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Below are the Top 25 FCS preseason rankings based on the Sagarin rankings for the 2019 season. CSJ will show weekly rankings from the Sagarin rankings throughout the season and will have a final ranking after the national championship game in January. Sagarin rankings provide the only rankings that actually ranks all Division I schools.
Below are the Top 25 Group of Five (G5) preseason rankings based on the Sagarin rankings for the 2019 season. CSJ will show weekly rankings from the Sagarin rankings throughout the season and will have a final ranking after the national championship game in January. Sagarin rankings provide the only rankings that actually ranks all.
Arizona at Hawai’i When: Saturday, August 24th 10:30 PM EDT Where: Aloha Stadium, Halawa, Hawaii (50,000) How to Watch: CBS Sports Network, CBS Sports.com (subscription required) Arizona Wildcats See the 2019 CSJ Arizona team preview here. The Coach Kevin Sumlin era did not get off to a good start in Tucson last year. A 5-7.
NDSU won its seventh national title in the past eight years with its win over Eastern Washington in the National Title Game and did it with its second undefeated record team in that span (15-0, 8-0 MVFC). Coach Chris Klieman coached his last game with the Bison after being named the new head coach at the Big 12’s Kansas State.
The MVFC continues to be the premier conference in the FCS having now had at least one national title game representative for the past eight seasons (NDSU- 7 times, Youngstown State – 1 time, Illinois State – 1 time) and seven national titles over the span.
The Mountaineers almost pulled off amajor upset in the opening week but lost 45-38 in overtime at Top 10 Penn State in the opening week and rode the momentum into a Sun Belt Conference championship by winning the inaugural Sun Belt title game over Louisiana. The Mountaineers then blew out Middle Tennessee 45-13 in the New Orleans Bowl to finish 11-2 overall (7-1 SBC) but one loss was Coach Scott Satterfield departing for the same job at Louisville.
The Red Wolves finished the second half of the schedule strongly, but a 47-43 midseason loss to Louisiana-Lafayette denied them a chance to play for the first-ever Sun Belt championship game and finished with a 16-13 loss to Nevada in the Arizona Bowl to go 8-5 overall (5-3 SBC).
The Aztecs were 6-1 through their first seven games, including wins over ranked Arizona State and Boise State but SDSU lost their final three Mountain West games before losing 27-0 to Ohio in the Frisco Bowl to finish 7-6 overall (4-4 MWC)
Army lost two of its first four games but the Black Knights rolled off eight straight wins, including the third straight in its long-standing rivalry with Navy. Army capped the season in style with a win in its school-record third consecutive bowl game–a blowout win over Houston in the Arm Forces Bowl.
Houston opened last season by winning seven of its first eight games, the program’s best start since winning 10 straight to open the 2015 season. Injuries and miscues on the defensive side caught up with the Cougars after this and lost four of their final five games, including an embarrassing 70-14 setback to Army in the Armed Forces Bowl in what would be Major Applewhite’s last season as the head coach–finishing 8-5 overall (5-3 AAC).
BYU relied on a stingy defense and much-improved offense to win seven games last season, including a win over Western Michigan in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to finish 7-6 overall.
Ohio won three of its first five games, with losses coming to nonconference foes Virginia and Cincinnati.
After winning the MAC in 2017, Toledo had injuries and inconsistent play, especially on the defensive side of the football, led to to the team struggling early in 2018.
Temple dropped its first two games but went on to win eight of their final 10 regular-season games, including an upset of a nationally ranked Cincinnati team in overtime.
Late-season setbacks against Southern Miss and Western Kentucky prevented Louisiana Tech from contending for a Conference USA title, but the Bulldogs bounced back with a 31-14 win over Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl to finish 8-5 overall (5-3 C-USA).
The Jackrabbits got to the FCS playoffs last year after finishing second in the MVFC and went on a great run before losing to North Dakota State in the playoff semifinals. SDSU finished the season 10-3 overall (6-2 MVFC).
Marshall has had back-to-back bowl winning seasons, going 8-5 in 2017 and 9-4 in 2018 and the Herd enjoyed the season finale,where the Marshall defense sparked a 38-20 win over USF in the Gasparilla Bowl.
The Aggies entered their late season matchup against division rival Boise State last season on a 10-game win streak. However, Utah State lost and missed out on a chance to play in its first MWC Championship Game since 2013 but ended the season with a and easy win over North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl to finish 11-2 overall (7-1 MWC) in the end of of the Coach Matt Wells era, who departed for the Texas Tech head coaching job.
Georgia Southern closed the year on a high note when K Tyler Bass hit a 40-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Georgia Southern to a dramatic 23-21 victory over Eastern Michigan in the Camellia Bowl to finish 10-3 overall.
Air Force mildly exceeded expectations, finishing fourth in MW Mountain Division after failing to deliver consecutive wins all season to finish 5-7 overall (3-5 MW)–its second straight five win season.
Tulane has turned a corner under coach Willie Fritz after the Green Wave finished off their first winning season in five years(7-6, 5-3 AAC) and the program’s first bowl win (over Louisiana in the Cure Bowl) in more than 16 years.
FIU recorded a school-record nine (9-4 overall, wins in 2018, building on the surprising success of Coach Butch Davis’ debut season leading the Panthers. There was some frustration, as the Panthers lost to rival FAU and Marshall to end the season, but FIU soon rebounded to defeat Toledo in the Bahamas Bowl.
Southern Miss finished being bowl eligible by finishing last season with a 6-5 overall record (5-3 C-USA) but were not selected despite ending the 2018 campaign winning three of its final four games.
After a three-year run that produced 31 wins, a Sun Belt title and several high-profile upsets including a 10-3 (7-1 SBC) and Dollar General Bowl win over Buffalo, Coach Neal Brown left Troy for the Big 12’s West Virginia.
The Bulls began 2018 with seven straight wins to equal a program record but the wheels came off in the second half of the season with USF finishing with six straight losses including a Gasarilla Bowl loss to Marshall to finish 7-6 overall (3-5 AAC).
Western Michigan looked to have a promising season in Coach Lester’s second year but dropped four of its final five games including a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl loss to BYU to finish 7-6 overall (6-2 MAC).
Illinois State Redbirds Location: Normal, IL Coach: Brock Spack (74-45 @ ISU & overall), 11th season at ISU Stadium: Hancock Stadium (Capacity: 13,391) CSJ Projections: 3rd: MVFC 2nd: Illinois 14th: FCS 99th: Division I 2018 In A Sentence: Illinois State began the season 5-1, including a 35-19 FBS win at Colorado State, but lost their.
In Coach Dykes first season for the Mustangs, SMU finished just 5–7 overall (4–4 (AAC) after losing its last two games of the season to finish in fourth place in the West Division. The Mustangs missed out on a bowl bid after Dykes coached the team during their bowl game in 2017.
The Panthers finished tied for third in the MVFC and earned its 10th FCS playoff appearance under Coach Farley, but lost in the second round to UC Davis to finish 7-6 overall (5-3 MVFC).
The Huskies won the MAC West and defeated Buffalo to win the program’s fourth MAC title game in its history but lost the Boca Raton Bowl to C-USA champion UAB to finish 8-6 overall (6-2 MAC) and also lost Coach Rod Carey, who took the head job at Temple following the bowl game.
In just its second season since its revival as program, the Blazers won eleven games (11-3, 7-1 C-USA) and a C-USA Championship over Middle Tennessee State in 2018, as well as the Baca Raton Bowl over Northern Illinois.
Buffalo went from 10 losses in 2016 to 10 wins in 2018–finishing 10-2 in the regular season (7-1 MAC) and winning the MAC East before falling to Northern Illinois in the MAC title game. The Bulls also lost to Troy in the Dollar General Bowl to finish on a two game losing streak.
The Ragin’ Cajuns averaged 32 points and 424 yards per game in Coach Billy Napier’s first season in Lafayette and finished 7-5 in the regular season with a bid to the first ever Sun Belt Conference title game (loss to Appalachian State) and a Cure Bowl bid (loss to Tulane).
UNT finished the season 9–4 (5–3 C-USA) play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the West Division and were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they lost to Utah State.
The Blue Raiders won their first division title and came within a late score of the C-USA championship to UAB but were blown out by Appalachian State in the New Orleans Bowal to finish 8-6 overall, 7-1 C-USA.
The Sycamores were winless (0-11) in Curt Mallory’s first season as head coach in 2017 but improved to 7-4 (5-3 MVFC) in 2018. The turnaround was not quite enough to get Indiana State in the FCS playoffs, however – they were one of the last teams on the outside looking in.
After a 2-6 start against a brutal schedule, the Cowboys made a quarterback change and found its identity, rallying for four straight wins to finish bowl eligle at 6-6 (though they were one of four elgible teams to not get a bid).
The Eagles went 7-6 overall (5-3 MAC), good enough for a tie for second in the West Division and a berth in the Camelia Bowl where EMU ended up losing to Georgia Southern 23-21.
The Golden Hurricane finished its season with its second straight losing record with a 3-9 mark (2-6 AAC) and the three wins were against lower teams (FCS Central Arkansas, UConn, and SMU).
These teams are high caliber teams who will be in contention for PFL crown and the league’s automatic playoff bid.
The Toreros finished 2018 with a 9-3 overall record and a 8-0 mark in the Pioneer Football League to win their third straight PFL title outright and fifth straight including ties but USD did bow out a round earlier than the prior two seasons in the playoffs (a 49-30 first round loss at Nicholls).
The Redhawks were again inconsistent–much like the full Coach Martin tenure. Miami finished 6-6 overall (6-2 MAC) but just missed out on a bowl game bid as one of the four teams that were bowl eligible but failed to get the call.
After a 6-7 2017 season, WKU dropped to 3-9 in 2018, losing nine of its first 10 games of the season but closed out the year with two consecutive wins but those were not enough to save Coach Mike Sanford’s job. Sanford finished his two year tenure with a 9-16 overall mark and just 6-10 in C-USA play.
The Golden Flashes are one of four programs to have existed in the FBS prior to the 2010s and has not won a bowl game and last year Kent State finished just 2-10 (1-7 MAC) in Coach Sean Lewis’ first year at the helm.
After an off-season suspension on allegations that he physically assaulted players last year, Coach Bob Davie remained on the job but finished with his second straight 3-9 season (1-7 MWC).
The Cardinals finished 4-8 overall (3-5 MAC) which doubled the win total over Coach Neu’s team in 2017.
After three years of improvement in the win column, UNLV suffered a major QB injury and the Rebels dipped to just 4-8 overall (2-6 MWC).
WIU ended last season with a 5-6 overall record (4-4 MVFC) and finished fifth in the MVFC but twice last season the Leathernecks beat a ranked opponent–against Montana and Northern Iowa.
ULM was bowl-eligible (6-6 overall, 4-4 SBC) in 2018 but became one of four such teams to miss a bowl after a late rivalry loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in its season finale.
Charlotte finished 5-7 overall (4-4 C-USA) and was an improved football team in 2018 to set school records for wins at the FBS level and in C-USA play but did not improve enough to save coach Brad Lambert’s job. Lambert, the only coach the 49ers have had in their program’s six years of existence, ended his 49er run with a record of 22-48.
