Each week, we will break down the FCS national poll vote by FanBuzz CFB writer Brian McLaughlin, an annual participant in the poll of note — the STATS/Perform national poll.
Sometimes (all the time?) this damned FCS poll vote can be a maddening situation. Take previously undefeated potential seed Southern Illinois, for instance. The Salukis were just pummeled by Youngstown State (28 points), who I had just removed from my ballot last week after losing to Northern Iowa. Then, you have to consider that UNI lost by double-digits to Weber State, but Weber State just lost this weekend to 2-4 Northern Arizona.
My eyes are crossed. For now, we'll rank them that way in that order: Weber State, UNI, Youngstown, and SIU. This is just for this week though, further jostling can and will happen. And as for NAU? They're an interesting study and have played extremely well, and in the past three weeks have really come alive in wins over Montana and Weber State and a very tight loss to seed-worth Sacramento State — but the program is 2-4 and dropped a game to 1-4 Utah Tech, too. One more win by NAU and the Lumberjacks will be on this ballot.
That's the kind of headache this weekend creates (as usual).
Other thoughts: I really like what North Carolina Central and Florida A&M are doing in the HBCU ranks. Potential Celebration Bowl matchup, anyone?
Had to drop UC Davis, Elon, and Eastern Illinois for now, and in comes Youngstown, North Dakota, and Montana — who all have been ranked prior. Villanova, FAMU, and New Hampshire — who had last three games by three points or less — are teams I'm keeping a close eye on for the next week's vote.
We will have more commentary when we release the FCS playoff picture on Monday, and we'll break it down even more in-depth.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Gators Decade-Long Struggles are Because of Fans
North Carolina Central continues to move up the national poll (PHOTO CREDIT: NCCU Athletics)
BMAC'S WEEK 6 FCS POLL VOTE
EDITOR'S NOTE: Folks, remember — an FBS loss or a D-2 win does not have an effect on an FCS team's position in the postseason picture. The playoff committee throws those results out.
NOTE: FanBuzz national Group of Five college football editor Brian McLaughlin has had a vote in the STATS-Perform FCS National Poll and end-of-year awards since 2016.
(*) - Has a FBS win
| RK | BMACS VOTE | REC. (O7) |
| 1 | SDSU | 5-0 |
| 2 | Montana St | 4-1 |
| 3 | Idaho (*) | 5-1 |
| 4 | Sac St (*) | 4-1 |
| 5 | Furman | 4-1 |
| 6 | West Carolina | 5-1 |
| 7 | South Dakota | 4-1 |
| 8 | NDSU | 4-1 |
| 9 | Delaware | 4-1 |
| 10 | Harvard | 4-0 |
| 11 | Wm & Mary | 4-2 |
| 12 | UIW | 4-1 |
| 13 | Holy Cross | 4-2 |
| 14 | East. Wash | 2-3 |
| 15 | UT Martin | 5-1 |
| 16 | Weber St. | 3-2 |
| 17 | UNI | 3-2 |
| 18 | Youngstown | 3-2 |
| 19 | SIU (*) | 4-1 |
| 20 | N.C. Cent | 5-1 |
| 21 | Austin Peay | 3-2 |
| 22 | Albany | 4-2 |
| 23 | North Dakota | 3-2 |
| 24 | Montana | 5-1 |
| 25 | Cent. Ark. | 4-2 |
Dropped from last week's ballot: UC Davis, Elon, Eastern Illinois
