The Madness FCS Power Rankings
The Madness FCS Power Rankings is 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 125 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.’ The strongest FCS conferences get a higher value than the weaker conferences. This is done to lessen the effects of a superior team in a weak conference from building huge point margins and manipulating the system. This constant has been tweaked since last season also, to include each individual conference’s overall success in FCS vs. FCS games.
Teams will also gain bonuses for beating FBS 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 5, September 29th. These will be available on the Madness no later than Monday every week from then on. 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.
RANK | TEAM | RATING | Won | Lost | Prev | RANK | CONFERENCE | RATING | ||
1 | North Dakota State | 51.11 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | COLONIAL | 30.25 | ||
2 | Princeton | 46.30 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | MISSOURI VALLEY | 30.22 | ||
3 | South Dakota State | 42.62 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 3 | IVY LEAGUE | 27.46 | ||
4 | James Madison | 41.31 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 4 | SOUTHERN | 26.70 | ||
5 | UC Davis | 41.15 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 5 | BIG SKY | 26.49 | ||
6 | Dartmouth | 40.92 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 6 | BIG SOUTH | 26.45 | ||
7 | Eastern Washington | 40.92 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 7 | SOUTHLAND | 25.71 | ||
8 | Kennesaw State | 40.64 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 8 | OHIO VALLEY | 24.21 | ||
9 | Colgate | 39.03 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 9 | PATRIOT | 21.85 | ||
10 | Nicholls | 38.13 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 10 | NORTHEAST | 17.39 | ||
11 | Jacksonville State | 38.10 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 11 | PIONEER | 16.98 | ||
12 | Northern Iowa | 36.66 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 12 | MID-EASTERN | 16.34 | ||
13 | Elon | 35.58 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 13 | SOUTHWESTERN | 13.73 | ||
14 | Weber State | 35.12 | 9 | 2 | 19 | |||||
15 | Towson | 34.71 | 7 | 4 | 12 | |||||
16 | Wofford | 33.10 | 8 | 3 | 17 | |||||
17 | Stony Brook | 33.01 | 7 | 4 | 15 | |||||
18 | Delaware | 33.00 | 7 | 4 | 13 | |||||
19 | Montana State | 32.31 | 7 | 4 | 22 | |||||
20 | Furman | 31.93 | 6 | 4 | 20 | |||||
21 | Illinois State | 31.70 | 6 | 5 | 21 | |||||
22 | Harvard | 31.31 | 6 | 4 | 27 | |||||
23 | Monmouth | 31.30 | 8 | 3 | 18 | |||||
24 | Samford | 31.30 | 6 | 5 | 29 | |||||
25 | Southeast Missouri State | 30.75 | 8 | 3 | 23 | |||||
26 | Maine | 30.65 | 8 | 3 | 33 | |||||
27 | Villanova | 30.54 | 5 | 6 | 36 | |||||
28 | Incarnate Word | 30.48 | 6 | 4 | 24 | |||||
29 | North Carolina A&T | 29.81 | 9 | 2 | 37 | |||||
30 | Montana | 29.51 | 6 | 5 | 28 | |||||
31 | New Hampshire | 28.80 | 4 | 7 | 26 | |||||
32 | Rhode Island | 28.34 | 6 | 5 | 31 | |||||
33 | Idaho State | 28.21 | 6 | 5 | 39 | |||||
34 | North Dakota | 28.10 | 6 | 5 | 25 | |||||
35 | The Citadel | 28.02 | 4 | 6 | 32 | |||||
36 | Western Illinois | 27.91 | 5 | 6 | 34 | |||||
37 | Sam Houston State | 27.83 | 6 | 5 | 38 | |||||
38 | Central Arkansas | 27.00 | 6 | 5 | 48 | |||||
39 | Charleston Southern | 26.89 | 5 | 5 | 49 | |||||
40 | Chattanooga | 26.54 | 6 | 5 | 30 | |||||
41 | East Tennessee State | 26.37 | 8 | 3 | 35 | |||||
42 | Youngstown State | 26.33 | 4 | 7 | 40 | |||||
43 | Lamar | 26.29 | 7 | 4 | 53 | |||||
44 | McNeese | 26.29 | 6 | 5 | 45 | |||||
45 | San Diego | 26.23 | 9 | 2 | 52 | |||||
46 | Cal Poly | 25.96 | 5 | 6 | 44 | |||||
47 | Mercer | 25.40 | 5 | 6 | 43 | |||||
48 | Holy Cross | 25.38 | 5 | 6 | 50 | |||||
49 | Yale | 25.38 | 5 | 5 | 41 | |||||
50 | Southeastern Louisiana | 25.34 | 4 | 7 | 42 | |||||
51 | Austin Peay | 25.12 | 5 | 6 | 61 | |||||
52 | Abilene Christian | 25.11 | 6 | 5 | 46 | |||||
53 | Columbia | 24.62 | 6 | 4 | 47 | |||||
54 | Northern Arizona | 24.56 | 4 | 6 | 75 | |||||
55 | Eastern Kentucky | 24.53 | 7 | 4 | 54 | |||||
56 | South Dakota | 24.45 | 4 | 7 | 55 | |||||
57 | Drake | 24.44 | 7 | 3 | 59 | |||||
58 | Indiana State | 24.42 | 7 | 4 | 62 | |||||
59 | Sacred Heart | 24.40 | 7 | 4 | 56 | |||||
60 | Northwestern State | 24.38 | 5 | 6 | 58 | |||||
61 | Campbell | 24.16 | 6 | 5 | 51 | |||||
62 | Dayton | 23.72 | 6 | 5 | 64 | |||||
63 | Penn | 23.32 | 6 | 4 | 67 | |||||
64 | William & Mary | 23.20 | 4 | 6 | 57 | |||||
65 | Tennessee State | 23.13 | 4 | 5 | 66 | |||||
66 | Georgetown | 22.70 | 5 | 6 | 63 | |||||
67 | Richmond | 22.66 | 4 | 7 | 70 | |||||
68 | Alcorn State | 22.53 | 8 | 3 | 73 | |||||
69 | Murray State | 22.52 | 5 | 6 | 60 | |||||
70 | Tennessee-Martin | 21.89 | 2 | 9 | 68 | |||||
71 | Albany | 21.83 | 3 | 8 | 80 | |||||
72 | Duquesne | 21.69 | 8 | 3 | 78 | |||||
73 | Idaho | 21.55 | 4 | 7 | 65 | |||||
74 | Southern Illinois | 21.28 | 2 | 9 | 71 | |||||
75 | Central Connecticut State | 20.40 | 6 | 5 | 87 | |||||
76 | South Carolina State | 20.25 | 5 | 5 | 83 | |||||
77 | Marist | 20.25 | 5 | 6 | 82 | |||||
78 | Cornell | 20.20 | 3 | 7 | 74 | |||||
79 | Portland State | 20.06 | 4 | 7 | 72 | |||||
80 | Stetson | 19.99 | 8 | 2 | 79 | |||||
81 | Southern | 19.77 | 6 | 3 | 88 | |||||
82 | Lafayette | 19.71 | 3 | 8 | 69 | |||||
83 | Stephen F. Austin | 19.62 | 2 | 8 | 81 | |||||
84 | Florida A&M | 19.57 | 6 | 5 | 76 | |||||
85 | Missouri State | 19.54 | 4 | 6 | 77 | |||||
86 | Gardner-Webb | 19.45 | 3 | 8 | 85 | |||||
87 | Eastern Illinois | 19.40 | 3 | 8 | 89 | |||||
88 | Northern Colorado | 19.34 | 2 | 9 | 84 | |||||
89 | Alabama A&M | 19.04 | 6 | 5 | 86 | |||||
90 | St. Francis | 18.12 | 4 | 7 | 92 | |||||
91 | Fordham | 17.04 | 2 | 9 | 93 | |||||
92 | Bucknell | 16.64 | 1 | 10 | 91 | |||||
93 | Prairie View A&M | 16.54 | 4 | 6 | 101 | |||||
94 | Sacramento State | 16.39 | 2 | 8 | 94 | |||||
95 | Western Carolina | 16.26 | 3 | 8 | 90 | |||||
96 | Grambling State | 16.09 | 6 | 4 | 97 | |||||
97 | Presbyterian | 16.03 | 2 | 8 | 100 | |||||
98 | Bethune-Cookman | 15.99 | 7 | 5 | 102 | |||||
99 | Lehigh | 15.89 | 3 | 8 | 103 | |||||
100 | Jackson State | 15.88 | 5 | 5 | 95 | |||||
101 | Howard | 15.31 | 4 | 6 | 96 | |||||
102 | Wagner | 14.85 | 4 | 7 | 110 | |||||
103 | Morgan State | 14.79 | 4 | 7 | 106 | |||||
104 | Southern Utah | 14.56 | 1 | 10 | 99 | |||||
105 | Bryant | 13.98 | 6 | 5 | 105 | |||||
106 | Norfolk State | 13.98 | 4 | 6 | 98 | |||||
107 | Butler | 13.86 | 4 | 7 | 104 | |||||
108 | Davidson | 13.67 | 6 | 5 | 112 | |||||
109 | Houston Baptist | 13.47 | 1 | 10 | 109 | |||||
110 | Tennessee Tech | 13.41 | 1 | 10 | 107 | |||||
111 | North Carolina Central | 13.16 | 4 | 6 | 108 | |||||
112 | Hampton | 12.20 | 7 | 3 | 115 | |||||
113 | Savannah State | 11.99 | 2 | 8 | 116 | |||||
114 | Jacksonville | 11.59 | 2 | 8 | 113 | |||||
115 | Brown | 11.53 | 1 | 9 | 114 | |||||
116 | Virginia Military | 11.15 | 1 | 10 | 111 | |||||
117 | Morehead State | 10.61 | 3 | 8 | 117 | |||||
118 | Texas Southern | 9.98 | 2 | 8 | 118 | |||||
119 | North Alabama | 9.98 | 7 | 3 | 119 | |||||
120 | Delaware State | 9.55 | 3 | 8 | 122 | |||||
121 | Robert Morris | 9.07 | 2 | 9 | 120 | |||||
122 | Valparaiso | 8.72 | 2 | 9 | 123 | |||||
123 | Alabama State | 7.87 | 3 | 7 | 121 | |||||
124 | Mississippi Valley State | 7.10 | 1 | 9 | 124 | |||||
125 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 4.80 | 2 | 9 | 125 |