The first round of the FCS playoffs are over. Schools with higher power ratings went 5-3. The biggest upset was #24 Montana over #6 South Dakota State 24-17. #7 Northern Iowa cruised to an easy 53-17 win over #25 Eastern Illinois.#11 Citadel squeaked by #19 Coastal Carolina 41-38. #13 William & Mary had a big scare from #61 Duquesne before finally winning 52-49. #14 Western Illinois defeated #45 Dayton 24-7. #15 Chattanooga had little trouble with #21 Fordham, winning 50-20. #28 Sam Houston State pulled off an upset in beating #16 Southern Utah 42-39. #40 Colgate beat #37 New Hampshire 27-20.
Round #2 Matchups(Based on FCS seedings, record, my ratings and rankings in parentheses):
#1 Jacksonville State (10-1, 2, 118.183) vs. Chattanooga (9-3, 11, 115.648)
#2 Illinois State (9-2, 1, 118.350) vs. Western Illinois (7-5, 14, 114.777)
#3 North Dakota State (9-2, 3, 117.664) vs. Montana (8-4, 18, 113.599)
#4 McNeese State (10-0, 7, 115.964) vs. Sam Houston State (9-3, 20, 113.060)
#5 James Madison (9-2, 13, 115.180) vs. Colgate (8-4, 38, 110.690)
#6 Portland State (9-2, 9, 115.814) vs. Northern Iowa (8-4, 6, 116.009)
#7 Richmond (8-3, 19, 113.283) vs. William & Mary (9-3, 15, 114.324)
#8 Charleston Southern (9-2, 12, 115.527) vs. The Citadel (9-3, 8, 115.956)
Using my power ratings, here are the favorites and their chance of winning (not taking into account location of game):
James Madison has a 73.8% chance of winning over Colgate
North Dakota State has a 71.8% chance of winning over Montana
Illinois State has a 69.5% chance of winning over Western Illinois
McNeese State has a 66.1% chance of winning over Sam Houston State
Jacksonville State has a 64.2% chance of winning over Chattanooga
William & Mary has a 56.0% chance of winning over Richmond
The Citadel has a 52.5% chance of winning over Charleston Southern
Northern Iowa has a 51.9% chance of winning over Portland State