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The FCS playoff committee has its own idea of who's best. Its first top 10 of 2026 put defending national champion Montana State (6-1) on top Tuesday, ahead of unbeaten Tarleton State (7-0). That's despite the Bobcats sitting fourth in our poll and losing at Idaho earlier this month.
The committee revealed the list during ESPN2's "College Football Live," at 2 p.m. ET today. It counts games through Oct. 17. Youngstown State (6-2) is third, Stephen F. Austin (7-0) is fourth and South Dakota State (5-2) is fifth. The list doesn't set the bracket, but it's the best look yet at who is in line for the eight first-round byes.
Here is the full list, with records through Oct. 17.
1. Montana State (6-1), Big Sky
2. Tarleton State (7-0), UAC
3. Youngstown State (6-2), MVFC
4. Stephen F. Austin (7-0), Southland
5. South Dakota State (5-2), MVFC
6. North Dakota (6-2), MVFC
7. Northern Arizona (6-2), Big Sky
8. South Dakota (6-2), MVFC
9. Austin Peay (6-2), UAC
10. Harvard (5-0), Ivy
Illinois State (5-2), Lehigh (6-1) and Tennessee Tech (6-1) are listed as others receiving votes. Tarleton State, Stephen F. Austin and Harvard are the only unbeaten teams in the group.
Austin Peay is in the committee's top 10 for the first time in program history, according to Austin Peay Athletics. The Governors' only losses are to FBS Vanderbilt and to Tarleton State.
The committee didn't post an explanation with its list, so the résumés have to do the talking. Montana State won 20-7 at FBS Nevada on Sept. 12 and beat Northern Arizona, the committee's No. 7 team, 28-14 on Sept. 26. Its only loss was 35-34 at Idaho on Oct. 2. The Bobcats bounced back with a 56-20 win at Eastern Washington on Saturday.
Tarleton State has a strong case of its own. The Texans won 20-13 at FBS Bowling Green on Sept. 5 and 40-32 at No. 9 Austin Peay on Oct. 10, then beat Central Arkansas 49-35 on Saturday. For now, the committee put the Bobcats' résumé, one loss and all, a spot higher.
Stephen F. Austin's spot stands out, too. The Lumberjacks are 7-0 with four road wins, but one of those seven wins came against non-Division I Northeastern State, and they sit behind two-loss Youngstown State. The Penguins' losses came 45-13 at FBS Kentucky and 27-20 at South Dakota State.
The committee and the Redshirt Sports FCS Top 25 see the field much the same way. Nine of the committee's 10 teams are also in our top 10. Four sit in the exact same spot: Youngstown State at No. 3, South Dakota State at No. 5, South Dakota at No. 8 and Austin Peay at No. 9.
Both lists also handle two head-to-head results the same way. South Dakota State beat Youngstown State 27-20 on Sept. 19, yet the Penguins rank ahead of the Jackrabbits on both lists. North Dakota beat South Dakota State 21-10 on Saturday, and the Jackrabbits still rank higher on both. One game doesn't decide a whole résumé, for the committee or for our voters.
The biggest gap is at the top. Montana State is fourth in our poll and first on the committee's list, a three-spot difference. Stephen F. Austin goes the other way, from second in our poll to fourth with the committee. Tarleton State, our No. 1, is second.
The rest is a one-spot shuffle. North Dakota is sixth for the committee and seventh for us, while Northern Arizona is seventh for the committee and sixth for us. Harvard is 10th on the committee's list and 11th in our poll.
The one team that doesn't carry over is Campbell (6-1). The Camels are No. 10 in our poll, but they aren't in the committee's top 10 or among its others receiving votes. The committee did list Tennessee Tech, Illinois State and Lehigh, which are 12th, 14th and 15th in our poll. Lehigh made that group even after its 48-38 loss at Cornell on Saturday.
No CAA team made the committee's top 10, and none were listed among its others receiving votes. That includes Campbell, which is 6-1 overall and 6-0 against FCS teams.
The Camels' only loss came 52-3 at FBS Florida on Sept. 12. They opened with a 49-37 win at East Tennessee State, which is No. 17 in our poll, and they are 3-0 in the CAA after beating Towson 24-20 on Saturday. In the Redshirt Sports FCS Top 25, Campbell is No. 10 and Monmouth (5-2, 4-0 CAA) is No. 19. Those are the only two CAA teams in our Top 25.
The CAA should be very concerned about how the conference is perceived. Campbell doesn't even land in the receiving-votes section, while Lehigh does a few days after losing at Cornell. If the committee doesn't see the CAA's best team as one of the 13 best in the country right now, it's hard to see a league team climbing into the top eight and earning a first-round bye.
The CAA champion still gets an automatic bid, so the league is guaranteed one team in the field. The bigger worry is a second bid. If the committee is this cool on the CAA's top team, a second CAA team like Monmouth may need a near-spotless finish to get an at-large spot. Campbell and Monmouth meet in Buies Creek on Nov. 21, the last day of the regular season.
History says the first list isn't the final word, though. In 2023, the CAA had one team in the committee's first top 10, Delaware at No. 5. The league still got four bids: Villanova as the automatic qualifier, plus at-large picks Delaware, UAlbany and Richmond. Villanova and UAlbany, both left off that first list, ended up as the No. 8 and No. 5 seeds. UAlbany beat Richmond and Idaho to reach the semifinals, where it lost 59-0 at South Dakota State, and Villanova reached the quarterfinals before losing 23-12 to the Jackrabbits.
The closest comparison is 2024. The CAA had no teams in the committee's in-season top 10 that year, but it still landed four bids and four seeds. Richmond was the automatic qualifier and the No. 9 seed, with Rhode Island at No. 10, Villanova at No. 11 and New Hampshire at No. 16. None of them got past the second round. Richmond and New Hampshire lost at home in the first round, and Rhode Island and Villanova won once before losing at Mercer and UIW.
Last season flipped the script. Monmouth was the CAA's only team in the committee's first top 10, at No. 9. The league got three bids: champion Rhode Island as the No. 9 seed, Villanova as the No. 12 seed and New Hampshire unseeded. Monmouth lost its finale to UAlbany and was one of the committee's first four teams out. Villanova, which wasn't on that first list, made the deepest run. The Wildcats won 26-21 at No. 4 seed Tarleton State in the quarterfinals before falling 30-14 to Illinois State in the semifinals.
So Campbell isn't done. But in each of the last three seasons, the CAA had at most one team in the committee's first top 10, and this year it doesn't have one in the top 10 or among the others receiving votes. That's not a great look for a league that's used to getting three or four teams in.
The top 16 teams in the 24-team field are seeded, and the top eight get first-round byes. That makes this list a first look at who is on track for a week off in late November.
As far as Redshirt Sports knows, the playoff committee doesn't reference the Redshirt Sports FCS Top 25. Still, our poll can be a good indicator, and it lined up well this time. The committee's top eight are the same eight teams in our top eight. Only the order is different. We have Tarleton State at No. 1, followed by Stephen F. Austin, Youngstown State, Montana State, South Dakota State, Northern Arizona, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference has four of the committee's top eight in Youngstown State, South Dakota State, North Dakota and South Dakota. The Big Sky has two in Montana State and Northern Arizona. Several of those teams still have to play each other, so the bye line can move fast. Austin Peay and Harvard sit just below it at ninth and 10th.
The committee's second in-season top 10 is set for Thursday, Nov. 5, according to Opta Analyst's Craig Haley. The full 24-team bracket will be revealed on a selection show on Sunday, Nov. 22, and the first round is Nov. 28.
The sorting starts Saturday. No. 7 North Dakota visits No. 8 South Dakota at 1 p.m. CT on Midco Sports and ESPN+, a matchup of the committee's sixth- and eighth-ranked teams. No. 4 Montana State hosts No. 21 Weber State (5-3) at 1 p.m. MT on Scripps and ESPN+. North Dakota then visits No. 3 Youngstown State on Oct. 31, Stephen F. Austin plays at No. 16 Lamar (5-2) on Nov. 7, and Montana State hosts No. 13 Montana (5-3) to close the regular season on Nov. 21.
A lot can change before Nov. 22. But for one Tuesday in October, the defending champions are on top.
