The ranks of Historically Black Colleges, Junior Colleges, Canadian Football, and lower NCAA divisions field a number of football teams that would likely win some games if they were able to play FBS schools. A list of the top-200 non-FBS schools below includes conservative bastion Hillsdale, which took a stand against racism in the 1950s by refusing a bowl bid based on discrimination.

North Dakota State’s continued dominance of FBS schools indicates they would probably win about 78% of their games at the FBS-level, good enough to be ranked 24th in the country and a clear No. 1 among non-FBS schools. ESPN Game Day chose Fargo for their broadcast in recognition of the non-FBS powerhouse.

The numbers by each school indicate their rank among the top 200 non-FBS schools, where they would rank in a top 100 of FBS schools, as well as the likely average score and winning percentage if they played an all-FBS schedule.

Yale (108th) will try to pull an upset against Army, and Eastern Illinois (16) is actually a slight favorite again Ohio, in the only two games scheduled by FBS schools this week against lower divisions. FBS schools no longer play any lower level except for FCS schools, due to being penalized in NCAA rankings, but many schools from these ranks would likely be able to win some of those games.

Hillsdale was invited to the 1956 Tangerine Bowl, now called the Citrus Bowl, but refused to play because the Bowl officials would not allow their black players to participate. A separate posts details the indicators on why the top-10 teams would likely do well against an FBS opponent.

More than 500 other non-FBS schools did not make this Top 200.

table.tableizer-table { border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif font-size: 12px; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; }

non-FBS if FBS Team if played vs. FBS Level Off Def W%
1 24 N Dakota St FCS 30 19 78%
2 63 Villanova FCS 28 27 52%
3 63 Missouri St FCS 32 31 52%
4 63 McNeese St FCS 33 32 52%
5 66 E Washington FCS 32 33 48%
6 70 Northern Iowa FCS 28 30 46%
7 70 NW Missouri NCAA II 28 30 46%
8 71 Youngstown St FCS 29 31 46%
9 75 Laval Canada 28 31 43%
10 79 Col San Mateo JUCO 28 33 39%
11 80 S Illinois FCS 26 31 38%
12 81 Illinois St FCS 26 31 38%
13 83 S Dakota St FCS 28 34 37%
14 87 Coastal Car FCS 29 38 33%
15 89 MN Mankato NCAA II 26 35 31%
16 90 E Illinois FCS 29 40 30%
17 90 SE Louisiana FCS 25 35 30%
18 93 Jacksonville St FCS 26 36 29%
19 94 William & Mary FCS 22 32 27%
20 94 Indiana St FCS 24 34 27%
21 98 Chattanooga FCS 22 33 26%
22 99 New Hampshire FCS 25 37 26%
23 99 Towson FCS 24 36 26%
24 99 E Kentucky FCS 23 35 26%
25 99 South Dakota FCS 23 35 25%
26 99 Liberty FCS 25 38 24%
27 99 Calgary Canada 26 39 24%
28   Pittsburg St NCAA II 23 36 24%
29   Cent Arkansas FCS 25 39 24%
30   Montreal Canada 21 33 23%
31   Sam Houston St FCS 27 41 23%
32   City Col San Fran JUCO 25 40 23%
33   W Illinois FCS 22 34 23%
34   Samford FCS 25 40 22%
35   Northwestern LA FCS 25 40 22%
36   Montana St FCS 26 41 22%
37   Northern Arizona FCS 22 36 21%
38   Harvard FCS 25 40 21%
39   North Alabama NCAA II 24 40 21%
40   CSU-Pueblo NCAA II 24 39 20%
41   Cal Poly SLO FCS 21 36 20%
42   MN Duluth NCAA II 22 37 20%
43   Richmond FCS 23 39 20%
44   West Alabama NCAA II 26 44 19%
45   Fordham FCS 25 43 19%
46 Montana FCS 21 36 19%
47   Tennessee St HBCU 19 33 19%
48   TN Martin FCS 24 41 19%
49   Butte Col JUCO 23 39 19%
50   Maine FCS 21 37 18%
51   Henderson St NCAA II 26 45 18%
52   Citadel FCS 21 37 18%
53   Bethune-Cookman HBCU 21 37 18%
54   James Madison FCS 23 41 18%
55   S Carolina St HBCU 20 36 17%
56   Mt San Antonio JUCO 22 40 17%
57   Furman FCS 19 34 17%
58   Sioux Falls NCAA II 23 42 17%
59   American River JUCO 21 39 17%
60   Delaware FCS 24 43 16%
61   C Missouri NCAA II 22 40 16%
62   OH Dominican NCAA II 22 40 16%
63   Portland St FCS 24 45 16%
64   Lenoir Rhyne NCAA II 21 39 16%
65   UC Davis FCS 21 39 16%
66   Midwest TX St NCAA II 23 43 16%
67   SF Austin FCS 26 48 16%
68   Ferris St NCAA II 24 45 16%
69   CS Sacramento FCS 24 46 16%
70   NC A&T HBCU 20 37 16%
71   Harding NCAA II 22 41 16%
72   Wofford FCS 22 42 15%
73   Southern Utah FCS 19 37 15%
74   Abilene Chr FCS 23 44 15%
75   Princeton FCS 25 47 15%
76   Delta St NCAA II 25 49 15%
77   Murray St FCS 25 48 14%
78   Stony Brook FCS 17 34 14%
79   Sacred Heart FCS 21 42 14%
80   St Cloud NCAA II 21 41 14%
81   Duquesne FCS 20 40 14%
82   Lamar FCS 22 44 14%
83   Lafayette FCS 21 42 14%
84   Bucknell FCS 19 38 13%
85   MO Western NCAA II 20 40 13%
86   W Texas A&M NCAA II 23 45 13%
87   Dartmouth FCS 20 41 13%
88   Charleston So FCS 19 39 13%
89   Fresno City Col JUCO 21 44 12%
90   SE Missouri St FCS 22 46 12%
91   Tennessee Tech FCS 20 42 12%
92   Tarleton St NCAA II 22 45 12%
93   WI Whitewater NCAA III 19 39 12%
94   Elon FCS 19 40 12%
95   Valdosta St NCAA II 22 46 12%
96   W Carolina FCS 22 46 12%
97   Winona St NCAA II 23 48 12%
98   Modesto JC JUCO 25 53 12%
99   Lehigh FCS 23 49 12%
100   West Georgia NCAA II 19 41 12%
101   Monmouth NJ FCS 21 44 12%
102   Alabama St HBCU 21 46 12%
103   N Central IL NCAA III 21 45 11%
104   Diablo Val JUCO 19 40 11%
105   Bryant FCS 19 40 11%
106   Emporia St NCAA II 23 49 11%
107   Augustana SD NCAA II 19 40 11%
108   Yale FCS 22 47 11%
109   Fullerton Col JUCO 21 45 11%
110   Grand Valley St NCAA II 21 45 11%
111   Gardner Webb FCS 18 39 11%
112   Slippery Rock NCAA II 22 49 11%
113   Albany NY FCS 18 40 11%
114   M Hardin-Baylor NCAA III 21 47 10%
115   West Chester NCAA II 21 46 10%
116   Shepherd NCAA II 19 41 10%
117   Holy Cross FCS 19 42 10%
118   Colgate FCS 19 42 10%
119   North Dakota FCS 18 40 10%
120   C Oklahoma NCAA II 20 46 10%
121   SW Minnesota NCAA II 24 53 10%
122   Angelo St NCAA II 19 44 10%
123   Weber St FCS 19 43 10%
124   Laney JUCO 20 46 10%
125   Bloomsburg NCAA II 20 46 10%
126   Mt Union NCAA III 23 52 10%
127   Idaho St FCS 21 49 10%
128   Colorado Mines NCAA II 18 41 10%
129   Col Sherbrooke Canada 18 42 10%
130   Riverside CC JUCO 21 48 9%
131   Alcorn St FCS 20 47 9%
132   Southern Oregon NAIA 24 55 9%
133   W Salem St HBCU 18 41 9%
134   Saskatchewan Canada 20 46 9%
135   Carroll MT NAIA 19 44 9%
136   Manitoba Canada 20 48 9%
137   Nicholls St FCS 21 49 9%
138   Santa Rosa JC JUCO 20 46 9%
139   Upper Iowa NCAA II 21 50 9%
140   Findlay NCAA II 22 52 9%
141   Charlotte FCS 20 47 9%
142   Ouachita NCAA II 19 45 9%
143   Carson-Newman NCAA II 22 53 9%
144   Penn FCS 19 45 9%
145   St Francis PA FCS 19 44 9%
146   Ashland NCAA II 19 46 9%
147   MO Southern NCAA II 20 47 9%
148   Morgan St HBCU 19 46 8%
149   Sierra Col JUCO 19 45 8%
150   TX A&M Commerce NCAA II 21 51 8%
151   N Colorado FCS 18 43 8%
152   Howard HBCU 19 47 8%
153   E New Mexico NCAA II 20 48 8%
154   Wesley DE NCAA III 19 46 8%
155   W Oregon NCAA II 20 49 8%
156   Western ON Canada 20 49 8%
157   Presbyterian FCS 18 44 8%
158   Trinity CT NCAA III 18 46 8%
159   Chabot JUCO 20 49 8%
160   Hampton HBCU 20 49 8%
161   California PA NCAA II 18 45 8%
162   Southwestern CA JUCO 19 46 8%
163   Butler FCS 18 45 8%
164   Grandview NAIA 18 46 8%
165   Brown FCS 17 42 8%
166   Indianapolis NCAA II 16 41 7%
167   Concordia QC Canada 18 46 7%
168   Southern Univ FCS 19 49 7%
169   Dayton FCS 18 45 7%
170   Bishop’s Canada 20 51 7%
171   Long Beach City Col JUCO 21 53 7%
172   Citrus Col JUCO 19 50 7%
173   Col of the Canyons JUCO 18 47 7%
174   Chadron St NCAA II 19 50 7%
175   San Diego FCS 18 46 7%
176   Siskiyous JUCO 17 43 7%
177   NC Central HBCU 17 45 7%
178   Hillsdale NCAA II 18 47 7%
179   Jacksonville FCS 20 53 7%
180   Central Conn FCS 18 48 7%
181   Golden West JUCO 19 50 7%
182   Michigan Tech NCAA II 17 45 7%
183   Mary ND NCAA II 17 44 7%
184   VMI FCS 20 52 7%
185   Cerritos Col JUCO 18 49 7%
186   Linfield NCAA III 18 48 7%
187   Washburn NCAA II 18 49 7%
188   Prairie View HBCU 21 55 7%
189   Wesleyan CT NCAA III 16 44 7%
190   Wagner FCS 16 42 7%
191   Fort Hays St NCAA II 18 48 7%
192   Florida Tech NCAA II 18 49 7%
193   Faulkner NAIA 21 56 6%
194   Johns Hopkins NCAA III 17 47 6%
195   St John Fisher NCAA III 18 49 6%
196   Shippensburg NCAA II 21 58 6%
197   Feather River JUCO 20 55 6%
198   C Washington NCAA II 17 46 6%
199   St Xavier IL NAIA 19 52 6%
200   John Carroll NCAA III 16 44 6%