CSJ Sagarin 2018 NCAA FCS Playoff Projection – Nov. 11
Using the Sagarin ratings alone to project the FCS playoffs, along with the automatic bid for the conferences that receive a bid, the following would be the playoff teams this week. These teams are seeded 1 through 24 for the 24 teams that make the FCS playoffs.
As a reminder, the following conferences receive an automatic bid, while 14 teams are selected as at-large picks.
Big Sky Conference Big South Conference Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA) Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) Northeast Conference (NEC) Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Patriot League Pioneer Football League Southern Conference Southland Conference
So far, only North Dakota State (MVFC), Colgate (Patriot), Jacksonville State (OVC), Kennesaw State (Big South), and San Diego (Pioneer) have secured automatic bids going into the final week of the regular season.
Top 25 Rankings with playoff spot with the conference name indicating the automatic spot for its conference and then the 14 at-large spots also listed. See the full Top 25 with the hyperlink.
The number to the left of the school is the overall Sagarin rating.
1 | 31 North Dakota State | MVFC |
2 | 58 South Dakota State | At-Large1 |
3 | 80 James Madison | CAA |
4 | 83 Northern Iowa | At-Large2 |
5 | 85 Illinois State | At-Large3 |
– | 86 Princeton | Ivy |
6 | 89 Eastern Washington | Big Sky |
7 | 99 Kennesaw State | Big South |
8 | 103 UC Davis | At-Large4 |
9 | 107 Colgate | Patriot |
10 | 110 Samford | At-Large5 |
– | 112 Dartmouth | Ivy |
11 | 114 Weber State | At-Large6 |
12 | 118 Jacksonville State | OVC |
13 | 119 Delaware | At-Large7 |
14 | 120 Western Illinois | At-Large8 |
15 | 122 Stony Brook | At-Large9 |
16 | 123 Elon | At-Large10 |
17 | 128 Wofford | SoCon |
18 | 131 Idaho State | At-Large11 |
19 | 133 Towson | At-Large12 |
20 | 135 North Dakota | At-Large13 |
21 | 138 Montana | At-Large14 |
22 | 141 Nicholls State | Southland |
23 | 201 Central Connecticut | NEC |
24 | 204 San Diego | Pioneer |

Originally from LaMoure, North Dakota, Kent is a 1996 graduate of North Dakota State University. His prior writing experience is over 15 years having previously worked with D2football.com, I-AA.org, and College Sporting News before coming to College Sports Journal in 2016. His main focus is college football is the Missouri Valley Football Conference within the Division I FCS. And in 2017, he began also to look at the FBS Group of Five conferences of the American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sun Belt.
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