The tightest conference in the FCS
Last season the NEC produced the lowest average margin of victory in conference play anywhere in the FCS, under 13.4 points. Central Connecticut State won the title while taking four of its conference games by a single possession. Four teams were still alive for the championship heading into the final day of the regular season.
The 2026 field stays at eight. New Haven joins the conference schedule, Saint Francis has left for Division III, and Chicago State plays an independent season before entering the NEC schedule next year.
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Two rankings, two different favourites
FCS senior editor Craig Haley puts Duquesne first. Opta’s projection model disagrees. Its simulations give Central Connecticut State an average of 5.8 wins from 11 games against 5.1 for the Dukes, and TRACR rates CCSU 57th nationally to Duquesne’s 79th.
The case for Duquesne rests on continuity at the skill positions. Ness Davis ran for 927 yards last season and is a preseason Walter Payton Award nominee. The Dukes also hold the NEC’s two most recent offensive rookies of the year in running back Shawn Solomon Jr. and wide receiver Ryan Petras, and they have another transfer quarterback in Carson Camp, most recently at Southeastern Louisiana.
CCSU counter with receivers Donovan Wadley, the 2023 NEC Offensive Player of the Year at Merrimack, and Michael Trovarelli. Cornerback Chris Jean, on the Buck Buchanan Award preseason watch list, has 13 career takeaways. Adam Lechtenberg’s side face defending national champion Montana State on Sept. 19. The two contenders meet at Duquesne on Nov. 21.
LIU chase a first bid
LIU sit third in both rankings and are chasing something neither favourite needs: a first FCS playoff appearance in program history. The Sharks have finished .500 or better in conference play for four straight seasons and recorded the program’s first win over an FBS opponent last year, at Eastern Michigan. Safety Trey Watkins and linebacker Rafael Fasolino return from the conference’s top-ranked defence, with dual-threat quarterback Ethan Greenwood running the offence.
Elsewhere the numbers are less kind. Wagner were the only FCS team to average under 100 passing yards per game last season, at 97.3. Mercyhurst play eight of their twelve games on the road, three against FBS opposition. New Haven and Mercyhurst both remain ineligible for the playoffs.
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