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LFN's FCS Top 25, 9/26/2017

I don't officially vote in any of the FCS Top 25 polls, but I do share who I think deserves to be in the Top 25And, well, was I completely wrong about Villanova and Richmond, who were two of my Top 10 teams that got upset this week?

CAA fans will say that conference games in their conference are hard, but... Albany and Elon aren't known as being the giant-killers in the conference, let's just say.  It's great to see Albany do well, who were awful close to an FCS playoff team last season, and Elon as well, former home of former Lehigh head coach Pete Lembo as well as  the new home of former Lehigh offensive coordinator Drew Folmar.  But are they Top 25 teams?


If you are looking for a nice, concise recap of the top games last week with Twitter video highlights - all in one, convenient post - you can look at CSJ's FCS Week 4 Recap and get the information.  Of the one there, I always like the postgame win celebrations, and UT Martin's win over Tennessee State was a pretty good one (and it helps that I picked them to upset the Tigers, too.)

Here's what I ended up with in my Top 25:

1. James Madison
2. North Dakota State
3. South Dakota State
4. Jacksonville State
5. Sam Houston State
6. Youngstown State
7. Eastern Washington
8. Western Illinois
9. Wofford
10. Central Arkansas
11. The Citadel
12. South Dakota
13. Villanova
14. Richmond
15. North Carolina A&T
16. New Hampshire
17. Stony Brook
18. Weber State
19. Illinois State
20. Albany
21. UT Martin
22. Monmouth
23. Elon
24. Western Carolina
25. Dartmouth

Biggest Omission:  As we start to see more teams with losses, it's harder to find deserving teams that aren't in my Top 25.  I guess McNeese State might qualify as the omission, as they're present in the FCS Coaches' Top 25 this week and they sport a 3-1 record, though it's hard to see how they seem like an omission because they're the third-best team in the Southland conference.  They've played a pretty light schedule, and lost their season opener to Nicholls, who in turn got ground into dust by Sam Houston State this weekend.  The Southland is a top-heavy, terrible-bottom league, and that will play itself out over the course of the season.

Biggest Up-And-Comer: Dartmouth.  I was impressed from what I was able to catch of the Big Green's home opener.  Their amazing game against Holy Cross is one of the most amazing I-can't-believe-it wins of this young season, and the Crusaders are no slouches, having demolished New Hampshire the prior week and putting the fear of God in UConn.

Biggest Win:  I was on Western Illinois early in this season, and they repaid my faith with a complete beatdown of new FBS school Coastal Carolina, 52-10.  Something to remember about this win that makes it even more remarkable: It was the third straight road victory for the Leathernecks, having gone to Tennessee Tech and Northern Arizona.  It is super-hard to beat three different teams in three different time zones on the road, but that's what Western Illinois did.

Biggest Loss:  There are a lot of candidates, but Tennessee State's rivalry loss to UT Martin was a big one, taking some of the wind out of their sails after a 3-0 start and an FBS victory over Georgia State.  It dropped them all the way out of my Top 25, but they're definitely on the fringe and could find themselves back in with a win next week.

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