The FCS Wedge

After a calm week of movement last week we saw a major shakeup in the AGS Poll in Week 10 with 5 losses amongst teams previously ranked in the top 5 and 9 losses amongst teams previously ranked in the top 25. Despite all the chaos behind them Sam Houston maintained their hold on the #1 spot picking up 52 of 53 first place votes. Montana State slid up to #2 behind them after their big road win over Eastern Washington. James Madison moved up to #3 and South Dakota State, following their big win over rival NDSU, moved back into the top 5 at #4. North Dakota State slid down to #5 following that loss.

Others moving moving up this week included Missouri State who jumped up 6 spots to #11 after a big win over Southern Illinois. Incarnate Word moved up 5 spots to #17 after winning their Southland showdown with Southeastern Louisiana. Chattanooga also moved up 5 spots to #20 taking advantage of the turmoil in front of them. Dartmouth moved back into the top 25 coming in at #22 after taking down previously undefeated Princeton. Mercer also got back into the top 25 coming in at #24.

Teams going in the opposite direction this week were headlined by Southeastern Louisiana and Southern Illinois who each dropped 8 spots to #14 and #15, respectively, after their previously mentioned losses. Northern Iowa plummeted 9 spots to #19 following their upset loss to Illinois State. Princeton dropped 7 spots just barely hanging in at #25 following their aforementioned loss. William & Mary and Weber State both dropped out of the top 25 after being upset by unranked foes.

In terms of conference representation the MVFC led the way placing 6 teams into the top 25. They were followed by the Big Sky with 5, the SOCON with 4, and the CAA, Ivy League, and Southland with 2 teams each in the top 25. Once again 10 conference were represented by at least one team in this week’s top 25.

Full results below:

Rank	Change	Team	Total Points	First Place Votes
1	–	Sam Houston Bearkats	1324	52
2	1	Montana State Bobcats	1259	1
3	1	James Madison Dukes	1201
4	5	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	1112
5	-3	North Dakota State Bison	1106
6	2	UC Davis Aggies	1023
7	4	Villanova Wildcats	925
8	-3	Eastern Washington Eagles	889
9	3	East Tennessee State Buccaneers	866
10	3	Montana Grizzlies	769
11	6	Missouri State Bears	722
12	2	Kennesaw State Owls	678
13	3	Sac State Hornets	677
14	-8	Southeastern Louisiana Lions	665
15	-8	Southern Illinois Salukis	656
16	-1	Tennesee-Martin Skyhawks	622
17	5	Incarnate Word Cardinals	562
18	2	South Dakota Coyotes	430
19	-9	Northern Iowa Panthers	333
20	5	Chattanooga Mocs	278
21	3	Jackson State Tigers	242
22	6	Dartmouth Big Green	219
23	-4	Virginia Military Institute Keydets	213
24	3	Mercer Bears	90
25	-7	Princeton Tigers	61
ORV:
26	-5	William & Mary Tribe	58
27	2	Monmouth Hawks	57
28	NR	Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks	47
29	2	Holy Cross Crusaders	39
30	–	Harvard Crimson	33
31	NR	Rhode Island Rams	32
32	NR	Nicholls Colonels	11
33	NR	Davidson Wildcats	9
34	-2	North Dakota Fighting Hawks	7

Most significant win: Montana State Bobcats
Most significant loss: Northern Iowa Panthers

Dropped out of the poll:
Eastern Kentucky Colonels
Weber State Wildcats

Join the discussion here: https://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?286343-AGS-Poll-Results-Week-10-2021

After a tumultuous past couple weeks things calmed down a lot in the AGS Top 25 in week 9 although two losses in the top 5 from week 8 did shuffle things up a bit. Sam Houston maintained their grip on the #1 spot and they were once again followed by North Dakota State at #2. Montana State slid up to #3, their highest ranking since 2012, and they were followed by James Madison and Eastern Washington rounding out the top 5 in that order.

Other teams on the rise included Northern Iowa who used a big win over MVFC rival Southern Illinois to move up 5 spots to #10. William & Mary rode their upset win over Villanova to their first appearance in AGS Top 25 since early in the 2016 season coming in at #21.

Teams falling this week were headlined by Southern Illinois who dropped 4 spots to #7 after their aforementioned loss to UNI. Villanova fell 7 spots to #11 following their previously noted loss to William & Mary. Harvard fell out of the top 25 after their 2nd straight loss.

In terms of conference representation the Big Sky and MVFC again led the way each putting 6 teams into the top 25. They were followed by the CAA and SOCON with 3 each and the Southland with 2 teams in the top 25. Once again 10 conferences were represented by at least one team in the top 25.

Full results below:

Rank	Change	Team	Total Points	First Place Votes
1	–	Sam Houston Bearkats	1261	37
2	–	North Dakota State Bison	1238	14
3	2	Montana State Bobcats	1128
4	2	James Madison Dukes	1112
5	2	Eastern Washington Eagles	1034
6	1	Southeastern Louisiana Lions	1000
7	-4	Southern Illinois Salukis	899
8	1	UC Davis Aggies	888
9	1	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	828
10	5	Northern Iowa Panthers	757
11	-7	Villanova Wildcats	754
12	–	East Tennessee State Buccaneers	661
13	-2	Montana Grizzlies	631
14	-1	Kennesaw State Owls	578
15	-1	Tennesee-Martin Skyhawks	551
16	–	Sac State Hornets	524
17	–	Missouri State Bears	466
18	–	Princeton Tigers	383
19	1	Virginia Military Institute Keydets	332
20	-1	South Dakota Coyotes	326
21	6	William & Mary Tribe	318
22	-1	Incarnate Word Cardinals	209
23	–	Weber State Wildcats	167
24	-2	Jackson State Tigers	136
25	–	Chattanooga Mocs	129
ORV:
26	–	Eastern Kentucky Colonels	120
27	1	Mercer Bears	69
28	4	Dartmouth Big Green	30
29	1	Monmouth Hawks	15
30	-6	Harvard Crimson	11
31	1	Holy Cross Crusaders	7
32	-1	North Dakota Fighting Hawks	5

Most significant win: William & Mary Tribe
Most significant loss: Villanova Wildcats

Dropped out of the poll:
Columbia Lions
Rhode Island Rams

Join the discussion here: https://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?285533-AGS-Poll-Results-Week-9-2021

Another week and another big shake-up in the AGS top 25 as there were 9 losses amongst last week’s top 25 and 2 losses amongst week’s top 5. Sam Houston stayed steady at #1 picking up 44 of 55 first place votes and North Dakota State followed once again at #2. Southern Illinois moved up a spot to #3 while Villanova and Montana State jumped into the top 5 for the first time this season coming in at #4 and #5, respectively.

As for teams moving up Kennesaw State took advantage of some losses in front of them to move up 4 spots to #13. Northern Iowa and Sacramento State each moved up 6 spots to #15 and #16, respectively. Jackson State made their first appearance in the AGS Top 25 since 2011 and only their second appearance ever coming in at #22. Weber State and Chattanooga both made their way back into the top 25 after falling out earlier this season coming in at #23 and #25, respectively.

Two teams previously ranked in the top 5, Eastern Washington and South Dakota State, headlined teams moving down this week. EWU dropped 4 spots into a tie at #7 following their loss to Weber State and SDSU dropped 5 spots to #10 after being downed by UNI. South Dakota also took took a 8 spot tumble down to #19 after being upset by Illinois State and Incarnate Word dipped 8 spots to #21 following their loss to Southland rival McNeese. Rhode Island, Dartmouth, and Duquesne all dropped out of the top 25 this week.

In terms of conference representation the Big Sky and MVFC led the way each placing 6 teams into the top 25. They were followed by the SOCON with 3 and the CAA, Ivy League, and Southland with 2 teams each in the top 25.  Once again 10 conference were represented by at least one team in this week’s top 25.

Full results below:

Rank	Change	Team	Total Points	First Place Votes
1	–	Sam Houston Bearkats	1362	44
2	–	North Dakota State Bison	1328	11
3	1	Southern Illinois Salukis	1250
4	2	Villanova Wildcats	1195
5	2	Montana State Bobcats	1118
6	2	James Madison Dukes	1097
7T	-4	Eastern Washington Eagles	1025
7T	1	Southeastern Louisiana Lions	1025
9	2	UC Davis Aggies	886
10	-5	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	844
11	1	Montana Grizzlies	754
12	3	East Tennessee State Buccaneers	708
13	4	Kennesaw State Owls	623
14	2	Tennesee-Martin Skyhawks	601
15	6	Northern Iowa Panthers	577
16	6	Sac State Hornets	521
17	-3	Missouri State Bears	488
18	–	Princeton Tigers	444
19	-9	South Dakota Coyotes	412
20	-1	Virginia Military Institute Keydets	382
21	-8	Incarnate Word Cardinals	253
22	4	Jackson State Tigers	190
23	5	Weber State Wildcats	160
24	-1	Harvard Crimson	144
25	4	Chattanooga Mocs	127
ORV:
26	1	Eastern Kentucky Colonels	108
27	9	William & Mary Tribe	72
28	4	Mercer Bears	65
29	-9	Rhode Island Rams	48
30	3	Monmouth Hawks	16
31	-1	North Dakota Fighting Hawks	15
32T	-8	Dartmouth Big Green	9
32T	NR	Holy Cross Crusaders	9
34	NR	Columbia Lions	8

Most significant win: Weber State Wildcats
Most significant loss: Eastern Washington Eagles

Dropped out of the poll:
Central Arkansas Bears
Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens
Duquesne Dukes
Furman Paladins
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks

Join the discussion here: https://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?284695-AGS-Poll-Results-Week-8-2021