The FCS regular season is over, and the playoff bracket is set. Teams that made the playoffs are thrilled, and they are getting the recognition they deserve for some fantastic seasons. One thing, I hate about the FCS season is that not every team can make the playoffs, and to have your season end because your team didn’t get picked by the selection committee can be quite a bummer. I wish FCS had some bowl games to reward teams that just missed out, but they don’t. So what I am going to try to do is the internet meme of remember some dudes/athletes/players/coaches for the past 2024 FCS season. They won’t be all teams just missing the bubble of the FCS playoffs, they’ll be a random assortment of teams that I, the Commish, enjoyed watching this year in some sort of fashion.

Let’s Remember Some ‘24 FCS Teams

Monmouth 6–6 (4–4 CAA)

I absolutely loved this Monmouth season. They had wild ups and downs, and their games seemingly were always coming down to the wire. Head Coach Kevin Callahan was in his 32nd season, and what a ride this year was. Monmouth got their first FCS over FBS upset in insane fashion against FIU, where they poked the ball out at the 1-yard line, preventing FIU from taking the lead at the last second. They had four games of scoring more than 50 points and six games scoring at least 40 points. They upset #9 Villanova and #18 Stony Brook to end the year at 6-6.

Stony Brook 8–4 (5–3 CAA)

It was a bummer when Stony Brook’s bubble was burst, and they weren’t selected for the FCS playoffs, but they did finish the year with two straight losses. I am saddened for the Seawolves, but this year was so incredibly special it doesn’t deserve to be forgotten. Stony Brook hadn’t won a game since 2022, and they got their first win when they beat Stonehill 37-10, the program's first win in 672 days. Just that alone was cause for celebration. But they didn’t stop there; they rattled off four straight wins, lost to #6 Villanova, then rattled off four straight wins again. They took down No. 16 William & Mary 35–13 on Homecoming, which was their first win over a ranked opponent since 2021! Amazing. They beat Albany 24-6 in the Battle for the Golden Apple to win the trophy for the first time since 2021. Just an amazing job by the team and 1st year coach Billy Cosh. Stony Brook, I loved your season so much. I wish I could make a Bowl Game for you and our next team here.

Duquesne 8–3 (5–1 NEC)

The Dukes lost their first 2 FBS games of the year against Toledo and Boston College, but that didn’t stop their season at all. They took down #21 Youngstown State 28-25 for their first win of the year, and then just kept on winning by more than one possession in 6 out of their next 7 games. The final game against Central Connecticut State is one they’d likely wish they had a mulligan. They threw seven interceptions and had one fumble but still only lost by seven. If only we had the power to give Duquesne one last game against Stony Brook. We’d convert FNB Field on City Island in Harrisburg, PA, for this one since it’s about the halfway point for both schools.

Western Illinois 4–8 (3–5 Big South–OVC)

Ok, you’re wondering why I got a team with a losing record here, so let me explain. The Leathernecks entered the season on the longest Division I losing streak at 24 games. They started their season 0-3 with losses to NIU, Indiana, and #18 Illinois State. They finally broke through to end their 27-game losing streak over DII McKendree 49-32, earning their first win in 1,064 days. Furthermore, they also proved their naysayers who said they needed to beat a Division I team. Well, the very next week, they took down FCS Charleston Southern for a two-game winning streak. They battled hard for the rest of the year playing close games and took #12 SEMO to the wire, falling 54-45 in a wild one in Cape Girardeau. They ended the year with a 45-28 win over Gardner-Webb. What a fantastic job by first-year coach Joe Davis.

Maine 5–7 (3–5 CAA)

Maine lost their Head Coach in 2021, when UConn hired him away to be their offensive Coordinator. Third-year Head Coach Jordan Stevens had only won 2 games in each of the past two seasons. This year, the Black Bears sprung back to life, netting some huge upsets in the top-heavy CAA conference. Maine won their first game and battled really hard at #1 overall seed Montana State, 41-24. They took down #21 Albany and then blew out #5 Villanova 35-7 in their largest margin of victory for the year. Their schedule was quite brutal, as they played five ranked teams at the time teams and one FBS game in Oklahoma, which they led by 7-0 early. (Don't worry about the final score there.) The Black Bears seem to have figured out some things this season, and their wild offense is a joy to watch. We’d see Maine trick play after trick play come across our timelines. Just an enjoyable season overall for us, and let’s see if they can keep building for the next year.

Mississippi Valley State 1–11 (1–7 SWAC)

The Delta Devils have always had their struggles, and they had a really heartbreaking loss against Prairie View by one point when they couldn’t get the snap down for the game-tying extra point. However, they pulled off a gigantic upset of the defending HBCU National Champions, Florida A&M, 24-21 for their only win of the year. If you’re going to win only one? That is an incredible one to win. Also, their punter, Alexander Davis, hit an 80-yard punt this year.

Marist 1–10 (1–7 PFL)

Marist had a rough season and basically got blown out for the majority of the season. Two things stick out for me about this Red Foxes season. Number one was Sean Stellato Day. A famous Marist football alum and current agent of Giants QB Tommy Devito was honored at this year’s homecoming game against Valpo. They gave out over 500 Marist Fedoras and if you have one, please email me, I’d like one.

The other Marist highlight for me was their lone win of the season over Stetson. Our discord/Patreon had a member in attendance at the game, and our resident Marist fan turned our entire discord's eyes to this game, where we could do nothing except yell about Marist vs. Stetson. It was a wild affair with Marist going out to a 13-0 lead, Stetson taking a 21-13 lead, then the back and forth affair in the second half with the leads changing nearly every single possession. Marist QB Sonny Mannino ran for four touchdowns and passed for 275 yards. It was incredible and memorable for so many reasons. Shout out to the Hatters and Red Foxes for this game; it ruled.

Southeastern Louisiana 7–5 (6–1 Southland)

The Lions were left out of the FCS Playoffs, and the Southland Conference was only a one-bid league. The Lions played FCS Playoff participant Tarleton State very tough on the road, only losing by 3. Their only loss in conference was to the Southland Champs, Incarnate Word. The Lions had a flair for the dramatic this year and won games by 4 points, 3 points in overtime, 3 points in a walk-off winner against their rival Nicholls, and a 1-point squeaker by Stephen F. Austin. It was a wild season for the Lions, but maybe if they took down Tarleton, they’d be in the playoffs, but alas, we still appreciate your season, Lions.

Delaware 9–2 (6–2 CAA)

Delaware was ineligible for everything this year in FCS because they are moving up to FBS in 2025. I wrote in the season preview I wanted Delaware to just cause CAA Chaos, and they did! Richmond and Rhode Island were named co-champions, as Rhode Island's only CAA loss was to Delaware. That’s enough chaos for us! I will say we got some internal communication from some of Delaware’s players, but I won’t name them, and since we're big Blue Hens fans. Also, I will leave you with this about Delaware. Their 3rd String QB is named Nick Minicucci. Yes, his last name is pronounced just like you think it is.

McNeese State 6–6 (3–4 Southland)

McNeese State is in Lake Charles and they got battered by back to back hurricanes in 2021. The program had seen better days and they were 0-10 last year. The Cowboys started the year 4-2, with one loss to Texas A&M. They upset #25 at the time, Weber State and earned the #22 Ranking in the FCS poll. After they earned the ranking they lost three in a row but then bounced back with 2 wins to secure their first non-losing season since 2019. It would have been a winning season if not for the next team on this list.

Lamar 7–5 (4–3 Southland)

The Cardinals hadn’t had a winning season since 2019, and now they have back-to-back winning seasons under Head Coach Pete Rossomando. Lamar had a penchant for playing really close games but sneaking out wins earlier in the year. They scared FBS Texas State 34-27 to open the year, skirted by #20 at the time Weber State 17-16, survived Texas Southern 20-17, and earned the #22 ranking in the process. Then lost two, won two, lost two, won two for the final eight games of the year. They ended their season in the most dramatic fashion possible with a game-winning TD pass as the clock expired against McNeese State with this dramatic catch, and here is another angle. Fantastic season for the Cards out in Beaumont.

Idaho State 5–7 (3–5 Big Sky)

Hear me out on this final one here. Every single team above Idaho State in the Big Sky Conference made the FCS Playoffs. Idaho State hasn’t won six games in a season since 2018, and they fell on hard times when they were 1-10 in 2021, fired their coach, hired a new coach who went 1-10 in 2022, then had to hire another coach in 2023. It’s a ton of turnover in a small school without really any success to show for it. Well, they appear to have the right coach now in Cody Hawkins. They renovated Holt Arena, aka the ICCU Dome. In 2023, I took a trip to Pocatello and could see a bit of a team identity begin to show. This year they showed tremendous fight in so many games, and if they had some coin flip games go their way, they may have made the FCS Playoffs too. They had a dramatic loss and an extra point issue in their game against NAU, which they’d likely have forced overtime. They lost by four to Portland State and then lost to three Top 10 Ranked FCS teams plus FBS Oregon State. I cannot explain them giving up 77 points to Eastern Washington, except maybe they were blinded by the red field because Eastern scored a touchdown on all 11 of their possessions. My final note on Idaho State’s wild season. They took down Weber State in Ogden, Utah, for the first time since 1984 and snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Wildcats in the process. Shout out to AD Pauline Thiros and the Idaho State team with one of my personal favorite photos of the FCS Season.

Thanks for reading, and if you have some other nominations for Remembering Some FCS Teams for the 2024 Season of the non-playoff participants, go ahead and comment below!