North Dakota State, Montana State lead FCS football committee's top 10

North Dakota State, Montana State lead FCS football committee’s top 10

Posted by Admin October 30, 2024 Football

We’re less than a month away from FCS playoff selection Sunday — 25 days to be exact — and the Division I Football Championship Committee has revealed its in-season top 10 rankings of the FCS teams. The rankings were announced Wednesday, Oct. 30 shortly after 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2’s College Football Live broadcast.

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The committee used results of games played through Oct. 26, and these in-season rankings serve as a snapshot as to where the committee has teams ranked heading into the final four weeks of the regular season.

The committee consider some of the following criteria (in no order) when selecting at large teams:

Each team’s won-lost record
Each team’s strength of schedule
- The won-lost record of a team will be scrutinized to determine a team’s strength of schedule; however, fewer than six Division I wins may place a team in jeopardy of not being selected.
- The committee may give more consideration to those teams that have played all Division I opponents.
Eligibility and availability of student-athletes for the NCAA championship
Two predictive methods (Massey and ESPN)
Two results-based metrics (KPI and ESPN) as a tool for evaluating teams.

Unlike past years, the FCS Coaches Poll and FCS STATS Perform Poll ARE NOT considered.

The committee’s top 10 rankings give insight into which teams are in contention for the first-round byes given to the eight seeded teams in the FCS playoff bracket. For the first time in 2024, teams seeded Nos. 9-16 will also be seeded, increasing the importance of the last two teams ranked in the committee’s rankings. Click or tap here for more on this year’s FCS Championship.

That said, see the top 10 rankings below along with a breakdown of each team.

North Dakota State
Montana State
South Dakota State
South Dakota
UC Davis
Southeast Missouri State
Idaho
Mercer
UIW
Montana

What to know about the top-10 teams

No. 1 North Dakota State

REcord	8-1
FCS Losses	None
FBS Losses	Colorado
Ranked Wins (* = team not currently ranked)	South Dakota State, North Dakota, Illinois State
Other Notable FCS wins (Currently Ranked Teams)	ETSU, Tennessee State
FBS Wins	None
Non-DI wins	None
Coaches Poll Ranking	No. 1
STATS Perform Poll Rankings	No. 1
KPI RaNking	No. 1
Strength of Schedule (Massey)	No. 7

No. 2 Montana State

REcord	8-0
FCS Losses	None
FBS Losses	None
Ranked Wins (* = team not currently ranked)	Idaho
Other Notable FCS wins (Currently Ranked Teams)	None
FBS wins	New Mexico
Non-DI wins	None
Coaches Poll Ranking	No. 2
STATS Perform Poll Rankings	No. 2
KPI RaNking	No. 6
Strength of Schedule (Massey)	No. 51

No. 3 South Dakota State

REcord	6-2
FCS Losses	North Dakota State
FBS Losses	Oklahoma State
Ranked Wins (* = team not currently ranked)	UIW, South Dakota
Other Notable FCS wins (Currently Ranked Teams)	None
FBS Wins	None
Non-DI wins	Augustana
Coaches Poll Ranking	No. 3
STATS Perform Poll Rankings	No. 3
KPI RaNking	No. 5
Strength of Schedule (Massey)	No. 2

No. 4 South Dakota

REcord	6-2
FCS Losses	South Dakota State
FBS Losses	Wisconsin
Ranked Wins (* = team not currently ranked)	Southern Illinois*
Other Notable FCS wins (Currently Ranked Teams)	Drake (RV)
FBS Wins	None
Non-DI wins	Northern State
Coaches Poll Ranking	No. 5
STATS Perform Poll Rankings	No. 5
KPI RaNking	No. 11
Strength of Schedule (Massey)	No. 11

No. 5 UC Davis

REcord	7-1
FCS Losses	None
FBS Losses	California
Ranked Wins (* = team not currently ranked)	Idaho
Other Notable FCS wins (Currently Ranked Teams)	Southern Utah (RV)
FBS Wins	None
Non-DI wins	None
Coaches Poll Ranking	No. 4
STATS Perform Poll Rankings	No. 4
KPI RaNking	No. 19
Strength of Schedule (Massey)	No. 32

No. 6 Southeast Missouri State

REcord	8-1
FCS Losses	None
FBS Losses	New Mexico State
Ranked Wins (* = team not currently ranked)	Southern Illinois*
Other Notable FCS wins (Currently Ranked Teams)	UT Martin (RV)
FBS Wins	None
Non-DI wins	None
Coaches Poll Ranking	No. 6
STATS Perform Poll Rankings	No. 6
KPI RaNking	No. 30
Strength of Schedule (Massey)	No. 69

No. 7 Idaho

REcord	6-3
FCS Losses	UC Davis, Montana State
FBS Losses	Oregon
Ranked Wins (* = team not currently ranked)	UAlbany, Abilene Christian, Northern Arizona
Other Notable FCS wins (Currently Ranked Teams)	None
FBS Wins	Wyoming
Non-DI wins	None
Coaches Poll Ranking	No. 11
STATS Perform Poll Rankings	No. 10
KPI RaNking	No. 18
Strength of Schedule (Massey)	No. 5

No. 8 Mercer

REcord	7-1
FCS Losses	Samford
FBS Losses	None
Ranked Wins (* = team not currently ranked)	Chattanooga, Wofford, Western Carolina
Other Notable FCS wins (Currently Ranked Teams)	None
FBS Wins	None
Non-DI wins	None
Coaches Poll Ranking	No. 16
STATS Perform Poll Rankings	No. 12
KPI RaNking	No. 10
Strength of Schedule (Massey)	No. 83

No. 9 UIW

REcord	6-2
FCS Losses	South Dakota State, Southern Illinois
FBS Losses	None
Ranked Wins (* = team not currently ranked)	None
Other Notable FCS wins (Currently Ranked Teams)	Northern Arizona (RV)
FBS Wins	None
Non-DI wins	None
Coaches Poll Ranking	No. 10
STATS Perform Poll Rankings	No. 9
KPI RaNking	No. 25
Strength of Schedule (Massey)	No. 34

No. 10 Montana

REcord	6-2
FCS Losses	North Dakota, Weber State
FBS Losses	None
Ranked Wins (* = team not currently ranked)	Western Carolina, Northern Arizona
Other Notable FCS wins (Currently Ranked Teams)	Missouri State
FBS Wins	None
Non-DI wins	None
Coaches Poll Ranking	No. 8
STATS Perform Poll Rankings	No. 8
KPI RaNking	No. 8
Strength of Schedule (Massey)	No. 30

The ESPN predictive and results-based metrics are not currently publicly posted, but are compiled and sent weekly to the FCS Committee. The posted Massey ratings on this website factor in last year’s results and don’t match the accurate rankings that committee receives weekly that don’t include last year’s results. The Strength of Schedule listed on the Massey site is accurate and only from the current season.