2026 Week 6 /r/FCS HBCU Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Rank	Team	Conference	Record (FCS only)	Points	Δ from Last Week
1	Jackson State Tigers	SWAC	5-0 (3-0)	96 (6)	+1
2	South Carolina State Bulldogs	MEAC	5-1 (3-1)	91 (3)	-1
3	Morgan State Bears	MEAC	4-1 (3-0)	76 (1)	+4
4	Alabama A&M Bulldogs	SWAC	4-2 (2-2)	55	---
5	Bethune-Cookman Wildcats	SWAC	3-2 (2-1)	49	NEW
6	Alabama State Hornets	SWAC	3-2 (2-1)	48	-3
7	Delaware State Hornets	MEAC	3-3 (2-2)	26	-1
8	Norfolk State Spartans	MEAC	3-3 (2-1)	23	---
9	Grambling Tigers	SWAC	3-2 (1-1)	18	NEW
10	Alcorn State Braves	SWAC	3-3 (2-2)	17	-1

Dropped from the Top 10: Prairie View A&M (5), NCCU (10)

Others receiving votes: Howard (16), NCCU (13), Prairie View A&M (13), UAPB (6), Hampton (2), Tennessee State (1)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/bakonydraco for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS HBCU poll this week!

---

As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is also now part of the Massey College Football Ranking Composite. Results of this poll will update under the column with header 'RDT'.

2026 Week 6 /r/FCS Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Rank	Team	Conference	Record (FCS only)	Points	Δ from Last Week	Rank - Just Top 25 Votes
1	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	MVFC	5-1 (5-0)	640 (23)	+1	1
2	Montana Grizzlies	Big Sky	5-1 (5-0)	596 (4)	+1	2
3	Tarleton Texans	UAC	5-0 (4-0)	548 (1)	+1	3
4	Lehigh Mountain Hawks	Patriot	6-0	526	+2	4
5	Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks	Southland	6-0 (5-0)	524 (1)	---	4 (+1)
6	Montana State Bobcats	Big Sky	5-1 (4-1)	488	-5	6
7	North Dakota Fighting Hawks	MVFC	5-1 (5-0)	487	---	7
8	Youngstown State Penguins	MVFC	4-2 (4-1)	484	---	8
9	Austin Peay Governors	UAC	5-1 (5-0)	428	+3	9
10	South Dakota Coyotes	MVFC	4-2 (4-1)	350	+3	10
11	Lamar Cardinals	Southland	4-1 (4-0)	333	+3	11
12	Harvard Crimson	Ivy League	3-0	282	+4	12
13	Northern Arizona Lumberjacks	Big Sky	4-2 (4-1)	280	+4	13
14	Illinois State Redbirds	MVFC	4-2 (2-2)	261	-4	14
15	Idaho State Bengals	Big Sky	4-1 (3-1)	248	-4	15
16	Campbell Fighting Camels	CAA	5-1 (5-0)	210	+3	16
17	UC Davis Aggies	Big Sky	4-2 (4-1)	207	+1	17
18	Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles	SoCon	4-1	202	-9	18
19	Richmond Spiders	Patriot	5-1 (5-0)	158	+4	19
20	Mercer Bears	SoCon	4-2 (4-1)	132	+4	20
21	Colgate Raiders	Patriot	4-2 (4-1)	121	-1	21
22	Jackson State Tigers	SWAC	5-0 (3-0)	94	+3	22
23	ETSU Buccaneers	SoCon	4-2 (3-1)	74	NEW	23
24	South Carolina State Bulldogs	MEAC	5-1 (3-1)	62	-9	24
T25	Southeastern Lions	Southland	3-2 (2-1)	50	NEW	25
T25	Monmouth Hawks	CAA	4-2 (4-1)	50	NEW	25

Dropped from the Top 25: West Florida, Southern Illinois

Others receiving votes: Stony Brook (38), Bryant (37), Southern Illinois (30), Northern Iowa (16), Idaho (12), Princeton (11), Yale (8), North Alabama (8), UIW (7), Cornell (7), Western Carolina (6), Morgan State (5), Abilene Christian (3)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/mackincheezy7 for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS poll this week!

---

Breakdown of Rankings by Conference

Conference	Teams in Top 25	Average Rank of Top 25	Average Points Total
MVFC	5	8.0	226.8
Big Sky	5	10.6	130.8
UAC	2	6.0	124.0
Southland	3	13.7	92.0
Patriot	3	14.7	80.5
SoCon	3	20.3	41.5
Ivy League	1	12.0	38.5
CAA	2	20.5	26.2
MEAC	1	24.0	11.2
SWAC	1	22.0	7.8
Northeast	0	0	2.2
Ohio Valley	0	0	1.8

---

As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is also now part of the Massey College Football Ranking Composite. Results of this poll will update under the column with header 'RDT'.

2026 Week 5 /r/FCS Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Rank	Team	Conference	Record (FCS only)	Points	Δ from Last Week
1	South Carolina State Bulldogs	MEAC	5-0 (3-0)	99 (9)	---
2	Jackson State Tigers	SWAC	4-0 (2-0)	88 (1)	---
3	Alabama State Hornets	SWAC	3-1 (2-0)	74	---
4	Alabama A&M Bulldogs	SWAC	4-1 (2-1)	61	+1
5	Prairie View A&M Panthers	SWAC	2-3 (2-2)	51	+1
6	Delaware State Hornets	MEAC	3-2 (2-1)	44	+1
7	Morgan State Bears	MEAC	3-1 (2-0)	43	-3
8	Norfolk State Spartans	MEAC	3-2 (2-0)	27	+¾
9	Alcorn State Braves	SWAC	3-2 (2-1)	23	NEW
10	NCCU Eagles	MEAC	2-3 (1-2)	16	-1¼

Dropped from the Top 10: Grambling (T8)

Others receiving votes: Grambling (12), Bethune-Cookman (9), UAPB (2), North Carolina A&T (1)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/bakonydraco for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS poll this week!

2026 Week 5 /r/FCS Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Rank	Team	Conference	Record (FCS only)	Points	Δ from Last Week	Rank - Just Top 25 Votes
1	Montana State Bobcats	Big Sky	5-0 (4-0)	727 (23)	---	1
2	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	MVFC	4-1 (4-0)	689 (6)	+1	2
3	Montana Grizzlies	Big Sky	4-1 (4-0)	650 (1)	+2	3
4	Tarleton Texans	UAC	4-0 (3-0)	599	---	4
T5	Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks	Southland	5-0 (4-0)	574	+3½	5
T5	Lehigh Mountain Hawks	Patriot	5-0	574	+1½	6 (-1)
7	North Dakota Fighting Hawks	MVFC	4-1 (4-0)	531	+1	7
8	Youngstown State Penguins	MVFC	3-2 (3-1)	512	+6	8
9	Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles	SoCon	4-0	446	+1	9
10	Illinois State Redbirds	MVFC	4-1 (2-1)	436	-8	10
11	Idaho State Bengals	Big Sky	4-0 (3-0)	430	+1	11
12	Austin Peay Governors	UAC	4-1 (4-0)	428	+1	12
13	South Dakota Coyotes	MVFC	3-2 (3-1)	384	-7	13
14	Lamar Cardinals	Southland	3-1 (3-0)	320	+3	14
15	South Carolina State Bulldogs	MEAC	5-0 (3-0)	294	+2	15
16	Harvard Crimson	Ivy League	2-0	235	+3	16
17	Northern Arizona Lumberjacks	Big Sky	3-2 (3-1)	220	+1	17
18	UC Davis Aggies	Big Sky	3-2 (3-1)	218	-7	18
19	Campbell Fighting Camels	CAA	4-1 (4-0)	180	+1	19
20	Colgate Raiders	Patriot	4-1 (4-0)	177	+4½	20
21	West Florida Argonauts	UAC	3-1	151	+1	21
22	Southern Illinois Salukis	MVFC	3-2 (3-1)	110	+1½	22
23	Richmond Spiders	Patriot	4-1 (4-0)	93	NEW	23
24	Mercer Bears	SoCon	3-2 (3-1)	82	NEW	24
25	Jackson State Tigers	SWAC	4-0 (2-0)	63	NEW	25

Dropped from the Top 25: Yale (15), Rhode Island (21), Villanova (23)

Others receiving votes: Monmouth (55), Alabama State (43), Stony Brook (40), Southeastern (31), Chattanooga (21), Elon (19), Yale (18), Northern Iowa (17), ETSU (10), Cal Poly (10), Villanova (9), Bryant (4), UTRGV (4), St. Thomas (2)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/sernameistakentry for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS poll this week!

---

Breakdown of Rankings by Conference

Conference	Teams in Top 25	Average Rank of Top 25	Average Points Total
MVFC	6	10.3	267.9
Big Sky	5	10.0	161.1
UAC	3	12.3	147.4
Southland	2	9.5	92.9
Patriot	3	16.0	85.3
SoCon	2	16.5	55.9
MEAC	1	15.0	49.0
Ivy League	1	16.0	34.4
CAA	1	19.0	23.2
SWAC	1	25.0	9.8
Ohio Valley	0	0	2.6
Pioneer	0	0	1.5

---

As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is also now part of the Massey College Football Ranking Composite. Results of this poll will update under the column with header 'RDT'.

2026 Week 4 /r/FCS HBCU Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Rank|Team|Conference|Record (FCS only)|Points|Δ from Last Week :--|:--|:--|:--|:--:|:--:|:--: 1 | South Carolina State Bulldogs | MEAC | REC | 89 (8) | --- 2 | Jackson State Tigers | SWAC | REC | 80 (1) | --- 3 | Alabama State Hornets | SWAC | REC | 70 | --- 4 | Morgan State Bears | MEAC | REC | 43 | +6 5 | Alabama A&M Bulldogs | SWAC | REC | 40 | +3½ 6 | Prairie View A&M Panthers | SWAC | REC | 34 | -2 7 | Delaware State Hornets | MEAC | REC | 32 | -1 T8 | Grambling Tigers | SWAC | REC | 20 | -1¾ T8 | NCCU Eagles | MEAC | REC | 20 | -3¾ T8 | Norfolk State Spartans | MEAC | REC | 20 | NEW

(Yes really, that's a three-way tie for 8^(th) place.)

Dropped from the Top 25: Alcorn State (9)

Others receiving votes: Bethune-Cookman (18), Alcorn State (13), Howard (9), Texas Southern (4), Southern (3), Tennessee State (1)

---

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/MiserableConfusion74 for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS poll this week!

As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is also now part of the Massey College Football Ranking Composite. Results of this poll will update under the column with header 'RDT'.

2026 Week 4 /r/FCS Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Rank	Team	Conference	Record (FCS only)	Points	Δ from Last Week	Rank - Just Top 25 Votes
1	Montana State Bobcats	Big Sky	4-0 (3-0)	680 (19)	---	1
2	Illinois State Redbirds	MVFC	4-0 (2-0)	642 (3)	---	2
3	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	MVFC	3-1 (3-0)	640 (7)	+1	3
4	Tarleton Texans	UAC	4-0 (3-0)	587	+1	4
5	Montana Grizzlies	Big Sky	3-1 (3-0)	531	-2	5
6	South Dakota Coyotes	MVFC	3-1 (3-0)	519	+2	6
7	Lehigh Mountain Hawks	Patriot	4-0	494	---	7
8	North Dakota Fighting Hawks	MVFC	3-1 (3-0)	473	-2	8
9	Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks	Southland	4-0	461	---	9
10	Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles	SoCon	3-0	401	+1	10
11	UC Davis Aggies	Big Sky	3-1 (3-0)	390	+1	11
12	Idaho State Bengals	Big Sky	3-0 (2-0)	360	+2	12
13	Austin Peay Governors	UAC	3-1 (3-0)	352	+3	13
14	Youngstown State Penguins	MVFC	2-2 (2-1)	328	-4	14
15	Yale Bulldogs	Ivy League	1-0	250	+5	15
16	South Carolina State Bulldogs	MEAC	4-0 (2-0)	242	+3	16
17	Lamar Cardinals	Southland	2-1 (2-0)	239	-2	17
18	Northern Arizona Lumberjacks	Big Sky	3-1 (3-0)	234	---	18
19	Harvard Crimson	Ivy League	1-0	216	+2	19
20	Campbell Fighting Camels	CAA	3-1 (3-0)	104	NEW	20
21	Rhode Island Rams	CAA	2-2 (2-1)	96	-8	21
22	West Florida Argonauts	UAC	2-1	93	-5	22
23	Villanova Wildcats	Patriot	2-2 (2-1)	62	-1	23
T24	Southern Illinois Salukis	MVFC	2-2 (2-1)	61	-½	T24
T24	Colgate Raiders	Patriot	3-1 (3-0)	61	NEW	T24

Dropped from the Top 25: William & Mary (23), Cal Poly (25)

Others receiving votes: Mercer (39), Alabama State (34), Jackson State (33), Richmond (31), Furman (25), Dayton (21), Monmouth (21), Stony Brook (18), Penn (16), Abilene Christian (16), Dartmouth (15), Elon (13), UIW (13), Southeastern (12), Bryant (10), Cal Poly (10), Western Carolina (7), St. Thomas (3)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/kingpeachcolt for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS poll this week!

---

Breakdown of Rankings by Conference

Conference	Teams in Top 25	Average Rank of Top 25	Average Points Total
MVFC	6	9.5	266.3
Big Sky	5	9.4	157.6
UAC	3	13.0	131.0
Southland	2	13.0	72.8
Ivy League	2	17.0	65.1
Patriot	3	18.0	64.9
SoCon	1	10.0	47.3
MEAC	1	16.0	40.5
CAA	2	20.5	20.2
SWAC	0	0	5.6
Pioneer	0	0	2.2

---

As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is also now part of the Massey College Football Ranking Composite. Results of this poll will update under the column with header 'RDT'.

2026 Week 3 /r/FCS HBCU Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Rank	Team	Conference	Record (FCS only)	Points	Δ from Last Week
1	South Carolina State Bulldogs	MEAC	3-0 (1-0)	59 (5)	---
2	Jackson State Tigers	SWAC	2-0 (1-0)	52 (1)	+2
3	Alabama State Hornets	SWAC	2-1 (1-0)	49	-1
4	Prairie View A&M Panthers	SWAC	1-2 (1-1)	28	-1
5	NCCU Eagles	MEAC	2-1 (1-1)	26	+3
6	Delaware State Hornets	MEAC	2-1 (1-1)	25	---
7	Grambling Tigers	SWAC	2-1 (0-0)	23	-2
T8	Alcorn State Braves	SWAC	2-1 (1-0)	12	NEW
T8	Alabama A&M Bulldogs	SWAC	2-1 (1-1)	12	NEW
10	Morgan State Bears	MEAC	2-1 (1-0)	11	NEW

Dropped from the Top 10: Florida A&M (7), Howard (9), Texas Southern (10)

Others receiving votes: Bethune-Cookman (10), Howard (9), Norfolk State (5), Florida A&M (5), Texas Southern (4)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/redherringfcs for having the Top 10 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS poll this week!

---

As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is also now part of the Massey College Football Ranking Composite. Results of this poll will update under the column with header 'RDT'.

2026 Week 3 /r/FCS Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Rank	Team	Conference	Record (FCS only)	Points	Δ from Last Week	Rank - Just Top 25 Votes
1	Montana State Bobcats	Big Sky	3-0 (2-0)	612 (25)	---	1
2	Illinois State Redbirds	MVFC	3-0 (1-0)	550	+3	2
3	Montana Grizzlies	Big Sky	3-0	534 (2)	-1	3
4	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	MVFC	2-1 (2-0)	525	---	4
5	Tarleton Texans	UAC	3-0 (2-0)	488	-2	5
6	North Dakota Fighting Hawks	MVFC	3-0	458	---	6
7	Lehigh Mountain Hawks	Patriot	3-0	427	+2	8 (-1)
8	South Dakota Coyotes	MVFC	3-0	426	---	7 (+1)
9	Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks	Southland	3-0	374	+3	9
10	Youngstown State Penguins	MVFC	2-1 (2-0)	340	---	10
11	Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles	SoCon	3-0	328	+2	11
12	UC Davis Aggies	Big Sky	2-1 (2-0)	315	-5	12
13	Rhode Island Rams	CAA	2-1 (2-0)	302	-2	13
14	Idaho State Bengals	Big Sky	3-0 (2-0)	273	---	14
15	Lamar Cardinals	Southland	2-1 (2-0)	186	+1	15
16	Austin Peay Governors	UAC	2-1 (2-0)	170	+1	16
17	West Florida Argonauts	UAC	2-0	169	+2	17
18	Northern Arizona Lumberjacks	Big Sky	2-1 (2-0)	165	+4	18
19	South Carolina State Bulldogs	MEAC	3-0 (1-0)	164	+2	19
20	Yale Bulldogs	Ivy League	0-0	157	---	20
21	Harvard Crimson	Ivy League	0-0	90	+2	21
22	Villanova Wildcats	Patriot	1-2 (1-1)	67	+2	22
23	William & Mary Tribe	Patriot	2-1	63	-5	23
24	Southern Illinois Salukis	MVFC	2-1	61	NEW	24
25	Cal Poly Mustangs	Big Sky	2-1 (1-0)	60	NEW	25

Dropped from the Top 25: Mercer (15), Richmond (25)

Others receiving votes: Mercer (49), Furman (39), UAlbany (29), Dayton (27), Richmond (24), Jackson State (24), Colgate (22), Alabama State (21), Campbell (18), Wofford (14), Dartmouth (13), Southern Utah (13), Monmouth (12), HCU (7), Abilene Christian (7)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/Adamscottd for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS poll this week!

---

Breakdown of Rankings by Conference

Conference	Teams in Top 25	Average Rank of Top 25	Average Points Total
MVFC	6	9.0	236.0
Big Sky	6	12.2	141.2
UAC	3	12.7	104.2
Patriot	3	7.0	59.2
Southland	2	12.0	56.7
SoCon	1	11.0	43.0
Ivy League	2	20.5	36.2
CAA	1	13.0	302.0
MEAC	1	19.0	27.3
SWAC	0	0	4.6
Pioneer	0	0	2.9
Northeast	0	0	1.2

---

As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is also now part of the Massey College Football Ranking Composite. Results of this poll will update under the column with header 'RDT'.

###TABLE

HOW TO READ THIS TABLE

Teams are ranked in their order from the Logo (note for mobile users: everywhere you see a "Logo" link, that means that inline flair is shown on old.reddit.com/r/cfb) AP Poll for Week 3. The column to the right of the team name shows the number of points that team received using the AP Poll's Borda count rules. The following two columns show information about each team's previous and upcoming games. The following columns show how many votes for each ranking the team received. The 'U' column shows how many voters left the team unranked (off their ballots entirely). Gridlines are placed every 5 rows and columns for ease of reading. A thick line is placed below the 25^(th)-ranked team to distinguish "ranked" teams above it to "receiving votes" teams below it.

Some cells are shaded to highlight points of interest. The green diagonal highlights how many voters ranked a team exactly where they ended up in the overall poll. For example, Logo Alabama is ranked 10^(th) in this week's poll, and 32 voters placed the Crimson Tide exactly in their 10^(th) spot. Values for which a team received no votes at that rank are shaded in red, while placements chosen by only exactly one voter are highlighted in blue. Some unique votes are annotated with the name of the corresponding voter. The most common selection (the mode) for each team is shaded yellow unless it matches the team's rank. Finally, since there are very few votes that ever end up near the top-right or bottom-left of the chart, those cells are filled in with black diagonally as much as possible without covering up any nonzero values. This helps naturally guide the eye while viewing the chart and helps locate the most unusual votes. We lightheartedly call these the "Wilner" diagonals.

Finally, I note violations of the Condorcet Criterion on the bottom left corner of the black space. These occur when Team A is ranked above Team B in the poll, but Team B would win if you ignored the points system and just asked the voters "Which team do you think is better?" I note every instance of this when it would affect the placement of a team in the Top 25, but not necessarily if it only flips teams' positions in the receiving-votes category.

This season, scores will be highlighted (lowlighted) in black to indicate a loss instead of using a W/L column. I did this last year and it was well received, so it returns again this season. This way is easier to see at a glance and slightly reduces the clutter on the left side of the table.

---

COMMENTARY FOR THIS WEEK

The upper Wilner diagonal was set by Stephen Means' placement of Georgia 8^(th). The left end was set by Murray Evans putting Ohio State 5^(th), and the right end was set by Ryan Zuke not ranking Penn State. Although Brett McMurphy came extremely close with Southern California in 23^(rd), but it just barely misses the diagonal. The lower Wilner diagonal was set by Dylan Sinn with Los Angeles at 17^(th). The left end of that diagonal was set by Josh Furlong putting Louisiana State 1^(st), while the right end was set by either Greg Luca with Kansas State or David Briggs with Pittsburgh depending on how you order the last couple teams.

The lowest-ranked team to sweep all 68 ballots was Texas Tech in 13^(th). Inversely, the highest-ranked team to miss a ballot was Penn State as discussed above. The highest-ranked team to be left unranked more often than any specific rank was Octagon Oregon at 21^(st), while the lowest-ranked team to avoid that fate was Louisville in 23^(rd). The closest gap between two teams was just the 9 points separating Iowa from Michigan. On the other hand, the largest gap was the 218 points (3.2 ranks' worth) betwen Texas Tech and Penn State. The team that has the most combined "breathing room" (sum of the point gaps both above and below) that is neither the Nittany Lions or Red Raiders is Utah, as the Utes have a combined 245 points of cushion. The Gini coefficient of the point distribution is approximately 0.54.

40 different teams received at least one vote this week. Of those, four received literally just one vote: Los Angeles (Dylan Sinn), North Dakota State (Randy Johnson), Kansas State (Greg Luca), and Pittsburgh (David Briggs). Teams outside the top 25 received 111 votes (6.5%) and 469 points (2.1%) this week. The highest votes among them were for 14^(th) for Washington (Stephen Means) and Florida (Koki Riley). The most common votes in the section were Washington 20^(th), Florida 24^(th), and Boise State 24^(th), each occurring 6 times. It's also notable that Mississippi State received 5 votes for exactly 23^(rd) while receiving only one other vote at all.

315 distinct team-rank pairs occurred this week, of which 83 were unique. With 40 teams, the pigeonhole principle dictates that at least one team must have received the same rank at least 8 times, and indeed that is the case for 68 such pairs. 469 votes (28%) matched their teams' corresponding rank in the poll. The most-matched team was, as usual, the #1 team Texas with 56 matches. The least-matched team was Michigan, with only 6 matches. Julian Mininsohn's ballot matched 16 teams, including the entire top 10! And on the other hand, Dylan Sinn matched no teams at all.

The standard deviation is one measure of the level of disagreement about teams. It isn't a great metric because the vote distributions are definitely not normal, but we use it for lack of a better metric that is simple to understand. With that said, we get the following results for the most- and least-agreed-upon teams as shown below. A small number indicates strong consensus, while a large number indicates more disagreement.

Team	St. Dev.		Team	St. Dev.
Texas	0.82	Consensus	Michigan	4.38
Texas A&M	1.17	<---	Oregon	3.67
Notre Dame	1.33		Louisville	3.34
Alabama	1.38	Debate	Utah	3.27
Mississippi	1.48	--->	Iowa	3.26

There are only a few Condorcet criterion violations this week. Apparently, but this criterion, it was a good week to be a team that officially goes by its acronym and starts with "Southern." First, Southern California leaps over Brigham Young for 11^(th) place by a convincing margin, 37-31. The way to interpet this is that the voters had a larger gap between the two teams by an average of 0.7 ranks more if they favored the Cougars. Then Southern Methodist beats out Tennessee for the 15^(th) spot, curiously by the exact same margin of 37-31. Finally, Southern Michigan Oklahoma jumps Louisville for 23^(rd) by a score of 33-32. That narrow victory is broken down as follows:

Case	Frequency
Oklahoma over Louisville	25
Louisville over Oklahoma	19
Oklahoma only	8
Louisville only	13
Both unranked	3

Aside: There's gotta be a better way to write these results, right? How about the above becomes 25 + 8 / 19 + 13 R 3? Or maybe 25/19 + 8/13 R 3? I'll use the former for today, but please let me know what you think in the comments!

Finally, since they also flipped last week, I want to mention that it happened again in the other direction. Florida jumped Boise State last week, but the Broncos have the upper hand this week, 16-15. Both teams are still short of the top 25, but I still think it's interesting considering last week. It breaks down this way: 3 + 13 / 2 + 13 R 37

Case	Frequency
Boise State over Florida	3
Florida over Boise State	2
Boise State only	13
Florida only	13
Both unranked	37

In addition, I looked at some other interesting cases as well:

• Virginia holds off Washington for the final spot in the rankings, 31-29 -> 5 + 26 / 10 + 19 R 8

• Iowa stays above Michigan despite the mode flip, 35-33 -> 29 + 6 / 28 + 5 R 0

• Penn State defends the 16 point gap with Tennessee easily, 39-29 -> 38 + 1 / 28 + 1 R 0

• Octagon survives a close shave with Houston, 33-32 -> 25 + 8 / 15 + 17 R 3

• Despite the narrow 14-point gap, voters strongly favor Indiana over Miami (FL), 43-25 (all voters ranked both teams)

And to leave you with a bit of levity, here are the top 10 teams in this week's Australian Poll! The Australian Poll works by simply flipping all the ballots upside down before scoring them. Teams will score highly in this poll if they appear on as many ballots as possible, but are consistently ranked near the bottom of each one. Congratulations to Iowa for being Champions of Australia (for a week)! The top 10 teams are shown below.

Rank (Aus.)	Diff. from AP	Team	Points (Aus.)
1	+17	Iowa	1,247
2	+21	Louisville	1,238
3	+16	Michigan	1,230
4	+16	Missouri	1,216
5	+17	Houston	1,190
6	+18	Oklahoma	1,130
T-7	+9½	Southern Methodist	1,106
T-7	+9½	Utah	1,106
9	+6	Tennessee	1,066
10	+4	Penn State	1,050

---

Thanks again to /u/bakonydraco for providing the ballot data; you can find his weekly visualization here!

###TABLE

2026 Week 2 /r/FCS HBCU Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Rank|Team|Conference|Record (FCS only)|Points|Δ from Last Week :--|:--|:--|:--|:--:|:--:|:--: 1 | South Carolina State Bulldogs | MEAC | 2-0 (1-0) | 78 (7) | --- 2 | Alabama State Hornets | SWAC | 2-0 (1-0) | 58 | +1 3 | Prairie View A&M Panthers | SWAC | 1-1 | 57 | +3½ 4 | Jackson State Tigers | SWAC | 2-0 (1-0) | 50 (1) | -2 5 | Grambling Tigers | SWAC | 2-0 (0-0) | 38 | +5 6 | Delaware State Hornets | MEAC | 1-1 | 25 | +2 7 | Florida A&M Rattlers | SWAC | 1-1 (0-1) | 24 | -3 8 | NCCU Eagles | MEAC | 1-1 (0-1) | 23 | NEW 9 | Howard Bison | MEAC | 1-1 | 15 | --- 10 | Texas Southern Tigers | SWAC | 1-1 | 14 | -5

Dropped from the Top 25: Alcorn State (T-6)

Others receiving votes: Alabama A&M (11), Alcorn State (11), Norfolk State (10), Hampton (9), Tennessee State (8), Southern (5), Bethune-Cookman (2), Morgan State (2)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/Seadragon1983 for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS poll this week!

---

2026 Week 2 /r/FCS Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Rank	Team	Conference	Record (FCS only)	Points	Δ from Last Week	Rank - Just Top 25 Votes
1	Montana State Bobcats	Big Sky	2-0	602 (24)	---	1
2	Montana Grizzlies	Big Sky	2-0	538 (1)	+1	2
3	Tarleton Texans	UAC	2-0 (1-0)	535 (1)	+2	3
4	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	MVFC	1-1 (1-0)	526	-2	4
5	Illinois State Redbirds	MVFC	2-0 (1-0)	506	-1	5
6	North Dakota Fighting Hawks	MVFC	2-0	448	---	6
7	UC Davis Aggies	Big Sky	2-0	400	+3	7
8	South Dakota Coyotes	MVFC	2-0	392	---	8
9	Lehigh Mountain Hawks	Patriot	2-0	361	+2	9
10	Youngstown State Penguins	MVFC	1-1 (1-0)	349	-3	10
11	Rhode Island Rams	CAA	1-1 (1-0)	336	-2	11
12	Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks	Southland	2-0	315	+1	12
13	Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles	SoCon	2-0	296	-1	13
14	Idaho State Bengals	Big Sky	2-0 (1-0)	247	+10	14
15	Mercer Bears	SoCon	2-0	227	+2	15
16	Lamar Cardinals	Southland	1-1 (1-0)	169	-2	16
17	Austin Peay Governors	UAC	1-1 (1-0)	164	-2	17
18	William & Mary Tribe	Patriot	2-0	160	---	18
19	West Florida Argonauts	UAC	2-0	148	NEW	19
20	Yale Bulldogs	Ivy League	0-0	147	-4	20
21	South Carolina State Bulldogs	MEAC	2-0 (1-0)	106	+½	21
22	Northern Arizona Lumberjacks	Big Sky	1-1 (1-0)	92	-3	22
23	Harvard Crimson	Ivy League	0-0	84	-1½	23
24	Villanova Wildcats	Patriot	1-1	77	-4	24
25	Richmond Spiders	Patriot	2-0	73	NEW	25

Dropped from the Top 25: Abilene Christian (23), Western Carolina (25)

Others receiving votes: Abilene Christian (58), Cal Poly (33), Campbell (26), Wofford (26), Southern Illinois (23), Southern Utah (19), Alabama State (19), Monmouth (14), UIW (14), The Citadel (13), Jackson State (12), Elon (9), Colgate (6), Eastern Washington (2)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/Adamscottd for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS poll this week!

---

Breakdown of Rankings by Conference

Conference	Teams in Top 25	Average Rank of Top 25	Average Points Total
MVFC	5	6.6	224.4
Big Sky	5	9.2	139.2
Patriot	4	17.0	55.0
UAC	3	13.0	114.0
SoCon	2	14.0	56.4
Southland	2	14.0	50.4
Ivy League	2	21.5	29.5
CAA	1	11.0	336.0
MEAC	1	21.0	17.7
SWAC	0	0	2.9
Big South-OVC	0	0	0.8

---

As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is also now part of the Massey College Football Ranking Composite. Results of this poll will update under the column with header 'RDT'.

2026 After Week 0 /r/FCS Poll Results

Rank	Team	Conference	Record (FCS only)	Points	Δ from Last Week	Rank - Just Top 25 Votes
1	South Carolina State Bulldogs	MEAC	1-0 (0-0)	59 (5)	---
2	Jackson State Tigers	SWAC	1-0	50 (1)	---
3	Alabama State Hornets	SWAC	1-0	49	---
4	Florida A&M Rattlers	SWAC	1-0 (0-0)	24	NEW
5	Texas Southern Tigers	SWAC	1-0	23	NEW
T6	Alcorn State Braves	SWAC	1-0 (0-0)	22	+4
T6	Prairie View A&M Panthers	SWAC	0-1	22	-2½
8	Delaware State Hornets	MEAC	1-0	21	-3
9	Howard Bison	MEAC	1-0	14	NEW
10	Grambling Tigers	SWAC	1-0 (0-0)	13	-3

Dropped from the Top 10: NCCU, Tennessee State, Alabama A&M, Bethune-Cookman

Others receiving votes: Tennessee State (8), Hampton (7), Morgan State (4), Norfolk State (4), Alabama A&M (4), NCCU (3), Bethune-Cookman (2), UAPB (1)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/damnyoutuesday for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final HBCU Top 10 this week!

2026 After Week 0 /r/FCS Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Rank	Team	Conference	Record (FCS only)	Points	Δ from Last Week	Rank - Just Top 25 Votes
1	Montana State Bobcats	Big Sky	1-0	743 (26)	---	1
2	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	MVFC	1-0	712 (3)	---	2
3	Montana Grizzlies	Big Sky	1-0	678	---	3
4	Illinois State Redbirds	MVFC	1-0 (0-0)	607	+1	5 (-1)
5	Tarleton Texans	UAC	1-0	606 (1)	-1	4 (+1)
6	North Dakota Fighting Hawks	MVFC	1-0	527	---	6
7	Youngstown State Penguins	MVFC	1-0	499	+1	9 (-2)
8	South Dakota Coyotes	MVFC	1-0	497	+3	7 (+1)
9	Rhode Island Rams	CAA	1-0	492	+1	8 (+1)
10	UC Davis Aggies	Big Sky	1-0	469	-4	10
11	Lehigh Mountain Hawks	Patriot	1-0	422	+1	11
12	Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles	SoCon	1-0	326	+4	13 (-1)
13	Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks	Southland	1-0	292	---	12 (+1)
14	Lamar Cardinals	Southland	1-0	204	+9	15 (-1)
15	Austin Peay Governors	UAC	1-0	198	+3	14 (+1)
16	Yale Bulldogs	Ivy League	0-0	185	-1	16
17	Mercer Bears	SoCon	1-0	172	+2	17
18	William & Mary Tribe	Patriot	1-0	153	NEW	18
19	Northern Arizona Lumberjacks	Big Sky	1-0	138	+3	19
20	Villanova Wildcats	Patriot	0-1	118	-11	20
T21	Harvard Crimson	Ivy League	0-0	99	-1½	21
T21	South Carolina State Bulldogs	MEAC	1-0 (0-0)	99	NEW	21
23	Abilene Christian Wildcats	UAC	0-1	98	-9	23
24	Idaho State Bengals	Big Sky	1-0	86	---	24
25	Western Carolina Catamounts	SoCon	1-0	60	NEW	25

Dropped from the Top 25: Southern Illinois, Southeastern, Monmouth

Others receiving votes: West Florida (50), Richmond (45), Chattanooga (31), UTRGV (31), Central Arkansas (30), Cal Poly (29), UIW (22), Southern Illinois (21), Monmouth (18), Dartmouth (15), Alabama State (14), Jackson State (8), UAlbany (6), Southern Utah (5), Duquesne (3)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/StateChampCatDad for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS poll this week!

---

Breakdown of Rankings by Conference

Conference	Teams in Top 25	Average Rank of Top 25	Average Points Total
MVFC	5	5.4	289.9
Big Sky	5	11.4	155.4
UAC	3	14.3	123.1
SoCon	3	18.0	59.3
Patriot	3	11.0	58.4
Southland	2	13.5	55.4
CAA	1	15.7	53.1
Ivy League	2	18.5	37.6
MEAC	1	21.0	16.7
SWAC	0	0	2.0
Big South-OVC	0	0	1.4
Northeast	0	0	0.3
Pioneer	0	0	0.2

---

As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is also now part of the Massey College Football Ranking Composite. Results of this poll will update under the column with header 'RDT'.

2026 Week 1 /r/FCS HBCU Poll Results

Rank	Team	Conference	Record (FCS only)	Points
1	South Carolina State Bulldogs	MEAC	0-0	94 (6)
2	Jackson State Tigers	SWAC	0-0	83 (2)
3	Alabama State Hornets	SWAC	0-0	79 (1)
4	Prairie View A&M Panthers	SWAC	0-0	67 (1)
5	Delaware State Hornets	MEAC	0-0	48
6	NCCU Eagles	MEAC	0-0	45
7	Grambling Tigers	SWAC	0-0	25
8	Tennessee State Tigers	Big South-OVC	0-0	22
9	Alabama A&M Bulldogs	SWAC	0-0	17
T10	Alcorn State Braves	SWAC	0-0	15
T10	Bethune-Cookman Wildcats	SWAC	0-0	15

Dropped from the Top 25: (New Season)

Others receiving votes: Texas Southern (13), Florida A&M (12), Hampton (4), Morgan State (3), Norfolk State (3), Howard (2), Southern (2), UAPB (1)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/tdpdcpa for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the /r/FCS HBCU Top 10 poll this week!

2026 Week 1 /r/FCS Poll Results

Also available in image form!

Rank	Team	Conference	Record (FCS only)	Points	Δ from Last Week	Rank - Just Top 25 Votes
1	Montana State Bobcats	Big Sky	0-0	873 (33)	(New Season)	1
2	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	MVFC	0-0	804	(New Season)	2
3	Montana Grizzlies	Big Sky	0-0	800	(New Season)	3
4	Tarleton Texans	UAC	0-0	712	(New Season)	4
5	Illinois State Redbirds	MVFC	0-0	675 (1)	(New Season)	5
6	UC Davis Aggies	Big Sky	0-0	639	(New Season)	6
7	North Dakota Fighting Hawks	MVFC	0-0	566 (1)	(New Season)	8 (-1)
8	Youngstown State Penguins	MVFC	0-0	530	(New Season)	10 (-2)
9	Villanova Wildcats	Patriot	0-0	522	(New Season)	7 (+2)
10	Rhode Island Rams	CAA	0-0	507	(New Season)	9 (+1)
11	South Dakota Coyotes	MVFC	0-0	448	(New Season)	11
12	Lehigh Mountain Hawks	Patriot	0-0	424	(New Season)	12
13	Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks	Southland	0-0	368	(New Season)	14 (-1)
14	Abilene Christian Wildcats	UAC	0-0	354	(New Season)	13 (+1)
15	Yale Bulldogs	Ivy League	0-0	350	(New Season)	16 (-1)
16	Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles	SoCon	0-0	349	(New Season)	15 (+1)
17	Southern Illinois Salukis	MVFC	0-0	240	(New Season)	17
18	Austin Peay Governors	UAC	0-0	204	(New Season)	18
19	Mercer Bears	SoCon	0-0	199	(New Season)	19
20	Harvard Crimson	Ivy League	0-0	146	(New Season)	20
21	Southeastern Lions	Southland	0-0	141	(New Season)	21
22	Northern Arizona Lumberjacks	Big Sky	0-0	128	(New Season)	22
23	Lamar Cardinals	Southland	0-0	87	(New Season)	23
24	Idaho State Bengals	Big Sky	0-0	75	(New Season)	24
25	Monmouth Hawks	CAA	0-0	71	(New Season)	25

Dropped from the Top 25: (New Season)

Others receiving votes: New Hampshire (54), UT Martin (48), South Carolina State (46), Southern Utah (36), Idaho (35), UIW (34), West Georgia (26), Richmond (25), Eastern Washington (24), Jackson State (20), Alabama State (16), UTRGV (16), Dartmouth (15), Western Carolina (14), ETSU (9), Lafayette (7), Presbyterian (5), William & Mary (4), Duquesne (4), Stony Brook (4), St. Thomas (3)

The full list of responses can be found here. Congratulations to /u/Zloggt for having the Top 25 submission that best correlated with the final /r/FCS poll this week!

---

Breakdown of Rankings by Conference

Conference	Teams in Top 25	Average Rank of Top 25	Average Points Total
MVFC	6	8.3	326.5
Big Sky	5	11.2	187.2
UAC	3	12.0	162.0
CAA	2	14.7	78.5
Southland	3	19.0	64.6
Ivy League	2	17.5	63.9
SoCon	2	17.5	60.3
Patriot	2	12.0	58.2
Big South-OVC	0	0	9.1
MEAC	0	0	7.7
SWAC	0	0	3.6
Pioneer	0	0	1.7
Northeast	0	0	0.8
FCS Independent	0	0	0.5

---

As a reminder, the /r/FCS poll is also now part of the Massey College Football Ranking Composite. Results of this poll will update under the column with header 'RDT'.

###TABLE

HOW TO READ THIS TABLE

Teams are ranked in their order from the Logo (note for mobile users: everywhere you see a "Logo" link, that means that inline flair is shown on old.reddit.com/r/cfb) AP Poll for Week 1. The column to the right of the team name shows the number of points that team received using the AP Poll's Borda count rules. The following two columns show information about each team's previous and upcoming games. The following columns show how many votes for each ranking the team received. The 'U' column shows how many voters left the team unranked (off their ballots entirely). Gridlines are placed every 5 rows and columns for ease of reading. A thick line is placed below the 25^(th)-ranked team to distinguish "ranked" teams above it to "receiving votes" teams below it.

Some cells are shaded to highlight points of interest. The green diagonal highlights how many voters ranked a team exactly where they ended up in the overall poll. For example, Logo Oklahoma is ranked 10^(th) in this week's poll, and 6 voters placed the Sooners exactly in their 10^(th) spot. Values for which a team received no votes at that rank are shaded in red, while placements chosen by only exactly one voter are highlighted in blue. Some unique votes are annotated with the name of the corresponding voter. The most common selection (the mode) for each team is shaded yellow unless it matches the team's rank. Finally, since there are very few votes that ever end up near the top-right or bottom-left of the chart, those cells are filled in with black diagonally as much as possible without covering up any nonzero values. This helps naturally guide the eye while viewing the chart and helps locate the most unusual votes. We jokingly call these the "Wilner" diagonals.

Finally, I note violations of the Condorcet Criterion on the bottom left corner of the black space. These occur when Team A is ranked above Team B in the poll, but Team B would win if you ignored the points system and just asked the voters "Which team do you think is better?" I note every instance of this when it would affect the placement of a team in the Top 25, but not necessarily if it only flips teams' positions in the receiving-votes category. I will do the Condorcet analysis in future weeks. Because I really put the "pro" in programmer™, updating from Python 3.10 to 3.12 during the offseason broke my code that does this. Once I fix it, the Condorcet analysis will return in Avengers: Gridiron.

This season, scores will be highlighted (lowlighted) in black to indicate a loss instead of using a W/L column. I did that last year, and it was well received, so it returns for 2026. This way is easier to see at a glance and slightly reduces the clutter on the left side of the table.

---

COMMENTARY FOR THIS WEEK

The upper Wilner Diagonal was set by Javon Edwards placing logo Oregon 10^(th). The left and right ends were set by Kirk Bohls (logo Ohio State at 7) and Pat Welter (logo Mississippi unranked), respectively. The lower Wilner diagonal is just the endpoints this week. Javon Edwards shows up again with logo Miami (FL) 1^(st), and you can pick whichever you want out of the unique 25^(th)-place votes: Alex Taylor for logo Tulane, David Briggs for logo Western Michigan, Kirl Bohls for logo Liberty, or Eric Johnson for logo Virginia.

The highest-ranked team to be left off a ballot was logo Mississippi as mentioned above. Three other teams were omitted by a single voter: logo Louisiana State (Tom Murphy), logo Brigham Young (Chris Carter), and logo Southern Methodist (Ian Kress). The lowest-ranked team to sweep all 69 ballots was logo Michigan in 16^(th).

Teams in the receiving votes section got 115 votes (6.7%) for a combined 338 points (1.5%). The high vote percentage is typical for the preseason poll, but the point percentage is lower than usual. This continues the trend over the past few years of growing consensus among voters about which teams belong in the top 25, even if they can't agree where to rank them. The highest vote for a team outside the top 25 went to logo Clemson, whom Chris Carter placed 15^(th). The most-common vote in the receiving votes section was to put logo the Tigers at 23^(rd). Nine teams received literally only one vote. In addition to the four teams with only one point, logo California and logo Memphis received single votes for 24^(th), while logo New Mexico and logo Las Vegas received unique 22^(nd)-place votes.

There were 322 distinct team-rank pairs this week out of the 1725 total votes cast. 97 of those pairs (30%) were unique, while the most common pair was logo Ohio State in 1^(st) with 40 such votes. Longtime readers know that strong agreement isn't that uncommon near the top of the rankings. Since there are 266 teams eligible in the poll, the pigeonhole principle dictates that at least one pair must be chosen at least 7 times, and indeed there are 105 pairs that occur 7 or more times. If we restrict ourselves to only the 138 FBS teams, then the principle dictates that at least one pair must occur at least 13 times, and 29 pairs actually do.

Counting matches this week is weird because of the tie for 14^(th). If you count both 14^(th) and 15^(th)-place votes for logo Brigham Young and logo Southern California, then you get 370 matches (21%). If you only count 14^(th)-place votes, then you get 346 matches (20%). Personally, I'd break the tie using the Condorcet criterion, which logo Brigham Young just barely wins 35-34. Counting only the Cougars' 14^(th)-place votes and the Trojans' 15^(th)-place votes gives 336 matches (19%). In any case, the most common matches were the 40 1^(st)-place votes for logo Ohio State mentioned above, but the 32 matches in 7^(th) for logo Miami (FL) is unusually many that far down the rankings. Inversely, only 2 voters (Kate Rogerson, Stephen Means) matched logo Tennessee at exactly 20^(th).

There are four Condorcet flips this week. As mentioned above, logo Brigham Young beats logo Southern California 35-34 to break the tie for 14^(th). In addition, logo Mississippi leapfrogs logo Texas A&M for 8^(th), 35-34; logo Tennessee jumps logo Southern Methodist for 19^(th), 36-33; and logo Clemson usurps logo Missouri for the last spot in the rankings by a margin of 26-23.

If you have any ideas for new ways to analyze or visualize the data, please let me know. I'll give them a shot as time and my "pro"gramming skills allow.

---

Thanks again to /u/bakonydraco for providing the ballot data; you can find his weekly visualization here!

###TABLE