Oct. 15 schedule in FCS looms big

(STATS) - This week's FCS schedule is far from being one of the better ones of the season, but here's a little secret: You'll want to catch your breath before

(STATS) - This week's FCS schedule is far from being one of the better ones of the season, but here's a little secret: You'll want to catch your breath before next weekend.

The teams don't want to get ahead of themselves, but the STATS FCS Top 25 can. While there are only two matchups of Top 25 teams on Saturday - No. 6 Richmond at No. 16 Albany and No. 15 Youngstown State at No. 23 Illinois State - there figures to be at least five on Oct. 15.

The biggest one may be Chattanooga at The Citadel, a matchup of Southern Conference leaders and last year's co-champions. Both teams will be undefeated if Chattanooga beats Mercer this weekend.

Top-ranked North Dakota State will hope to keep its mastery of rival South Dakota State going in the Dakota Marker game. Also in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, Northern Iowa will visit Youngstown State.

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Villanova at Richmond in CAA Football and Central Arkansas at McNeese in the Southland Conference figure to be Top 25 matchups as well.

Additionally, there's James Madison at New Hampshire in the CAA, Eastern Kentucky at Tennessee State in the Ohio Valley Conference and defending Big Sky champ Southern Utah at North Dakota.

Among smaller FCS conferences, Jackson State will host Southern in the SWAC, Bryant will travel to Saint Francis in the Northeast Conference and defending Pioneer League co-champ San Diego has a date at Drake.

The Oct. 15 schedule is worth waiting for, but in an FCS that's usually filled with wild results, this weekend's action may change the picture before we even get there.