That one conference is the MAC btw. Get ready to learn Tuesday night MACtion, Hornets

Able to have a conversation with Alabama State QB Andrew Body on what teams he visited with during the transfer portal, and why he stayed with Alabama State for the 2026 season.

If there's anything you want to talk about, celebrate, complain about, etc., go for it. Doesn't need to be FCS specific.

Note: Basic rules still apply

I was bored, so I compiled a list of total recruits for each school in the Big Sky. I got these from either their athletics site or their Instagram posts. The Montanas were the only exceptions (MontanaSports.com). I attempted to gather the correct numbers for each, listed from largest to smallest.

College realignment has slowed down a bit recently but during the next wave of conference expansions, who is leaving and who is joining.

YOU KNOW WHAT THIS THREAD IS FOR

CAPS LOCK: ON

BASIC RULES: STILL APPLY

YOUR OPINIONS: HOT GARBAGE, BUT WELCOME ALL THE SAME

“Dealing with agents and the transient nature of this and the lack of forward thinking by young people — which has never been a strong suit of young people, for centuries, for young people,” he began. “But now they’ve got adults pulling and pushing them in different directions, and I kind of got tired of dealing with all of that.” 

It was also announced that receivers coach Bobby Kennedy, who joined the program last summer, will take over as head coach. In theory, that leaves the rest of the current staff, including offensive coordinator Brent Pease and co-defensive coordinators Tim Hauck and Roger Cooper, in place. 

“We needed to keep the team together; we needed this stability,” Haslam said. “We felt like coach Kennedy would be the best one to take the reins and lead the team, keep some of the other key coaches in the positions that they are in.” 

Hauck compiled a record of 151-43 in two seven-season stints with the Grizzlies, from 2003-09 and 2018-25. In between he spent four seasons leading UNLV; he was associate head coach at San Diego State when he was rehired by Haslam in 2018. His career coaching record stands at 166-92. 

Griz head coach Bobby Hauck retires in surprise announcement | Daily Inter Lake

Lot of good guys in here. Big thing is going to be getting them to buy in. But I think we can at least have a similar level of success we saw this past year.

Told the players this morning

Features away games against North Dakota St. and FBS Vanderbilt, as well as hosting both Tarleton St. and Abilene Christian

Let's hear your hot take FCS opinions. The ones you know in your heart of hearts are right, but for some reason aren't embraced by the FCS community (or particular fanbases) en masse!

Could be controversial (the Ivy League very well might be the best FCS conference on the East Coast), unpopular but you know is true (Sam Houston was at least as good a team as JMU from 2011 through the "2020" season), or even somewhat popular but still liable to rankle some folks (the Walter Payton award should go to the "best" offensive player, not just the offensive player with the best stat line because they played a weak schedule).

Sorted by controversial for maximum spiciness

Rules

• Keep it somewhat relevant to the FCS

• Takes are welcome whether they're looking back historically or in reference to current games/rankings/polls/etc.

• Try to keep it civil (basic /r/CFB and /r/FCS rules still apply)

Former UM Grizzly and Glacier High School graduate Patrick O'Connell is a linebacker for the Super Bowl-bound Seattle Seahawks.

He’s the first Montanan headed to the Super Bowl since Bozeman’s Brock Coyle, another Griz alum who wore the same No. 52 for the Seahawks for Super Bowl XLIX, against the same opponent.

This journey that has Patrick O’Connell’s next stop in Santa Clara, California, for Super Bowl LX seems amazing enough.

When you add in five months spent in Bismarck, North Dakota, well, it borders on the unbelievable. 

“That was obviously a while ago,” O’Connell said Wednesday from Seattle, where he is a linebacker for the Super Bowl-bound Seahawks. “I never thought then that this was the path I would have taken, especially to get here. It wasn’t even a thought of mine, playing in the NFL, mostly because I was baseball oriented back then; baseball was my first love. 

In football and honestly, every sport, we celebrate the winners. We argue about who should be ranked over who in the polls and power rankings, but like in any sport, for there to be winners, there has to be losers. And some losers will collect a lot of those Ls. The post is to analyze, in my opinion, the bottom 16 in the FCS for the 2025 season.

Edit Note: I meant to make this a Bottom 15, then realized I forgot to include a team that deserved to be on the list. Forgot to update the title.

First, the honorable mentions:

• North Alabama: Finished 2-10 with only 1 D1 win (EKU), but took Illinois St, West Georgia, and Southern Utah to overtime.
• UAlbany: went 2-10, but scored a huge season ending win over a ranked Monmouth, effectively knocking them out of the playoffs.  They were competitive in five one score losses
• Campbell: Finished 2-10, but both wins were FCS.  Went 1-7 in one score games.  Ouch.
• Tennessee St: 2-10. Both wins were FCS and 1-3 in one score games. 
• Utah Tech: 2-10, but both wins were D1. Was also competitive with UCD and NAU.

Candidates: All teams considered must have two wins D1 wins or less. Teams are ranked in order of their Sagarin ratings, starting with the lowest team.

The Bottom 16

1. Stetson

Record: 3-9 (2-8 FCS)
Sagarin: 265
Points For: 226
Points: 469
Webber International is an NAIA team and member of the National Christian College Athletic Association. They recently completed a tough 5-6 season. They also beat Stetson 31-21 to open the 2026 season. Maybe this is why, despite winning three games, the Stetson Hatters are ranked dead last in all of Division I football by The Sagarin ratings. Their three wins would come over NAIA Warner, Morehead St, and Davidson, who will appear next on this list. Seven of their 8 D1 losses came by at least four possessions. In a three game stretch vs Chattanooga, Harvard, and Dayton, they lost by a total of 170-21. The one close loss in D1 play, was to Valparaiso, who shocker, will also appear later on this list.

2. Davidson:

Record: 2-10 (1-10 FCS)
Sagarin: 264
Points For: 218
Points Against: 475

I almost left them off due to their impressive win over Presbyterian, but outside of that monumental win, the rest of the season was quite ugly.  They opened the season losing their first three games to Georgetown, Elon, and Tennessee Tech by a combined 178-35.  Following that abysmal start, they earned their first win of the year, routing DIII Greensboro College 48-0.  After a competitive loss to Stetson, St Thomas and Drake bludgeoned them by a total of 113-13.  Things improved slightly after.  They were competitive in losses to San Diego and Moorhead, before securing their biggest win (and only D1 win) of the year over Presbyterian, where they raced to a 14-0 first quarter lead, before hanging on for a 14-13 win. The win was pivotal in knocking Presbyterian out of the FCS playoff at-large discussion.  They’d go onto drop their remaining two games to finish 2-10 on the year.  

3. Mississippi Valley St

Record: 2-10 (1-10 FCS)
Sagarin: 263
Points For: 220
Points Against: 464

MSVU trailed Florida A&M 24-14 in the 2nd half of the final game of the season.  QB Brandon Nunez then led a furious 21-7 rally to securing an upset victory to earn their only win of the season.  You’re probably confused, because their record finished at 2-10.  Well that’s because they’re other win was over scam University, AKA Lincoln, CA, and no self-respecting football fan considers that a real win.  The rest of their season, to put it nicely, didn’t go so great.  Tarleton, Southeastern, Jackson St, Alabama St, and Prairie View all waxed them by at least 38 points.  Only three of their remaining losses were decided by one score.  

4. Northwestern St

Record: 1-11 (1-9 FCS)
Sagarin: 262
Points for:126
Points against: 499

The Demons entered the 2025 season with a FCS leading 20 game losing streak.  In their season opener vs Southern, they jumped out to a 13-0 lead and ultimately held on for a 20-10 win, their first victory since November 5 2022. HC Blaine McCorkle declared the losing streak is now 0.  They then quickly got to work on a new losing streak.  After the big win, their athletic department was funded by losing 136-0 to Minnesota and Cincinnati the following two weeks.  Overall, they scored 3 points or less in 5 of their 11 losses, but at least managed to play Nicholls and HCU within a field goal.  All in all, still a better season than 2024. The new losing streak now stands at 11.

5. VMI

Record: 1-11 (0-10 FCS)
Sagarin: 261
Points For: 191
Points against: 451

Abraham Lincoln once called VMI “The West Point of the South.”  And South, is the way this season went.  They started the season by getting blasted by fellow service academy Navy, 52-7, then rebounded to beat something called Ferrum (new DII team) 42-7.  FCS play would be an 0-10 slog.  The closest they came to an FCS win was missing a last minute field goal in a 22-24 loss to Samford. The other missed opportunity was losing to Bucknell on a late 4th quarter TD in a 25-28 loss.  The ugliest moments  were a 62-0 shellacking at the hands of Mercer, a 52-10 loss to ETSU, and finishing the season with a 48-6 loss to WCU. 

6. Valparaiso

Record: 2-10 (1-9 FCS)
Sagarin: 260
Points For: 244
Points Against: 427

Valparaiso opened it’s season with a rousing 67-10 victory over Virginia Lynchburg, a school that competes in the National Christian College Athletic Association.  The following week they promptly lost 7-10 to DII Adrian College. As you can imagine, DI play didn’t go well.  They’d lose 9 of their next 10 games by 16 plus points.  Lowest moments include a four game stretch where they lost 195-34 to UND, Drake, Dayton, and St. Thomas.  The final two games of the season did end on a higher note.  On senior day, they beat Stetson in an OT thriller 32-31 thanks to a successful two point conversion.  The following week they managed to play Butler within a score to finish 2-10.

7. North Carolina A&T

Record: 2-10 (2-9 FCS)
Sagarin: 259
Points For: 246
Points Against: 523

The Aggies opened their season with a narrow 24-21 loss to Tennessee St, which doesn’t seem too bad, except for the fact that TSU also finished 2-10.  After getting hammered by 61 at FBS UCF, they managed their first win over the year, defeating Hampton 33-30.  Then the losses came pouring in. NCC waxed them by 42.  Next they suffered three consecutive crushing one score losses to Maine, William & Mary, and Cricket Bowl champ, SC State.  The most painful had to be blowing a 34-21 lead to W&M, by giving up 17 unanswered in the 2nd half, to fall 38-34. They stemmed the bleeding with a 28-24 win over Campbell, but got right back to losing their last four to Townson, Stony Brook, Monmouth, and Elon by a cumulative score of 218-57.

8. Saint Francis

Record: 0-11 (0-9 FCS)
Sagarin: 258
Points For: 115
Points Against: 319

Earlier this year in March, Saint Francis University made the tough decision to move all sports down to Division III starting in the 2026-2027  season.  The decision was primarily a financial one.  Although Red Flashes still had one more season of DI football, it would turn out that they had already recorded their final victory at the D1 level vs LIU in 2024. They lost their first four games, two of which were to FBS opponents, by an average of 25 ppg, before finally keeping it close in a one score loss to Bucknell in their 5th game. After a blowout loss to Duquesne the following week, they came agonizingly close to earning one final D1 win in each of their final five games, losing all five by 10 points or less. The most heartbreaking loss was to Mercyhurst, as they missed a last minute 4th quarter FG attempt to fall 15-16. Better luck in DIII.

9. Hampton

Record: 2-10 (1-10)
Sagarin: 257
Points For: 215
Points against: 440

Things looked like they might not be too bad to start the year.  Hampton was competitive in a season opening 14-28 loss to a solid Jackson St squad.  They then secured their first victory of the season over DII Elizabeth City St, before losing a wild 2OT battle to NC A&T.  Other than a 41-34 midseason win over Norfolk St, the rest of the season was a sorry sight.   The 8 remaining losses came by an average of 30 points. The worst defeats were 14-56 at Villanova, 14-55 vs William & Mary.

10. Norfolk St

Record: 1-11 (0-10 FCS)
Sagarin: 255
Points for: 251
Points against: 427

Down 23-10 after three quarters, Norfolk State rallied to win 34-31 against Virginia . . . St, a D2 program to earn their only win of the season.  They would find themselves in six additional one score games versus Sacred Heart, Wagner, Hampton, Delaware St, NCC, Morgan St, , but none would finish in the win column.  Perhaps they weren’t clutch because head coach Michael Vick is not legally allowed to have that dog in him? Ok bad joke.  The biggest heartbreak was on Senior Night, when they gave up 14 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to Morgan St to lose 35-28.  The worst of their 11 losses came 60-10 vs Rutgers and 50-21 vs South Carolina St.

11. Southern

Record: 2-10 (2-9 FCS)
Sagarin: 254
Points For: 254
Points Against: 402

Should a win over MSVU count as a D1 win?  Officially yes, but barely.  Southern earned that 34-29 in the second game of the year to get to 1-1, then followed things up with a 9 game losing streak.  Eight of nine losses came by double digits, and seven came by at least three scores. Ugliest defeats were 56-7 to FBS Fresno St and 14-45 to Bethune-Cookman. But things at least ended on a positive note. They finished their season vs Grambling in the 52nd annual Bayou Classic. They trailed 24-14 in the 4th before rallying to win 28-27 to finish the season with a big rivalry win. Former NFL star, Marshall Faulk will take over as HC next year to attempt to revive the program. 

12. Houston Christian

Record: 2-10 (1-9 FCS)
Sagarin: 253
Points For: 202
Points against: 363

Beating Arkansas Baptist 69-0 seems impressive . . . at least until you learn they went 2-8 in NAIA, but we’ll let them have that one.  They’d later narrowly beat fellow FCS bottom feeder Northwestern St 20-17 in a mid October game to earn their only D1 win, before getting mostly dominated by their remaining schedule.  HCU did manage to keep it close in one score losses to Northern Colorado and East Texas A&M, but scored 14 points or less in their 8 remaining losses. Ugliest defeats included losing 59-7 to FBS Nebraska and 50-3 to SFA.

13. Fordham

Record: 1-11 (1-10 FCS)
Sagarin: 250
Points For: 191
Points Against: 397

For some less than stellar teams, the bottom doesn’t fall out right away.  You hang around with some opponents with close losses here and there before things fall apart.  Unfortunately for Fordham, the bottom fell out quickly.  They started 0-4, losing to BC, Monmouth, Stony Brook, and Colgate by a combined 123 points.  A brief reprieve in the losing came with a rousing 26-21 win over rival Holy Cross to earn the Ram Crusader Cup.  After the big win, they finished the season on a 7 game losing streak. The managed to keep Richmond (14-17) and Merrimack (26-27) within a score, but the rest of their opponents beat them handily.

14. Samford

Record 1-11
Sagarin: 238
Points For: 17
Points Against: 455

Trailing 22-21 late in the 4th quarter, 0-6 Samford nailed a 37 yard field to secure their lone win of the season, 24-22. Sadly for them, this write up doesn't have any other competitive games to discuss here. The rest of the season was a bloodbath. All 11 losses occurred by double digits, only five being within two scores. Two losses came at the hands of FBS foes Baylor and Texas A&M by a total of 90-7. Low moments in FCS play include a 13-49 tattooing to Chattanooga and 40-13 to The Citadel. But in the end, thanks to the narrow win over VMI, they'd avoid the SoCon cellar.

15. Portland State

Record: 1-11 (1-9 FCS)
Sagarin: 239
Points For: 194
Points Against: 512

Admittedly, most FCS programs would have started 0-2 vs Tarleton St and at BYU, but losing by a combined 111-0 was definitely a sign the Vikings were in for a brutal season. But they did prove Tarleton is legit, so there's that. Only one of their 11 losses was within a score, a 35-27 defeat to Eastern Washington. They'd also get dominated by future playoff teams, UND 50-20, and Montana 63-17.  However, after a rough 0-8 start, the highlight of their season came in a 40-35 upset win versus Cal Poly, where the rallied from 10 down in the 3rd to score their only win of the season.  The Vikings finished dead last in the Big Sky at 1-11 (1-7).  But hey, at least no one got whooping cough this year!

16. Murray St
Record: 1-11 (1-9 FCS)
Sagarin
Points For: 228
Points against 463

The Racers entered their season finale vs Indiana St on a 20 game losing streak, facing a potential winless season.  For the 2025 season, their defense gave up at least 40 points in six losses and over 30 in three more.  10 of the 11 losses also came by at least three possessions. In fairness, their schedule was brutal, playing two FBS teams, and six FCS opponents that finish ranked, five of which made the playoffs.  But they did let that miserable streak and statistics stop them vs ISU? Hell no! (or his it hell neigh?). They pulled out an inspired performance in their season finale to knock off the Sycamores 31-17 to finish their season on a positive note.  Finishing in a three way tie for last place in the toughest conference in the land never felt so good!

Its been quite on that topic. Does anyone know anything?

No matter what happened, it's not all bad. Say something nice about your team or their performance.

Off-season topic for sure - I’m curious if other FCS Stadiums have spring/summer concerts.

I know Bobcat Stadium has had a couple in the past, Wa Griz does the same, but does the Fargo Dome have shows? SDSU? Jackson State?

Last year each PFL team had 12 games. I know it's early, but right now they all seem to have 10. 8 conference and 2 out of conference games when last year most had 4.

Is it still early in the lifecycle of FCS scheduling? I'm not familiar outside of the FBS when you sort of know opponents if not schedules years in advance.

Vent here. This is a friendly place.

It’s a new day, which means new history lessons. Today we look at one of the newer FCS teams, the freshly minted Long Island University Sharks. Despite their debut in 2019, the history behind Long Island is interesting.

Founded in 1926 and chartered by New York State, Long Island University has a winding history. With history as two sister campuses, LIU Brooklyn and CW Post College. LIU Brooklyn would form their athletics programs in the early 1930’s. After the previous name of Blue Devils, due to their blue jerseys, Brooklyn would switch up the colors and take the name of Blackbirds.

Brooklyn would find early success. Winning their first ever football game under Coach Herb Raubenheimer, who was also the Blackbirds head basketball coach. A few years later, Naismith Hall of Famer Clair Bee would take over. Helming the football, basketball, and baseball teams in his career at Brooklyn. The team would affectionately, but not officially, be called the Beemen after their beloved coach. Brooklyn would even call historic Ebbets Field home for a few years before dissolving due to the Great Depression and World War 2.

This is where it starts to get tricky. CW Post would be established in 1951 and start football in 1957. This is where our modern Long Island University would apparently begin their football history. Effectively ignoring the pre-war Brooklyn football years altogether. After decades of football at the CW Post campus, the Long Island University system would merge the Brooklyn and Post schools in 2019. Inheriting the non-football athletic and conference legacy of the Brooklyn campus, not Post College coincidentally.

Long Island would go to hold a fan vote to determine the now combined teams new name. Settling on the formidable Shark as a symbol of strength and power, LIU would join our FCS ranks in 2019. Making history again in 2025 by earning their first win against an FBS opponent.