r/fcs • u/Perryapsis North Dakota State • /r/CFB Bug Finder • Sep 15 '26
Weekly Thread 2026 Week 2 /r/FCS Poll Results: #1 Montana State, #2 Illinois State, #3 Montana, #4 South Dakota State, #5 Tarleton
2026 Week 3 /r/FCS Poll Results
Also available in image form!
Dropped from the Top 25: Mercer (15), Richmond (25)
Others receiving votes: Mercer (49), Furman (39), UAlbany (29), Dayton (27), Richmond (24), Jackson State (24), Colgate (22), Alabama State (21), Campbell (18), Wofford (14), Dartmouth (13), Southern Utah (13), Monmouth (12), HCU (7), Abilene Christian (7)
The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/Adamscottd for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS poll this week!
Breakdown of Rankings by Conference
As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is also now part of the Massey College Football Ranking Composite. Results of this poll will update under the column with header 'RDT'.
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u/passwordisguest /r/FCS • Gulf Star Sep 15 '26
HELL YEAH CAL POLY TOP 25
Also great to see SFA in the top 10. They really should be ahead of Tarleton imo, but it’s early so doesn’t really matter and I’ll take what I can get.
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u/PositiveElection2141 Lehigh Mountain Hawks • Marching Band Sep 15 '26
If SFA should be ahead of Tarleton, North Dakota and Lehigh should also be ahead of Tarleton
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u/Zloggt :chicagostate: Southern Illinois • Chicago S… Sep 15 '26
Too bad ACU decided to fall off a cliff to start the season…it really ruined the long-standing trifecta of Purple Texas teams on the top lol
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u/StretPharmacist FCS Sep 15 '26
ok but is tarleton good
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u/RepresentativeOfnone South Dakota State • Nebraska Sep 15 '26
Mmm tbd we I think we need them to play a Dakota school or one of the montanas by week 3 to get a real feel for that question every year
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u/Gick_Drayson Montana Grizzlies • Brawl of the Wild Sep 15 '26
Human science hasn’t advanced to the point where we can know.
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u/damnyoutuesday Montana State • Minnesota Sep 16 '26
We will need to achieve whatever the fuck the end of 2001 A Space Odyssey is to properly know
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u/sernameistakentry Idaho State • Oregon State Sep 15 '26
With NAU being consistently ranked, SUU receiving votes, and Cal Poly cracking the top 25, I am scared for our next 3 games. In four weeks, we’ll know exactly where Idaho State stands. And yes, I take this poll as more valid than STATS and AFCA.
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u/PositiveElection2141 Lehigh Mountain Hawks • Marching Band Sep 15 '26
Cal Poly is in the rankings because 1 person put them 9th. I wouldn’t treat this poll as everything
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u/GeneralAcorn Montana State • Boise State Sep 15 '26
Lmao at Villanova slotting in above W&M, but CAL POLY HAS OFFICIALLY HIT THE TOP 25!!!
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u/Zloggt :chicagostate: Southern Illinois • Chicago S… Sep 15 '26
It’s truly incredible that the Big Sky meta has changed so much that Idaho State and Cal Poly are now better teams than the likes of Weber State and Eastern Washington lol
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u/GeneralAcorn Montana State • Boise State Sep 15 '26
As a Bona-fide Eastern Hater, I approve of this table turn.
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u/tdpdcpa Lehigh Mountain Hawks • Patriot Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
I simply don't understand how you look at the lay of the land and declare that Montana is #1. Montana State was a unanimous preseason #1 in the r/fcs poll, which tells me (1) the selectors didn't vote or (2) something about their resumes have compelled them to lift Montana up to #1. I just don't see it.
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u/Lucky-Hunter-Dude Montana State Bobcats Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
I'm guessing they don't know who is who. one ballot has missoula #1, Montana State at #3.
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u/No_Bite_7238 Montana State Bobcats Sep 16 '26
What are you talking about?! Put the Montana Griz above us?! Are you just saying the wrong team or do you actually believe that?
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u/tdpdcpa Lehigh Mountain Hawks • Patriot Sep 16 '26
I’m saying that Montana State is an obvious choice for #1, and I can’t fathom how anyone can put Montana above them based on preseason expectations combined with current season results.
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u/passwordisguest /r/FCS • Gulf Star Sep 15 '26
Alright, I’d love to hear an explanation from the two folks who have Montana at #1.
I feel like I can come up with better arguments to have them at 10 than at 1, so genuinely curious your thinking.
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u/tdpdcpa Lehigh Mountain Hawks • Patriot Sep 15 '26
Beyond putting Montana #1, there are numerous things about u/i2walkedonjesus ballot that should have it thrown out.
Dayton is ranked 11 (Dayton received one other vote)
Robert Morris is ranked 15 (RMU got no other votes)
Bryant is ranked 16 (Bryant got no other votes)
Youngstown State is ranked 18
Grambling is ranked 21 (received no other votes in the Top 25 poll)
Butler is ranked 23 (no other votes)
St. Thomas is ranked 24 (no other votes; yes, this is the 3rd PFL team that's ranked)
Alcorn State is #25 (no other votes)
They didn't rank Tarleton
I'm not sure what the justification would be for where these landed on its face.
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u/Adamscottd South Dakota State • Minnesota Sep 15 '26
I feel like there's one or two ballots like this every week, and ballots like these should be getting tossed imo. Way too far away from reality to be worth including, even if it doesn't influence the actual poll much or at all.
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u/Lucky-Hunter-Dude Montana State Bobcats Sep 15 '26
they play NCAA FB. I wonder if they are just simming weeks there. that would explain the random lower half rankings.
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u/_Rooster_ Illinois State • /r/CFB Top Scorer Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
One of the voter's usernames doesn't exist, /u/i2WalkedOnJesus doesn't appear to have ever posted here. The other, /u/Weebit4, has never posted here.5
u/damnyoutuesday Montana State • Minnesota Sep 15 '26
i2WalkedOnJesus exists
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u/_Rooster_ Illinois State • /r/CFB Top Scorer Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
Strange. It said the username didn't exist when I first clicked on it. I checked now from the same link and it worked.
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u/I_like_race_cars Tarleton State Texans Sep 15 '26
Maybe a misclick??? Idk what other explanation there would be
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u/Perryapsis North Dakota State • /r/CFB Bug Finder Sep 15 '26
They both also ranked Montana State though; so it's unlikely to be a misclick. If that were the case, you'd expect them to accidentally rank Montana twice. Then their ballots would be tossed due to the duplicate.
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u/somebodysbuddy Lehigh Mountain Hawks • Marching Band Sep 15 '26
The most reasonable explanation is "Wait, there are two Montanas?"
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u/hman1500 Austin Peay Governors • Marching Band Sep 15 '26
If they don't know that there are multiple Montana schools in the FCS, they should not be voting.
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u/SergeantThreat Montana State Bobcats Sep 15 '26
Montana is the Notre Dame of FCS football and get the votes accordingly
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u/kingpeachcolt Mercer Bears • Oklahoma Sooners Sep 15 '26
Unranked is a bit high for Mercer. We've scored a grand total of two offensive touchdowns in 120 minutes of play against scholarship opponents...
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u/hman1500 Austin Peay Governors • Marching Band Sep 15 '26
I do not know what people are seeing in Cal Poly to rank them. Granted, I haven't been able to watch any games, but they've beaten a winless Idaho team and a non-D1 school, and lost to a SJSU team that hasn't won a bowl game since 2015. Why do they have a 9th place vote?
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u/mackincheezy7 Sep 15 '26
QB looks very good to me. Idaho game was clutch, and I think San Jose State is a solid FBS team (put up 26 on USC and beat a solid EMU team), and Cal Poly held their own (tie game into the 4th) against them.
I think other people just have a ton of inertia to previous Cal Poly teams, but what do I know it's only week 3, they just really passed the eye test
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u/LBerg013 South Dakota State Jackrabbits Sep 15 '26
Completely agree. Maybe Cal Poly will be good but they have two one score wins against a D-II and an Idaho team that will be lucky to win 4 games. I'd still have Abilene Christian above them
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u/damnyoutuesday Montana State • Minnesota Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
What have the Griz done that SDSU and Tarleton haven't?
And Villanova over William & Mary???? The team that beat them??
And welcome to the rankings, Cal Poly!!!!
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u/Crispy_Whale Montana Grizzlies • Oregon State Beavers Sep 16 '26
"What have the Griz done that SDSU and Tarleton haven't?"
-Beaten Utah Tech, Southern Utah and Drake!
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u/tdpdcpa Lehigh Mountain Hawks • Patriot Sep 15 '26 edited Sep 15 '26
It's interesting - Villanova appears on fewer ballots, but they have a wide range of rankings, from 12 to 25, on the ballots that they're on.
W&M is on more ballots, but is more consistently ranked between 18 and 25.
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u/damnyoutuesday Montana State • Minnesota Sep 15 '26
Idk how anyone can look at Villanova's performance so far and say they're the 12th best team in the country
4
u/tdpdcpa Lehigh Mountain Hawks • Patriot Sep 15 '26
Rank Ballot 1 Ballot 2 1 Montana State Montana State 2 Montana Illinois State 3 South Dakota Montana 4 Illinois State Lehigh 5 Tarleton Tarleton 6 North Dakota Stephen F. Austin 7 Lehigh South Dakota 8 South Dakota State Tennessee Tech 9 UC Davis North Dakota 10 Yale UC Davis 11 Youngstown State Rhode Island 12 Villanova Villanova The ballots are pretty interesting. Deviations of 3 or more rankings from the baseline are bolded, more than 5 are bolded and italicized.
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u/SergeantThreat Montana State Bobcats Sep 15 '26
They’ll either earn their spot with a good game against OSU or drop if they get body bagged, so I’m not overly worried about their current spot
5
u/Danster21 Montana State • Washington Sep 15 '26
And fortunately you can say the same thing for the next ~5 weeks, wherein most over/under ranked teams have a big opponent in front of them.
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u/montalaskan Montana State Bobcats Sep 16 '26
The key game for both teams to "prove it" is Montana and UC Davis. I don't think, barring a win or a terrible loss that the Oregon State game will do much.
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u/PositiveElection2141 Lehigh Mountain Hawks • Marching Band Sep 15 '26
Cal Poly is in the rankings because 1 person decided to put them 9th
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u/montalaskan Montana State Bobcats Sep 16 '26
Have you considered that they've won 25 consecutive off-seasons?
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u/ST_Lawson Western Illinois • Marching Band Sep 15 '26
I assume the complete lack of mention of the OVC in the Breakdown of Rankings by conference means that no OVC team has even shown up in the ORV section this season?
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u/Perryapsis North Dakota State • /r/CFB Bug Finder Sep 15 '26
That could be a data error. When I took over the poll last year, the Big South - OVC merger was still in place. I'll look into it.
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u/Electromotivation James Madison Dukes Sep 16 '26
Oh the patriot average isn’t 7.0 that only includes Lehigh
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u/Perryapsis North Dakota State • /r/CFB Bug Finder Sep 16 '26
Yeah, something's still wonky with Villanova and William & Mary moving to the Patriot.
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u/East-Westerly Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Sep 16 '26
excited to be ranked but these nerves are a new emotion
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u/I_like_race_cars Tarleton State Texans Sep 15 '26
We have a better "resume" than Illinois state, so I wouldn't put them ahead of us. But I'm not going to raise a massive fuss about being behind them and Jack's.
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u/Mcclintonfortwo Miami Hurricanes • Jacksonville Dolphins Sep 16 '26
Austin Peay and West Florida is gonna be a banger this week.
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u/PositiveElection2141 Lehigh Mountain Hawks • Marching Band Sep 15 '26
Who has Lehigh in 13th behind NAU and Cal Poly who are in the top 10?!?! Wah?!
Ah, they have Montana in second. It all makes sense now
0
u/bradleyve Sep 16 '26
Ll so this poll is taken by a bunch of redditors with no football connections, not players, coaches journalists, not even water boys … nothing? This poll has no credibility whatsoever.
25
u/Zloggt :chicagostate: Southern Illinois • Chicago S… Sep 15 '26
I get that they probably don’t have as much meat on the resume compared to other teams…but like, why are we punishing UC Davis so much for a pretty routine FBS bodybag game (and one against a ranked school, mind you)?