This is from the SAC SID, so of course it is.

...and to that, Plough consistently referring to Davis as an '8 Win Team' in his Sac Press Conference, effectively counting the Mercer game, even though it officially does not count.

The Sac media teams release refers to a computer rating as a poll.
I know its common to call them polls, but that obscures an important distinction.. Sac is 19th as rated by their performance in scoring and yielding points, the location of the games, and strength of schedule. Davis is ninth. These ratings basically look backward to estimate what rating would explain the team’s results against its schedule
The polls on the otherhand are subjective opinions, by people that don’t have a common idea of what they are voting for. Are they rewarding accomplishment or predicting future results? Different voters would answer differently.
Davis emphasizing their injuries is reflected by the polls, the computer doesn’t factor that in.

I had the same thought about momentum and our last 3. I feel like this has become a must-win.

If Sac wins Saturday I honestly think they should be in over some team from a lesser Eastern or Southern Conference. I think the reality is Sac has damaged its own cause. I think they've finally figured this out as Wood has gone completely silent.

I still think Davis is in no matter what happens Saturday.

I don't agree Causeway is a one-team-or-the-other situation.

There are a ton of crazy scenarios that can go down this weekend. FCS Edge covers them all.

If we win Saturday, I expect a home game thanksgiving weekend. Win that and we’re on the road vs one of the higher seeded ‘bye teams’. That would be a very winnable game.

But, let’s not look ahead…just win Saturday and see what shakes out.

I think this Saturday shakes up the Top 15 again.

I can't imagine the representatives from the BSC or MVFC are going to seriously debate that Lehigh is a top-8 program!

Beating Lafayette and winning all your games is still an impressive feat - but man, the teams in this Top 10 have some of the weakest schedules I've ever seen.

So outside of the top 4, we're still looking good w our depleted defense?

I think the defense has held up pretty well so far. Take away the pick-six last week and the last minute TD, and Bobcats have 24 points. Up to that last drive, we had held them to 350 or so yards - much better than the rest of the Big Sky has been able to do.

I've been more concerned about our redzone woes as of late. Vargas was a big weapon down there. We HAVE to eliminate mistakes inside the 20 and come away with 7's!

Current FCS Coaches Poll (Record, Massey Strength of Schedule, final week opponent):
1. North Dakota State 11-0, #23 Strength of Schedule (SOS) (vs. St. Thomas - Minnesota)
2. Montana 11-0, #34 SOS (vs. Montana State)
3. Montana State 9-2, #6 SOS (@ Montana)
4. Lehigh 11-0, #97 SOS (@ Lafayette)
5. Tarleton State 10-1, #29 SOS (vs. Austin Peay)
6. Mercer 9-1, #79 SOS (@ Auburn)
7. Villanova 8-2, #49 SOS (vs. Sacred Heart)
8. Tennessee Tech 10-1, #82 SOS (vs. UT Martin)
9. Rhode Island 9-2, #65 SOS (vs. Hampton)
10. Harvard 9-0, #89 SOS (@ Yale)
T11. Illinois State 8-3, #20 SOS (vs. Southern Illinois)
T11. Monmouth 9-2, #74 (vs. Albany)
13. Stephen F. Austin 9-2, #59 SOS (11/20/25 @ Northwestern State)
14. UC Davis 7-3, #10 SOS (vs. J Street Tech)
15. Jackson State 8-2, #121 SOS (vs. Alcorn State)
16. North Dakota 7-4, #4 SOS (vs. South Dakota State)
17. Youngstown State 7-4, #17 SOS (@ Northern Iowa)
18. Abilene Christian 7-4, #11 SOS (@ Central Arkansas)
19. Lamar 8-3, #42 SOS (vs. McNeese)
20. SE Louisiana 8-3, #57 SOS (11/20/25 vs. Nicholls)
21. South Dakota 8-4, #9 SOS (Regular Season Completed)
22. South Dakota State 7-4, #19 SOS (@ North Dakota)
23. West Georgia 8-3, #35 SOS (Regular Season Completed)
24. Lafayette 8-3, #76 SOS (vs. Lehigh)
25. Yale 7-2, #84 SOS (vs. Harvard)

UC Davis Opponents:
Week 0 --- Mercer, currently 9-1, #79 SOS (@ Auburn)
Week 1 --- Utah Tech, currently 2-9, #5 SOS (vs. Eastern Kentucky)
Week 2 --- Washington, currently 7-3, #36 FBS SOS
Week 3 --- Southern Utah, currently 6-5, #24 SOS (@ North Alabama)
Week 4 --- Weber State, currently 3-8, #8 SOS (vs. Northern Arizona)
Week 5 --- Cal Poly, currently 3-8, #12 SOS (vs. Eastern Washington)
Week 6 --- NAU, currently 7-4, #16 SOS (@ Weber State)
Week 7 --- Northern Colorado, currently 3-8, #14 SOS (vs. Portland State)
Week 8 --- Idaho State, currently 5-6, #13 SOS (@ Idaho)
Week 9 --- Idaho, currently 4-7, #15 SOS (vs. Idaho State)
Week 10 --- Montana State, currently 9-2, #6 SOS (@ Montana)
Week 11 --- Sac State, currently 7-4, #26 SOS (@ UC Davis)

Of the 12 teams in the MVFC, Big Sky and United Football Conferences in the Coaches Poll Top 25, Montana has the 2nd weakest strength of schedule (and 8 total home games)

Strongest MVFC SOS is North Dakota at #4
Big Sky is Montana State at #6 SOS.

Who should Ags root for in FCS games of interest tomorrow? For seeding/bubble purposes.

Yale
Southern Illinois
Albany
Lafayette

I think if we win, we want these teams to win so we have a shot at a top 8 seed (or just a higher seed, top 8 probably isn’t happening). If we lose, we want them to lose so they aren’t on the bubble (for the field of 24) with us…

Yale whipping Harvard and Layfayette ahead of Lehigh. Hopefully those scores will reverse because if both Lafayette and Yale win they get autobids and the 2 others have been high in the pools meaning Ivy and Patriot could get 2 teams in playoffs and displace 1 or 2 others.

MVFC is going to be nuts. The way it's trending you'll have

12-0 North Dakota St
8-4 South Dakota (3-1)
8-4 Illinois St (2-2)
8-4 North Dakota or South Dakota St (3-1 or 2-2)
8-4 Youngstown St (2-2)
7-5 North Dakota or South Dakota St (2-2 or 1-3)
7-5 Southern Illinois (1-3)

Record in parenthesis is against the above teams besides NDSt. Though if you want to include them, North Dakota St played and beat all 6 of these teams, which makes their record even more impressive.

Wow Yale, SIU, and Albany all won today. Beat three teams right ahead of us

This win clinches that they make the playoffs. I would hope they keep their positioning for a home game.

With Monmouth, Illinois St, and North Dakota losing, and think we're a lock for top-16. Might even move ahead of Harvard

The Upsets

Paper tiger #8 Harvard loses 45 - 38.

Southern Illinois 37, No. 11 Illinois State 7.

UAlbany 31, No. 12 Monmouth 24

South Dakota State 34, No. 13 North Dakota 31 (OT)

So the #8, 11, 12, and 13 teams lose.

Several teams below us, lost. So we were ranked #15. How far do we move up?

https://www.si.com/college/fcs/big-sky/2025-week-13-fcs-football-top-25-scoreboard

So throwing some guesses out there. Eight teams get a bye, not us. Four teams above us lost, so some should drop. Let's say we're rated #10 or #12. We might play...

Unlikely

Monmouth (9-3), formerly #12, beat ranked Villanova 51-33, Towson, Stony Brook, lost to New Hampshire.

North Dakota is 7-5, just lost to SD State, was #13, will drop.; lost to Montana 24-23, best several ranked teams, then lost to South Dakota (26-21), NDSU (15-10), and SDSU in OT (34-31). Sound dangerous.

Stephen F. Austin (was #14) is 10-2, also sounds dangerous. 10-1 vs FCS.

More likely?

Youngstown State is 8-4, was ranked #18, tough, but beatable? Distance: 2400 miles.

Lamar was #19, lost, and is 8-4. Ended the season losing 3 of 4. Limps in? Texas, 2000 miles away.

Jackson State, 9-2, was #20, HBCU.

NAU 7-5, was #23 (lost), we beat them by 20. Would be a repeat.

New Hampshire was #25, won today, 8-4, I don't know anything about them but their schedule looks lite, Ivys and such. 3,000 miles away.

No pro here, but if we're hosting lower-ranked teams, the lower teams listed here are more likely. NCAA attempts to play regional games, and not have rematches.

#5 Tarleton going to overtime Austin Peay
They won

Playoff tickets are available now. Be sure to buy some student tickets.

Just got our tickets and purchased and some $5 donation tickets for students also. Hope we get a good crowd.

how? I did not get an email

agree except for NAU because they strongly avoid first round rematches.

Log into your athletics account. But if you’re a student you might get them free. There’s a line item for season ticket holders to buy for students. I added several to my account.