Out of the 20 teams which qualified for last season's 2011 playoff field, 10 finished the season ranked in the top 25 nationally for team rushing offense. They were No. 1 Wofford, No. 2 Georgia Southern, No. 4 Stony Brook, No. 6 Sam Houston State, No. 11 Towson, No. 12 James Madison, No. 16 Montana State, No. 17 Montana, No. 22 Eastern Kentucky and No. 23 Tennessee Tech.
Only four teams which qualified for the playoffs finished the season ranked in the top 25 nationally for team passing offense: No. 5 Lehigh, No. 15 Central Arkansas, No. 16 New Hampshire and No. 18 Old Dominion.