A back-and-forth game that comes down to “whoever has the ball last” is often a highlight during a season. A review of results between two conference teams shows which leagues had the closest matchups during the 2024 FCS football season. Who’s next in 2025?
The 27-24 overtime thrillers are memorable.
The 42-7 blowouts – not so much.
A college football season has many games that are defined by both scenarios.
In FCS football, some of the 13 conferences have more of the coveted close results than others. The Ivy and Patriot leagues as well as the United Athletic Conference particularly stood out during the 2024 season.
In a review of all games between two conference teams (including regular season and postseason), the Ivy League had the lowest average margin of victory in the FCS at 11.8 points. The Patriot League was third-lowest at 13.1 per game, but it was the only FCS conference to have over half of its matchups decided by eight points or less (one-possession potential) – 11 of 21, or 52.4%.
Additionally, the UAC had the second-lowest average scoring margin (12.1) and tied the OVC-Big South Football Association for the third-most games that came down to one possession (44.4%).
As for individual teams, four shared the FCS high of six games against conference opponents that came down to one possession: Alabama State and Grambling State from the Southwestern Athletic Conference; ETSU of the Southern Conference; and Youngstown State in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
The MVFC, however, had the FCS’ highest average margin of victory (22.5), with South Dakota State a culprit, if you will, beating six different conference opponents by 30+ points (Big Sky Conference champion Montana State did that five times as the only other FCS team to be above three times).
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference had the FCS low in one-possession games – 4 of 15 for 26.7% – and was one of just two conferences (also the Southern Conference) to not have one of its matchups go to overtime.
The 2025 college football season kicks off on Saturday with a small Division I schedule. It includes a game between the last two Southland champions – UIW at Nicholls – marking the first conference matchup in Week 0 since the annual early start to FCS football seasons began in 2014.
Jesse Abrahams of Stats Perform’s U.S. Data Insights provided research to this story. Top photo, from left, from Tennessee Tech Athletics, Penn Athletics and the Associated Press.
For more FCS football coverage, follow on social media at X, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.
Which FCS Football Conference Will Have the Closest Games This Season? Opta Analyst.
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