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This week presents the highest number of FCS teams with a bye week with 23 of the 128 schools on the sideline. But only 3 of the Top 25 teams in the FCS Coaches' Poll are affected - (2) Montana State, (7) Sacramento State, and (24) New Hampshire.
Of the 105 FCS teams will be on the field, only 2 are facing a FBS school as Howard visits Northwestern, and William & Mary buses a couple hours up I-64 to face Virginia. The Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com don't give the Bison much of a shot against the Wildcats and favor the home team by a comfortable 18.85, but that's nearly 11 points under the opening spread of 29.5 at most sportsbooks.
Conversely, the Weekly Picks suggest that Virginia may be on Upset Alert as the computer only favors the Cavaliers by 6.64 over the Tribe, slashing the opening 13-point line in half. William & Mary is ranked 4th in the FCS version of the computer rankings, even after a 14-6 ipset loss at Elon this past Saturday. The Cavs (0-5 overall, 0-2 ACC) are the second-lowest ranked Power 5 team in the FBS at 123.
(1) South Dakota State at (22) Illinois State
(13) Montana at (18) UC Davis
(17) Western Carolina at (20) Chattanooga
(23) UT-Martin at (T-25) Eastern Illinois
Only 1 ranked team plays a school that is also receiving votes.
(5) Southern Illinois at (30) Youngstown State
This season has 117 of the 133 FBS schools facing one FCS opponent, and Army playing two such games for a total of 118 FBS-FCS matchups.
Of the 16 FBS schools that do NOT play a FCS program, 7 are in the B1G (Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Wisconsin). 6 more are evenly split between the Big 12 (Houston, Oklahoma, Texas) and Pac-12 (Colorado, USC, Washington). The other three are Liberty (CUSA) , UTSA (American), and Virginia Tech (ACC).
FBS schools were 3-0 this past weekend as Colorado State beat Utah Tech 41-20, North Texas got past Abilene Christian 45-31 and Rutgers rolled 52-3 over Wagner.
The FBS programs are 104-4 this year against the FCS schools. Over-all, the FBS is a collective 1,790-152 (.922) since we began tracking this in 2003.
There are 2 such games this week. Virginia hosts FCS No. 4 William & Mary as the Tribe will try to regroup after a 14-6 upset loss at Elon. In the other game, Howard visits Northwestern.
Here are the FCS wins in 2023, so far:
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 18 straight over-all
Last: 42-21 win at home over North Dakota on Saturday, September 30.
Next: Visits Illinois State on Saturday, October 7.
MONTANA STATE - Won 23 straight home games.
Last: 38-22 home win over Portland State on Saturday, September 30.
Next: After bye week, hosts Cal Poly on Saturday, October 14.
HOLY CROSS - Won 18 straight conference games.
Last: 38-28 loss at home to Harvard on Saturday, September 23.
Next: Visits Bucknell on Saturday, October 7.
HARVARD - Won 8 straight road games.
Last: 38-28 win at Holy Cross on Saturday, September 30.
Next: Hosts Cornell on Friday, October 6.
WESTERN ILLINOIS - Lost 17 straight over-all, and 8 straight home games (tied with Norfolk State).
Last: 37-17 road lost to Southern Utah on Saturday, September 23.
Next: Visiting North Dakota on Saturday, October 7.
NORFOLK STATE - Lost 8 straight home games (tied with Western Illinois).
Last: 28-26 home to North Carolina A&T on Saturday, September 30.
Next: After bye week, visits Tennessee State on Saturday, October 14.
ROBERT MORRIS - Lost 17 straight road games (tied with Idaho State).
Last: 35-10 loss at home to Howard on Saturday, September 30.
Next: Visits Gardner-Webb on Saturday, October 7.
IDAHO STATE - Lost 17 straight road games (tied with Robert Morris).
Last: 28-20 loss at Montana.
Next: After bye week, hosts Eastern Washington on Saturday, October 14.
PRESBYTERIAN - Lost 17 straight conference games.
Last: 27-17 loss at Butler on Saturday, September 30.
Next: Hosts Stetson on Saturday, October 7.