      
68 Brown 12.09 3 4 87      
69 Hampton 12.02 4 4 67      
70 Dayton 11.88 6 2 83      
71 Lafayette 11.88 2 6 58  
72 Texas A&M-Commerce 11.79 5 3 69  
73 Wofford 11.55 2 6 94  
74 Lindenwood 11.46 6 2 78      
75 Eastern Illinois 11.21 2 6 66  
76 Bryant 10.95 2 6 84  
77 Northern Colorado 10.75 2 6 77  
78 North Alabama 10.57 1 7 71  
79 Maine 10.46 2 6 81      
80 Dartmouth 10.45 2 5 65  
81 Florida A&M 10.37 6 2 93  
82 Georgetown 10.35 2 6 95  
83 Texas Southern 10.10 4 4 91  
84 Charleston Southern 10.04 1 7 80      
85 Indiana State 10.03 1 7 76  
87 The Citadel 9.93 2 6 79  
86 Nicholls 9.69 2 7 74  
88 Northwestern State 9.66 3 5 85  
89 Valparaiso 9.45 4 4 82  
92 Lehigh 9.35 1 7 89  
90 Sacred Heart 8.95 4 4 92  
91 San Diego 8.95 3 4 104  
93 Cornell 8.87 4 3 73      
94 Houston Christian 8.81 2 6 99      
95 Stonehill 8.54 3 3 88  
96 McNeese 8.53 1 7 100      
97 Alabama State 8.52 5 3 105  
98 Tarleton State 8.49 5 3 86  
99 Lamar 8.48 1 7 107  
100 Howard 8.10 3 5 108      
101 Virginia Military 7.90 1 7 97  
102 Tennessee State 7.86 3 5 90  
103 Idaho State 7.86 1 7 103  
104 Marist 7.42 3 5 113  
105 Murray State 7.14 1 8 114  
106 Stony Brook 7.08 1 7 96  
107 Stetson 7.07 3 4 101  
108 South Carolina State 6.74 3 5 102  
109 Delaware State 6.54 4 4 109  
110 Alcorn State 6.45 3 5 98  
111 Morgan State 6.33 3 5 117  
112 Western Illinois 6.24 0 8 106  
113 Alabama A&M 6.01 3 5 110  
114 Duquesne 5.95 2 6 111      
115 Grambling State 5.51 2 6 119  
116 Utah Tech 5.49 2 6 120  
117 Bucknell 5.17 1 7 116  
118 Morehead State 4.99 1 7 112  
119 Robert Morris 4.42 0 8 118  
120 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 4.28 2 6 115  
121 Bethune-Cookman 4.12 2 6 121  
122 Long Island 3.88 1 7 123  
123 Central Connecticut State 2.81 1 7 125  
124 Wagner 1.57 1 7 122  
125 Drake 1.15 1 8 127  
126 Norfolk State 0.94 1 7 124      
127 Presbyterian 0.60 1 8 126  
128 Mississippi Valley State -1.90 0 8 128