FCS Football Top 25: Zach McKinnell's 2026 Week 1 Ballot

A deep dive into my ballot for the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll after a wild Week 1.

Idaho State quarterback Jordan Cooke (1) | Idaho State Athletics

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.

Below is my Week 1 ballot for the 2026 FCS football season.

25. Richmond

24. Campbell

23. Northern Arizona

22. Southern Utah

21. Wofford

20. Yale

19. William & Mary

18. South Carolina State

17. UC Davis

16. Austin Peay

15. West Florida

14. Lamar

13. Idaho State

12. Illinois State

11. Stephen F. Austin

10. Rhode Island

9. Lehigh

8. Youngstown State

7. South Dakota

6. Tennessee Tech

5. North Dakota

4. Tarleton State

3. Montana

2. South Dakota State

1. Montana State

Honorable Mentions: Alabama State, Abilene Christian, Prairie View A&M, UTRGV, Villanova, Mercer, Jackson State

Analysis:

There weren't many major changes to be made after this weekend's slate of games. None of the Top 25 teams played ranked opponents, plus there were a ton of FCS vs. FBS games, and multiple other teams faced overmatched teams. We did get some important data on teams in the back end of the Top 25, which is where most of my biggest changes come after Week 1.

I talked about Idaho State needing to prove itself going into this season. The Bengals have two impressive wins, including a 12-point FBS win over Utah State. I didn't think the offense played well, but the defense forced four turnovers, which gives me confidence that this team can find ways to win when the offense doesn't put up elite numbers. Right now, it's hard to argue that Idaho State isn't a Top 15 team nationally, but they will have some key games against SUU and NAU in the coming weeks.

West Florida continues to rise in my ballot after a dominant win over Central Arkansas on the road. I'm buying the hype surrounding this program right now. The Argos check a ton of boxes, especially with how they are playing at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. There's a real chance that if Ty'Ray Davis plays like he did this weekend, the Argos could be a Top 2-3 team in the UAC right now.

Campbell jumps inside the Top 25 for the first time this season following its win over Western Carolina. I thought the Camels could be a sneaky team in the CAA race, but they've exceeded those expectations over their first two games. They are 2-0 against the SoCon, defeating two teams who some thought could push for the SoCon title going into the year. We'll see if the Camels can continue this success in conference play, but right now, they deserve a spot in this week's rankings.

I'm buying stock in Wofford after the first two weeks of the season. I was already fairly high on the Terriers, but wins over The Citadel and Gardner-Webb have pushed them into my ballot this week. We saw The Citadel go on to beat an FBS team, but this Wofford team beat them 42-14 in Week 1. I want to remind people that this team was only 12 points away from being 11-1 in 2025. Keep an eye on the Terriers as we get into conference play.

Villanova dropped out of my ballot after two shaky performances to start the season. The Wildcats could rebound with a strong performance over the rest of the year, but right now, I don't think this team deserves to be ranked. Honestly, they got lucky to escape with a win over Bucknell, and they completely collapsed against William & Mary in Week 0. Until this team proves it on the field, I felt like some other teams were more deserving of a spot inside the Top 25 right now.

I had a tough time figuring out who deserved the No. 25 spot, but I leaned Richmond because the Spiders have looked like the better team compared to Villanova. Plus, some of the other teams on that bubble haven't proven themselves against Division I competition yet. I'm keeping an eye on Prairie View A&M, which looked dominant against Texas Southern in Week 1. I still want to see the Panthers build on this weekend's performance, but this team has looked like the best team in the SWAC.

I also think there is not much separation between the teams from No. 4-12. The reason for this is that we don't know a ton about these teams, especially with so many games against subpar FCS teams or FBS opponents. Tarleton State and Tennessee Tech have the best resumes of any of these teams, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are the best teams of the group. North Dakota and South Dakota have both shown flashes of being extremely talented teams, while Lehigh has rolled over its first two opponents. The next 2-3 weeks will be important for gathering data points on all of these teams, which should help determine who are pretenders or contenders.

As I always remind people, we only have two data points for a lot of these teams. That creates a ton of variance in results, plus a very weird balance of trying not to overreact to one game, but also ranking teams based on what we've seen on the field, not preseason expectations or assumptions. The goal is to give you guys the most accurate representation of who I think the Top 25 teams in FCS football are right now.

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