NDSU is who we thought they were, after playing a creampuff schedule so far the Bizon beat a good-looking Montana team. Looks like the Valley title still goes through Fargo. We Also learned the MVFC >Bigsky, and that EWU doesn’t need to play defense, question is when they run into a team that DOES, what happens? We also learned boys and girls moving to the sun belt yes it gets you 20 extra scholarships, but you have to play on Thursday to be on National TV. This week we will learn about JMU and Deleware, WIU and SIU, UND and Montana State-especially if they can rebound from the heartbreaker against EWU. Have a good weekend
Tag Archives | Montana
Week 3
Alright, now that the majority of us are done with our annual beat downs of the FBS its time for the real season to start. Montana vs. NDSU EWU vs Montana State UNI vs NoCo JMU vs Nova UNH vs Richmond Wofford GWU going to learn a lot about several teams around FCS this weekend.
Week 1
Alright, boys and girls Week 1 is done and in the books.
We learned a few things, EWU is as good as we thought, NDSU made FBS ISU look silly, UNI looked good against a decent Iowa team, Deleware looked terrible against a mediocre Pitt team, Youngstown held their own against an unknown Illinois team(till the 4th quarter) Montana held serve against a new look Wyoming, and drake is terrible, again, and villanova looks pretty good(though are they FCS anymore?)
1st round and some crow
Committee-
1.you should be utterly embarrassed with yourselves. You to Big Sky. The MVC 5th team BEAT the no.2 team in the Big Sky, but yet you took a fourth from the Big sky and not the 2nd from the MVC. Also the no.4 team from the big sky got thoroughly woodshedded by the no. 3 team from the Southland. Disappointing, Montana and EWU need to represent, though they got stuck with rough gets.
2. BOTH of your MEAC picks got beat, with the winner getting thrashed and the second place playing a decent game against a mediocre team from a major conference, proving again “7-5 team from the Big Sky, MVC, CAA are better than a 9-3 from a MEAC team any day of the week” to quote myself.
3.What is up with all of these 2nd-round intra-conference matchups the point of the playoffs is to play teams you have never seen, not people you have. Meh nothing I can do but complain I guess.
On the flip side OVC, I am enjoying a large helping of crow thanks to Jacksonville State’s stomping of Samford, their reward? A date with streaking Mcneese State. Good luck to you guys and congrats on winning big and bringing some respectability for the OVC even if it was against a down Samford from a weak Socon. Will reserve judgment on this team till after they play Mcneese.
SHSU-I will enjoy another heaping helping of crow for your win as well, you have proved that the Southland is a VERY good conference by beating a good SUU team and spoiling my prefect predicts.
Blog went:6-1 last week
Fordham over Towson(upset special)
Montana Over Coastal
Maine over UNH(tough to beat a team twice in a season let alone in three weeks)
EIU over Tennessee state
NDSU over Furman
EWU over SDSU
Mcneese over Jacksonville State(this one could go either way)
SELA over SHSU
Playoff picks
Alright here we go the reason we are named for what we are. the Championship playoffs:
Here are my thoughts-Patriot(lehigh) enjoy sitting at home you can’t lose by 25 to a 5-6 team and expect to make the playoffs.
Chuck South-schedule better AND go 10-3 and we’ll talk. UNI has an open date next year, Troy Dannen’s # is online.
First four out-
Jacksonville State
Samford
Liberty
Charleston Southern
Here they are:(in no particular order)
NDSU-MVC AQ
EIU-OVC AQ
Maine-CAA AQ
EWU-Big Sky AQ
Fordham-Patriot AL
SELA-Southland AQ
Montana=-Big Sky AL
Towson-CAA AL
Coastal Carolina-Big South AQ
Chattanooga-Socon AL
NAU-Big Sky AL
Tn ST-OVC AL
UNH-CAA AL
SDSU-MVC AL
YSU-MVC AL
Mcneese-Southland AL
Furman-Socon AQ
SUU-Big Sky AL
UNI-MVC AL
SHSU-Southland AL
Lafayette(I hope they send you to NDSU)-Patriot Auto
Sacred Heart-NEC Auto
Bethune Cookman-MEAC auto
Butler-Pioneer AQ
Feel free to comment/I am open to discussion, I will post pics in the AM
EDIT:Dumping the third OVC bid(Jacksonville State) for a fourth MVC bid(yes call me a homer) Here’s the reason, there are not many teams(except maybe the top 5/6) that would take UNI’s schedule and NOT have struggles, especially with an FBS win and three OT losses. (16 points and we are #1 and undefeated) The pieces are for the most part back in place for the Panthers(only Sawyer and Farley still out) and this team looks very good, call me a homer, but I think the conference strength helps as well.
Musings for this week and some picks
Alright, so this week after realizing hey someone actually reads this maybe I should put something worthwhile up(call it a EV VS WC) hangover that I could not come up with anything, then while perusing the boards this AM, a point of interest was brought involving a school that I had only ever heard a little about Gardner-Webb. Apparently some of their fans are in a tizzy because they feel “disrespected” because while they have beaten Furman, Wofford, and Richmond they are merely ranked #25 and the question was asked is their a bias towards the power teams conferences vs. the small time conferences? Honestly for this blogger, yes there is(full disclosure this blog nor does this writer participate in any poll) Coming from “smaller schools”(with the exception of Montana North and South Dakota and maybe Maine, we always have to prove ourselves to our older “brother” institutions. Beating three power teams by a combined 15 points(one by three and another by two) to me is not enough to really show that you have “arrived” like many poster on this board when they vote they take in the “body of work” we have all seen teams start fast and then die out towards the end of the season, while I am not saying GW is going down that path, but I feel #25 is right for the time being, you made the top #25 for your current work, as you continue to demonstrate your winning, more respect is given. Just my 2 cents.
My predicts for this week top matchups:
#1 NDSU vs #6 SDSU-NDSU goes into SDSU and wins a squeaker of a game 17-16 over the Jacks.
#2 EWU vs #4 SHSU-I again applaud high-quality FCS teams scheduling other High-quality FCS teams as non-cons, that is what our division needs to keep itself strong. I picked against SHSU the entire playoffs last year(except the chipper) Well, this one I think the Eagles take 24-13.
#5 UNI vs #9 Mcneese- Alot of talk on this one, I feel that people have been hesitant on UNI despite their 3-0 record apparently the wins weren’t “flashy” or “big enough” over programs like drake and Northern Colorado. I think the playbook will be opened up against Mcneese, David Johnson will be allowed to pound the ball, while Sawyer will keep the DB’s honest with a balanced passing scheme, UNI wins this one 32-17. Call me a homer, when you write the blog you can be a homer to.
#14 JMU vs DEL-Honestly I think this will really show what type of season these two teams will have, JMU almost beat akron but also barely beat SFPA, while Delaware has woodshedding all comers except their own woodshedding from a mediocre Navy team(go Middies) I think this one will be close and whoever has the ball last wins this one 42-40 James Madison.
#7 Montana vs #24 NAU-Montana 38-17
EC Vs. WC
So this is something that has probably been discussed, re-discussed, and just for hecks sake re-hashed, well I have been thinking about this-with the recent defections from FCS to FBS of some powerhouse programs has the EC fallen behind the WC? After 8 straight EC championships the WC has claimed 3 straight with no EC team getting beyond the semi’s. The balance of power took a major shift west when perennial powerhouses Georgia Southern and App State announced their impeding departure from FCS, especially with recent resurgence of programs such as UNI, Montana, and Eastern Washington, not to mention the appearance of 2-time defending champ NDSU. This case was very obvious that the WC is superior to the EC when only one team in the top ten was an EC school. The NCAA may have been ahead of the game in moving the national title game away from the East coast and into a more neutral location. Feel free to post your thoughts.
Bison, Bulldogs, Mustangs, OH MY!
Well this is turning out to be an interesting season boys and girls, but I am going to focus on a couple of surprise teams for the year. While a few weeks back I gave the kiss of death to the Citadel bulldogs maybe I can reverse that curse today.
First I have to give a shout out to the bison of NDSU, and as much as it pains me to say they have proven why they are the best team in FCS by absolutly stomping the then-no.3 team Youngstown state in the dome in Fargo, this team seems highly unstoppable at this point, however we are only halfway into the season so you never know.
Now onto the surprises, First the bulldogs of Samford I tread lightly as their only “big” win on the season was against the citadel, and they got stomped by a decent Georgia Southern Team. As long as I am on the SOCON track, these next few weeks in the SOCON will determin ALOT as the top 3 teams(GA southern, Wofford, Samford and a down App State Team, all play basiclly round robin the next few weeks, My guess, Wofford comes out and shows that they are the class of the leage, going on the road to beat GA southern and App State)
Cal Poly-I say they are a surprise because well they have a high chance of ending the season with only one loss (@EWU) but when you compare thier schedule it isn’t all that tough, with no Montana State or Montana. However they could be a dark horse in a Big Sky sans a traditional powerhouse Montana.
Who are your Darkhorses this season.
Now what did we learn? Parts 1 and 2
Hello anyone who reads this, my humblest apologies for failing to write last week, I could afford any number of excuses, but they are just that excuses. So here is a double hit for you this week boys and girls.
1. Week 1 we learned that YSU may be finally putting it all together this year after throttling FBS Pittsburgh. UNI came out very strong against what was supposed to be a good Wisconsin team. Bad thing for both UNI and YSU is those games were put into question as both team lost in Week 2(Wisconsin to an average-looking Oregon State team and Pitt to a improving Cincy team)
OK so its late and I haven’t surfed the net in a few days so I am a bit behind, but after looking at some things it is shaping up to be a very interesting year in the FCS. The MVC looks like it will come down to 5 teams vying for the title with a resurgent Illinois state team coming on strong after last years disappointing season, and of course Indiana State ,UNI, YSU and NDSU looking strong as well.
In the Big Sky the Bobcats of MSU did not look impressive in their win against Drake, however like most teams its the beginning of the year, however the Big Sky will once again be a tight race with the ever present Montana, and Eastern Washington who was only narrowly defeated by FBS Washington State, but did take down FBS/FCS wannabe Idaho. Sacramento State upset Pac-12 Colorado this weekend, which is a huge boost for the Hornets as the only remaining road test for the Hornet will be against EWU on the 20th of October.
The socon to an interesting turn this weekend, App State Went out in the FCS Game of the week and beat a Montana team that looks to continue on the Montana path of always being strong. However its the surprise upset of Georgia Southern by the Citadel that has GSU and Furman who lost to Samford in week one and Coastal Carolina on the bottom looking up at a Strong looking SOCON. The eagles are lucky in that they get perennial SOCON powers Wofford and App State at home. The Eagles visit Furman on Oct 20th.
The Terriers have gotten to take it easy the last two weeks, and have a tough five game stretch starting Oct. 6 hosting Furman, then on the road at APP State and Georgia Southern in consecutive weeks, followed by hosting the Citadel and on the road against Samford.Looking for that to be the decisive stretch for the terriers.
In the Colonial New Hampshire looked down right awful against a so-so Minnesota team(I actually watched that game) Other than that it seems as though the colonial will be as up for grabs as anyone, as of this point no one setting themselves apart(except for Georgia State)
Well there you have it my thoughts on what I have seen and read, see ya later in the week GO FCS!