The FCS football season is getting more unpredictable by the week. Results in Week 7 offered an another lesson in how conference play is the driving force.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the conference schedule …
Quite simply, it wasn’t wise to think that way. Conference play often changes everything for even the best teams.
“Chaos” and “parity” have increasingly become buzz words for the season. The upsets are so prevalent that four teams ranked in the Top 10 of the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll lost games in Week 7. This after three Top 10 teams fell in each of the two previous weeks.
With heads spinning, here are five takeaways from a wild Week 7:
A Top 25 Loss. And Another. And Another.
With many nonconference games during the season’s first three weeks, only 10 Top 25 teams lost to FCS opponents (3.3 per week on average). But the perils of a nationally ranked team facing an opponent familiar with its style has since been evident in conference. Over the last five weeks, a Top 25 team has suffered a loss to an FCS opponent 35 times (7.0 per week), and 29 of them have been in league matchups. Within those 29 conference losses, 17 unranked teams have pulled upsets, such as Southeastern Louisiana (over Lamar), Georgetown (Colgate), Weber State (Idaho State) and Idaho (Montana) on Saturday.
Week 7 began with eight teams on the two lists above, but Lehigh suffered its first defeat, and South Dakota State, Lamar and Morgan State fell to FCS opponents for the first time.Another No. 1 on the Way
The No. 1 ranking isn’t even safe, as the team holding it fell twice in a 15-day span. Montana State lost 35-34 at unranked Idaho on Oct. 2 before South Dakota State gained the top spot during its bye week, only to fall 21-10 at No. 11 North Dakota in its first game back on the field on Saturday. Second-ranked Tarleton State (7-0) has a chance on Monday to elevate to No. 1 for the first time in its FCS era (since 2020) following a 49-35 win over Central Arkansas. Third-ranked Stephen F. Austin (7-0) also made a case for the top spot with a 56-0 win at Nicholls – the Lumberjacks’ first shutout of an FCS program since 2011.
No. 2 Tarleton State (7-0, 2-0 UAC) 49.Central Arkansas (2-5, 0-3) 35TSU QB Kaden Anderson: 5 TD passes; LB Chris Robinson: 13 tackles, 2 TFLs @TarletonFB pic.twitter.com/yTqC3heZdu
— Opta FCS Football (@OptaAnalystFCS) October 18, 2026Vandals Raid the Treasure State
Go figure, Idaho is 2-0 versus the two national powers in Montana and 0-5 against the rest of its schedule. The Vandals added to their upset over Montana State with a 42-35 triumph at Montana, becoming the first program to sweep the Treasure State duo in the same season since Sacramento State in 2019. Senior quarterback Joshua Wood accounted for 776 yards and seven touchdowns in the two wins.
Penguins Strut to MVFC Lead
Three Missouri Valley Football Conference teams had the chance in Week 7 to gain an FCS-high third Top 25 win of the season, but only Youngstown State succeeded with a 35-22 victory over Northern Iowa (it stopped the Panthers from doing the same thing). Quarterback Beau Brungard was at it again with 320 total yards and three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing), but contributions have abounded with the Penguins this season, including wide receiver Lynn Wyche-El catching his seventh TD of the season against UNI. YSU (6-2, 4-1) is in first place in the MVFC, but, unlike most playoff contenders, is playing only 11 of the maximum 12 regular-season games, with byes in two of the final five remaining weeks.
Who’s in First Place? Wait, What?
There are plenty of big conference matchups ahead, but some of the first-place teams through Week 7 weren’t quite forecast to be there in their league preseason polls. Weber State (5-3, 4-1) was picked ninth in the Big Sky, but it shares first place with Northern Arizona (6-2, 4-1), which was picked fourth. In the Pioneer Football League, Marist (4-3, 3-0) was picked sixth, but it’s the lone unbeaten team. LIU (3-5, 3-0) likes the view from the top in NEC Football after being picked third and then starting the season with five straight losses. Also, Alabama A&M (6-2, 3-1) was picked fifth out of six teams in the SWAC East Division yet is tied for first with Jackson State.
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Five Takeaways From a Week 7 of Upsets in FCS Football Opta Analyst.
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