| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | James Madison | JMU (11-0) goes post to post, starting at #1, and finishing there too. If this isn't the #1 seed, something's wrong. | 1 |
| 2 |  | Central Arkansas | UCA (10-1) crunch Abilene Christian. A good way to go into their bye week. Should land between a #2 and #4 seed. | 2 |
| 3 |  | North Dakota State | NDSU (10-1) beats Illinois State in the snow, clinching yet another MVFC title. Will be no worse than a #3 seed, should be #2. | 3 |
| 4 |  | Jacksonville State | JSU (10-1) end the season whipping Tennessee State. Should fall somewhere in the #2 and #4 mix with UCA and NDSU. | 4 |
| 5 |  | Sam Houston State | SHSU (10-1) finishes unbeaten, if not for UCA. Another dominating season. Did their schedule prepare them? We'll see. | 5 |
| 6 |  | South Dakota State | SDSU (9-2) eeked out a roadie at South Dakota and should have clinched a seed. | 6 |
| 7 |  | Southern Utah | SUU (9-2) beats NAU to claim the Big Sky auto. That and the record should be enough to land a seed. | 8 |
| 8 |  | Wofford | Wofford (9-2) lose to South Carolina. Shouldn't matter as a seed is likely. No great wins, but a solid, not flashy resume. | 7 |
| 9 |  | Stony Brook | SB (9-2) won their finale in Maine, a fifth straight. Going to be in the mix for a seed, but probably just outside. | 10 |
| 10 |  | Weber State | WSU (9-2) hasn't lost since they played SUU. Will be in the seed conversation. Likely, they'll have to settle for a home first rounder. | 11 |
| 11 |  | Kennesaw State | KSU (10-1) wins the Big South in their third year. That's impressive. Schedule wasn't good enough to get them a bye though. | 12 |
| 12 |  | Western Illinois | WIU (8-3) finished off their schedule with three straight wins. Safely in the playoffs, rest easy Leathernecks. | 13 |
| 13 |  | Samford | Samford (8-3) clinch a bid beating Furman. Great resume and a dangerous team that nobody will enjoy playing. | 18 |
| 14 |  | North Carolina A&T | NC A&T (11-0) finishes unblemished. Been rough on their schedule all year, but they beat everyone put in front of them. | 16 |
| 15 |  | Monmouth | Monmouth (9-2) took a beating from Kennesaw State for the Big South auto. Nine D-I wins should keep them safely on the tree. | 9 |
| 16 |  | McNeese | McNeese (9-2) was probably happier than anyone to see Nicholls lose Thursday. The way should be clear for a playoff bid now. | 21 |
| 17 |  | Northern Iowa | UNI (7-4) finishes second in the MVFC after playing the nation's toughest schedule. Welcome to the playoffs. | 24 |
| 18 |  | New Hampshire | UNH (7-4) drop last game at Albany. Luckily, they beat Elon last week and have an FBS win earlier this year. Playoffs? We think so. | 14 |
| 19 |  | Elon | Elon (8-3) have lost two in a row. But those were to UNH and JMU, these guys should be safely in the field. | 15 |
| 20 |  | Austin Peay | APSU beats EIU to finish 8-4. Have only lost to FBS teams, three times, and Jacksonville State. They probably deserve a bid. | NR |
| 21 |  | Eastern Washington | EWU (7-4) has been highly regarded most of the year. Their win over Montana back in September probably lands them a bid. | NR |
| 22 |  | South Dakota | USD (7-4) lost their fourth out of five. Because of an FBS win and great strength of schedule, they still might be in the field. | 19 |
| 23 |  | Furman | Furman (7-4) lose their finale to Samford. No bad losses, but their best win is Western Carolina. Gonna be right on the cut line. | 17 |
| 24 |  | Montana | Montana (7-4) got cat scratch fever from Montana State. They're going to be the last in or first out Sunday - it's that close. | 22 |
| 25 |  | Northern Arizona | NAU (7-4) loses to SUU and probably falls to fifth in the Big Sky pecking order and out of the playoffs. | 23 |
Week 12 FCS Football Power Rankings
