UND 19th in FCS Poll

The University of North Dakota football teams starts the preseason ranked 19th in FCS Football.

STATS FCS Poll
Rankings as of 8/8/2016
Rank	School	Votes	Prev
1	North Dakota State (0-0)	3941 (152)	NR
2	Sam Houston State (0-0)	3636 (2)	NR
3	Jacksonville State (0-0)	3569 (4)	NR
4	Richmond (0-0)	3418	NR
5	UNI (0-0)	3413	NR
6	Chattanooga (0-0)	2758	NR
7	Charleston Southern (0-0)	2734	NR
8	South Dakota State (0-0)	2554	NR
9	William & Mary (0-0)	2517	NR
10	Illinois State (0-0)	2303	NR
11	McNeese State (0-0)	2151	NR
12	James Madison (0-0)	2037	NR
13	Montana (0-0)	1921	NR
14	Eastern Washington (0-0)	1879	NR
15	Citadel (0-0)	1535	NR
16	Coastal Carolina (0-0)	1397	NR
17	Portland State (0-0)	1262	NR
18	Northern Arizona (0-0)	1189	NR
19	North Dakota (0-0)	977	NR
20	Western Illinois (0-0)	876	NR
21	Colgate (0-0)	767	NR
22	New Hampshire (0-0)	657	NR
23	Villanova (0-0)	652	NR
24	Towson (0-0)	428	NR
25	North Carolina A&T (0-0)	395	NR

Others: Youngstown State (393) , Fordham (385) , Harvard (294) , Eastern Kentucky (189) , Southern Utah (162) , Eastern Illinois (151) , Central Arkansas (136) , Duquesne (75) , Alcorn State (62) , Grambling State (59) , Weber State (49) , Penn (46) , Bethune-Cookman (43) , Wofford (43) , Dartmouth (37) , Western Carolina (36) , Liberty (36) , Lamar (28) , Montana State (26) , Delaware (25) , South Dakota (17) , Maine (14) , Dayton (10) , North Carolina Central (10) , Mercer (10) , Prairie View A&M (9) , UT Martin (7) , Samford (7) , South Carolina State (5) , Bryant (4) , Indiana State (3) , Kennesaw State (3) , Southeast Missouri State (2) , Tennessee State (2) , Stony Brook (2) , Southern Illinois (1) , San Diego (1) , Northwestern State (1) , Saint Francis U (1)

FCS Poll

• FCS Coaches' Poll
• The Sports Network
• Simple Ratings System

FCS Coaches' PollThe Sports NetworkSimple Ratings System

RANK	SCHOOL	2014 RECORD	POINTS	2014 FINAL

RANK	SCHOOL	2014 RECORD	POINTS	2014 FINAL
1	North Dakota State (24)	15-1	600	1
2	Illinois State	13-2	551	2
3	Villanova	11-3	512	7
4	Sam Houston State	11-5	511	6
5	Coastal Carolina	12-2	502	5
6	Eastern Washington	11-3	481	4
7	New Hampshire	12-2	445	3
8	Chattanooga	10-4	409	8
9	Jacksonville State	10-2	396	9
10	Northern Iowa	9-5	381	10
11	Montana State	8-5	296	20
12	Montana	9-5	278	11
13	James Madison	9-3	272	19
14	Liberty	9-5	256	17
15	South Dakota State	9-5	215	13
16	Youngstown State	7-5	205	25
17	Eastern Kentucky	9-4	171	21
18	Richmond	9-5	170	16
19	Southeastern Louisiana	9-4	164	12
20	Indiana State	8-6	106	18
21	Fordham	11-3	103	14
22	Harvard	10-0	99	15
23	McNeese State	6-5	91	NR
24	Idaho State	8-4	82	NR
25	Eastern Illinois	5-7	73	NR

There are four Big Sky Football teams in the FCS Coaches Poll. The question that everyone is asking, will the NDSU Bison win their fifth FCS Championship in a row? The chances are very good. UND fans are wondering if their favorite team will finally make the NCAA FCS playoffs.

Big Ten Will No Longer Be Playing FCS Schools

I guess the Big Ten Football Conference is tired of losing to FCS schools. For instance, our brother to the south have won five straight games against FBS opponents and has a 2-1 record against Minnesota of the Big Ten.

Per Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press:

Fellow Big Ten West title competitors have somewhat lighter crossover schedules. Wisconsin will play Rutgers and Maryland; Nebraska gets Rutgers and resurgent Michigan State.

The FCS schools, which now supplement their budgets with high-paying games against FBS schools, now won't have that revenue.

"That is going to put some real burden on schools of that size and how they are going to go forward with their football programs," said Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association. 

So, is it good policy for the FBS schools to not schedule the FCS Schools? I don't think so, unless your team has a good shot of making the playoff game. Right now, only four schools make the FBS playoffs.

I suppose the Kansas schools will think twice about scheduling FCS schools. Especially, after NDSU beat both of them recently (2010, 2013).

 

ESPN, Many Power Coaches Want Exclusive Sked

So it begins. Basically, the Big Ten, Pac-12, Big-12, ACC, SEC, and the Fighting Irish don't want to play any more football games against the FCS schools or the smaller Division I FBS schools.

What's this means, you're not going to see anymore FCS teams like Appalachian State beating Michigan in football. I also realize that APP State is not a FBS school, but they're not going to be playing the big five schools anymore, either. Frankly, this smacks of elitism. It's not like Minnesota or Indiana are very good in football. One has to wonder if this is going to filter down to College Hockey and Basketball as well?

Brett McMurphy, ESPN.com - Many of the Power Five conference coaches in college football told ESPN that they favor a schedule consisting of only Power Five opponents.

Of the 65 Power Five coaches from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC and Notre Dame, 46 percent (30 coaches) favored playing exclusively Power Five opponents while 35 percent (23 coaches) were opposed. About 18.5 percent (12 coaches) were undecided.

The Pac-12, Big 12 and SEC coaches favored playing all Power Five opponents, while the ACC coaches were against it by a 6-4 margin with four coaches undecided. Big Ten coaches were divided: Six each were for and against it, with two undecided.

The coaches, who were in Bristol, Connecticut, last month, were asked whether they would favor all Power Five conferences playing their respective conference schedules and then scheduling all non-conference games against other Power Five teams. Because of the tougher schedules under this hypothetical scenario, teams would not be required to reach six wins to play in a bowl.

The Pac-12, Big 12 and SEC coaches favored playing all Power Five opponents, while the ACC coaches were against it by a 6-4 margin with four coaches undecided. Big Ten coaches were divided: Six each were for and against it, with two undecided.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said "fans want" Power Five teams playing exclusively Power Five opponents.

This is good from @McMurphyESPN; poll of Big Ten coaches on playing just power-5 teams: 6 said yes, 6 said no, 2 undecided #FCSFootball
— Dom Izzo (@DomIzzoWDAY) August 7, 2014

Lot of interesting quotes in that ESPN story. 46 percent of Power 5 FB coaches want Power 5-only schedules.
— Tom Miller (@tommillergf) August 7, 2014

NDSU Tops the 2014 FCS Coaches Preseason Poll

Team (No. 1 Votes)	W-L	Points	Final Rank
1. North Dakota State (18)	15-0	636	1
2. Eastern Washington (6)	12-3	615	3
3. Southeast Louisiana (1)	11-3	542	6
4. New Hampshire	10-5	510	5
5. Montana	10-3	505	8
6. Coastal Carolina	12-3	447	7
7. Towson (1)	13-3	438	2
8. Jacksonville State	12-2	425	12
9. McNeese State	10-3	424	9
10. South Dakota State	9-5	332	14
11. Eastern Illinois	12-2	314	4
12. Fordham	12-2	305	10
13. Villanova	6-5	287	NR
14. Sam Houston State	9-5	277	13
15. Northern Iowa	7-5	263	NR
16. Chattanooga	8-4	238	25
17. Tennessee State	10-4	237	17
18. Furman	8-6	188	21
19. Montana State	7-5	170	20
20. Maine	10-3	169	11
21. Youngtown State	8-4	162	19
22. William & Mary	7-5	159	NR
23. Bethune-Cookman	10-3	136	16
24. Richmond	6-6	118	NR
25. Northern Arizona	9-3	116	15