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My FCS Top 25, 9/5/2016

You didn't ask for them - nobody is - but here's my pick for this week's FCS Top 25.


1. North Dakota State
2. Richmond
3. Eastern Washington
4. Northern Iowa
5. Sam Houston State
6. William and Mary
7. South Dakota State
8. Chattanooga
9. James Madison
10. Penn
11. Jacksonville State
12. Charleston Southern
13. Montana
14. Illinois State
15. Portland State
16. Harvard
17. The Citadel
18. Colgate
19. New Hampshire
20. Northern Arizona
21. Villanova
22. Western Illinois
23. Central Arkansas
24. Fordham
25. Albany

Notes on my Top 25:

* The biggest FCS over FBS upsets made my list, of course.  Albany, who wasn't even in the same solar system as  my original Top 25, made it after their shocking upset of Buffalo.  Richmond, UNI, and Eastern Washington, already in my Top 25, leap up to near the top of the class after a trio of admittedly impressive upsets of FBS schools.

* No FCS upset was as complete or dominating as Richmond's pulverization of Virginia, 37-20, a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated.  Sure, Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall was in his first game as head coach, and he's trying to retool a paleo run-only offense to a modern, fast-paced one.  But Richmond, who should have already been in most people's Top Ten (or even Top Five), just kicked the Cavaliers out of the gates and just kept pounding.  You can't help but take notice.

* One team that impressed me, even in defeat, was South Dakota State giving TCU everything they could handle offensively in their 59-41 loss.  Deep into the 4th quarter, South Dakota State was matching the Horned Frogs nearly score-for-score, and even though 59 points seems like a lot of points to give up in any college football game, it seems logical that TCU will be putting up similar performances in Big 12 play, too.  The Jackrabbits seem like they're going places.
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