FCS Takes Center Stage: What to Watch in Week 0

Christmas has come early this year for FCS football fans.

With the division’s move to begin its season during Week 0 this year, FCS teams across the country will be in the national spotlight over the weekend. 69 games involving FCS teams will take place beginning with a 22-game slate on Thursday. Meanwhile, only eight games involving FBS teams are on the Week 0 schedule.

Not only will the change in Week 0 scheduling give FCS teams extra exposure, five games will be broadcast on national television between ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, but it also sets up opportunities for high-profile matchups to start the season.

Eyes should be on No. 18 Abilene Christian travelling to No. 21 Lamar (6 p.m. CDT, ESPN+) as the only showdown between teams in our preseason Top 25. In total, 24 of the Top 25 will take the field this week with 15th-ranked Yale being the lone exception.

Games receiving a national audience are Idaho at Cal Poly (Friday at 7 p.m. PDT, ESPN), Southern at No. 25 Alabama State (Saturday at 2 p.m. CDT, ESPNU), East Texas A&M at Mercer (Saturday at 7 p.m. EDT, ESPN), Alabama A&M vs. Howard at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta (Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EDT, ABC) and Prairie View A&M at No. 4 Tarleton State (Saturday at 8 p.m. CDT, ESPN2).

Here are some other things to keep an eye on during Week 0 action.

Questions at QB for Villanova: The ongoing saga of who will be under center to start the season for 13th-ranked Villanova took another turn over this past week, but this time the Wildcats were on the wrong end of a ruling.

Three weeks after an Ohio judge ruled that returning QB Pat McQuaide was eligible to play for what would be his sixth collegiate season by overturning the NCAA’s denial of his waiver request, the Patriot League announced last Tuesday that McQuaide was ineligible.

McQuaide threw for 3,092 yards, 24 TDs and 4 INTs last year after transferring from Nicholls State where he played for two seasons. He also spent time at Kent State and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. 

With the Wildcats’ season opening Friday evening against new Patriot League foe Pat McQuaide (Friday at 6 p.m. EDT, ESPN+), Villanova will likely turn to either senior signal caller Robert Russo or freshman Nolan DiLucia for the starting role.

Villanova was the preseason favorite in the Patriot League after reaching the national semifinals last season.

New faces, new places: Much to the joy of many FCS programs, longtime juggernaut North Dakota State is now in the FBS. The 10-time FCS national champions will now compete in the Mountain West Conference. Also moving up to the FBS is Sacramento State, who will compete as a football-only member in the MAC this season.

But as two teams leave the division, two will enter.

Chicago State is launching a football program for its inaugural season in the NEC. The Cougars will be eligible for playoff action in 2027.

Moving up to the FCS from Division-II is West Florida. The Argonauts will compete in the newly-recognized United Athletic Conference and will be playoff eligible in 2029.

There was also significant conference movement during the offseason from teams across the country.

In the Big Sky, former member Southern Utah and conference newcomer Utah Tech have joined the conference from the WAC. Sacred Heart, formerly of the NEC, will now compete in the CAA, who lost William & Mary and Villanova. Lastly, Tennessee Tech has left the Ohio Valley Conference and will compete in the SoCon this fall.

This will also be the first year that the United Athletic Conference will be recognized as an official conference. Former WAC teams joining the UAC will be Tarleton State, Abilene Christian and UT Arlington, while former ASUN football programs Austin Peay, Tennessee Tech has left the Ohio Valley Conference and West Georgia will round out the conference. The UAC had previously been used as a name to recognize the ASUN-WAC Football Alliance.

North Dakota dealt early injury blow: Sixth-ranked North Dakota will begin the season without standout defensive lineman Lance Rucker, who suffered a foot injury and is expected to be out until mid-October, UND coach Eric Schmidt told reporters Monday.

Rucker was recently named to the preseason Buck Buchanan watch list as one of the 30 best defensive players in the FCS. The senior recorded 64 tackles, 11.5 sacks, eight quarterback hurries and forced four fumbles last season for the Fighting Hawks.

Other games I’ll be keeping an eye on this week:

Monmouth at No. 12 Tennessee Tech (Saturday at 6 p.m. CDT, ESPN+): Tough opener for the Golden Eagles, who host a Hawks team that is coming off a 9-3 campaign last year and barely missed the playoff bracket after losing two of their final three games. The pick: Tennessee Tech.

Southern Utah at No. 3 Montana (Saturday at 7 p.m. MDT, ESPN+): The Griz have plenty of offensive firepower back under new head coach Bobby Kennedy, but Southern Utah will look to make a statement early in their return to the Big Sky Conference. The pick: Montana.

No. 18 Abilene Christian at No. 21 Lamar (6 p.m. CDT, ESPN+): The lone showdown of the week between ranked teams and playoff foes from a year ago, ACU won that opening-round game 38-20. Both teams have plenty of question marks around who will take over key roles, but the Cardinals do return starting quarterback Aiden McCown. The pick: Lamar.