TWO-PART SUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Part 1 is our annual FCS Upset Draft, and Part 2 is a season overview of FCS with Craig Haley of Stats Perform.
This season, FBS teams will play 126 games against FCS opponents. Most years, anywhere between five-ish and 10-ish FBS teams will lose those games. The purpose of the Split Zone Duo FCS Upset Draft is to identify those teams, engage in some friendly competition, and use the process as a look ahead to the season. Everyone picks three FCS winners, but there’s a catch: Some FCS upsets are barely upsets at all, and they may only be worth three points. Others could be worth 100. Folks, it’s time for some game theory.
Former FCS Upset Draft champion Jason Kirk (Shutdown Fullcast, The Athletic) returns to the program to compete against Alex, Richard, and all of you.
Compete in our 2025 FCS Upset Draft
It’s a Split Zone Duo pastime, and it’s easy to join. Just fill out the form and use the same email address you use with your Split Zone Duo subscription so that you’ll be eligible to be crowned champion if you get your picks right. Not signed up for SZD? You can join us right here. And here is the entry form:
Here are the rules. Read carefully!
A nonpartisan committee made of up one member (me, Alex Kirshner) puts every FCS-versus-FBS game on the schedule into a spreadsheet.
Each game gets a point value of 3, 5, 10, or 100, with higher point values awarded to games where an FCS team is a bigger underdog.
This year, you may pick FOUR games, up from the usual three. The form will let you enter more, but only entries with four picks or fewer will count. (Why the change? There are 10 more FBS-vs.-FCS games this year than last, so we figured we’d broaden our game a bit.)
You can pick non-upset "upsets" in which great FCS teams beat bad FBS teams, but you'll likely only get three or five points if it pans out.
Or you can take some bigger swings for 10- and 100-point values and go for the fences. Getting a 10-pointer right has long been an ingredient for victory.
At the end of the season, the top three points-scorers will be celebrated on an episode of SZD. Most of all, you’re fighting for eternal glory here. But we’ll also have some special gifts (to be announced!) from our team, with tiebreakers to determine three champions as needed.
You must enter your picks by noon ET on Saturday. However if you pick a game being played on Thursday or Friday, you need to enter your pick before that game kicks off.
Here's a catalog of previous FCS-on-FBS wins.
We'll track the results throughout the season, though you might want to write down your own answers for memory, as we do not keep a public leaderboard for the whole world to see. Happy picking!
Catch up on all of our 2025 previews
In reverse chronological order:
Thank you to our subscribers and partners
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