Fear The FCS 2026 Week 2 Media Ballot

In 2025, I was invited to vote in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 for the first time. I was beyond thrilled to accept the invitation, and like many others, I take the opportunity seriously. I am a returning voter in 2026 and, as part of the weekly process, I will provide some thoughts, reasoning, and transparency for my top 25 ballot. Below is the Stats Perform Top 25 poll submitted after the week 1 games. The week 1 submission can be found here.

General Thoughts

I anticipated more movement this week, but there were plenty of FBS games and few upsets. Still, movement occurred throughout the top 25. Games against the FBS will rarely cause a significant drop for FCS teams, unless there’s an injury to a key contributor. On the flip side, a win over the FBS can cause a team to rise, as we will see this week. Of course, sometimes an FBS win can be a mirage, but that’s something we won’t know until later in the season.

At the top, there was no change for the top two teams. Montana State keeps the top spot after crushing Butler 51-24, while South Dakota State remains #2 after a 34-18 loss to Northwestern. The Jackrabbits were down 20-18 midway through the fourth quarter, but two late touchdowns ended any hopes for an upset. Tarleton State jumps five spots from 8th to 3rd this week, following its 20-13 win over Bowling Green. The Texans looked better on defense this week, and Tylan Hines has been electric in the first two games of the season.

There was minimal change between the 4th and 10th spots in the poll. After two games, all of the teams feel comparable, and I don’t see a huge gap between 4th and 10th. I could make a case against any of the teams, but they all have plenty of positives and upside. I would even go as far as saying most of these teams could give Tarleton a good game, but I think the Texans are third best in the country. Of note, Lehigh moves from 12th to 10th this week. I think the defense will be very good again this year, but we’ll see just how good the Mountain Hawks are next week against William & Mary.

11th through 20th is the same story, with minimal movement. Idaho State jumps from 21st to 15th after defeating Utah State 29-17. It was an impressive win, and I think they’ve been better than UC Davis so far, which sits just below them in 16th. Yale slid from 16th to 19th to make room for other teams that have better resumes. That’s just a byproduct of the Ivy League’s late start.

The bottom part of the poll was probably the toughest to figure out this week. West Florida‘s win over Central Arkansas put them into the poll, as did Campbell‘s win over previously ranked Western Carolina. Northern Arizona dropped a spot to 24th, but the last spot was between nearly a dozen teams. Ultimately, I went with Mercer, which returns to the poll after a much improved offensive performance against Presbyterian.

Teams That Dropped Out and Other Notables

Three teams dropped out of my top 25 this week: #22 Villanova, #24 Cal Poly, and #25 Western Carolina. Villanova defeated Bucknell 17-16, but couldn’t have looked any worse in the process. The Wildcats built a 14-0 lead, saw it evaporate early in the fourth quarter, and needed Bucknell to miss a field goal to hang on. After two games, I don’t think Villanova is a top-25 team at this point.

Cal Poly is another team that won, but will drop out. The Mustangs had an unconvincing 24-17 win over D-II Central Washington, with the defense giving up 430 yards to CWU. As for Western Carolina, the Catamounts lost 28-19 to Campbell after the game was delayed from Saturday to Sunday. While the defense surrendered 528 yards, it was the offense that struggled the most. The defense forced three turnovers, but the offense couldn’t cash any of them in for a touchdown. All three Campbell turnovers resulted in a field goal attempt from inside the 25, with WCU making two of the three attempts.

I noted above that about 12 teams were in contention for the three top-25 openings. West Florida, Campbell, and Mercer were selected over Central Arkansas, Delaware State, Incarnate Word, Prairie View A&M, Richmond, Southeast Missouri State, Southern Utah, The Citadel, and UTRGV. Cal Poly and Villanova were also considered for the last spot as ranked teams from last week.

Photo Credit to Tarleton State University Athletics