FCS teams beating FBS teams on the same Saturday is rare. Last season produced only four FCS wins over FBS teams all year, and three in one week is not a regular thing everyone is used to. 

Idaho State, Tarleton State, and The Citadel all beat FBS home teams on September 5. The FBS host paid the FCS visitor a flat fee to travel and fill a nonconference slot.

Idaho State collected $400,000 from Utah State. Tarleton State collected $360,000 from Bowling Green, and the Citadel collected $305,000 from Charlotte. Combined, the three winners took $1,065,000. The visitor keeps that money, win or lose.

Idaho State beat Utah State 29-17 at Maverik Stadium in Logan. The Bengals were a 15.5-point underdog. Utah State was opening its first season in the rebuilt Pac-12 and still won the stat sheet, 29 first downs to 14 and 407 yards to 241. 

After Utah State took a 17-16 lead late in the third quarter on a 4-yard touchdown pass, Idaho State scored the last 13 points. It was Idaho State’s first win over an FBS team since 2017, when it beat Nevada. 

Tarleton State beat Bowling Green 20-13 at Doyt L. Perry Stadium. Tarleton entered ranked No. 5 in the FCS coaches’ poll and jumped out 17-0. Bowling Green scored late in the second quarter and added two field goals. 

The Falcons then stalled on two late drives inside the Tarleton 10. The betting line was only Tarleton plus 1.5, so this was not the same kind of shock as the other two games. It still counts as an FCS-over-FBS upset because Tarleton is the lower-division team and was on the road. It was also Tarleton’s second straight season with an FBS win after beating Army in 2025.

The Citadel beat Charlotte 43-41 in three overtimes at Jerry Richardson Stadium after a 1-hour, 15-minute weather delay. The Citadel was a 20.5-point underdog and had just lost 42-14 to Wofford. 

Charlotte finished with more yards, 538-400, and more first downs. The Bulldogs still forced overtime. The game was tied 28-28 after Charlotte scored with 24 seconds left in regulation.

Both teams scored again in the second overtime. Charlotte’s two-point try failed, then The Citadel’s also failed after Nick Billoups’ 2-yard run. In the third overtime, Billoups hit Whit Hobgood on a two-point conversion pass to win it. The Citadel rushed for 268 yards and six touchdowns. It was the program’s 10th all-time win over an FBS team. 

Many outlets treated Idaho State and The Citadel as heavy dogs, and Tarleton was closer. Front Office Sports still grouped all three as FCS-over-FBS upsets. The stats show why. 12 such wins in 2021, eight in 2022, four in 2023, six in 2024, four in 2025, and three already in 2026.

About 3,756 FCS-FBS games have been played since the 1978 split, with around 500 FCS wins. Three wins in one Saturday is definitely not normal.

The checks explain why these losses hit the hosts twice.

What the guarantee checks actually paid for

FBS programs use FCS teams as cheaper home openers. The home school pays a guaranteed appearance fee and covers travel and lodging. The FCS visitor keeps the money whether it wins or loses. Typical 2026 Power-to-FCS guarantees landed around $300,000 to $600,000, with a few going higher. 

There are about 129 FCS programs, so FBS schools have a lot of options. The highest reported FCS checks this year include McNeese at LSU for $750,000 and Florida A&M at Miami for $740,000. 

UMass beating Rutgers 37-21 on Thursday, September 3, was not an FCS-over-FBS upset. Both teams are FBS. UMass is Group of Five and Rutgers is Big Ten. Rutgers was a 29.5-point favorite and paid UMass $1.55 million. UMass had lost 16 straight and gone 0-12 the year before. 

It was UMass’s first win over a Power conference team since joining FBS in 2012, and its first over a major-conference opponent since 1978. It also snapped the nation’s longest FBS losing streak. Rutgers paid about three times what the three FCS winners received and still took one of the worst Week 1 results in the country.

About 82% of FCS-over-FBS wins since 2017 have come against Group of Five teams. All three 2026 victims sat outside the Power Four. Bowling Green in the MAC, Charlotte in the American, and Utah State in the rebuilt Pac-12.

The Power Four streak against FCS is still intact, and Stanford’s 2023 loss to Sacramento State remains the last one.