2025 Extensive FCS Preview: Projected Standings and Rankings, Realignment and Head Coach Changes

August 19, 2025 by CollegeFootballPoll.com staff

129 teams will play FCS football in 2025 as Delaware and Missouri State move to the FBS and join Conference USA. Those institutions are replaced by the additions of New Haven and Texas-Rio Grande Valley.

Here are the projected final regular season standings of each FCS conference, according to the FCS Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com which favor UC Davis, North Dakota State and Montana State among the top challengers for the national title. The rankings also indicate potential breakout performances by schools such as Lindenwood, Stonehill and Tarleton, along with high expectations for Jackson State, San Diego and North Carolina Central.

The computer rankings correctly picked the winner of 77.1% of all FCS games played in 2024, and hit 59.2% against the spread. It was 14-1 SU and 10-5 ATS in the playoffs. Lines used are those primarily provided by the FanDuel Sportsbook which currently lists numerous FBS vs. FCS odds.

Congrove began his FBS rankings in 1993 and the FCS rankings in the post-Covid spring season of 2021 that was technically the 2020 season. The NFL was added in 2024.

The transfer portal has led to the FCS becoming as much a part of the wild west of college football as the FBS. According to an article by FCS expert Sam Herder on HeroSports.com, 518 players have moved from the FCS to the FBS, as of May 27. A follow-up article on August 8 listed over 800 players who had gone in the other direction (FBS to FCS). There are an additional 430+ players who moved from one FCS school to another.

The portal, along with a severe lack of timely information from understaffed and overtaxed sports information departments at the FCS level, have made it extremely difficult to reliably predict how each school is likely to perform on the field. The average FCS team is returning well under 50% of its starters from a year ago and barely half of their entire roster.

Scroll to the end of the projected conference standings to see a recap of which schools would automatically qualify as conference champions for the FCS Playoffs, as well as which teams are likely to earn at-large bids.

Big Sky

Idaho and Sacramento State each have a new head coach.

At Idaho, Jason Eck resigned (Dec. 14) to take same position with FBS member New Mexico. Eck was 10-4 in 2024 and 26-13 in 3 seasons with FCS Playoff appearances each year, including quarterfinal losses in last two.

The new head coach is Thomas Ford (Dec. 18) who was the Idaho RB coach in 2022 and 2023 before moving to Oregon State in 2024.

At Sac State, Andy Thompson resigned (Dec. 6) to join former HC Troy Taylor as DC at Stanford. Taylor was later fired but Thompson was retained. Sac State was 3-9 in 2024 under Thompson after going 8-5 in 2023 (11-14 in 2 seasons).

The new head coach is Brennan Marion (Dec. 20) who was OC/QB Coach at UNLV (2023-2024). The Hornets are looking to join the FBS by no later than 2028 after being denied a waiver to join as an independent in 2026. Either way, Sac State is moving on from the Big Sky and has a backup plan to play as an FCS independent in 2026 while other school sports move to the Big West.

The Montana Griz are projected to take a serious step backwards after losing every defensive player with a significant number of starts, and its top five receivers on offense. However, a very successful foray into the portal could overcome the attrition, and it doesn't hurt to return Eli Gillman at running back behind a strong nucleus in the trenches. Sophomore QB Keali'i Ah Yat split time with Logan Fife in 2024 and USC transfer Jake Jensen is certainly is in the mix as he enters his final season of eligibility.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	2	*-UC Davis	Big Sky	62.26	57.07	11	1	8	0	33
2	7	Montana State	Big Sky	59.17	49.31	10	2	7	1	1
3	24	Eastern Washington	Big Sky	44.58	33.44	9	3	7	1	30
4	30	Idaho	Big Sky	46.07	30.71	8	4	6	2	39
5	43	Idaho State	Big Sky	42.95	25.05	7	5	5	3	38
6	61	Weber State	Big Sky	39.53	19.77	6	6	4	4	3
7	65	Montana	Big Sky	38.96	19.48	6	6	3	5	68
8	82	Northern Arizona	Big Sky	40.47	13.49	4	8	3	5	2
9	98	Cal Poly	Big Sky	33.85	8.46	3	9	2	6	6
9	100	Northern Colorado	Big Sky	32.49	8.12	3	9	2	6	54
11	104	Portland State	Big Sky	35.89	5.98	2	10	2	6	14
12	126	Sacramento State	Big Sky	25.05	0.00	0	12	0	8	42
*-UC Davis clinches FCS Playoffs AQ bid.

Big South/Ohio Valley

Lindenwood is an interesting pick to win the conference title. Tennessee Tech was the top team in the coach's preseason poll with 5 first-place votes while UT-Martin and SEMO each got 2. Lindenwood finished 4th in the voting with no first-place votes. The Lions just moved up to the FCS in 2023 and become a playoff-eligible member for the first time this season.

Tennessee State is the only BS/OVC team with a new head coach as Reggie Barlow replaces Eddie George after George resigned (March 9) to take the reigns at Bowling Green. He was 24-22 in four seasons at TSU, including a first-round loss in the FCS Playoffs in 2024.

Barlow formerly served as the head coach of the United Football League's DC Defenders. He was also the head coach at Alabama State (2007–2014) and Virginia State (2016–2021) and owns a career record of 83-58.

Tennessee Tech departs for the Southern Conference in 2026.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	9	*-Lindenwood	BS/OVC	52.20	47.45	11	1	8	0	9
2	18	Southeast Missouri	BS/OVC	47.27	35.45	9	3	7	1	34
3	20	Tennessee State	BS/OVC	46.43	34.82	9	3	6	2	64
4	35	Tennessee Tech	BS/OVC	43.26	28.84	8	4	5	3	65
5	79	Gardner-Webb	BS/OVC	41.09	13.70	4	8	3	5	16
5	81	Tennessee-Martin	BS/OVC	40.50	13.50	4	8	3	5	45
7	102	Western Illinois	BS/OVC	32.04	8.01	3	9	2	6	4
8	117	Charleston Southern	BS/OVC	30.16	2.51	1	11	1	7	5
9	123	Eastern Illinois	BS/OVC	29.80	0.00	0	12	0	8	13
*-Lindenwood clinches FCS Playoffs AQ bid.

Coastal Athletic Association

Richmond is gone after joining the Patriot League. William & Mary and Villanova will follow the Spiders in 2026.Richmond and Rhode Island were declared as co-champs by the conference in 2024. The Spiders fell 20-16 to Patriot League champ Lehigh in the first round of the FCS Playoffs, and Rhode Island advanced to the second round where the Rams lost 17-10 to SoCon champ Mercer.

Albany and North Carolina A&T each have a new head coach in 2025.

Albany lost Greg Gattuso who resigned (Feb. 5) after 11 seasons to Penn State where he signed on as a defensive consultant. He was 54-69 in 11 seasons with the Great Danes, including a 30-53 conference mark and one CAA co-championship in 2023. Gattuso's AHC, Jared Ambrose, was given the Interim HC tag on March 4.

North Carolina AT&T fired Vincent Brown after a 2-21 record in two seasons. He was replaced by Shawn Gibbs (Dec. 6) who was the HC at Fort Valley State with records of 6-4 in 2024 and 22-9 in 3 seasons.

At Hampton, Trent Boykin had the interim tag removed in the middle of the 2024 season (Oct. 16) after a 3-3 start and in advance of its game with North Carolina A&T. Boykin had accepted the interim role when Robert Prunty and the school parted ways in April. He was just 26-29 in five seasons including a 4-9 record in Big South games before the school moved to the CAA where he was 4-12 in league contests. Under Boykin, the Pirates were 5-7 in 2024 with a 2-6 record in the CAA.

The conference loses Delaware to the FBS and Conference USA. It will add independent Sacred Heart in 2026.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	6	*-Villanova	CAA	55.22	50.20	10	1	8	0	22
1	16	*-Rhode Island	CAA	46.30	38.58	10	2	8	0	95
3	21	New Hampshire	CAA	45.82	34.37	9	3	6	2	55
3	28	William & Mary	CAA	42.89	32.17	9	3	6	2	70
5	39	Towson	CAA	40.22	26.81	8	4	6	2	84
6	51	Monmouth	CAA	39.57	23.08	7	5	5	3	113
7	63	Maine	CAA	39.37	19.69	6	6	5	3	21
8	70	Stony Brook	CAA	40.21	16.75	5	7	3	5	46
8	72	Elon	CAA	38.87	16.20	5	7	3	5	28
10	92	Hampton	CAA	32.67	10.89	4	8	2	6	82
11	105	Campbell	CAA	34.08	5.68	2	10	2	6	41
12	99	Albany	CAA	33.02	8.26	2	9	1	7	66
13	118	Bryant	CAA	29.24	2.44	1	11	0	8	90
14	124	North Carolina A&T	CAA	29.07	0.00	0	12	0	8	56
*-Villanova and Rhode Island do not play each other. Conference will initiate tie-breaking procedures for AQ bid.

Independents

Sacred Heart will join the CAA in 2026.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	66	Sacred Heart	Ind.	38.89	19.45	6	6			116
2	106	Merrimack	Ind.	31.10	5.65	2	9			112
No automatic AQ bid exists for Independent teams.

Ivy League

For the first time, the Ivy League will get an FCS Playoffs AQ bid for its champion. Every Ivy League head coach returns in 2025.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	32	*-Yale	Ivy	42.23	29.56	7	3	6	1	25
2	33	Harvard	Ivy	41.99	29.39	7	3	5	2	92
3	46	Dartmouth	IVY	40.68	24.41	6	4	5	2	63
4	45	Cornell	IVY	40.99	24.59	6	4	4	3	100
4	49	Columbia	IVY	39.63	23.78	6	4	4	3	48
6	59	Penn	Ivy	40.97	20.49	5	5	4	3	47
7	103	Brown	IVY	37.36	7.47	2	8	1	6	67
8	121	Princeton	Ivy	34.88	0.00	0	10	0	7	49
*-Yale clinches the Ivy League's first FCS Playoffs AQ bid.

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Delaware State and Norfolk State have both hit the rest button in 2025 with new head coaches - none of whom created more buzz than Norfolk State's hiring of former Virginia Tech and NFL quarterback Michael Vick. The Spartans jettisoned Dawson Odums (Nov. 26) after a 4-8 record in 2025 and a total mark of 15-31 in 4 seasons.

Delaware State fired Lee Hull fired (Dec. 3) after a 1-11 record in 2024, and a 2-21 mark in 2 seasons. He was previously 12-12 with Morgan State in 2014-15.

The new head coach of the Hornets is none other than former NFL standout DeShaun Jackson (2008-2022) spent last season as an assistant coach of Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, California. He was also wrongly reported by some 'sources' as being the head coach of the program that went 9-5 in 2024, losing 14-13 to Highland of Palmdale in the state playoffs. We confirmed Jackson served as offensive coordinator and receivers coach under head coach Travis Clark who was newly hired before the 2024 season.

Given the attention that Norfolk State has received with the hiring of Vick, don't be shocked if the Spartans compete earnestly for the top spot in 2025. Norfolk State's only MEAC title came in 2011, but that was vacated for miss-reporting the eligibility of student athletes across multiple sports.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	11	North Carolina Central	MEAC	49.17	45.07	11	1	5	0	105
2	42	South Carolina State	MEAC	38.07	25.38	8	4	3	2	62
3	50	Morgan State	MEAC	40.06	23.37	7	5	3	2	83
4	75	Norfolk State	MEAC	35.82	14.93	5	7	3	2	61
5	107	Howard	MEAC	32.06	5.34	2	10	1	4	87
6	111	Delaware State	MEAC	25.49	4.25	2	10	0	5	111
No automatic AQ bid exists for the MEAC, but schools can receive an at-large bid.

Missouri Valley Football Conference

North Dakota State's reign is expected to continue. The Bison are coming off their 10th national title in the last 14 seasons. Replacing Cam Miller's 54 consecutive starts at QB will be difficult, but NDSU always seems to be able to reload and move on.

Four members of the MVFC will have a new head coach in 2025 - North Dakota, Northern Iowa, South Dakota and South Dakota State.

North Dakota's Bubba Schweigert resigned (Nov. 30) to take an administrative roll going 5-7 a year ago and compiling a 66-57 record over 11 seasons. A favorite son of the program, Eric Schmidt (hired Dec. 9) returns to the school as the new head coach after playing linebacker there from 1998-2001, and later serving as LB coach (2006-2007) and DC (2014-2019). He spent 2024 as the DC at San Diego State after stints at Fresno State and Washington.

At Northern Iowa, Todd Sepsis moves over from Drake to replace Mark Farley who resigned after going 3-9 in 2024. Farley was 183-112 in 24 seasons. Stepsis was 29-32 in 6 seasons at Drake, but 16-7 the last two seasons with first-round losses in the FCS Playoffs as Pioneer League champions.

South Dakota didn't have to go far to find its new head coach. The Coyotes promoted from within after Bob Nielsen announced his retirement (Jan. 16). Nielsen led the Coyotes to their best season in program history in 2024 as the team went 11-3 overall, won a share of the MVFC for the first time ever, made it to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs for the first time, and recorded 11 wins to tie the single season school record. He had 53 victories at South Dakota in nine seasons, 21 of which came in the last seasons, and took them to the playoffs on three other occasions.

South Dakota immediately named Travis Johansen, Nielsen's defensive coordinator since 2019 and AHC since 2022, as Nielsen's successor.

South Dakota State lost Jimmy Rogers to the same position at Washington State (Dec. 28). 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.

Former SDSU linebacker Dan Jackson (2003-2005) returns as head coach. He had multiple assistant coach roles with the Jackrabbits from 2012-2019 and spent last season as the DC of an Idaho team that lost to fellow Big Sky member Montana State in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs.

Elsewhere, Murray State, which lost its last 9 games to finish 1-11 in 2024, is picked to go 0-12 in 2025. The Racers have one win against an MVFC team (Indiana State) since joining the conference in 2023.

The conference loses Missouri State to the FBS and Conference USA.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	1	*-North Dakota State	MVFC	60.30	60.30	12	0	8	0	36
2	12	South Dakota	MVFC	52.22	43.52	10	2	7	1	11
3	14	South Dakota State	MVFC	52.94	39.71	9	3	6	2	43
3	17	Illinois State	MVFC	49.96	37.47	9	3	6	2	53
5	36	North Dakota	MVFC	43.20	28.80	8	4	5	3	37
6	60	Youngstown State	MVFC	40.85	20.43	6	6	4	4	44
7	73	Southern Illinois	MVFC	38.27	15.95	5	7	3	5	69
8	101	Indiana State	MVFC	32.18	8.05	3	9	1	7	7
9	114	Northern Iowa	MVFC	32.02	2.67	1	11	1	7	15
10	127	Murray State	MVFC	21.16	0.00	0	12	0	8	31
*-North Dakota State clinches FCS Playoffs AQ bid.

Northeast Conference

Like Lindenwood in the BS/OVC, the computer taps a Stonehill program that began its transition to the FCS in 2022 as the 2025 front-runner and a No. 4 national ranking prediction in its first season of full FCS eligibility. It also gives a 12-0 record to a school that was 1-10 a year ago when the computer picked the Skyhawks to go 5-6.

This year, Stonehill was picked last in the preseason coaches poll, but that's almost as fishy as a 12-0 projection. After all, head coach Eli Gardner is starting his 10th season as head coach (not including the 2020 canceled Covid year) and returns nearly his entire team after bringing in a new OC so one has to wonder if this will be a historical turnaround season, or a huge miss by the algorithm.

CCSU, the computer's No. 2 team, led the preseason conference coaches' poll, followed by Duquesne, Robert Morris and LIU. Duquesne is picked 4th by the computer while Robert Morris is picked to drop to 8th and LIU is projected to finish 3rd.

Every NEC head coach returns.

New Haven begins its transition to the league from the Northeast-10 Conference in Division 2 where they were 7-1 a year ago (8-3 over-all), won the league title and lost 14-7 at Slippery Rock in the opening round of the D2 playoffs. The Chargers were also NE-10 champs in 2021 and 2023, and co-champs in 2019 and 2022. No games were played in 2020, due to Covid. All that success came under Chris Pincince who was 76-34 in 10 seasons with four straight D2 first round playoff losses over the last four seasons. But Pincince was fired a week after the school announced its transition to the FBS and numerous players hit the portal, even though DC Mark Powell was immediately named the interim head coach for the 2025 season. They will only play 3 NEC teams this year and those won't count for either team in the league standings. New Haven will also play a pair of D2 schools - Saginaw Valley State and Pace, as well as D3 member Southern Connecticut State. The only home FCS game will come at the end of the season when New Haven takes on Merrimack.

This is the final year for St. Francis in the NEC as the school opted to drop to the D3 level in 2026. Reasons included the financial challenges of NIL, the steady turnover of the transfer portal, and the desire to be a more academically-focused institution. The Loretto, Pennsylvania catholic school was founded in 1847 as the nation's first Franciscan college. It's total enrollment, including graduate students, is roughly 3,000.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	4	*-Stonehill	NEC	50.63	50.63	12	0	7	0	107
2	31	Central Connecticut	NEC	40.27	30.20	9	3	5	2	97
3	53	LIU	NEC	38.62	22.53	7	5	5	2	58
4	62	Duquesne	NEC	39.47	19.74	6	6	4	3	89
4	67	Wagner	NEC	36.97	18.49	6	6	4	3	73
6	89	Mercyhurst	NEC	35.17	11.72	4	8	2	5	98
7	108	Saint Francis (PA)	NEC	28.66	5.21	2	9	1	6	51
8	110	Robert Morris	NEC	28.47	4.75	2	10	1	6	99
9	129	New Haven	NEC	15.42	0.00	0	10			128
*-Stonehill clinches FCS Playoffs AQ bid. New Haven in transition from D2 to FCS and NEC. Its games vs. Duquesne, Mercyhurst, and LIU won't count in standings for either team.

Patriot Conference

The conference adds Richmond this year as the Spiders lead a mini exodus from the Coastal Athletic Conference to the Patriot League. Villanova and William & Mary will follow suit in 2026.

Patriot League games each year include the most-played series in college football between Lehigh and Lafayette who have met for "The Rivalry" 160 times since 1884 with only two interruptions (1986 and 2020). Lafayette leads the series 82-73-5 and is 14-11 in the 2000's.

Lehigh is the computer's overwhelming pick to win the conference title this year, and was also voted as the favorite in the conference preseason poll with 13 first-place votes. Richmond was second while collecting the 3 remaining first-place votes.

The rest of the conference poll had Holy Cross 3rd, followed by Bucknell, Lafayette, Georgetown, Colgate and Fordham.

Colgate is the only conference member with a new head coach in 2025. Stan Dakosty was fired (Dec. 2) after his team went 2-10 in 2024 to give him a cumulative record of 16-29 over 4 seasons. Dakosty is a Colgate graduate and was a 17-year veteran on the Colgate staff He is followed by Curt Fitzpatrick (Dec. 21) ,a former St. John Fisher QB who was was 45-5 at D3 Cortland (NY) from 2020-2024 with four straight Empire 8 titles and was the D3 National Coach of the Year in 2023 when Cortland won the national championship. Prior to Cortland, he was 35-38 at Morrisville, NJ.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
	3	*-Lehigh	Patriot	55.48	55.48	12	0	7	0	74
	29	Georgetown	Patriot	42.07	31.55	9	3	5	2	72
	34	Richmond	Patriot	43.77	29.18	8	4	5	2	59
	41	Holy Cross	Patriot	44.07	25.71	7	5	5	2	29
	88	Lafayette	Patriot	36.06	12.02	4	8	3	4	17
	86	Fordham	Patriot	37.47	12.49	4	8	2	5	26
	85	Bucknell	Patriot	37.50	12.50	4	8	1	6	57
	116	Colgate	Patriot	31.22	2.60	1	11	0	7	10
*-Lehigh clinches FCS Playoffs AQ bid.

Pioneer Conference

Drake lost head coach Todd Stepsis to Northern Iowa, but the Bulldogs are still expected to be solid contenders for the Pioneer Conference Championship for a third straight season. The conference's preseason coaches' poll mirrors the computer's forecast as it places Drake in second, behind San Diego.

The Toreros last shared the title in 2021 with Davidson and won its last outright championship in 2019. In fact, from 2014-2019, San Diego won five outright titles and split one with Dayton in 2015.

Drake fell 43-29 at 13-seed Tarleton in round one of the FCS Playoffs in 2024. Pioneer League teams are 2-14 in FCS playoff games since gaining an automatic qualifier entry beginning with the 2013 season. San Diego is responsible for both of those victories by knocking off Cal Poly in 2016 and Northern Arizona in 2017. The conference is currently riding an 8-game losing streak in FCS playoff contests with 3 straight losses by the Toreros, followed by 3 for Davidson and the last 2 by Drake.

Drake is joined by Butler, Davidson, Stetson and Valparaiso in putting a new head coach on the sideline this fall.

Drake replaced Stepsis with Joe Woodley who won the 2024 NAIA Championship with Grand View (Des Moines, Iowa) and went 14-0 in 2024 while making history in defeating all three of the most recent national champs in the same season. Over-all, Grand View was 72-5 in 6 seasons under his watch, and 29-0 in conference play (Heart of America Athletic Conference). The team was undefeated over-all in every regular season, and lost no earlier than the NAIA quarterfinals each year.

Butler and Ball State pulled off a bit of a switch with Ball State hiring Butler HC Mike Uremovich and Butler hiring Ball State assistant head coach Kevin Lynch who had been with the Cardinals since 2016. Uremovich led Butler to a 9-3 mark in 2024 and was 23-11 in 3 seasons.

Davidson lost head coach Scott Abell to Rice after going 47-28 in seven seasons with the Wildcats. Saj Thakkar is his replacement after he spent two seasons as the HC at Bentley where he was 14-6 overall and 11-4 in the NE-10 Conference at the D2 school in Waltham, Massachusetts. He had previously coached RB at Harvard from 2018-2022 and played QB/WR at Fitchburg.

Stetson turns to Mike Jasper after Brian Young resigned following a 2-9 record in 2024 and a 13-30 mark over 4 seasons. Jasper was the HC at Bethel (TN), his Alma mater, with a 44-20 record and a pair NAIA playoffs from 2019-2024.

Valparaiso fired Landon Fox after a 4-7 record in 2024 and a 21-42 mark over 6 campaigns. Andy Waddle was the HC at D3 Marietta with a 55-61 record and best finish of 3rd place in Ohio Athletic Conference. His last two years saw Marietta go 16-5.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	13	*-San Diego	Pioneer	45.48	41.69	11	1	8	0	104
2	22	Drake	Pioneer	47.21	34.33	8	3	7	1	96
3	40	Presbyterian	Pioneer	39.95	26.63	8	4	6	2	127
3	47	Morehead State	Pioneer	36.50	24.33	8	4	6	2	124
5	48	Dayton	Pioneer	37.50	23.86	7	4	4	4	123
6	74	Saint Thomas (MN)	Pioneer	36.32	15.13	5	7	4	4	76
7	64	Butler	Pioneer	39.20	19.60	6	6	3	5	121
8	80	Stetson	Pioneer	32.76	13.65	5	7	3	5	126
9	90	Davidson	Pioneer	34.97	11.66	4	8	3	5	106
10	112	Valparaiso	Pioneer	24.24	4.04	2	10	0	8	118
11	119	Marist	Pioneer	29.09	2.42	1	11	0	8	110
*-San Diego clinches FCS Playoffs AQ bid.

Southern Conference

The computer picks Mercer to defend its first-ever conference title and return to the FCS playoffs where the Bears advanced to the second round with a 17-10 win at home over Rhode Island before taking a crushing 31-7 loss in the Fargodome to eventual national champion North Dakota State.

Mercer also received 6 of the 9 votes in the preseason SoCon coaches' poll while Chattanooga collected 2 and Western Carolina 1. The rest of the coaches' poll order was ETSU, Samford, Furman, Wofford, The Citadel and VMI.

ETSU is the only SoCon school that enters the 2025 season with a new head coach. The Bucs hired the experienced Will Healey to replace Tre Lamb who resigned to take the HC job with Tulsa. Lamb was 7-5 in his only season at the school.

Healy was RB coach at Georgia State last year and the AHC at UCF in 2023. He was 15-24 as the head coach at Charlotte from 2019-2022, and 13-21 at Austin Peay from 2016-2018.

The conference picks up Tennessee Tech from the BS/OVC in 2026.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	15	*-Mercer	SoCon	46.73	38.94	10	2	8	0	60
2	37	Western Carolina	SoCon	38.19	28.64	9	3	6	2	103
3	56	Chattanooga	SoCon	37.63	21.95	7	5	6	2	71
4	55	Furman	SoCon	38.11	22.23	7	5	4	4	52
5	77	ETSU	SoCon	34.95	14.56	5	7	4	4	88
5	78	VMI	SoCon	34.70	14.46	5	7	4	4	79
7	97	Wofford	SoCon	34.47	8.62	3	9	3	5	75
8	115	Samford	SoCon	31.95	2.66	1	11	1	7	18
9	122	The Citadel	SoCon	30.35	0.00	0	12	0	8	24
*-Mercer clinches FCS Playoffs AQ bid.

Southland Conference

Perennial power UIW is projected to successfully defend its 2024 Southland Conference title after the Cardinals went 7-0 in league play a year ago and finishing 11-3 over-all with a painful 55-14 blowout loss at South Dakota State in the FCS Playoff quarterfinals.

McNeese and Nicholls both have a new head coach in 2025. The Cowboys bring in Matt Viator for a second stint after he went 78-33 from 2006-2015 before leaving to fill the Louisiana-Monroe head coach vacancy. He was fired by the Warhawks after going 19-39 in five seasons, including an 0-10 mark in 2020 and had spent the last four seasons as a quality control analyst at Monroe's rival, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns.

McNeese fired Gary Goff after 6-6 record in 2024 and a 10-23 over-all mark in 3 seasons. However, the team had improved from 0-10 when he started to that 6-6 record last year.

Nicholls saw head coach Tim Rebowe retire on December 1 and immediately named his DC, Tommy Rybacki, to replace him. Rebowe was 4-8 in 2024 and 57-56 in 10 seasons during which Rybacki was on staff as the DC every year.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	10	*-Incarnate Word	Southland	51.72	47.41	11	1	8	0	93
2	26	Stephen F. Austin	Southland	43.52	32.64	9	3	7	1	119
3	38	Lamar	Southland	42.16	28.11	8	4	6	2	94
3	44	SE Louisiana	Southland	37.09	24.73	8	4	6	2	109
5	91	Nicholls State	Southland	33.88	11.29	4	8	4	4	77
5	95	East Texas A&M	Southland	31.31	10.44	4	8	4	4	35
7	93	McNeese State	Southland	32.52	10.84	4	8	3	5	122
8	94	Houston Christian	Southland	32.19	10.73	5	8	2	6	120
9	125	Northwestern State (LA)	Southland	25.15	0.00	0	12	0	8	27
9	128	UTRVG	Southland	18.34	0.00	0	12	0	8	125
*-Incarnate Word clinches FCS Playoffs AQ bid.

Southwestern Athletic Conference

In 2024, Jackson State collected its third perfect regular season SWAC record in the last four seasons, as well as its third conference championship over that period. They clobbered Southern, 41-14, in the title game and are projected to face Southern again for the title in 2025.

Three SWAC schools have a new head coach in 2025.

Alabama A&M fired Connell Maynor fired (Dec. 2) after going 6-6 in 2024 to run his record to 40-32 over 7 seasons, including a 28-21 mark in SWAC games. Former Alabama Crimson Tide and NFL defensive back (1995-2002) Sam Shade is Maynor's successor. He was the head coach at Miles from 2022-2024 where he led improvement of team from 1-9 in his 1st season to 10-3 last year and the second round of the D2 playoffs.

MVSU fired Kendrick Wade fired (Dec. 4) after just two seasons. He was 1-11 over-all and 1-7 in SWAC in 2024 after posting the same record in 2023. The Delta Devils' new HC is Terrell Buckley (Dec. 21). The former Florida State defensive back and NFL veteran (1992-2005) has been a cornerbacks coach with multiple teams, including Louisville and Ole Miss after starting his coaching career with his Alma mater. His only previous head coach experience came with the defunct XFL Orlando Guardians where he was 1-9 in 2023.

Prairie View A&M (SWAC) fired former Miami Hurricane defensive back and NFL veteran Bubba McDowell on November 24 on the heels of 5-7 campaign in 2024 and 17-18 record over 3 seasons that included a 14-13 SWAC mark. McDowell started 83 NFL games and played in 102 from 1989-1995. He had been with the Panthers since 2012 when he was initially hired as the DB coach. Nearly a month after McDowell's dismissal, PVAMU hired Tremaine Jackson on December 21. The former Texas Southern and ULM defensive tackle has been in the coaching ranks since 2006 as an assistant coach of the defensive line and a defensive coordinator. He landed his first head coaching gig at Colorado Mesa where he went 10-3 during the Covid period (2020-2021) before compiling a 30-9 record at Valdosta State that included a 25-3 mark over the last two seasons and a 2024 National Championship game loss to Ferris State.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	5	*-Jackson State	SWAC-E	50.43	50.43	11	0	8	0	117
2	25	Alabama A&M	SWAC-E	43.87	32.90	9	3	7	1	81
3	54	Alabama State	SWAC-E	38.55	22.49	7	5	5	3	101
4	52	Florida A&M	SWAC-E	45.23	22.62	6	6	4	4	102
5	96	Bethune-Cookman	SWAC-E	35.20	8.80	3	9	2	6	50
6	120	Mississippi Valley State	SWAC-E	21.44	1.79	1	11	0	8	86
1	23	*-Southern	SWAC-W	45.07	33.80	9	3	7	1	91
2	57	Grambling State	SWAC-W	36.47	21.27	7	5	4	4	80
3	68	Alcorn State	SWAC-W	35.37	17.69	6	6	4	4	115
4	71	Texas Southern	SWAC-W	36.47	16.58	5	6	4	4	114
5	83	Prairie View A&M	SWAC-W	32.32	13.47	5	7	2	6	129
6	109	Arkansas-Pine Bluff	SWAC-W	29.47	4.91	2	10	0	8	108
*-Jackson State projected to defeat Southern in SWAC Championship game Conference does not receive a FCS Playoffs AQ bid.

United Athletic Conference

The upstart football-only conference got its roots as the AQ7 in 2021 to make ASUN and WAC members eligible for an automatic FCS Playoffs bid. The ASUN and WAC membership changed extensively again in 2022 and ultimately renewed their coalition. It became the UAC in 2023 with still another different lineup of teams.

Every UAC head coach from 2024 returns in 2025.

The conference had three playoff teams in 2024, with Tarleton and Eastern Kentucky receiving at-large bids while Abilene Christian won the conference's AQ bid. It was the first playoff bids for ACU and Tarleton, and the 22nd for EKU. Abilene Christian and Tarleton each lost in the second round, while Eastern Kentucky was knocked out in the first round.

CONF	NAT'L	TEAM	CONF.	POWER	RANK	W	L	CW	CL	SOS
1	8	*-Tarleton State	UAC	52.30	47.94	11	1	8	0	85
2	19	Eastern Kentucky	UAC	46.74	35.06	9	3	7	1	23
3	27	Abilene Christian	UAC	48.27	32.18	8	4	6	2	8
4	58	Southern Utah	UAC	40.99	20.50	6	6	4	4	19
5	76	Austin Peay	UAC	35.48	14.78	5	7	4	4	12
6	87	North Alabama	UAC	36.82	12.27	4	8	3	5	40
7	69	West Georgia	UAC	36.95	16.80	5	6	2	6	78
8	84	Central Arkansas	UAC	38.62	12.87	4	8	2	6	32
9	113	Utah Tech	UAC	32.53	2.71	1	11	0	8	20
*-Tarleton clinches FCS Playoffs AQ bid

FCS Playoff

11 teams will earn automatic qualifying bids by winning their respective conference title. Additionally, 13 schools will be granted at-large bids by the FCS Playoff Committee which also determines seeding.

The championship game leaves Frisco, Texas after 15 seasons and heads to Nashville, Tennessee and the campus of Vanderbilt University. Chattanooga, Tennessee hosted the championship game for 13 seasons before it moved to Frisco.

AQ Bids (11)

Big Sky - UC Davis
BS/OVC - LIndenwood
CAA - Villanova or Rhode Island
Ivy League - Yale
MVFC - North Dakota State
NEC - Stonehill
Patriot - Lehigh
Pioneer - San Diego
SoCon - Mercer
Southland - Incarnate Word
UAC - Tarleton

At-large Bids (13)

Big Sky (2) - Montana State, Eastern Washington
BS/OVC (2) - SEMO, Tennessee State
CAA (3) - Villanova or Rhode Island, New Hampshire, William & Mary
MVC (3) - Illinois State, South Dakota, South Dakota State
Southland (1) - Stephen F. Austin
UAC (2) - Eastern Kentucky, Abilene Christian

*-Alternate Possibilities

MEAC - North Carolina Central cold opt to go and send South Carolina State to the Celebration Bowl
SWAC - Likewise to above, Jackson State could opt to go and send Southern to the Celebration Bowl.

*- Above scenarios would eliminate Abilene Christian and Stephen F. Austin