2023-10-16 17:06:17
The Delaware Blue Hens continued to climb the FCS Football Rankings as the Blue Hens moved to No. 7 in the Week 8 poll on Oct. 16.
Delaware Football beat North Carolina A.T. 21-6 in Week 7 to improve to 5-1 on the year. The Blue Hens remained the highest-ranked CAA program in the poll.
Delaware travels to Hampton this week looking to improve to 4-0 in conference play. The lone loss this season came at Penn State, a top-10 FBS program. Delaware’s pursuit of a CAA title was given a boost with their win over defending co-champion New Hampshire in late September, 29-25. The unbalanced schedule means the Blue Hens avoid the other defending co-champion, and the next highest-ranking team, William & Mary.
The Tribe, who was idle last week, dropped to No. 13 in the rankings. William & Mary has lost back-to-back games following starting 4-0 and not falling out of the top five of the rankings. But an upset loss to Elon and a valiant, but unsuccessful, upset bid over Virginia ended in a 27-13 loss. William & Mary faces Towson this week.
New Hampshire out-lasted UAlbany 38-31 last week to remain in the rankings at No. 22. UNH is 3-3 on the season, the only .500 team in the rankings.
Rhode Island, No.22 last week, dropped from the rankings following its 24-17 loss to Richmond. Meanwhile, Villanova might be poised to return to the rankings at some point following finishing just outside the top 25.
South Dakota State remained No.1 in the rankings and is 6-0. They face No. 12 Southern Illinois this week.
FCS Football Rankings In Week 8 (Oct. 16)
South Dakota State (26) 6-0 650 Montana State 5-1 623 Furman 5-1 570 Sacramento State 5-1 566 Incarnate Word 5-1 511 Montana 6-1 495 Delaware 5-1 464 Idaho 5-2 418 North Dakota 4-2 409 North Carolina Central 5-1 408 Holy Cross 4-2 365 Southern Illinois 5-1 349 William & Mary 4-2 335 Western Carolina 5-1 329 North Dakota State 4-2 320 South Dakota 5-1 305 Harvard 5-0 234 Florida A&M 5-1 227 UT Martin 5-1 190 Chattanooga 5-2 151 Central Arkansas 5-2 120 New Hampshire 3-3 81 UC Davis 4-3 67 Austin Peay 4-2 59 Illinois State 4-2 58
Others receiving votes: Fordham 47, Villanova 38, Lafayette 21, Youngstown State 17, Northern Iowa 6, Eastern Kentucky 6, Rhode Island 6, Pennsylvania 2, Portland State 1, Mercer 1, UAlbany 1
Dropped from rankings: Youngstown State 20, Rhode Island 22, Weber State 23
FCS Playoffs 2023 Outlook
Twenty-four teams will advance to the FCS playoffs in 2023. Ten of those teams will automatically qualify for the playoffs via conference titles. Those conferences are:
Big Sky Big South/Ohio Valley Coastal Athletic Association Missouri Valley Football ConferenceNortheastPatriot LeaguePioneer Football LeagueSouthernSouthlandUnited Athletic Conference
The Ivy League does not enter the FCS playoffs, meaning No. 17-ranked Harvard won’t be in the field. If the season ended on Oct. 16., South Dakota State would likely be the overall No.1 seed and Delaware would be the CAA automatic qualifier.
When Do The 2023 FCS Playoffs Start?
The first round of the FCS playoffs are scheduled for Nov. 25.
When Is The 2024 FCS National Championship Game?
The FCS National Championship is at 2 p.m. on Jan. 7 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The game will be on ABC.
How To Watch FCS Football
FloFootball and the FloSports app is home to CAA college football and more. FloFootball will also be home to game replays and highlights
For more action, including all the CAA conference games, check out the FloFootball schedule page.
Archived Footage On FloFootball
Video footage from the event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloFootball subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.
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