Automatic Bids

Southern Utah (Big Sky)

Charleston Southern (Big South)

Richmond (CAA)

North Dakota St. (MVFC)

Duquesne (NEC)

Jacksonville St. (OVC)

Colgate (Patriot)

Dayton (Pioneer)

Chattanooga (Southern)

McNeese St. (Southland)

At-Large Bids

Coastal Carolina (9-2)

Fordham (9-2)

James Madison (9-2)

Illinois St. (9-2)

Montana (7-4)

New Hampshire (7-4)

North Dakota (7-4)

Northern Iowa (7-4)

Portland St. (9-2)

Sam Houston St. (8-3)

South Dakota St. (8-3)

The Citadel (8-3)

Towson (7-4)

William & Mary (8-3)

Bubble Burst

E. Illinois (7-4)

N. Arizona (7-4)

C. Arkansas (7-4)

MEAC Runner-up (9-2)

Next Four Out

W. Carolina (7-4)

W. Illinois (6-5)

UT-Martin (7-4)

Liberty (6-5)

At-Large Breakdown

Colonial (4)

Missouri Valley (3)

Big Sky (3)

Big South (1)

Patriot (1)

Southern (1)

Southland (1)

Previous Brackets

Week 11

Week 10

Week 9

Week 8

Week 7

Week 6

About

Since its inception in 2008, NoBowls has correctly predicted 129 of the 136 teams selected to participate in the FCS postseason. Resident bracketologist Erik Pitzer strives to provide weekly bias-free predictions heavily rooted in the same criteria set forth by the NCAA selection guidelines.

Note: The first bracket of 2016 will be posted after Week 6 on Sunday, October 9th.

The Final Bracket (2015)

Posted November 21, 2015 10:43 PM ET

Week 12: Done!

That's a wrap, folks. See the real thing at 11:00 AM ET on ESPNU. Tweet @NoBowls if you hate (or love!) this. I'll do my best to back it up.

Note: At time of publish, this assumes North Dakota hangs on to beat Cal Poly.

Breaking It Down

Selecting the Field
Every week's bracket is based on an "If the season ended today" mindset. The 10 automatic bids are just that: automatic. Whichever team is atop the standings of each of the 10 auto-bid conferences at the end of the week receives a bid. Expectedly, teams on top of conference standings early in the season often are not in the same spot come Selection Sunday. The other 14 bids, the at-large selections, are simply the teams I believe to be the best remaining in the country. Keep in mind again this is not a prediction of what I think the brackets will look like in late November, but rather a collection of deserving teams week to week.

The Pairings
All first and second round match-ups in these brackets are my best attempts at mimicking what the committee would do with the chosen 24 teams while adhering to these rules:

• Seeding the top eight teams and spacing them accordingly across the bracket
• Avoiding first round match-ups with teams from the same conference
• Creating geographically-friendly match-ups that follow the NCAA's 400-mile limitations when possible
• Giving home field advantage to schools that historically have made winning bids

"This is garbage..."

Comments? I'm itching to hear your praise/raging hatred. Sound off to erik@nobowls.com and let me know what's on your mind.