FCS Weekend Preview and Picks

October 1, 2022 by Staff

The FCS kicks off with a lone contest on Friday night when Penn visits No. 20 Dartmouth in an Ivy League clash with the Big Green favored by 13.73 in the Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com. Dartmouth is coming off a 38-31 loss in overtime at Sacred Heart, but this is the conference opener for the two-time defending champs.

Twelve teams get a bye week, including 2nd-ranked Jackson State and 5th-ranked Weber State

Saturday delivers a full slate of 62 contests, including 3 matchups of teams ranked in the Top 25 by the computer. Those games have 8th-ranked Holy Cross (-2.59) at No. 13 Harvard, 11th-ranked Princeton at 15th-ranked Columbia (-0.39), and No. 21 Samford at No. 18 Furman (-4.03)

In other games among the highly-ranked teams, top-ranked Montana visits 129th-ranked Idaho State as a 29.04-point pick, 3rd-ranked North Dakota State State entertains Youngstown State as a 21.61-point favorite, and 43th-ranked South Dakota State hosts Western Illinois as 34.42-point play.

Meanwhile, No. 6 Sacramento State is a projected 14.79-point winner over Cal Poly, a week after the Hornets visited FBS Colorado State and delivered a 41-10 stomping.

7th-ranked Montana State draws UC Davis at home as a 10.58-point favorite. The Aggies nearly took down Weber State this past Saturday.

No. 9 Austin Peay gets a 10.13-point computer advantage at Central Arkansas, and No. 10 Delaware is a 19.10-point home pock over Towson.

Another top game has No. 16 Richmond favored by just 1.87 at an Elon squad that is coming off a 35-31 upset win at then-No. 13 William & Mary. The Phoenix sit just outside the Top 25 at No. 27.

A similar matchup has 19th-ranked Jacksonville State getting only a 2.36-point computer edge at No. 29 Kennesaw State.

No. 22 Eastern Washington goes cross-country to face FBS member Florida in "The Swamp", and No. 24 Missouri State goes to North Dakota.

No. 25 Chattanooga is a 5.76-point underdog at No. 30 ETSU.

Get the entire FCS Schedule & Picks.

FCS vs. FBS

There will be 118 FBS vs. FCS matchups this season with App State, Army and Marshall each playing two such games, and 115 other FBS schools playing one apiece.

There are six FBS-FCS games this week and the FBS school is no less than a 20-point favorite in any of them. Only 8 such games will remain to be played for the rest of the season. The FBS is 96-8 vs. the FCS this year, and 1,670-148 (.919) since we began tracking this in 2003.

Here are the FCS wins in 2022:
September 2: William & Mary 41, Charlotte 24
September 3: Delaware14, Navy 7
September 10: Weber State 35, Utah State 7
September 10: Incarnate Word 55, Nevada 41
September 10: Holy Cross 37, Buffalo 31
September 10: Eastern Kentucky 59, Bowling Green 57 (7 OT's)
September 17: Southern Illinois 31, Northwestern 24
September 24: Sacramento State 41, Colorado State 10

Streaks

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL - Won 7 straight over-all (FCS longest)
Last: Won 59-14 vs. D2 Virginia-Lynchburg on Saturday, September 24.
Next: Visits Campbell on Saturday, October 1.

MONTANA STATE - Won 14 straight home games (FCS longest).
Last: Won 38-15 at Eastern Washington on Saturday, September 24.
Next: Hosts UC Davis on Saturday, October 1.

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE - Won 12 straight conference games (FCS longest).
Last: Lost 47-27 at North Carolina A&T on Saturday, September 24 as first four games are on the road (first home game Oct. 8 vs Florida A&M).
Next: Visits FBS member South Carolina on Saturday, October 1.

DARTMOUTH - Had 11-game road winning streak come to an end (was FCS longest).
Last: Lost 38-31 in overtime at Sacred Heart on Saturday, September 24.
Next: Hosts Penn on Friday, September 30.

WEBER STATE - Won 7 straight road games (FCS longest).
Last: Won 17-12 at UC Davis on Saturday, September 24.
Next: Hosts Eastern Washington on Saturday, October 1.

TEXAS SOUTHERN - Lost 21 straight road games (FCS longest).
Last: Lost 52-24 at FBS member UTSA on Saturday, September 24.
Next: Hosts Alabama State on Saturday, October 1.

WAGNER -  Lost 23 straight overall, 15 straight conference games, and 12 straight at home (all are FCS longest).
Last: Lost 27-7 at home to St. Francis (PA) on Saturday, September 17.
Next: Visits FBS member Syracuse on Saturday, October 1.