FCS Football Top 25: Zach McKinnell's 2026 Preseason Ballot

I'm excited to represent FCS Football Central as one of the voters in the FCS Stats Perform Top 25 again for the 2026 season.

As I have over the past few years, I will release my weekly ballot and explain my reasoning behind my selections throughout the season. I believe voters should be transparent and justify their rankings every week. It gives fans important insights into how they analyze teams and build their ballots week-to-week.

I want to take a second and explain my voting process. Too many voters fall in love with their preseason expectations and are afraid to make big changes in their ballots each week. I believe every voter's ballot should be a snapshot of the Top 25 teams in the country at that point in time.

I will make massive changes in my ballot over the first few weeks of the season because I try not to let preseason expectations sway how I view the actual play on the field. If I have a team in my preseason Top 15, and they don't look like a Top 15 team after Week 1, then they will move down even with a win, because the goal should be to have the best representation of who the Top 25 teams are each week, which can be very fluid throughout an entire season.

For more in-depth analysis on these teams, make sure to check out our individual team and conference previews that are being released throughout the offseason.

Below is my preseason ballot for the 2026 FCS football season.

25. Prairie View A&M

24. Furman

23. Lamar

22. South Carolina State

21. Harvard

20. Northern Arizona

19. Yale

18. Southeastern Louisiana

17. Austin Peay

16. Lehigh

15. Southern Illinois

14. Villanova

13. Stephen F. Austin

12. Illinois State

11. Abilene Christian

10. South Dakota

9. North Dakota

8. Youngstown State

7. Rhode Island

6. Tennessee Tech

5. UC Davis

4. Tarleton State

3. Montana

2. South Dakota State

1. Montana State

Honorable Mentions: Idaho State, Alabama State, Stony Brook, Jackson State, Richmond, Mercer, ETSU, Southern Utah

Analysis:

There's really not much else to say about Montana State. They should be the consensus No. 1 team, especially with 25+ significant contributors returning, including multiple All-Americans on both sides of the ball. It's "Nashville or Bust" for the Bobcats next season.

Behind the Bobcats, there's a real debate about whether South Dakota State or Montana should take the No. 2 spot. I give the edge to the Jackrabbits due to continuity along the offensive and defensive line. Injuries changed the trajectory of SDSU's season last year, but with Chase Mason, Lofton O'Groske, and over 70% of their offensive contributors returning, the Jacks should find themselves right back in the title hunt.

I still think Montana has the talent to get back to Nashville. Keali'i Ah Yat, Eli Gillman, and Brooks Davis will be an elite offensive trio, but the Griz do need to replace all five starters on the offensive line, along with multiple starters on the defensive line. Regardless of preseason rankings, the Griz should expect to challenge for the national title and are clearly in the top tier of FCS programs going into 2026.

Behind that top tier of contenders, I think Tarleton State has the best chance to push itself into that conversation. The Texans have continued to improve each season at the Division I level and look primed to build on an impressive 12-win season last year. Everyone behind that top tier has some major questions, but I'm confident that with the amount of talent the Texans added through the portal, they'll be ready to compete at a national level once again. The biggest question will be quarterback, but Braedyn Locke and Kaden Anderson have the skillset to thrive in this offseason.

UC Davis takes the No. 5 spot after back-to-back appearances in the quarterfinals. The Aggies will need to find a new quarterback, but the rest of the roster is loaded with talent. The defense has 13 returning significant contributors, including All-Americans Rex and Porter Connors. It's time for the Aggies to take the next step, and I trust head coach Tim Plough to find a quarterback to lead his offense.

Tennessee Tech is a team that I'm higher on than most, even after the first-round loss in the FCS playoffs. The Golden Eagles were a surprise contender last season, but head coach Bobby Wilder learned an important lesson in the postseason loss, which he addressed with the top portal class in the FCS. This is a team I'm willing to bet on going into next year, especially with the upgrades along the line of scrimmage and at quarterback with Richie Munoz.

I struggled with where to rank the trio of Youngstown State, North Dakota, and South Dakota, along with what order to have them. South Dakota fell to No. 10 because they had the least amount of continuity on the line of scrimmage, plus it was the only team with a question mark at quarterback. I initially had UND over YSU, but flipped those teams right before I submitted my ballot. I have a bit more confidence in Brungard over Kaminski, plus I trust the weapons around Brungard more than what UND has returning at wide receiver. All three of these teams are talented enough to make a postseason run, but I felt like YSU had the least amount of question marks right now.

A ton of voters are going to have Illinois State in their Top 5, but this is a new year, and I have real questions about this team's ceiling. I still think this team will be solid, but losing Rittenhouse and Sobkowicz has me wondering if this offense will take a step back. It was a legendary run to Nashville, but this was an inconsistent team last year. I think the playoff run has skewed people's perception of what this team really was. Putting them at No. 13 is fair until they prove that the playoff run wasn't an outlier and that they sufficiently replaced two of their best offensive playmakers.

Another team that I will be lower on than others is Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks have a ton of returning talent, but that loss in the second round sticks in my mind, plus losing head coach Kevin Cahill has me a bit concerned. I also wonder if the defensive line will be as dominant as they have been over the past two years. The roster continuity is there, but I truly believe Cahill is one of the best coaches in the FCS, so I'm in wait-and-see mode with Lehigh until I see it on the field under new head coach Richard Nagy.

Villanova was a complicated team to rank due to the unknown status of quarterback Pat McQuaide. At the time of submission, McQuaide was not eligible to return, but has now been granted a TRO to return. If he is officially able to return, the Wildcats would jump into the Top 10 on my ballot, especially with all the weapons at running back and the experience on the offensive line.

Harvard and Yale both start the season inside my Top 25 after postseason appearances. The Bulldogs have a ton of continuity on both sides of the ball, including quarterback Dante Reno and All-American safety Abu Kamara. As for the Crimson, they don't have many questions outside of quarterback, but this defense should be good enough to have them in the playoff picture once again.

South Carolina State has earned a spot in the Top 25 with back-to-back MEAC championships, going 10-0 in conference play over that two-year span. The addition of offensive coordinator KJ Black should make this offense dangerous once again, even with a new signal-caller. The Bulldogs also have a ton of continuity, including All-American linebacker Jordan Franklin, plus an All-MEAC trio along the defensive line in Joshua Barker, Ka'Von Chisolm, and Jordan Dollard.

Furman and Lamar are two teams that I think are going to make some unexpected noise next season. The Paladins have been extremely young the past two seasons, but have nearly 70% of their significant contributors returning defensively, including All-American Joshua Stoneking. The Cardinals were outstanding defensively and return a ton of key players from that unit. They did an excellent job at adding weapons offensively, which I think raises their ceiling after last year's postseason appearance.

The last team in my ballot is Prairie View A&M, which won the SWAC Championship last season. The Panthers have more continuity than people are giving them credit for, especially on the offensive side of the ball, with their entire offensive line returning. I think the Panthers are more talented than they were last season, especially in the secondary with some of their portal additions. The one question mark will be quarterback, but Catawba transfer Preston Brown has All-SWAC potential.

As for my honorable mentions, all of these teams have a chance to be Top 25 teams, but I feel like they have to prove it on the field or have major question marks that they need to answer before I move them into my ballot.

Idaho State, Alabama State, and Southern Utah are the three teams I need to see prove they belong in that next tier. Jackson State, ETSU, Mercer, Stony Brook, and Richmond are teams that should be good, but either have a ton of roster turnover at key positions or have a big question at a key position, such as the Spiders at quarterback.

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