| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | North Dakota State | NDSU (15-0) won their seventh national title in eight years. That's incredible. Work begins for a new coach to continue their stampede. | 1 |
| 2 |  | Eastern Washington | EWU (12-3) come up short against NDSU. Fourteen others said that this year. Still, this might be the team to beat in 2019-20. | 4 |
| 3 |  | South Dakota State | SDSU (10-3) come up short against NDSU in the playoffs. These words have to be getting old in Brookings. | 5 |
| 4 |  | Maine | Maine (10-4) looked like they ran out of gas, flying back and forth to the Big Sky region. Great season though as outright CAA champs. | 9 |
| 5 |  | Weber State | WSU (10-3) sent SEMO back to the gateway in round two, but lost to Maine. Two great runs in a row. The new Big Sky power? | 3 |
| 6 |  | Kennesaw State | KSU (11-2) beat Wofford in a dog fight, then lost a hog slopper to SDSU, in a rainstorm. Great season for the Big South champs. | 2 |
| 7 |  | UC Davis | UC-D (10-3) just couldn't solve the EWU puzzle. It looked good the second time, but were clipped at the very end. Great year. | 6 |
| 8 |  | Colgate | Colgate (10-2) possessed the nation's best defense all season. Looked a little paper thin at the end. Can the Patriot League catch up? | 8 |
| 9 |  | Wofford | Wofford (9-4) stopped Elon's playoff season and played in a slugfest with Kennesaw State, just falling short. | 11 |
| 10 |  | James Madison | JMU (9-4) had a pretty good season by most standards. By theirs, a slight disappointment. 2019 brings the post-Mike Houston era. | 7 |
| 11 |  | Princeton | Tigers (10-0) will be like a 1600 SAT, perfection in 2018. Still a lot of the public would like to see the Ivy champs in the playoffs. | 13 |
| 12 |  | Nicholls | Nicholls (9-4) took down San Diego in the first round, but fell to eventual finalist EWU. Can the Southland co-champion reload? | 10 |
| 13 |  | Jacksonville State | JSU (9-4) lost their OVC undefeated string to SEMO, but still won OVC. Beat ETSU before losing to Maine in playoffs. A solid year. | 12 |
| 14 |  | North Carolina A&T | A&T (10-2) edged out Alcorn State for their third Celebrations Bowl win in four years. They lose a lot to graduation this year. | 15 |
| 15 |  | SE Missouri State | SEMO (9-4) defended the home turf against Stony Brook, but the trip to Weber State was not as fun. Came from nowhere in 2018. | 14 |
| 16 |  | Montana State | MSU (8-5) knocked UIW out in the first round before falling hard to NDSU. But, they beat Montana. Who made the playoffs, right? | 19 |
| 17 |  | Northern Iowa | UNI (7-6) snuck into the playoffs as the MVFC's #3 and rewarded The Committee's confidence beating the SLC's #3. | NR |
| 18 |  | Elon | Elon (6-5) had a season of "what could have beens." A game was canceled because of a hurricane and multiple starters injured. | 17 |
| 19 |  | Delaware | UD (7-5) had a terrific season going that just fizzled out at the end. Getting matched at JMU in the first round didn't help matters. | 20 |
| 20 |  | Stony Brook | SB (7-5) may have recceived the lousiest first round travel assignment. Still, more was expected from this team. | 16 |
| 21 |  | East Tennessee State | ETSU (8-4) were captains of the close call this year, winning multiple games by three points or less. Can they do it again next year? | 21 |
| 22 |  | San Diego | Toreros (9-3) were sent to Texas and gave all they had against Nicholls. No upset like the last two years but still Pioneer champs. | 22 |
| 23 |  | Incarnate Word | UIW (6-5) was unsuccessful in their inagural playoff appearance, but a trip to NDSU wouldn't have been fun anyway. SLC co-champs. | 23 |
| 24 |  | Duquesne | The Dukes (9-4) went to Towson and tamed the Tigers. The subsequent trip to SDSU wasn't as pleasant but still a good run. | NR |
| 25 |  | Lamar | Lamar (7-5) was a bit of a surprise to some that they made the playoffs and almost won at UNI. Now they need to build on it. | NR |
Final FCS Football Power Rankings
