I have been providing a weekly ranking of my Top 25 NCAA Division I FCS small college football teams every week since early October.  Below are the SwampSwamiSports.com rankings (expanded to show some additional teams this week) through the week ending November 15, 2025:

This is my first season covering the FCS group.  I am using the same guidelines which have served me well in determining a weekly Top 25 ranking list for the major college FBS football teams over the past seven years.

There are only a few major media services which provide significant weekly coverage of the FCS smaller college football teams.  My weekly rankings (click here for my FCS methodology) give you the chance to compare my top teams  vs. the long-time American Football Coaches Association FCS Poll.  

The website for the Coaches Poll indicated that 26 FCS Board of Coaches determine their weekly Top 25 rankings for the smaller division teams.

This week, we agree on 17 teams in our Top 25 rankings

Below are the eight teams in my latest poll which were left out of the Coaches’ Top 25:

#8 – 9-2 Presbyterian College (Pioneer Football League)

#14 – 8-2 Alabama State (SWAC)*

#16 – 7-2 Dartmouth (Ivy League)

#18 – 8-3 Sacred Heart (Independent)

#21 – 8-3 UT-Rio Grande Valley (Southland)

#23 – 8-3 Delaware State (MEAC)*

#24 – 8-3 South Carolina State (MEAC)*

#25 – 8-3 Prairie View A&M (SWAC)*

Here are the eight teams in the Coaches’ Top 25 which differ from my rankings:

#14 – 7-4 UC-Davis (Big Sky)

#16 – 7-4 North Dakota (Missouri Valley)

#17 – 7-4 Youngstown State (Missouri Valley)

#18 – 7-4 Abilene Christian (United Athletic Conference)

#21 – 8-4 South Dakota Coyotes (Missouri Valley)

#23 – 8-3 West Georgia Wolves (United Athletic Conference)

#24 – 8-3 Lafayette Leopards (Coastal Athletics Association)

*Denotes teams/conferences which will not compete in the FCS playoffs.  Instead, the MEAC and SWAC winners will play each other in the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta.

Who should be included in the 24-team FCS Playoff field?

There is (of course) a national committee which will determine the 24 teams to be included in this year’s FCS playoffs.  The 2025 FCS Playoff Committee is comprised of one athletic director from each of the 11 FCS conferences which are participating in the playoff field.  This will be the first year for the Ivy League to send one or more representatives into the field.

As previously noted, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) send their conference champions to compete in the Celebration Bowl for the HBCU title on December 13. 

The MEAC and SWAC do not have a voting representative determining the 24 teams heading into the FCS playoffs beginning on November 29.   

Each of this year’s 11 participating conferences will send their league champion team to the FCS playoffs.  The other 13 teams are considered “At-large” and will be determined by the selection committee on Sunday, November 23.

First, let’s predict the 11 Conference Champions.  “Come on down!”

All rankings shown are from the SwampSwamiSports.com FCS Top 25 published on Monday, November 17, 2025:

Missouri Valley – #2 North Dakota State Bison (11-0) – clinched last week

Southern (So-Con) – #7 Mercer Bears (10-1) – clinched last week

Southland – #11 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (9-2) – clinched last week

Here are my predictions for the other eight conference champions receiving automatic bids:

Big Sky Conference – #3 Montana Grizzlies (11-0)

Coastal Athletic Association – #10 Rhode Island Rams (9-2)

Ivy League – #4 Harvard (9-0)

Northeast Conference– #36 Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (7-4)

Ohio Valley/Big South Alliance – #6 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (10-1)

Patriot League – #1 Lehigh Mountain Hawks (11-0)

Pioneer Football League – #28 Drake Bulldogs (7-3)

United Athletic Conference – #31 Abilene Christian (7-4)

Who should receive the other 13 “at-large” bids? 

My personal belief is that the remaining 13 teams should be determined based on their performance on the field this season.  Wins and losses matter.  For example, a 9-2 team from Conference A has clearly sustained more on-field success than a 7-4 squad from Conference B.

Determining the relative strength of schedule between teams at this level is even harder than evaluating the major college FBS teams.  Most fans are able to see the top major college teams on television several times during the football season.

Let’s stick with my ranking system to select the following 13 teams to receive an At-Large invitation into Sunday’s FCS selection show (11AM CST on ESPNU):

Tarleton State Texans (UAC – #5 ranking) – The 10-1 Texans won their first nine games of the year before losing 27-24 at Abilene Christian. 

The Texans opened the season with an impressive 30-27 road win against 5-4 FBS member Army.

Presbyterian Blue Hose (Pioneer and #8 ranking) – Presbyterian (9-2) plays in what is considered to be a relatively weak football conference. 

However, the Blue Hose went to Macon, Georgia and gave the 10-1 Mercer Bears (champions of the So-Con) their only loss in 2025.  That’s good enough to justify a spot in my playoff field!

Monmouth Hawks (CAA and #9 ranking) – The 9-2 Hawks lost one of their two games on the road at FBS member UNC-Charlotte 26-20. 

When compared against fellow CAA member 8-2 Villanova, Monmouth wins my tiebreaker by virtue of their 51-33 drubbing of Villanova on September 20.

Montana State Bobcats (Big Sky and #12 ranking) – Montana State is 9-2 heading into this weekend’s game with unbeaten Montana (11-0). 

The Bobcats blew-out 7-3 UC-Davis 38-17 two weeks ago and receive my vote.

Villanova Wildcats (CAA and #15 ranking) – Villanova (8-2) is red hot right now. 

The Wildcats have won seven straight games heading into this weekend’s season finale against a very tough 8-3 Sacred Heart team.  Villanova’s only losses are to FBS member Penn State and at 9-2 Monmouth earlier this season.

Dartmouth Big Green (Ivy League and #16 ranking) – Dartmouth is 7-2 with its only losses coming at 9-0 Harvard and 5-4 Penn. 

If the FCS committee needs to be reminded, Dartmouth beat 7-2 Yale 17-16 earlier this season.  I expect Yale to lose at Harvard on Saturday.  If I’m wrong (it happens), then Yale should make the field, too.

Sacred Heart Pioneers (Independent and #18 ranking) – The 8-3 Pioneers have played a fairly tough schedule. 

Their three losses have come at 11-0 Lehigh (28-10), at 7-4 Central Connecticut State (42-35) and at 11-0 Montana (43-21).  Saturday’s season finale is at 8-2 Villanova. Another loss could knock Sacred Heart out of the playoffs, but their losses have come against likely FCS Playoff teams.

Lamar Cardinals (Southland and #19 ranking) – Lamar (8-3) ran off seven straight wins earlier this season. 

The Cardinals from Beaumont lost on Saturday at Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin 26-15 but hold my tiebreaker with wins over 8-3 Southeastern Louisiana and 8-3 UT- Rio Grande Valley.

Southeastern Louisiana Lions (Southland and #20 ranking) – The 8-3 Lions lost two of their games on the road at FBS members Louisiana Tech and LSU. 

The other loss came in a 14-12 thriller at 8-3 Lamar.  Southeastern has one of the top defenses in the FCS this year and has allowed less than 12 points per game to non-FBS opponents.  They are definitely in my 2025 playoff field!

UT – Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros (Southland and #21 ranking) – In case you are counting, this would be the fourth Southland Conference team in the FCS playoffs. 

This is UTRGV’s first full season in the FCS, so I fully expect the playoff committee to shun them.  Not me.  The Vaqueros’ only three losses came on the road against playoff-bound Stephen F. Austin, Lamar, and Southeastern Louisiana.

Illinois State Redbirds (Missouri Valley and #22 ranking) – Illinois State (8-3) lost its opener at FBS #8 ranked Oklahoma. 

The Redbirds’ other two losses came – at home – to 11-0 North Dakota State (33-16) and 7-4 Youngstown State (40-35).  Illinois State is on a four game winning streak heading into Saturday’s home finale against 6-5 rival Southern Illinois.  They must beat the Salukis to get into the playoffs.

Lafayette Leopards (Patriot and #26 ranking) – The 8-3 Leopards are playing at home Saturday in “The Rivalry” game against the 11-0 Lehigh Mountain Hawks. 

If Lafayette wins, they’re in the playoffs as Patriot League champs and Lehigh will still receive an at-large bid. Should Lafayette lose on Saturday, they are at risk of being left out of the playoff field.  The Leopards’ “best win” came over 6-5 Richmond 35-28.  Another four-loss team with a better resume is likely receive this spot.

West Georgia Wolves (UAC and #27 ranking) – West Georgia (8-3) has been omitted from my FCS Top 25 most of this season for good reason.

The Wolves have swept teams with lousy records but lost all three games to tougher competition.  West Georgia (located in Carrollton or about 45 miles west of Atlanta) lost games at 7-4 Austin Peay, at home to 7-4 Abilene Christian, and at 10-1 Tarleton State. The Wolves’ weak non-conference schedule may be a hard sell to the FCS playoff committee.

Let’s include two “stand-by” teams with the best chance to shout “Pick me!” to the FCS playoff committee:

UC Davis Aggies (Big Sky and #29 ranking) – UC-Davis (7-3) had its season opener at So-Con champion Mercer canceled due to possible tropical storm conditions in Georgia. 

The Aggies have one less victory than other competitors affected my rankings (eight wins beats seven in the SwampSwamiSports.com rankings).  Having only three losses, though, helped to elevate UC-Davis over the 18 FCS teams which have four defeats through last weekend’s games.  The UC Davis Aggies must beat conference rival Sacramento State (7-4) on Saturday to have a chance at securing a playoff spot.

South Dakota Coyotes (Missouri Valley and #30 ranking) – The 8-4 Coyotes concluded their season last week on November 15. 

South Dakota lost a “money game” at FBS opponent Iowa State to start the season.  They dropped to 0-2 after losing another road game at 8-3 Lamar (20-13).  The Coyotes can point to a win over likely Pioneer Conference champ 7-3 Drake (42-21) and a pair of 7-4 MVC foes in South Dakota State and North Dakota.

Best of luck to all of the FCS teams this weekend! 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

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