Chris' FCS page #4

On a week where the FBS shook with the losses to #s 1, 9, 14, and the routs of #s 13 and 18, I bring you the relative tranquility of this weeks FCS football. I was looking at my ratings vs the coaches poll. The 10 teams in their top 25 not in my top twenty have a combined record of 29-26; the five teams in my top 20 not in their top 25 are 24-5. Go figure.

The top three hold the same this week. Delaware (their #2) retains #1 with a 26-7 pasting of Maine; James Madison (their #6) stays at 2 with a narrow 17-13 win over Towson; and Montana St. (their #10) holds onto 3rd with another shootout win, 44-31 over Portland St. The next 4 spots are climbers. Liberty (26) goes up to 4 with a 44-20 romp on Charleston Southern; North Dakota St. (17) moves up to 5 with a 34-29 win vs tough Youngstown St.; Appalachian St. (their #1) moves into 6th after a desperate 34-31 battle with hard luck Elon; and Wofford(25), who moved into my countdown with an upset of #16 last week, climbs 6 spots to 7 with a 33-31 classic win over last weeks' #5 Georgia Southern (13), who then drops to 11th.

Jacksonville St. (3) and UMass (8) hold their spots at 8 and 9 on my chart; William and Mary (5) move into the top ten at 10 after a 26-7 rout of URI. Western Illinois (15), who vaulted to 4th last week with a win over then #2 N. Dakota St., plummet to 12th after losing to previously winless South Dakota St., prompting them to abandon their invasion of the Dakotas; South Carolina St.(12), who were a victim of the numbers game last week, move back up to 16th with a 34-13 win over Norfolk St. Stephen F. Austin (their #4) slips a pair with a last minute 32-27 win over McNeese St.; and Villanova (7), taking a week off after their beatdown by William and Mary last week, hold at 15th.

Four of my last 5 teams rank no higher than 31st on the coaches poll. Coming in at 16th is undefeated Bethune-Cookman (42), fresh off a rout of winless Delaware St.; Montana (12) whops hapless Idaho St. 30-7 to climb to 17th; the Dayton Flyers (45) enter at 18th after a narrow 21-20 win over doormat San Diego; Jacksonville (31) slips to 19th after a 39-34 slugfest with Drake; and Robert Morris (43) catches hold of the last spot on the way down after edging Monmouth 17-16. South Dakota (3-3, last week's 11th) and Texas State (3-2, 20th) drop out after sustaining losses to teams they should've beat this week.

Scanning the schedule next week, it looks like the Armageddon matchup will be #16 Bethune-Cookman and #13 South Carolina State. Since this game would be #42 vs #12 on the coaches poll, I guess it will tell us how good I really am.