What We Learned About FCS Football In Week 7: Scores, Highlights & More

Normally, it’s a goal and an honor to be the No. 1 team, but the way things are going in 2026, the pursuit for top billing has become a game of hot potato.

Oct 20, 2026 by Matt Cannizzaro

D1R 245 - Nate Uselding, D2 NPI Rankings, D3 Mid-Year Transfers, MASSIVE NAIA battles1:22:33

Normally, it’s a goal and an honor to be the No. 1 team in the nation, but the way things are going in 2026, the pursuit for top billing is turning into a game of hot potato.

Or maybe it’s because Halloween is around the corner that being the top-ranked team in October has turned into a curse – in the Football Championship Subdivision and the Football Bowl Subdivision.

In both categories this week, and for the second consecutive time in the latter, the No. 1 team in the respective American Football Coaches Association Coaches Polls was defeated.

In the FBS on Saturday, poll-topping Georgia squandered a 14-0 first-quarter lead and was beaten at home by unranked Auburn, 27-24, with a 34-yard field goal as time expired.

On Oct. 10, it was No. 1 Texas falling to unranked Oklahoma in the latest edition of their long-running Red River Rivalry. OU sealed the 27-24 with a 47-yard field goal as time ran out at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

The FCS drama started Oct. 2, when reigning national champion and top-ranked Montana State lost on the road to winless Big Sky Conference foe Idaho. The Vandals stole the victory with a last-second 2-point conversion.

The win ended a 19-game winning streak for the Bobcats and sent them tumbling down the AFCA rankings to No. 6.

But wait, there’s more. Giant-killing Idaho wasn’t done. Keep reading for more.

After the MSU loss, South Dakota State moved from No. 2 to the top of the poll and then promptly took a week off, only delaying its own impending doom.

And, as if it were scripted like a night of WWE Monday Night RAW, the Jackrabbits limped through their first opportunity to defend the No. 1 spot and ultimately lost to No. 15 North Dakota – and it wasn't even close.

ND jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back. The Fighting Hawks held SDSU to one touchdown and 10 total points in a 21-10 victory. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.

It was North Dakota’s first victory over an AFCA FCS No. 1 opponent since moving to Division I in 2008. After five previous failed attempts against top-ranked FCS teams, North Dakota finally broke through.

South Dakota State (5-2, 2-1 MVFC) dropped to No. 5 in the new AFCA rankings, while the win sent the Fighting Hawks (6-2, 3-1 MVFC) flying up the poll from No. 15 to No. 8.

Following the latest spin of the bingo machine that is the FCS this season, Tarleton (7-0, 2-0 UAC) made its way to the No. 1 spot, and the Texans are followed by Stephen F. Austin (7-0, 4-0 Southland).

The two squads are one spot and 25 points apart in the rankings, and they’re only 137 miles apart by car in their shared home state of Texas.

They’re two of the three undefeated teams among the top 25, along with No. 17 Harvard at 5-0.

Heck, they even share the same colors (purple and white), for whatever that’s worth, even if it’s just a boost of confidence for one of the other teams wearing any one of the infinite shades of purple every Saturday.

Speaking of which, it was another purple-and-while-wearing team from the Lone Star State that helped the on-the-rise Texans earn even more of the spotlight last season on the way to a co-championship in the United Athletic Conference and then on to the FCS Playoffs.

Immediately after UAC rival Abilene Christian defeated TSU 31-28 on Nov. 1, the ACU social media team began taunting the Texans on social media using a clever graphic with just five words on it – “Tarleton is not a state.”

While there’s a fine line between harmless teasing and borderline bullying, there’s no question that Tarleton State’s dark purple home jerseys now have big yellow bullseyes on the back – even if being No. 1 right now is more like a curse, rather than the chest-puffing honor it should be.

Obviously, we’ll know more Saturday after the Texans get done tussling with new UAC opponent West Georgia, which is a couple years into its transition from Division II to Division I FCS. So far this season, the Wolves are 1-6 overall, 0-2 in the UAC and coming off back-to-back conference losses.

Will Tarleton State, ranked No. 1 for the first time in program history, break the curse or continue the trend for No. 1 teams this year?

Enough about all that. What else is going on in the FCS as we roll into the second half of the season?

Idaho Is Doing The Dirty Work For This Year’s FCS Hopefuls

Idaho only has two wins this year, but the Vandals were ruthless in those two contests.

First, they knocked off the No. 1 team in the FCS, which also happened to be the reigning national champion, Montana State. The result was a 35-34 shocker at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho, that also ended a 19-game winning streak for the Bobcats.

Last weekend, the Vandals rolled into Montana to take on the No. 7 Grizzles, who spent the early part of the season among the top five teams in the FCS rankings, before being beaten by conference rival Northern Arizona on Oct. 10.

Idaho took advantage of the Grizzlies in their weakened state and delivered what could be the knockout punch for Montana's hopes of a shot at the conference title or even an invite to the playoffs.

Montana State and Montana dominated the Big Sky Conference and then the national scene last year, and they were selected – in that order – to retain their spots in the conference standings in 2026.

In the Big Sky Preseason Poll, they were selected by both the coaches and the media to finish first and second in the new campaign.

Halfway through the conference slate, Northern Arizona and Weber State are tied at the top of the Big Sky standings at 4-1. Montana State is next at 3-1 and is followed by six two-loss teams still with a chance to create a little more chaos in the 13-team conference.

Idaho is one of those teams. The Vandals are 2-5 overall and 2-2 in Big Sky games, with five more conference games coming up.

CAA Race Gets A Little Clarity

And then, there were three.

There definitely have been surprises in the Coastal Athletic Association this season, starting with two-time defending champion Rhode Island being upset by Stony Brook and North Carolina A&T in consecutive weeks to fall to 1-2 in conference play.

That win for Stony Brook helped the Seawolves approach the halfway point of the season as one of four teams undefeated in CAA games early in the conference slate, joining Monmouth, Campbell and Bryant, which might be the unlikeliest collection of contenders.

Unfortunately for Stony Brook, a homecoming loss to UAlbany in the Battle for the Golden Apple on Saturday leaves the Seawolves off the title pace following simultaneous wins from Monmouth (over New Hampshire), Bryant (over Maine) and Campbell (over Towson).

The three remaining front-runners all will be playing conference games Saturday, so things could either get much clearer, or they could get very complicated.

The messier it gets, the more fun it is for fans. At the same time, enter the sleepless nights for the coaches and players.

UPCOMING

2026 Monmouth vs Hampton

Sat, Oct 24 · 6:00 PM UTC

WATCH

FCS Top 25 Results For Week 7

Along with the No. 1 team falling for the second time this month, five more top-25 teams joined them in the loss column – all losing to unranked teams.

No. 4 Lehigh fell to Cornell, No. 7 Montana was upset by Idaho, No. 8 Lamar was upended by Southeastern Louisiana, No. 12 UC Davis was defeated by Southern Utah and Rhode Island bested No. 23 Yale.

Here’s how the AFCA top 25 performed in Week 7:

Bold = Upsets

No. 15 North Dakota def. No. 1 South Dakota State, 21-10
No. 2 Tarleton State def. Central Arkansas, 49-35
No. 3 Stephen F. Austin def. Nicholls, 56-0
Cornell def. No. 4 Lehigh, 48-38
No. 5 Montana State def. Eastern Washington, 56-20
No. 6 Youngstown State def. No. 25 Northern Iowa, 35-22
Idaho def. No. 7 Montana, 42-35
Southeastern Louisiana def. No. 8 Lamar, 34-31
No. 9 South Dakota def. Murray State, 48-20
No. 10 Northern Arizona def. Portland State, 38-25
No. 11 Austin Peay def. West Georgia, 24-10
Southern Utah def. No. 12 UC Davis, 38-17
No. 13 Illinois State def. Southern Illinois, 35-14
No. 14 Tennessee Tech def. Eastern Kentucky, 49-20
No. 15 North Dakota def. No. 1 South Dakota State, 21-10
No. 16 Mercer def. Samford, 31-21
No. 17 Harvard def. Holy Cross, 30-7
No. 18 Campbell def. Towson, 24-20
Georgetown def. No. 19 Colgate, 27-17
No. 20 Monmouth def. New Hampshire, 42-21
Weber State def. No. 21 Idaho State, 27-20
No. 22 Richmond was idle
Rhode Island def. No. 23 Yale, 41-23
No. 24 East Tennessee State was idle

AFCA FCS Rankings After Week 7 Of 2026

As of Oct. 17

Tarleton St. (7-0) – 648 – Prev. 2
Stephen F. Austin (7-0) – 623 – Prev. 3
Montana St. (6-1) – 591 – Prev. 5
Youngstown St. (6-2) – 567 – Prev. 6
South Dakota St. (5-2) – 520 – Prev. 1
South Dakota (6-2) – 491 – Prev. 9
Northern Arizona (6-2) – 482 – Prev. 10
North Dakota (6-2) – 457 – Prev. 15
Austin Peay (6-2) – 452 – Prev. 11
Illinois St. (5-2) – 396 – Prev. 13
Tennessee Tech (6-1) – 380 – Prev. 14
Lehigh (6-1) – 375 – Prev. 4
Mercer (6-2) – 305 – Prev. 16
Montana (5-3) – 296 – Prev. 7
Lamar (5-2) – 288 – Prev. 8
Campbell (6-1) – 265 – Prev. 18
Harvard (5-0) – 264 – Prev. 17
Monmouth (5-2) – 200 – Prev. 20
Richmond (5-2) – 152 – Prev. 22
East Tennessee St. (5-2) – 144 – Prev. 24
UC Davis (4-3) – 124 – Prev. 12
Jackson St. (6-1) – 108 – Prev. NR
West Florida (4-2) – 57 – Prev. NR
Southeastern Louisiana (4-3) – 39 – Prev. NR
South Carolina St. (5-2) – 37 – Prev. NR

Dropped Out: Colgate (19), Idaho St. (21), Yale (23), Northern Iowa (25)

Others Receiving Votes: ACU, 26; Northern Iowa, 24; Colgate, 18; Idaho St., 18; Princeton, 17; Bryant, 16; UAlbany, 15; Yale, 13; Weber St., 12; Cornell (N.Y.), 9; Wofford, 9; Morgan St., 5; Alabama A&M, 2; Southeast Missouri St., 2; Central Connecticut St., 1; Delaware St., 1; Marist, 1.

Some Things To Know About FCS Football

The FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) is the second tier of NCAA Division I football, with the top tier being the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision).

While the FBS determines its national champion through a 12-team, committee-selected College Football Playoff, the FCS Championship includes 24 teams.

The FCS conference champions automatically qualify for the playoffs, and the remaining spots are filled via at-large selection.

This season, there will be 128 programs across 13 conferences. The regular season will begin in late August, and the playoffs will get underway at the end of November.

Who Won The Each Football National Championship For The 2025-2026 Season?

Division I FBS – Indiana def. Miami, 27-21
Division I FCS – Montana State def. Illinois State 35-34 (OT)
Division II – Ferris State def. Harding, 42-21
Division III – University of Wisconsin-River Falls def. North Central (Ill.), 24-14

When Do The 2026 NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs Start?

The first round of the 2026 NCAA FCS Playoffs will be Nov. 28.

The format includes 24 teams and five rounds of play – first round, second round, quarterfinals, semifinals and the championship game. Everything through the semifinals will be played at the site of the participating schools.

Round 2 is set for Dec. 5, the quarterfinals will be held Dec. 11 (one game) and Dec. 12 (three games) and the semifinals will take place Dec. 19.

The 2026 FCS national championship will be determined Jan. 11, 2027, at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. Music City first hosted the title tilt in 2025 after 15 consecutive visits to Frisco, Texas.

Every game will be broadcast live on the ESPN family of networks.

How Do The FCS Playoffs Work?

The 24 FCS teams that advance to the playoffs are situated into a single-elimination bracket.

The top 16 teams are seeded, with the first eight earning byes into the second round. Seeds 9-16 must play in the opening round of action, but they get to play host, as do the higher seeds in each game through the semifinals.

The two semifinal winners then make the trip to Nashville to play for the national championship.

In 2025, Montana State defeated Illinois State 35-34 in overtime to claim the trophy.

Since 2011, North Dakota State had been dominating the FCS landscape, winning 10 national titles, but the Bison have now moved to a bigger pasture – the FBS level as part of the Mountain West Conference.

Stony Brook vs. Towson Football Highlights | 2026 CAA Football

Check out the highlights from the CAA showdown between Stony Brook and Towson on Oct. 10.

Stony Brook prevailed 31-24 and improved to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in conference games, while Towson fell to 0-7 and 0-3, respectively.

Archived Footage On FloCollege

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Watch The 2026 College Football Season On FloCollege

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