If you've been following along with us this season, you might be wondering why we are picking the Army/Navy game against the spread and the FCS playoff games straight up. The answer is twofold: first, usually, the FCS lines come out late in the week, and we draft this article on Tuesday/Wednesday; second (a little behind-the-scenes peek here), usually, Stephen Anderson throws the staff picks article together, as you can tell from the table below, he's got a safe lead on the ATS picks and trails Alan Cole by just one on the straight up picks. Basically, he's trying to steal Alan's back-to-back straight-up picks to win the GamecockScoop championship while not putting his ATS lead in jeopardy, and he doesn't care who knows it. So sit back and enjoy one more week of football and take a break from portal mania until the postseason begins and the FCS hits their final four. As always, thanks for following along this season. We will be back with our first bowl week preview next week.

All lines are locked Monday night and may have shifted by the date of this article's publication. All games times are EST.

Remember Furman from week two? The Paladins led the Gamecocks 14-7 around the midway point of the second quarter before Carolina rallied for the 47-21 win. Furman would lose only one more game on the season, a head-scratcher to a 1-9 Wofford team. The Paladins had nothing to play for, having already clinched the Southern Conference, and their performance reflected it.

Furman has a tall task this week on the banks of the Clark Fork River with the Montana Grizzlies. In addition to the 11-1 Grizzlies, Montana will have about 25,000 fans and 35-degree temperatures waiting for the Paladins. Montana won the Big Sky after being voted 6th in the preseason poll. They are 17-point favorites tonight.

Villanova steamrolled Youngstown State at home in the second round, winning 45-28. Still, the Wildcats don’t have any one dominant area of their game, and they haven’t faced the same level of competition that teams in the Big Sky and Missouri Valley have faced on a weekly basis. Nova's losses this season have come on the road to UCF and Albany.

South Dakota State was one of the feel-good stories in college football last season, winning their first FCS National Championship in former coach John Stiegelmeier's 26th and final season as head coach of the Jackrabbits. SD State's only loss in 2022 was a 7-3 setback to Iowa on the first week of the season. That is the last time this program has lost a game. Jimmy Rogers was promoted from Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator to the head job in the offseason, and the Jackrabbits haven't skipped a beat. They are favored by 21 points this weekend.

The Bison have dominated the FCS level over the last decade plus. Since 2011, they have won nine FCS National Championships, with five in a row from 2011-2015. They are still really good in 2023, but they aren't the juggernaut they have been for the last 15 years. This season, the Bison have lost three games, including a rare home loss to their quarterfinal opponent, South Dakota.

The Coyotes have had to play second fiddle most of this season to their in-state rivals, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, but they are still 10-2, with their only defeats coming to their instate rival and to Missouri. I haven't been, but the DakotaDome in Vermillion, SD (population 11,695), is one of the best stops on the FCS tour. The town supports their local school like a high school team. Nothing will be open in town while this game is being played.

For those wondering, the visiting Bison are favored by 6.5.

Army vs. Navy is always one of the most fun games of the season if you like old-fashioned power football. The two schools ranked 128th and 129th in passing offense. Army has attempted 150 passes this season and Navy only 170. The two combined for only 162 completions in 22 games thus far on the season, 7.3 a game.

This will be the 124th meeting between these two service academies. Navy holds a 62-54-7 series edge thanks to a 14-game winning streak from 2002 through 2015. (The longest such streak from the rivalry). Since the streak, Army has won five of seven meetings. Last season Army defeated Navy by a score of 20–17 in double overtime in the first overtime game in the series' history. The game moves to Gillette Stadium for the first time ever. This year also marks the first time the game has ever been contested in Massachusetts. Army, Navy, and Air Force have competed for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy since 1972. This year Air Force defeated Navy 17-6 but lost to Army 23-3. Army can clinch the trophy with a win over Navy. If Navy wins, the trophy will be shared with Air Force, retaining the physical trophy as the reining winner.

The total for this one is 28! Also of note, in what could either be super entertaining or incredibly dull, Bill Belichick will be the guest picker on College Gameday.

You may be double-checking this one, wondering when Idaho dropped down to the FCS level. The Vandals competed at the FBS level from 1996 until 2017. In 2018, they rejoined the Big Sky Conference. The Big Sky is a very good FCS league with Montana and Montana State also as members. The Vandals have 13 playoff appearances and had two final-four appearances in 1988 and 1993.

The Albany Great Danes are not a traditional football power. This is only their third playoff appearance as an FCS member (1999). They've never advanced past the quarterfinals. The Great Danes did win their first-ever Coastal Athletic Association championship this season.

For you degenerate chasing a late-night Saturday payday, The Great Danes are getting 5.5 in the closest FCS spread of the weekend.