FCS committee rankings are eye-catching

GREENSBORO, North Carolina -- The intrigue flowed out of the NCAA Division I FCS selection committee’s second and final set of Top 10 rankings Thursday night – just 10 days prior to the announcement of the 24-team playoff field.

Two more weekends of action can and likely will change the committee’s rankings, but the current set would put national powers James Madison and North Dakota State on a semifinal-round collision course at No. 1 and 4, respectively. They met in last year’s semifinals, with JMU winning at NDSU to end the Bison’s five-year run as the national champion, before the Dukes went on to capture the title.

Also standing out Thursday night was unbeaten North Carolina A&T’s inclusion in the rankings for the first time at No. 10. The Aggies are leading the MEAC and seek that conference’s bid to the Air Force Celebration Bowl – not the playoffs – but if they don’t move on to the third annual bowl, they’ll be eligible for an at-large bid.

While James Madison (9-0) remained at No. 1, Jacksonville State (8-1) and Central Arkansas (8-1) moved up one spot each to 2 and 3, respectively. North Dakota State (8-1) fell two spots to No. 4 after its first loss and was followed by No. 5 Sam Houston State (8-1), which held steady.

Then it was: No. 6 Elon (8-1), up one spot; No. 7 South Dakota State (7-2), up three spots after beating NDSU; No. 8 Wofford (8-1), holding steady; No. 9 South Dakota (7-2), down four spots; and North Carolina A&T (9-0).

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