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110 FCS teams open their 2025 campaigns this week after 7 did so this past weekend. Ten teams are idle, including the entirety of the Ivy League along with Montana and Villanova.
2 more tried to open last week, but the UC Davis-Mercer FCS Kickoff game in Montgomery, Alabama was halted by lightning with 7:55 to play and the Aggies holding a 23-17 lead, but it never resumed and was ultimately declared a "no contest".
Last week also provided a huge upset as Nicholls was a 20-6 winner at home over Incarnate Word, the preseason No. 4 team in the AFCA Coaches' Poll.
Using the Coaches' Poll as our guide, the top game among ranked teams this week has No. 14 Sacramento State at No. 3 South Dakota State. The Hornets were just 3-9 a year ago and this will be the debut game for Brennan Marion who was OC/QB Coach at UNLV the last two seasons. But the Jackrabbits also have a new head coach in Dan Jackson, a former SDSU linebacker from 2003 to 2005 who served last year as the DC and LB coach at Idaho. Jimmy Rogers resigned after just two seasons to take the head coaching job at Washington State. He was 27-3 in two seasons and guided the Jacks to the 2023 national championship after his predecessor, John Stiegelmeirer had done the same in 2022. Rogers' 2024 squad lost in the FCS playoff semifinals and finished 12-3 after going 15-0 in 2023.
Richmond makes its Patriot League debut with a trip to Lehigh for a conference battle between the No. 22 (tied) Spiders and the No. 15 Mountain Hawks. Lehigh was last year's automatic qualifier from the Patriot League for the FCS playoffs, and Richmond was the AQ team from the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA).
There are several games of note between FCS and FBS teams, including No. 2 Montana State visiting FBS No. 7 Oregon at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday on BTN (big Ten Network).
Delaware State will try to play spoiler at Delaware as the Blue Hens' play their first game a FBS and Conference USA member.
Missouri State joins Delaware in its move to the FBS and CUSA, and the Bears will open at one college football's most-recognized brands, the USC Trojans.
Tarleton will take its 8th-ranked Texans' team to Army West Point.
No. 5 South Dakota visits an Iowa State team returning from a trek to Ireland where the Cyclones scored a heard-fought win over Kansas State but could be hurting from all the travel. Travis Johansen debuts as the Coyotes' new head coach after the retirement of Bob Nielsen.
No. 12 Idaho goes to Washington State under new head coach Thomas Ford who served as the RB coach of the Vandals in 2022 and 2023 before moving to Oregon State in 2024. As mentioned earlier, former SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers is making his debut with the Cougars.
No. 16 Abilene Christian goes to Tulsa as a 6.5-point underdog at the sportsbooks, but a 2.46-point favorite in the Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com.
See the entire Schedule and /Picks.
JACKSON STATE - Won 10 straight overall. Won 9 straight conference games (tied with Montana State).
Last: Won 28-7 over South Carolina State in the Celebration Bowl for the HBCU National Championship on Saturday, December 14.
Next: Hosts Hampton on Saturday, August 30.
MONTANA STATE - Won 9 straight conference games (tied Jackson State). Won 6 straight road games. Had won 15 straight overall before....
Last: No.1 seed lost 35-32 to No. 2 seed North Dakota State in the National Championship on Monday January 6 in Frisco, Texas.
Next: Visits Oregon on Saturday, August 30
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE - 29-game home winning streak.
Last: No. 3 seed lost 28-21 at No. 2 seed North Dakota State on Saturday, December 21.
Next: Hosts Sacramento State on Saturday, August 30.
NW STATE - Lost 20 straight over-all. Lost 10 straight home games (tied with Northern Colorado)
Last: Lost 62-24 at Houston Christian on Saturday, November 23.
Next: Hosts Alcorn State on Thursday, August 28.
NORTHERN COLORADO - Lost 10 straight home games (tied with NW State, LA).
Last: Lost 45-13 at Portland State on Saturday, November 23.
Next: Hosts D2 Chadron State on Saturday, August 30.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T - Lost 16 straight conference games.
Last: Lost 31-21 at home to Elon on Saturday, November 23.
Next: Visits Tennessee State on Saturday, August 30.
MURRAY STATE - Lost 18 straight road games. Lost 15 straight conference games (second to NC A&T).
Last: Lost 62-0 at Southern Illinois on Saturday, November 23.
Next: Visits ETSU on Saturday, August 30.
FBS schools were 115-6 vs. FCS last season and are a cumulative 1,915-158 (.924) since we began tracking this in 2003.
In 2024, there were 121 matchups scheduled between FBS and FCS schools with 119 playing one such game, while Hawaii and UMass each played two.
This year, there are 126 games (one each for 126 of 136 teams). 47 of those matchups will take place this week, from Thursday to Saturday, equating to 37.3% of all such games scheduled in 2025. Add the one such game took place last week when Idaho State lost 31-38 at UNLV and only 78 will remain.
2024 FCS wins vs. FBS:
August 24: Montana State 35, New Mexico 31
September 7: St. Francis (PA) 23, Kent State 17
September 7: Idaho 17, Wyoming 13
September 7: Southern Utah 27, UTEP 24 (OT)
September 21: Monmouth 45, FIU 42
September 28: UT-Martin 24, Kennesaw 13
In 2023, FBS schools were 114-4. These were the FCS wins last year:
September 9: Idaho 33, Nevada 6
September 9: Southern Illinois 14, Northern Illinois 12
September 9: Fordham 40, Buffalo 37
September 16: Sacramento State 30, Stanford 23