JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The FCS Playoff Committee’s Top-10 Rankings were released today with Tarleton State coming in at No. 2 while Austin Peay checked in at No. 9. This is the first snapshot of where the teams rank through week seven. The second release, following week 10, will be Thursday, November 5 during the College Football Live broadcast at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Announced live on ESPN2 on Tuesday, the Texans and Govs were both named in the top-10 with Tarleton State coming in at No. 2 just behind last year’s FCS Champion, Montana State. The Texans, who are just one of three remaining undefeated FCS teams, just recently took over the No. 1 rankings in both the AFCA Coaches Poll and Stats Perform FCS Top-25 Poll.
Austin Peay made its way back into the top-10 in both polls this week after a 24-10 win over West Georgia. The Govs, who have been in the top rankings all season, are making their second appearance in the top 10 this season.
This year in selecting at-large teams, the FCS championship committee will consider each team’s won-lost record, their strength of schedule, Regional Advisory Committee rankings/feedback and games reviewed by the committee on video. A secondary tool are four metrics that may be considered, all including only games from the current season (KPI, Massey Ratings and ESPN’s two Football Power Indexes).
The 2026 championship field will consist of 11 automatic qualifiers and 13 at-large selections with the FCS Selection Show airing Sunday, November 22 at Noon ET on ESPNU.
The 2027 FCS Championship game will be held January 11, 2027 at FirstBank Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University.
General media inquiries should be directed to:
Claire Johnson, Senior Director, Strategic Communications & Content
Unisun Sports / claire.johnson@unisunsports.com
About the United Athletic Conference
The United Athletic Conference (UAC) was established in 2023 as a single-sport football conference through a partnership between the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) and the former Western Athletic Conference. In July 2026, the ASUN and UAC formed Unisun Sports to further strengthen the conference, which now features eight football-playing member institutions: Abilene Christian University (Abilene, Texas), Austin Peay State University (Clarksville, Tenn.), the University of Central Arkansas (Conway, Ark.), Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond, Ky.), the University of North Alabama (Florence, Ala.), Tarleton State University (Stephenville, Texas), the University of West Georgia (Carrollton, Ga.) and the University of West Florida (Pensacola, Fla.).