2026 FCS Preview

Every FCS team gets a page: last season’s results, returning production, and the schedule with a win probability on every game. Plus the projected 24-team bracket, conference orders of finish, and where our number disagrees with the market.

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FCS Independents 2026 Season Preview

Merrimack Owns the League

Merrimack does not just top the FCS Independents preseason all-conference team, it fills the entire thing, claiming all 18 selections. AJ Hairston headlines the offense as the triggerman for a group that also lands Brendon Wyatt and DeMarcus McElroy in the backfield with Seth Sweitzer, Austin Palmer, Jalen McDonald and Kyle Doney rounding out the skill spots. The defense is just as monopolized, with Bryce Warrick, Cidney Johnson, Logan Graham and Dwayne Green Jr. up front, DJ Frazier, Markeith Hogan, Rajahn Cooper and Jacob Wilson at linebacker, and Kamden Wyatt, Crawford Cantave and Juice Ricks in the secondary. A sweep this complete says less about league-wide balance than about the absence of it, this is a one-program conference on paper.

Merrimack's total takeover

There is no debate about where the FCS Independents' talent lives in 2026: Merrimack sits atop every single position room, all 7 of 7, an almost unheard-of sweep for a one-team ranking exercise. AJ Hairston tops the quarterback group, Brendon Wyatt the backs, and Seth Sweitzer the receivers, with Kyle Doney at tight end giving the offense returning production at every skill spot. On defense, Bryce Warrick anchors the line, DJ Frazier the linebackers and Kamden Wyatt the secondary, meaning Merrimack does not just have the league's best players, it has the league's most experienced ones at every level of the roster. For a conference this thin, that kind of across-the-board continuity is not just an edge, it is effectively the whole story of who returns anybody worth naming.

2 more sections in the full FCS Independents 2026 Season Preview preview — the verdict, every position group, the roster churn and the projected finish.

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All 124 FCS team previews

Every team in the FCS book. Each one has its own preview: projected finish, what the roster returns, and the games that decide the season.

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2026 Edition · Out now2026 NFL Preview32 teams, everything you need for the season