FCS Football Top 25: Zach McKinnell's 2026 Week 8 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 8 ballot for the 2026 FCS football season.

25. Idaho State

24. Lehigh

23. Chattanooga

22. Weber State

21. Abilene Christian

20. UAlbany

19. Richmond

18. Mercer

17. Monmouth

16. Montana

15. Illinois State

14. ETSU

13. Lamar

12. Tennessee Tech

11. Harvard

10. Austin Peay

9. Campbell

8. North Dakota

7. Northern Arizona

6. South Dakota

5. Stephen F. Austin

4. Youngstown State

3. South Dakota State

2. Montana State

1. Tarleton State

Honorable Mentions: UC Davis, South Carolina State, Incarnate Word, Southeastern Louisiana

Analysis:

This week felt like a real vacation compared to the chaos we have had to navigate as voters over the past few weeks. There weren't any major changes in my Top 15, especially with most teams handling business against teams they were expected to beat. The biggest changes came in the back end of my ballot, where we had a few teams lose key conference games, which created room for some new faces in this week's Top 25.

Tarleton State remains at the No. 1 spot after the Texans demolished West Georgia in a 43-point win. The Texans are 8-0 overall with an FBS win, plus a Top 10 win over Austin Peay on the road. Montana State sticks at No. 2 after a solid win over Weber State, mounting a second-half comeback to improve to 7-1 overall with an FBS win and two ranked wins over NAU and Weber State.

The only notable change in my Top 10 was South Dakota jumping to No. 6 after an impressive overtime win over North Dakota. It was huge for the Coyotes to get that signature win over a ranked opponent, further showing this team has what it takes to be a contender in the MVFC race. As for North Dakota, the Fighting Hawks are still firmly in my Top 10, sitting at 6-2 against the FCS with a ranked win over SDSU.

I've been skeptical about Richmond all season, but the Spiders got a big win over Colgate this past weekend. This defense is fun to watch, holding conference opponents to 4.9 yards per play. They are 6-1 against the FCS, falling to Fordham in a one-score game, but have a ranked win on their resume, which a lot of other teams in this range can't say. We'll see if the Spiders can capitalize and find a way to win a share of the Patriot League.

UAlbany jumps into the Top 25 for the first time this season following a 17-point win over Rhode Island. The Great Danes are 5-2 against the FCS, including a notable win over Stony Brook. They lost to Buffalo by 4 points in their FBS game, while they also competed well in a close loss to Monmouth earlier this season. Now, the Great Danes have won three games in a row and find themselves in position to make a statement against Campbell this upcoming weekend.

I kept Weber State on my ballot this week after a competitive loss to Montana State on the road. The Wildcats are 5-3 against the FCS with wins over Idaho State and Idaho. I still think their resume is better than most of the other teams behind them, but the Wildcats are going to have to prove they belong with games against NAU and UC Davis over the next two weeks.

Speaking of Idaho State, I absolutely hate having to rank the Bengals because I'm not sure if they truly deserve it. Unfortunately, the rest of the teams around them choked in games they should have won, and the Bengals easily have the best resume, especially with an FBS win over Utah State. It came down to them or UC Davis, but I don't see how any voter can put the Aggies over the Bengals right now if we are truly evaluating resumes.

Chattanooga is also one of the new teams in my ballot, moving to 5-3 against the FCS with a dominant win over Western Carolina on the road. I really like this team, especially with how dominant the defense has been in key games over the past month or so. Two of their losses came against Tennessee Tech and ETSU, which are both Top 15 teams. At 4-1 in SoCon games, the Mocs still have a shot at winning at least a share of the SoCon title.

Lehigh has plummeted to No. 24 after back-to-back losses, falling to Villanova this weekend. The Mountain Hawks started the season 6-0, but now sit at 6-2 against the FCS, and face must-win situations in each of their last four games. They don't have a real quality win, and if they don't win out, there's a real chance the Mountain Hawks could miss the FCS Playoffs if they get to four losses.

Keep an eye on Monmouth, which continues to rise after winning its 5th consecutive game since an FBS loss to Western Michigan. The Hawks have wins over Dartmouth and UAlbany, while their only FCS loss came against Tennessee Tech all the way back in Week 0. They have three winnable games before a season-ending matchup against Campbell, which could determine who wins the CAA's autobid.

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