FCS Football Playoffs If The Season Ended Today Through Week 9
FCS Football Playoffs If The Season Ended Today Through Week 9
FloFootball's second look at the FCS Football Playoffs as they stand now sees Stony Brook and ETSU among the teams moving to the right side of the bubble.
Scoring a top-16 win comes with decided advantages, among them climbing in the Top 25 polls and moving to the right side of the FCS Playoffs bubble. Such was the case for breakout team Stony Brook, which dominated Coastal Athletic Association counterpart William & Mary in Week 9 to move into the FloFootball forecast of the NCAA FCS bracket.
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- Stony Brook Makes Statement in CAA Football Week 9
- FCS Football Scores In Week 9: Stony Brook Football Crushes William & Mary
A salty Seawolves defense shut down William & Mary's multifaceted rushing offense, running back Roland Dempster continued his push for All-American consideration, and the Stony Brook offense is clicking since Tyler Knoop took over at quarterback.
Stony Brook is one of two new additions to the playoff outlook ahead of Week 10, joining Tennessee State. Under the direction of 1995 Heisman Trophy winner and NFL superstar Eddie George, TSU has put together an impressive four-game winning streak.
The Tigers are locked in one of the biggest games on the FCS Week 10 schedule. November arrives with a bang and just four weeks remain for playoff hopefuls to state their cases for the postseason.
Automatic Bids
Big Sky: Montana State (2)
The undefeated Bobcats head into November off of a bye week recharged for its most challenging run of the season. Montana State hosts Sacramento State, a team on the periphery of the playoff picture that needs big wins to return to the postseason; travels to UC Davis on Nov. 16; then closes with Montana in a potential conference championship showdown.
Big South/OVC: SEMO (6)
SEMO extended its winning streak to seven games with a 30-24 win in Week 9 over defending Big South/OVC champion Gardner-Webb. Quarterback Paxton DeLaurent has put up some of the most impressive passing numbers of any player in the country, heading into the Redhawks' bye week with 2,738 yards and 23 touchdowns.
CAA: Rhode Island
Another strong second half vs. Maine powered Rhode Island to a perfect 7-0 against FCS opponents. The Rams are well-positioned to end their 39-yard playoff drought, but need to buck one trend that's vexed them in recent wins: Closing out strong in November.
URI's stout defense faces a challenge in Week 10 when Monmouth's high-powered offense comes to Meade Stadium.
MVFC: North Dakota State (1)
College football's most dominant dynasty is in the driver's seat for yet another No. 1 seed and clear path to Frisco for the FCS National Championship Game. The regular-season finale at South Dakota looms as the most likely potential pothole between the Bison and home-field advantage throughout the Playoffs.
NEC: Duquesne
The defending Northeast Conference champion Dukes maintained their place atop the league with a fifth consecutive win, beating Stonehill on the road in Week 9, 48-34.
Patriot: Holy Cross
Holy Cross cleared a significant hurdle in pursuit of its fifth playoff appearance in the last six seasons, beating 2023 Patriot League champion Lafayette last week, 34-28. The Patriots are on their bye in Week 10, going into the break with three straight games all decided by one-possession margins.
Pioneer: Drake
With Dayton losing in Week 9, the Pioneer Football League is possibly spared some headache if one of either Drake of St. Thomas holds serve in the final month of the regular season. The two PFL leaders, each sitting at 4-0 in conference play, play on Nov. 9 in St. Paul.
Southern: Mercer
Snapping Western Carolina's three-game winning streak and handing the Catamounts their first SoCon loss moved Mercer back into the pole position. The Bears rebounded effectively from their Week 8 setback at Samford, winning a 44-34 shootout.
By virtue of also boasting a win over Chattanooga, Mercer controls its own destiny. The Bears' matchup with ETSU is now one of the biggest games on the Week 10 docket, as its both the highest hurdle Mercer has to clear and the Bucs' opportunity to play their way onto the right side of the bubble.
Southland: UIW
A wild Week 9 win at Southeastern Louisiana that included a 22-yard Marcus Brown scoop-and-score allowed UIW to maintain its place atop the Southland. The Cardinals take their five-game winning streak home for the next two weeks to face Houston Christian and a Lamar team looking to build its own playoff case in the final month.
UAC: Tarleton (7)
Still undefeated against FCS competition and a winner in six straight, Tarleton continued its push for the program's first-ever FCS Playoffs with a 27-17 win over defending UAC champion Austin Peay. Texans quarterback Victor Gabalis overcame a three-interception day with big-play connections to Darius Coopers, who caught three passes for 112 yards with a 75-yarder, and running back Kayvon Britten ran for 106 yards.
Good news for Tarleton: It closes with 3-of-4 at home in Stephenville, Texas. Not necessarily bad news, as these are opportunities to lock up a playoff berth and perhaps climb into the top four, two of those three games are against Abilene Christian and Central Arkansas.
At-Large By Conference
Big Sky: UC Davis (4), Montana (8), Idaho
UC Davis eases into a November gauntlet with a Week 10 matchup against one-win Northern Colorado. After that, the Aggies draw both Montana and Montana State before closing with rival Sacramento State. The Aggies can play their way into an uncontested Big Sky championship and potential home-field advantage all the way to Frisco.
Montana, meanwhile, rebounded from a loss to Weber State with defeats of Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado. The Grizzlies have their own roadmap to the Big Sky title with their place in the final-month round-robin against Montana State and UC Davis.
Idaho, on a bye this week, plays two of its final three on the road but isn't facing any team currently factoring into the playoff forecast (Portland State, Weber State and Idaho State).
Big South/OVC: Tennessee State
Tennessee State moves into at-large position as this week's final entry among the Last Four In. The Tigers come off a bye week into a huge Week 10 matchup at home against UT Martin, one of this week's First Four Out.
CAA: Richmond, Villanova, Stony Brook
Richmond and Stony Brook are two of the hottest teams in the FCS heading into November. UR is a winner in six straight with a pair of dominant performances against previously undefeated Delaware and a more-lopsided-than-the-final blowout of Bryant, 41-14.
Villanova strengthened its own case heading into the final month at the expense of New Hampshire, likely putting a wrap on UNH's playoff hopes. Meanwhile, Stony Brook is the biggest climber after Week 9.
MVFC: South Dakota State (3), South Dakota (5), Illinois State, North Dakota
Two-time reigning national champion South Dakota State avoided a rare losing streak, beating in-state rival South Dakota in overtime. USD showed more in defeat than plenty of teams have shown in an win this season, standing toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s best teams.
North Dakota has cachet from its non-conference win over Montana, but losing in overtime to a sputtering Youngstown State after the Fighting Hawks took lopsided defeats to NDSU and SDSU has UND on the ropes. The Fighting Hawks close with a brutal stretch of South Dakota State and South Dakota at home before visiting Illinois State.
The Redbirds, meanwhile, moved from the Last Four In to contention for one of the top 16 seeded slots. Illinois State ends with one of the more manageable slates in the MVFC, facing Youngstown State, Northern Iowa and Indiana State before closing with North Dakota.
Southern: Chattanooga
With Western Carolina's loss knocking it from atop the SoCon, and out of the playoff forecast altogether, Mercer moves up. That leaves Chattanooga as the SoCon's lone at-large selection through Week 9.
That isn't an indictment of what is a tough conference. Rather, SoCon teams have cannibalized one another, a pitfall Chattanooga looks to avoid with a Week 10 visit to Western Carolina.
UAC: Central Arkansas, Abilene Christian
The fledgling United Athletic Conference is poised for a banner year with three teams on track to reach the FCS Playoffs. Abilene Christian's win over Central Arkansas has the Wildcats firmly on the right side of the bubble with the potential to play their way into a top 16 seed.
Central Arkansas, meanwhile, can work into a 1st Round bye if the Bears can win out. That means taking 3-of-4 on the road, including a regular-season finale at UAC-leading Tarleton.
New Additions
Stony Brook, Tennessee State
Dropped Out
Western Carolina, William & Mary
Last Four In
Abilene Christian, Stony Brook, Tennessee State, North Dakota
First Four Out
ETSU, William & Mary, Lamar, UT-Martin
1st Round Matchups
- 9. Idaho vs. Drake
- 10. UIW vs. Duquesne
- 11. Mercer vs. Holy Cross
- 12. Central Arkansas vs. Tennessee State
- 13. Rhode Island vs. Chattanooga
- 14. Villanova vs. North Dakota
- 15. Richmond vs. Stony Brook
- 16. Illinois State vs. Abilene Christian
What Are The Top Conferences In The FCS?
Curious about the top performers and strongest conference within the FCS ranks? We’ve got you covered.
See the FCS conferences ranked using a unique system that was originally developed for chess.
When Do The 2024 FCS College Football Playoffs Start?
The FCS playoffs begin on November 30, 2024.
The 2024 Division I FCS College Football Championship game will be played on January 6, 2025, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
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