FCS Football Top 25: Zach McKinnell's 2026 Week 3 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 done 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 3 ballot for the 2026 FCS football season.

25. Rhode Island

24. Stony Brook

23. Southern Illinois

22. Campbell

21. Northern Arizona

20. Colgate

19. Harvard

18. West Florida

17. Yale

16. Lamar

15. UC Davis

14. South Carolina State

13. Idaho State

12. Youngstown State

11. Austin Peay

10. Lehigh

9. Montana

8. Tennessee Tech

7. Tarleton State

6. Stephen F. Austin

5. North Dakota

4. Illinois State

3. South Dakota

2. South Dakota State

1. Montana State

Honorable Mentions: Southeastern Louisiana, Richmond, Furman, Villanova, Incarnate Word, Elon

Analysis:

I tweeted out a disclaimer that there were going to be some major changes in my ballot this week. I think you can argue that a ton of teams could be higher, or even lower, than where I have them, but at the end of the day, these teams are going to have to prove it on the field. With conference play in full swing across the country, we are going to get some valuable data points over the next few weeks.

I'll start with Montana State, which remained at No. 1 despite a lackluster performance against Central Connecticut State. In all transparency, if Chase Mason doesn't suffer an injury, I would most likely move South Dakota State to No. 1. But do I think the Jackrabbits are the best team in the country without Mason? No, I would have a hard time justifying that until we know the full extent of Mason's injury.

I also think the Bobcats have been one of the most consistent teams over the past three seasons, which means that it's hard to take a single data point and say that should mean more than an entire body of work. There's also not a very good option to move above them right now. For now, the Bobcats remain at the top spot, but they have a tough matchup against NAU this weekend that could tell us if this weekend was an outlier or if we should be worried about this team.

South Dakota makes the massive jump to No. 3 in this week's ballot. This isn't an overreaction to one solid performance against Boise State. The Coyotes have a 39-point win over Central Connecticut State, which just took Montana State to the wire in Bozeman. They also have double-digit wins over Northern Colorado and Eastern Washington. We'll learn more about this team against Youngstown State, but I think the Coyotes should be a consensus Top 5 team right now.

I already know there's a segment of fans who are going to hate Montana at No. 9. I had the Griz at No. 6 last week, and I'm not dropping them because of a loss to Oregon State, but other teams have continued to look better week after week. Their best win against Southern Utah has aged terribly after the Thunderbirds lost to a Pioneer League team this weekend, plus their performance against Utah Tech left a lot to be desired. The Griz have a chance to prove me wrong with games against UC Davis and NAU in two of the next three weeks.

Stephen F. Austin vaulted to No. 6 after a dominant win over Prairie View A&M, while Tarleton State dropped to No. 7 despite a win over Merrimack. These teams have two common opponents, and SFA has looked much more impressive in both of those games. Plus, the Texans just continue to have inconsistent defensive performances. There are injuries, but I have to judge what you are putting on the field. Both of these teams are legit contenders, but I think Stephen F. Austin has looked like the most complete team in the FCS outside of the Big Sky and MVFC.

Yale and Harvard both earned spots in this week's ballot after season-opening wins. These teams have some growing pains to work through, but they have the talent to make another postseason run. Harvard's defense absolutely suffocated New Hampshire, while Dante Reno threw for over 500 yards in Yale's win over Holy Cross. I'm very interested in the ceilings of these two teams as we get more data on them moving forward.

Any voter who doesn't have Colgate ranked this week should be questioned. Maybe the Raiders turn out to be pretenders, but if we are ranking teams based on what's happened thus far, Colgate is clearly a Top 25 team. The Raiders have 3 Division I wins, plus held Central Michigan to 13 points in a close FBS loss. This defense has been elite, plus the rushing attack has worn down opponents each and every week. They will travel to Villanova and Harvard, which will be huge for them in earning some national respect from other voters.

West Florida suffered its first loss of the season to Austin Peay, which jumped to No. 11 after an impressive road win. I thought the Argos still looked like a Top 25 team, plus the win over Southern Illinois continues to age very well as the Salukis have elevated back into the rankings. UWF has a chance to defend its spot in the Top 25 with road games against SEMO and Abilene Christian in the next two weeks.

After already dropping last week, Rhode Island was completely exposed against Stony Brook. The only reason the Rams are still hanging onto the final spot is that most of the other teams outside the Top 25 haven't really earned a spot in the rankings. The Rams do have a solid win over Elon, which is another team on the Top 25 bubble at 3-1, so we'll see how this team rebounds. I don't think this is a very good team without Devin Farrell, so we'll see if he's actually able to return, or if Tyler Budge will have to elevate his game at quarterback.

Speaking of Stony Brook, the Seawolves jump into the Top 25 for the first time this season. They slipped up in Week 0 against a solid Delaware State team, but have turned it around with wins over Lindenwood and Rhode Island. This team has the offensive weapons to scare almost any team in the CAA, along with improved play along the defensive line, which was my biggest question entering the year. I think there's a real argument that they could emerge as the favorite in the CAA if Devin Farrell doesn't return for Rhode Island.

South Carolina State continues to be a team to watch after an impressive road win over Furman. The Bulldogs have been the most dominant defense in the country, holding opponents to 3.0 yards per play and 7.5 points per game. If the Bulldogs can be a bit more consistent offensively, we could see them make a push for a Top 10 spot over the next few weeks. If there's a team, outside of Montana State, that could make a real run at 12-0, it's this South Carolina State team.

I wanted to leave everyone with another reminder that my ballot each week is a snapshot of the Top 25 teams in FCS football. If you think a team is too low, then they can prove me wrong on the field with impressive performances and wins over solid opponents. In Week 4, I'm excited to learn more about some of the top contenders as we have a handful of games that should give us excellent film to use moving forward. Below are some notable games you should be watching next weekend.

South Dakota at Youngstown State
Montana at UC Davis
Northern Arizona at Montana State
Colgate at Villanova
Tennessee Tech at Wofford
West Florida at SEMO

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