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Easily, the biggest game in the FCS this week is South Dakota State vs. North Dakota State in Fargo. It rivals the Georgia-Texas showdown in the FBS and, thankfully, it even gleans some attention from ESPN - enough to make it a primetime broadcast at 8:00 ET on what use to be know as "The Deuce" (ESPN-2).
Unfortunately, these blockbusters are going against each other with the Georgia-Texas game at 7:30 ET on ESPN. It's a shame that they weren't scheduled to follow each other. We'll just have to wear out our "Back" button on the remote. You might want to install some new batteries now.
This is the 116th all-time meeting of these rivals who, since both became FCS members in 2004, have played for the Dakota Marker with a 10-10 split in those games. Overall, the Bison lead the series 63-47-5 but, lately, it's the Jackrabbits who have held the upper hand with four straight wins
Per GoBison.com, this is the ninth No. 1 vs. 2 matchup in FCS history, but only the third time it has happened in the regular season. It's the fifth straight featuring at least one Missouri Valley Football Conference team. The No. 2-ranked team has a 5-3 edge in the eight prior meetings.
These two schools have combined to win 11 of the last 13 national championships.
The Bison took all of their titles from 2011-2021. During that period, The only championship game losses came in the 2015 (season) game to James Madison, and the 2020 (season) game to Sam Houston when the FCS moved its 2020 schedule to the Spring of 2021, due to Covid.
The Jackrabbits have taken the last two title games, including a head-to-head battle with NDSU for the 2022 national title.
The FCS Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com favor South Dakota State by 2 one-hundredths of a point (0.02).
Using the AFCA Coaches' Poll as our guide, there are two other Top 25 matchups.
No. 18 Florida A&M (3-2, 1-0) visits No. 25 Jackson State (4-2, 2-0) in a SWAC heavyweight battle with both teams coming off bye weeks. The computer rankings have the Tigers ranked at No. 30 and the Rattlers at No. 34 with Jackson State favored by 3.95 to win at home.
No. 17 Rhode Island (5-1, 2-0) visits No. 19 New Hampshire (4-2, 2-0) in a CAA showdown. The Wildcats lead the series 17-6 and the Rams are 0-10 as the visitor in the series. The computer, not surprisingly, has New Hampshire by 6.8 points.
Delaware, Richmond and Villanova are also all 2-0 in the Coastal Athletic Conference, which Google still incorrectly lists as the Colonial in its standings, even though the change was made before the 2023 season. So much for AI.
But I digress.
I point out the tie at the top for all of those schools for two reasons. One, keep in mind that the Blue Hens can not win the title or go to the playoff. But their games still count for their opponent. Two, Richmond hosts Delaware this week as a 7.26-point computer dog.
Using the computer rankings as the guide, this is another Top 25 matchup. Delaware (6-0, 3-0) is 4th in the computer rankings while Richmond (4-2, 2-0) is ranked 23rd. The Blue Hens are unranked in the Coaches' Poll due to their ineligibility for the playoff, while the Spiders are 15th.
Idle teams this week from the Coaches' Top 25 are (9) Tarleton State, (11) Montana, (12) Central Arkansas and (21) NC Central.
In all, 23 teams have a bye week, while 2 play D2 schools with West Georgia hosting Shorter and South Carolina State entertaining Fort Valley State.
The FCS week kicks off on Friday with a lone game in the Ivy League as disappointing Princeton (1-3, 0-1) hosts Brown (2-2, 1-0) with the Tigers favored by 3.89 points.
For the third week in-a-row, no games will pit an FCS school and against a FBS school.
One such game will take place next week when Wagner visits UMass.
FBS schools are 108-6 in such games this season, and a collective 1,908-158 (.924) since we began tracking this in 2003.
In 2024, there are 121 scheduled scheduled matchups between FBS and FCS schools with 119 schools playing one such game, while Hawaii and UMass each play two.
This year, 15 schools do not play a FCS opponent and 5 are in the B1G (Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, USC and UCLA). Texas is the only school in the SEC that will not play a FCS program. The same is true for Virginia Tech in the ACC. In fact, Texas and Virginia Tech, along with Michigan and Houston, are repeats from last year's list of schools that played all FBS programs.
2024 FCS wins vs. FBS:
August 24: Montana State 35, New Mexico 31
September 7: St. Francis (PA) 23, Kent State 17
September 7: Idaho 17, Wyoming 13
September 7: Southern Utah 27, UTEP 24 (OT)
September 21: Monmouth 45, FIU 42
September 28: UT-Martin 24, Kennesaw 13
In 2023, FBS schools were 114-4. These were the FCS wins last year:
September 9: Idaho 33, Nevada 6
September 9: Southern Illinois 14, Northern Illinois 12
September 9: Fordham 40, Buffalo 37
September 16: Sacramento State 30, Stanford 23
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE - Won 33 straight vs FCS teams, 24 straight at home, 19 straight conference games, and 10 straight FCS road games.
Last: Won 63-13 at home over Youngstown State on Saturday, October 12.
Next: Visits North Dakota State on Saturday, October 19.
DARTMOUTH and MONTANA STATE have won 7 straight over-all. Next for Dartmouth is CCSU at home, while the Bobcats visit Portland State.
FLORIDA A&M - 14 straight FCS wins, 21 home wins, 17 conference wins (2nd longest)
Last: Won 45-38 over Alabama State in a neutral site game at Mobile on Saturday, October 5.
Next: After enjoying a bye week, the Rattlers visit Jackson State on Saturday, October 19.
NW STATE - Lost 15 straight over-all. Lost 8 straight home games
Last: Lost 42-21 at home to Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday, October 12. That's the same school NW State last defeated.
Next: Visits Nicholls on Saturday, October 19.
NORTHERN COLORADO - Lost 7 straight at home (trails Northwestern State, LA by 1).
Last: Won 21-17 at Weber State on Saturday, October 12.
Next: Idle this week. Hosts Montana on Saturday, October 26.
MVSU - 16 straight road losses.
Last: Lost 54-17 at Alabama State on Saturday, October 12.
Next: Hosts Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, October 19.
WESTERN ILLINOIS -12 straight home losses to FCS schools.
NOTE: After ending a 27-game over-all losing streak by defeating D2 McKendree on 9/28, the Leathernecks a week ago halted their losing streaks of 27 straight to FCS teams, 18 conference games, and 18 road games with a 31-20 win at Charleston Southern on 10/5. They were looking to end a streak of 11 straight home losses to FCS schools this past Saturday, but lost.
Last: Lost 45-17 at home to UT-Martin on Saturday, October 12.
Next: Hosts Tennessee Tech on Saturday, October 19.