The top three teams in the poll all tumbled on Saturday, setting up major shakeups in the rankings and tossing conference races around like so much windswept debris. The fallout, after the jump.


Automatic Bids clinched:
Robert Morris (Northeast Conference)

Colonial:
at Rhode Island 17, #3 Villanova 14
#4 William & Mary 13, at #8 New Hampshire 3
at #5 Delaware 48, Towson 0
at #15 Massachusetts 39, Maine 24
at #20 Richmond 13, #22 James Madison 10 (OT)
at Georgia State 23, Lamar 17
at Old Dominion 57, Savannah State 9

Georgia State’s had quite a successful first season of football. They’ll rest up for a week before heading down I-20 for what should be a very winnable game in Tuscaloosa against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Oh, sorry, I forgot you couldn’t hear my tone of voice as I typed that.

James Madison still got 103 votes in this week’s poll, good for the theoretical #30. Really? REALLY?

William & Mary ascends to #1 for the first time, followed immediately by Delaware. (In the coaches’ poll, they’re reversed.) Delaware also received a single #25 vote in the AP Division I poll this week.

Saturday:
With two weeks to go, this race is still so far up in the air you need binoculars to spot it against the clouds. This week is Shakedown Saturday, as absolutely nothing concrete can be determined. (In theory, it could be if Delaware were playing anyone but Massachusetts, but the winner of that game could still manage to overtake William & Mary next week even if the Tribe wins this week.)

The top seven teams still have a pulse, though at least two of them will fall by the wayside this week. The top four teams are all still capable of winning the title outright. The only one of the four who does not have to deal with one of the other three teams in the group, however, is the team standing alone in front; W&M “only” has to deal with Madison and Richmond while Delaware has to get past both UMass and Villanova.

#1 William & Mary (7-2, 5-1) at James Madison (4-5, 1-5)
#17 New Hampshire (5-4, 3-3) at #9 Villanova (6-3, 4-2)
#2 Delaware (8-1, 5-1) at #14 Massachusetts (6-3, 4-2)
Rhode Island (4-5, 3-3) at #21 Richmond (5-4, 3-3)
Maine (3-6, 2-4) at Towson (1-8, 0-6)
VMI (3-6) at Old Dominion (6-3)
Georgia State (6-4) idle

Southern:
at Georgia Southern 21, #1 Appalachian State 14 (OT)
#7 Wofford 10, at Samford 3
at Auburn 62, Chattanooga 24 (non-conference)
at Furman 31, Western Carolina 17
Elon 27, at The Citadel 16

Saturday:
The winner of the Wofford-Appy game clinches the SoCon’s automatic bid, as the winner can have no more than one conference loss once things wrap up. They could share the actual conference title if Wofford wins, then loses next week to Chattanooga, but Wofford would still have bragging rights.

#4 Wofford (8-1, 6-0) at #3 Appalachian State (8-1, 6-1)
Samford (4-5, 2-4) at Chattanooga (5-4, 4-2)
Furman (5-4, 3-3) at Elon (4-5, 3-3)
Georgia Southern (5-4, 3-3) at Western Carolina (2-7, 1-5)
The Citadel (2-8, 0-7) idle

Big Sky:
at #12 Montana State 24, Weber State 10
at Sacramento State 28, Portland State 15
Northern Arizona 21, at Northern Colorado 14
at Georgia 55, Idaho State 7 (non-conference)
#6 Eastern Washington and #13 Montana idle

Depressing afternoon for Weber State, as not only did they lose their shot at the playoffs, but QB Cameron Higgins was knocked out with a knee injury in the final two minutes. Higgins had entered the game tied for the Big Sky’s all-time TD passing record at 96, and didn’t add the record-breaker before leaving the game. No definite word on the seriousness of the injury, or his availability against Northern Arizona this week, but early reports indicate it may actually be career-ending. Here’s hoping that’s inaccurate.

Montana State reached the 8 regular-season win mark for the first time since my freshman year of college, which means absolutely nothing to any of you until I point out that was 1984. If they beat Montana next week, they’ll tie the school record for regular-season wins at 9 (1956, 1976, 1984). In all three years, the Bobcats won the national championship; NAIA in ’56, D-II in ’76, and I-AA in ’84.

Saturday:
Nothing changes this week, as all the contenders are either idle or out of conference for the day. Next week, Montana State visits Montana, and would win the automatic bid with a victory. If Montana wins and Eastern Washington wins at home over Idaho State, EWU would claim the bid.

Montana and Idaho State wins would create a three-way tie at 6-2. The Big Sky’s next tiebreaker after head-to-head is record vs. conference opponents in descending order, which means things depend on who finishes in fourth place. If it’s Sacramento State, move on to fifth place because all three teams beat the Hornets. If it’s Weber State, Montana would be eliminated because they lost to Weber, giving the auto-bid to Montana State, who beat EWU. If it’s Northern Arizona, Montana State is eliminated, giving the auto-bid to EWU, who beat Montana. In other words, Montana is actually eliminated already, but still has a major impact on the race.

Southern Utah (6-4) at #5 Eastern Washington (7-2, 6-1) (non-conference)
North Dakota (3-6) at #13 Montana (6-3, 5-2) (non-conference)
Weber State (5-4, 4-3) at Northern Arizona (5-4, 3-3)
Sacramento State (5-4, 4-3) at Idaho State (1-8, 0-6)
Northern Colorado (2-8, 1-6) at Portland State (2-7, 1-5)
#11 Montana State (8-2, 6-1) idle

Ohio Valley:
at Eastern Kentucky 49, #2 Jacksonville State 37
at #9 Southeast Missouri State 40, Southwest Baptist 14 (non-conference)
at Murray State 44, Tennessee Tech 13
Tennessee-Martin 28, at Austin Peay 12
Eastern Illinois 31, at Tennessee State 28 (OT)

Murray State’s Mike Harris ran for 242 yards against Tennessee Tech, including a 94-yard run — on which he didn’t score, getting dragged down at the Tech one.

Eastern Kentucky hadn’t beaten a top-5 team since 1990, and they themselves were ranked #2 then when they knocked off #1 Middle Tennessee State. So much for that. So much, also, for the longest current winning streak in FCS, as Jacksonville State’s 12-game string was ended. Southeast Missouri now has the longest streak, at 9 (tied with Bethune-Cookman).

Saturday:
Okay, then. SEMO wins the title outright if they beat Jacksonville State, which is exactly as things stood before Saturday exploded all over the Gamecocks. The difference now is that they also win outright if Jax loses to Tennessee Tech next week. They’ve guaranteed themselves a share of the title, their first since joining the league in 1991. Jax must win out to share the title and grab the auto-bid. This week’s game is the first time since 1995 that two OVC teams have met while both were in the top 10. A SEMO win would also put the Redhawks in second-place all time in terms of season-to-season improvement; they’re currently 7.5 games better than last season. The record is Montana State’s 9.5 game improvement from 1983 to 1984, which dovetails nicely with the news I shared a few paragraphs ago.

Also Saturday, the Sgt. York Trophy will be awarded to the winner of the season series among the four Tennessee schools in the league. Tennessee-Martin would claim the prize with a win; if they lose, they’ll share it with Tennessee Tech (who will retain it as current holders). It’s the fourth year of existence for the trophy; Tennessee State held it the first two years.

#7 Southeast Missouri State (9-1, 7-0) at #6 Jacksonville State (8-1, 5-1)
Eastern Kentucky (4-5, 3-2) at Tennessee Tech (4-5, 3-3)
Murray State (4-5, 3-3) at Austin Peay (2-7, 0-5)
Tennessee State (3-6, 0-4) at Tennessee-Martin (5-5, 4-3)
Eastern Illinois (2-8, 2-6) at Illinois State (5-5) (non-conference)

Southland:
#10 Stephen F. Austin 48, at Nicholls State 13
McNeese State 33, at Sam Houston State 28
Northwestern State 35, at Southeastern Louisiana 16
Central Arkansas 49, at Texas State 17
at Georgia State 23, Lamar 17

Northwestern State continues their surprising recovery, and would secure a winning season with a victory in one of its final two games. They were winless last year.

Saturday:
Three teams tied at 4-1, so we’ll have to see what happens this week. Next week, SFA hosts Northwestern in a key game, but we’ll discuss what that game actually means in next week’s installment. I will note that the only way for a three-way tie to occur is for the winner of the SFA-Northwestern State game to lose this week, and for McNeese to lose a game, so if both SFA and Northwestern win this week things get much, much less complicated.

Southeastern Louisiana (2-7, 1-4) at #8 Stephen F. Austin (7-2, 4-1)
Texas State (4-5, 1-4) at McNeese State (5-4, 4-1)
Nicholls State (2-7, 1-4) at Northwestern State (5-4, 4-1)
Sam Houston State (4-5, 2-3) at Central Arkansas (6-3, 3-2)
South Dakota (4-6) at Lamar (3-6)

Missouri Valley:
#17 Northern Iowa 30, at Indiana State 20
at #25 North Dakota State 20, Southern Illinois 6
at South Dakota State 31, Missouri State 10
at Illinois State 41, Youngstown State 39
#24 Western Illinois idle

With eight seconds on the clock and Illinois State trailing 39-35 and lining up on their own 27, Matt Brown hit Marvin Sanders for 33 yards. Then, with a single tick left, he connected with Tyrone walker for the game-winning score.

Saturday:
If Northern Iowa wins this week and Western Illinois loses, NIU will clinch the automatic bid. Any other result means that Northern Iowa at Western Illinois next week decides the conference title.

Missouri State (4-5, 3-3) at #16 Northern Iowa (6-3, 5-1)
#23 Western Illinois (6-3, 4-2) at Southern Illinois (3-6, 2-4)
South Dakota State (4-5, 4-3) at #24 North Dakota State (6-3, 3-3)
Indiana State (5-4, 3-3) at Youngstown State (3-7, 1-6)
Eastern Illinois (2-8) at Illinois State (5-5) (non-conference)

Mid-Eastern:
#11 Bethune-Cookman 23, at Hampton 18
at #16 South Carolina State 54, Howard 14
Florida A&M 22, at North Carolina A&T 19 (OT)
at Norfolk State 37, Morgan State 25
at Delaware State 29, North Carolina Central 7 (not a conference game yet)
at Old Dominion 57, Savannah State 9

After Saturday’s chaos, who’s the only unbeaten team left in FCS? Right here, baby: Bethune-Cookman, who should have no trouble at all maintaining that status this week.

Thursday:
BCC would win the conference title outright if SC State loses Thursday, FAMU loses Saturday, and BCC wins Saturday. They’ll win the auto-bid as long as they beat FAMU next week, regardless of what SCSU does. Beyond that, things are still quite complicated. In the event of a three-way tie at 7-1, or a four-way tie at 6-2, the MEAC would have to resort to a complicated point system. The winner in either event would be SC State. If there’s a three-way tie at 6-2 which does not involve SC State (i.e., BCC and SC State lose both remaining games while Hampton beats FAMU), the point system would eliminate Hampton, leaving FAMU with the auto-bid.

Morgan State (4-5, 3-3) at #15 South Carolina State (7-2, 5-1)
Saturday:
Howard (1-8, 0-6) at #10 Bethune-Cookman (9-0, 6-0)
Hampton (5-4, 4-2) at Florida A&M (6-3, 5-1)
Delaware State (2-7, 1-5) at Norfolk State (4-5, 3-4)
Savannah State (0-9) at North Carolina Central (3-6)

Great West:
#19 Cal Poly 38, at South Dakota 24
at Southern Utah 52, Dixie State 0 (non-conference)
Cal-Davis 35, at North Dakota 16

Mark Rodgers rolled for 235 yards on only 15 carries in Cal Poly’s win over South Dakota.

Saturday:
Southern Utah won the conference title last week.

Cal-Davis (4-5, 2-1) at #19 Cal Poly (7-3, 2-1)
Southern Utah (6-4, 4-0) at Eastern Washington (7-2) (non-conference)
South Dakota (4-6, 1-3) at Lamar (3-6) (non-conference)
North Dakota (3-6, 0-4) at Montana (6-3) (non-conference)

Big South:
at #14 Liberty 40, Gardner-Webb 14
Stony Brook 37, at Presbyterian 7
Coastal Carolina 31, at VMI 3
at Kentucky 49, Charleston Southern 21 (non-conference)

Saturday:
Stony Brook wins the autobid if they beat Liberty next week, period. Liberty gets it if they win, and beat Coastal this week. Coastal’s primary hope is to beat Liberty while Stony Brook loses, then win while Liberty beats Stony Brook.

If there’s a three-way tie at 5-1, the next tiebreaker after head-to-head would be record against the teams not involved in the tie; they’d all be 4-0 there, so the next step would be points allowed in conference games. Currently, Stony Brook has allowed 51, Liberty 65, and Coastal 75. Needless to say, Stony Brook’s hoping Liberty and Coastal light one another up Saturday, although they’re hoping even more that they won’t even have to worry about that.

#12 Liberty (7-2, 4-0) at Coastal Carolina (4-5, 3-1)
Gardner-Webb (3-6, 1-3) at Stony Brook (5-4, 4-0)
VMI (3-6, 2-3) at Old Dominion (6-3) (non-conference)
Presbyterian (1-8, 1-4) at Charleston Southern (2-7, 0-4)

Ivy:
#18 Penn 52, at Princeton 10
Yale 27, at Brown 24
at Harvard 23, Columbia 7
Dartmouth 28, at Cornell 10

Dartmouth sacked Cornell QB Jeff Mathews a whopping 10 times Saturday. Charles Bay was responsible for three of them.

Saturday:
The Ivy doesn’t participate in the post-season, so there’s no concern about the auto-bid here. They also don’t break ties, so Penn’s really going to want to win this week and get Harvard out of their hair. Yale, on the other hand, will remain a problem until next week unless they stumble against Princeton. Brown still has a pulse, but to even grab a share of the crown they’d need to win out, have Yale lose, Harvard beat Penn, then Yale beat Harvard while Penn loses to Cornell. A big stretch.

For years, Cornell and Columbia’s meetings have been referred to as the Empire State Bowl, but beginning this year it’s official, complete with a traveling trophy.

Harvard (6-2, 4-1) at #18 Penn (7-1, 5-0)
Princeton (1-7, 0-5) at Yale (6-2, 4-1)
Brown (4-4, 3-2) at Dartmouth (5-3, 2-3)
Cornell (2-6, 1-4) at Columbia (3-5, 1-4)

Pioneer:
#23 Jacksonville 24, at Butler 16
at Dayton 31, Drake 25
at San Diego 34, Morehead State 0
Davidson 28, at Marist 21
at Campbell 56, Valparaiso 14

Big finish to a see-saw battle in Dayton as the Flyers pulled off the David Tyree play, only finishing it in the end zone. Snapping from the Drake 37, Steve Valentino scrambled out of a sack and hit Luke Bellman, who came down for the score with one second to go by trapping the ball against his helmet. Crazy.

Saturday:
There are conditions under which the PFL champion can receive an “automatic at-large” bid. Those conditions will not be met this season, as one of said conditions is two wins against teams from FCS automatic qualifying conferences, and neither Jacksonville nor Dayton have those two wins. (Jacksonville’s schedule prevented them from qualifying in the first place, and Dayton’s loss to Duquesne kept them from meeting the criteria.) This doesn’t prevent them from being given an at-large bid, it just means they don’t automatically get one.

As for the conference title… well, Jacksonville and Dayton are still not playing this year, no matter how much we might hope the schedule might miraculously change. If one wins and the other loses this week, the winner gets the conference title; otherwise, they’ll share it. Both teams conclude their seasons Saturday.

Campbell (3-6, 2-4) at #22 Jacksonville (9-1, 7-0)
Dayton (9-1, 7-0) at Marist (3-6, 2-5)
Butler (4-6, 2-5) at Drake (6-4, 5-2)
Valparaiso (0-10, 0-7) at Morehead State (3-6, 2-4)
San Diego (4-6, 4-3) at Davidson (3-6, 3-4)

Southwestern:
at #21 Grambling State 35, Concordia (AL) 0 (non-conference)
at Alabama State 32, Jackson State 30
Texas Southern 54, at Southern 7
Alcorn State 41, at Alabama A&M 24
at Arkansas-Pine Bluff 49, Mississippi Valley State 20 (crossover)
Prairie View A&M idle

QB Josh Boudreaux was responsible for all seven touchdowns — five passing and two on the ground — in UAPB’s win over MVSU.

Thursday:
Grambling would clinch the West Division title with a win. If Texas Southern wins, it would need to beat UAPB next week, or have Grambling lose to Southern.

#20 Grambling State (8-1, 7-0) at Texas Southern (6-3, 6-1)
Saturday:
Alcorn controls its own destiny, but still cannot clinch the East this week. They win the East by winning out. If Alabama State beats Southern, Jackson State is eliminated, but if Alcorn beats Prairie View, Alabama State would then need Jackson State to beat Alcorn. Jackson State needs to win out while Southern beats Alabama State. There’s also a chance for a three-way tie at 5-4, and… well, let’s just not get into that right now. I don’t have enough Aleve.

Alabama State (6-3, 5-3) at Southern (2-7, 1-6)
Alcorn State (5-3, 4-3) at Prairie View (5-4, 4-3)
Jackson State (6-3, 4-3) at Ark-Pine Bluff (5-4, 4-2)
Alabama A&M (2-7, 1-6) at Mississippi Valley (0-9, 0-8)

Northeast:
at Robert Morris 42, Central Connecticut State 24
at Wagner 31, Monmouth 20
Bryant 48, at St. Francis (PA) 10
Albany 35, at Sacred Heart 23
Duquesne idle

Wagner’s Walt Hameline won his 200th career game as the Seahawks knocked off Monmouth. … Sacred Heart’s Dale Fink became the first NEC QB in over five years to throw for over 400 yards as he went 36-61 for 414 in SHU’s loss to Albany. … Bryant has only been playing football for 11 years, but secured their seventh winning season Saturday.

Saturday:
Robert Morris, who finally got into the poll now that (most) voters have come to their senses in regard to James Madison, wins the conference outright with a win or a CCSU loss; if neither thing happens, the two will share the title. RMC has already clinched the auto-bid (the conference’s first) and a share of the title.

#25 Robert Morris (8-1, 7-0) at Bryant (6-3, 3-3)
Central Connecticut State (6-3, 5-1) at Monmouth (3-6, 3-3)
Wagner (5-4, 3-3) at Albany (4-5, 2-4)
St. Francis (PA) (1-8, 1-5) at Duquesne (5-4, 3-3)
Sacred Heart (3-7, 1-6) idle

Patriot:
Lehigh 34, at Holy Cross 17
at Colgate 24, Lafayette 14
Fordham 33, at Bucknell 21 (not a conference game)
Georgetown idle

Saturday:
Lehigh will clinch the title outright, and the auto-bid, with a win at Georgetown (a team that has not only never beaten the Mountain Hawks, but which has lost every meeting by at least 20 points) or at Lafayette next week. They’ve already claimed a share. Should they lose both games, every team in the conference will finish at either 3-2 or 2-3, which would be horribly entertaining. In the extremely unlikely event Lehigh loses this week, next week we’ll discuss auto-bid ramifications. The only thing that’s certain is that Bucknell cannot win the auto-bid under any scenario. Everyone else is still alive, for the moment.

Lehigh (7-2, 3-0) at Georgetown (3-6, 2-2)
Colgate (5-4, 2-2) at Bucknell (1-8, 1-2)
Holy Cross (4-5, 1-2) at Lafayette (2-7, 1-2)
Fordham (5-5, n/a) idle

Independent:
at South Alabama 37, Henderson State 31

Thursday:
Gee, it’s a shame South Alabama’s entire schedule doesn’t count for anything yet outside of Mobile. They’re entering the bell lap in their attempt at an unbeaten warm-up to their first official D-I season next year.

Arkansas-Monticello (4-6, D-II) at South Alabama (9-0)