| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | Sam Houston State | Sam Houston State beat Texas State last week, but they move up to #1 thanks to Montana State's loss. | 3 |
| 2 |  | Georgia Southern | Georgia Southern lost at Alabama last week, but that is what you call a good loss. | 2 |
| 3 |  | Montana | Montana got a big win at Montana State and now they are in a great position to earn a top 5 seed on Sunday. | 6 |
| 4 |  | Montana State | Montana State lost at home to Montana and lost out on the Big Sky title, but the big picture is in the playoffs. | 1 |
| 5 |  | North Dakota State | North Dakota State took down Western Illinois to win the Missouri Valley Football Conference title. | 4 |
| 6 |  | Northern Iowa | Northern Iowa took out Illinois State in a thrilling double overtime game and have momentum for the playoffs. | 5 |
| 7 |  | Lehigh | Lehigh beat Lafayette to cap off an undefeated season in Patriot League play. Their only loss came against UNH. | 7 |
| 8 |  | Appalachian State | Appalachian State got a quality win at Elon and that will clinch their spot in the playoffs. | 8 |
| 9 |  | Towson | Towson took home the CAA title with their win at Rhode Island. Their first ever playoff apperance awaits. | 9 |
| 10 |  | Old Dominion | Old Dominion did not play during the last week of the regular season and they keep waiting for the playoffs. | 10 |
| 11 |  | Wofford | Wofford needed a big comeback to beat Chattanooga and now they do not have to sweat it out on Sunday. | 12 |
| 12 |  | New Hampshire | New Hampshire clinched a playoff spot with their thrilling 30-27 win over rival Maine last week. | 14 |
| 13 |  | Harvard | Harvard finished their Ivy League domination with a big win over Yale. They finished 7-0 in conference play. | 13 |
| 14 |  | Maine | Maine lost at New Hampshire to close out the regular season, but they still had a great year and it's not over yet. | 11 |
| 15 |  | Tennessee Tech | Tennessee Tech needed to win last week to receive the OVC auto bid. They won in style against Austin Peay. | 15 |
| 16 |  | Delaware | Delaware's win over Villanova on Saturday puts them squarely on the bubble, but they did what they had to do. | 16 |
| 17 |  | Jacksonville State | Jacksonville State did what they could by beating Tennessee State, but that wasn't enough to reach the playoffs. | 17 |
| 18 |  | Central Arkansas | Central Arkansas is squarely on the bubble and they had to sweat it out all last week. The wait is nearly over. | 19 |
| 19 |  | Illinois State | Illinois State lost in double overtime to UNI to finish the season. Now they are squarely on the playoff bubble. | 18 |
| 20 |  | Furman | There is no shame in losing to Florida. In fact Furman did very well. However, they needed a win for the playoffs. | 20 |
| 21 |  | Norfolk State | Norfolk State got a week off to rest up and wait for their playoff opponent to be named. | 22 |
| 22 |  | James Madison | James Madison got a nice win at Massachussetts, but that may not be enough to get into the playoffs. | NR |
| 23 |  | North Dakota | North Dakota got a thrilling and big win against rival South Dakota to win the Great West title. | NR |
| 24 |  | Jackson State | Jackson State got a big win and has some nice momentum heading into the postseason. | 24 |
| 25 |  | Stony Brook | Liberty was getting all of the attention in the Big South, but Stony Brook's victory and playoff berth changed that. | NR |
Week 12 FCS Football Top 25
Sat, 11/19/2011
