Tag Archives | football
It’s the Waiting that will kill you
9 months 23 days. 15 days. 138 days. These to me represent what is coming up in life that is importat. Each day is different and has a different meaning. From a wedding, to the Start of Football, to the end of my project(with a hope of a contract extension) there is a lot to look forward to in the next several months in my life. But I am here to focus on that most holiest of seasons-Football. I have lived, breathed, and bled(and cried some tears) Panther Purple and gold for 8 years now. From the highest of highs(San Marcos, Texas, Oklahoma City) to the lowest of lows Chattanooga a week after San Marcos, 2007 quarter finals, and yet every year it seems the Panthers take my hopes up to the high that this finally may be the year and every year have dashed them jsut the same. So why my friends do we subject ourselves to such punishment. Why do we have all but one of our teams end the year on a loss? Why do we come back year after year where only ONE of our teams will have its dream at the end of the year. One world, happiness. We as human creatures are naturally positive(well except D1B) and love the happy feelings so much that we subject ourselves to constant heartbreak in order to feel that one year of happinesxs whne our team finally puts it all together and gets that shiny piece of hardwar that vaults our team to the pinnacle of FCS.
Good luck to all the players out there this year, GO FCS!
Hello……Is anyone there
“You’re it until you die or I find someone better”
Well here goes Its wednesday may 23,2012 99 days until we can stop talking about our kids/playing elimination games/counting down the days until the greatest season known to mankind. I am open to doing this blog governed by the people, for the people, and written by me. I am open to suggestions on what you want to see more of, what you want to see less of etc. During the season I will be posting at least once a week(primarily during the week after the polls come out) which will be my opinons and our observations on the State that is FCS football.
During the off-season unless I see something I really want to blog about you want hear to much out of me.
As we are nearing the end of the spring season and starting our summer of waiting, the news out of most places will be pretty minimal, however the biggest news of the off-season has got to be the Montana Scandal. As a Panther fan one HAS to wonder how that game would of played out if those responsible had been disciplined properly, and one has to wonder if the AD and Coach Pflu are thinking a semi-final loss to SHSU was worth losing their jobs over. What can you say hind sight is 20/20.
Also in the news is the ever present conference re-alingment has started to trickle down to the FCS ranks, with several FCS schools being the mention of moving up(or in some cases a move down to the Sun Belt, etc) This begs the question, is FCS football sustaniable in today’s money-hungry world? I honestly believe it is, while i think of the likes of Montana, NDSU, Deleware, App State, etc will eventually move up I think those schools who aren’t their states no.1 or no.2 programs(GSU, UNI, Wofford) will stay in FCS land as either there isn’t the support in the state or the money to make the move to a sub-BCS conference.
Well kids that’s all for today! Let me know what you did like and didn’t like, but if you think you can do better, volunteer next time.
Top 25 Update
Rob Weiss, FCS Update:
In early Top 25 games:
Looks like I’m going to be under on No. 22 Holy Cross. I predicted a 35-7 win, but going into halftime they already have a 35-7 lead.
So far I’m WAY off on No. 10 Appalachian State against The Citadel, who is unranked. I picked the Mountaineers to win 42-24, but at the half they are down 13-7.
The Rumor Mill is turning: Pioneer League applying for autobid
Rob Weiss, FCS Update:
The end of November is always an exciting time in FCS football. For 16 teams it means the beginning of a shot at the national championship. Starting in 2010 that number will jump to 20 with the addition of automatic bids for the Big South and NEC, and 2 more at-large bids.
When the playoffs started in 1978 there was only 4 teams involved. In 1981 the format changed to 8 teams. One year later the playoffs were expanded to 12 teams, with 4 teams getting a first round bye. The first 16 team playoff bracket was formed in 1986.
With the first change in over 20 years only a season away, another change is already brewing.
A little more than a month ago the rumors began spreading that the Pioneer Football League, a non-scholarship football only conference, was applying for an automatic bid. The league is in its 17th year of operation and it currently ranges from coast to coast. The ten team conference is composed of Butler, Campbell, Davidson, Dayton, Drake, Jacksonville, Marist, Morehead State, San Diego, and Valparaiso. Although the Pioneer League has not officially announced it’s intentions, the rumor was confirmed by Morehead State Athletic Director Brian Hutchinson. ( http://www.wkyt.com/wymtsports/headlines/61520037.html )
This announcement has stirred up a lot of arguments in the FCS community. Here are the two sides to that argument:
“The Pioneer League meets all requirements”- This is the positive side of the discussion, and it’s true. The Pioneer meets all of the requirements set forth by the NCAA for teams who want to apply for an automatic bid. They are one of three conferences who are eligible to apply for an autobid, but most likely the only one that will apply.
I agree with this side of the argument. There is no reason to keep a league from applying for an automatic bid if they meet all of the requirements put forth by the NCAA. If the NCAA plans to exclude them, they would have to change the language in the by-laws. If they Pioneer League is denied, they will be the only qualified applicant who has been denied. The SWAC and Ivy show no interest in participating at this juncture.
“The Pioneer League is not competitive”- The other side of the argument is that the teams in the Pioneer League do not schedule properly and are not competitive when playing against teams from the other auto bid conferences. Statistically, since 2002 the Pioneer League is 7-25 against teams from auto bid conferences. They were outscored in these games by a total of 1132-486. In the 7 games that they won, their opponents combined for a record of 18-54, although one of those wins was against a 2007 Fordham team that won the Patriot League and lost in the first round to Massachusetts. There are two teams, Butler and Campbell, that did not play teams from automatic bid conferences during this period. The other issue that makes the Pioneer League appear to be weak is the losses to sub D-I opponents. The 10 teams in the league have combined for 53 losses to sub D-I opponents since 2002.
It’s hard to disagree with this side. If the Pioneer League intends to participate in the playoffs, some changes need to be made in order for them to be competitive. The changes need to start with the schedules. The teams in the Pioneer League need to schedule less sub D-I teams and more teams from auto-bid conferences. Hopefully with some changes the Pioneer League will find itself competitive and their playoff match-ups won’t end up like a 1 seed playing a 16 seed in March Madness.
Welcome to FCS Update with Rob Weiss
Welcome to the first edition of FCS Update. My name is Rob Weiss and I will be your host. As I get going I hope to post new stories at least a couple times a week, so check back often for updates.
I have been watching FCS football since 1989. Hard to believe it’s been 20 years since I attended my first game. Today I watch as many games as I can each and every Saturday. With free internet feeds and sites like channelsurfing I am catching a lot more games these days, but the games I can’t watch I try to follow box scores or game trackers.
I look forward to providing you with the best coverage possible and look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions in the future!