| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | North Dakota State | NDSU (14-1) waited an entire season to exact revenge for the breaking of the title reign. But 6 of 7 is unprecented in FCS. Congrats Bison! | 3 |
| 2 |  | James Madison | JMU (14-1) almost pulled the double dip, but the Bison had other ideas. Still a great season and they should still be upper echelon. | 1 |
| 3 |  | South Dakota State | SDSU (11-3) was on a roll after losing in Mid-October, then had to travel to JMU in the semifinals. That run was stopped - hard. | 6 |
| 4 |  | Sam Houston State | SHSU (12-2) reached the semifinals yet again. And again they were beaten badly. Still, most teams rarely get their once. | 5 |
| 5 |  | Weber State | WSU (11-3) beat Western Illinois and Southern Utah before losing heartbreaker to JMU in playoffs. Great season ending. | 10 |
| 6 |  | Kennesaw State | KSU (12-2) avenged a season opener loss to Samford in the first round. Upset Jax State before falling at Sam Houston State. | 11 |
| 7 |  | Wofford | Wofford (10-3) was king of the SoCon in 2017 and made it clear, beating Furman in the second round. NDSU was a different story. | 8 |
| 8 |  | New Hampshire | UNH (9-5) shutout Central Connecticut State, then won at Central Arkansas. Unfortunately, SDSU wasn't centrally located too. | 18 |
| 9 |  | Southern Utah | SUU (9-3) was red hot to finish regular season, but Weber State got them when it counted in the second round. | 7 |
| 10 |  | Central Arkansas | UCA (10-2) dominated the Southland but couldn't handle New Hampshire in the playoffs. Disappointing finish. | 2 |
| 11 |  | Jacksonville State | JSU (10-2) went undefeated through the OVC for a fourth straight season, but lost first playoff game to Kennesaw State. | 4 |
| 12 |  | Stony Brook | SB (10-3) obliterated Lehigh in the first round before dropping their second rounder at James Madison. Still a great year. | 9 |
| 13 |  | North Carolina A&T | NC A&T (12-0) completed their perfect season by beating Grambling in the Celebration Bowl. | 14 |
| 14 |  | Western Illinois | WIU (8-4) got a tough draw in the first round and came up just short of beating a very good Weber State. | 12 |
| 15 |  | Northern Iowa | UNI (8-5) crushed Monmouth in the first round. In the end, they couldn't pull a second upset at South Dakota State. | 17 |
| 16 |  | South Dakota | USD (8-5) limped into the playoffs losing 4 of 5, but won a thriller at Nicholls before bowing out in another thriller to SHSU. | 22 |
| 17 |  | Samford | Samford (8-4) beat Kennesaw State at home to start the season, but lost when venues were switched in the first round. | 13 |
| 18 |  | San Diego | USD (10-3) did it again. Another Pioneer title and first round win over a Big Sky opponent. Can they take the next step? | NR |
| 19 |  | Furman | Furman (8-5) won a nailbiter at Elon in the first round. Their season ended like it began, with a loss to Wofford. | 23 |
| 20 |  | Elon | Elon (8-4) had won eight straight before losing their last two regular season games. Momentum followed with home loss to Furman. | 19 |
| 21 |  | McNeese | McNeese (9-2) was probably the most deserving team that didn't make the playoffs, especially after seeing some who did. | 16 |
| 22 |  | Austin Peay | Austin Peay (8-4) didn't get the benefit of the doubt for an at-large. Remarkable turnaround for the Governors in 2017. | 20 |
| 23 |  | Eastern Washington | Playoffs? Playoffs?! EWU (7-4) should have been selected instead of Northern Arizona from the Big Sky. | 21 |
| 24 |  | Monmouth | Monmouth (9-3) had a great year overall. But lost finale vs. Kennesaw State for Big South, then were destroyed by UNI in playoffs. | 15 |
| 25 |  | Montana | Montana (7-4) deserved a bid over Northern Arizona also, whom they beat head-to-head. | 24 |
Final FCS Football Power Rankings
