Sunday morning, 10am Eastern on ESPNU: The FCS Championship selection show. I know it’s hard to tear your eyes off Erin Andrews, but give it an eyeball. Four playoff berths have been clinched, and we head into the final week of play with many, many questions still unanswered. More after the ever-present jump.

Automatic Bids clinched:
Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley Football Conference)
Robert Morris (Northeast Conference)
Lehigh (Patriot League)
Appalachian State (Southern Conference)

Before we get started: There are four things you desperately want to happen if your team’s hoping for an at-large bid (unless it involves your team winning, of course), because each of these things that don’t happen will essentially remove an at-large bid from play. One, you want Delaware to win the CAA. Two, you want Liberty to win the Big South. Three, you want Bethune-Cookman to win the MEAC. Finally, you want Stephen F. Austin to win the Southland. You don’t care what happens in the Big Sky or OVC, because the teams in contention there are all going to the playoffs anyway.

Colonial:
at James Madison 30, #1 William & Mary 24
#2 Delaware 45, at #14 Massachusetts 27
#17 New Hampshire 31, at #9 Villanova 24
at #21 Richmond 15, Rhode Island 6
Maine 28, at Towson 18
at Old Dominion 45, VMI 28
Georgia State idle

William & Mary’s stay at #1 didn’t last long, as they fell on the road to the James Madison Schizophrenics. The margin of victory rested on a blocked punt which JMU returned for a score. The Dukes’ remaining three touchdowns came courtesy of backup QB Dae’Quan Scott, who replaced senior starter Drew Dudzik and ran for 125 yards… without even attempting a single pass.

Richmond forced seven Rhode Island turnovers, yet somehow only managed to score 15 points. Of course, keeping Rhode Island from scoring seven times had its own benefit. The win was the 41st win for Richmond’s senior class, making them the most successful in school history.

Thursday:
Georgia State (6-4) at Alabama (8-2, FBS)
Saturday:
It’s pretty simple, since Delaware’s win plus Villanova’s loss left this as a two-team race. If Delaware wins or William & Mary loses, Delaware wins the conference title and the automatic bid, and William & Mary might end up going home for the winter. If Delaware loses and the Tribe wins, William & Mary wins the bid, they share the title, and Delaware probably still goes to the playoffs. Villanova, New Hampshire, UMass, and Richmond are each potential playoff teams should they win this weekend.

And no, Old Dominion won’t be under consideration. They’re not eligible yet.

#15 Villanova (6-4, 4-3) at #1 Delaware (9-1, 6-1)
#18 Richmond (6-4, 4-3) at #6 William & Mary (7-3, 5-2)
#19 Massachusetts (6-4, 4-3) at Rhode Island (4-6, 3-4)
Towson (1-9, 0-7) at #14 New Hampshire (6-4, 4-3)
James Madison (5-5, 2-5) at Maine (4-6, 3-4)
Old Dominion (7-3) at North Carolina Central (3-7)

Southern:
at #3 Appalachian State 43, #4 Wofford 13
at Chattanooga 48, Samford 14
at Elon 30, Furman 25
Georgia Southern 28, at Western Carolina 6
The Citadel idle

The Mountaineers jumped all over Wofford, rolling out to a 38-0 lead before the Terriers even knew what hit them.

Elon’s Scott Riddle and Chattanooga’s BJ Coleman continued their duel for the SoCon passing yardage lead. Riddle had 311 passing yards for the Phoenix in their win over Furman, while Coleman threw for 319 in Chattanooga’s rout of Samford. That allowed Coleman to take the lead, 2786-2779. If Riddle can overtake Coleman again this week, he would claim the SoCon passing yardage title for the fourth consecutive year; he would be the only SoCon QB to accomplish that feat. Riddle, of course, is the SoCon’s all-time passing leader; he’s now almost 2500 yards ahead of the guy he left in the dust back in September, Appalachian State’s Armanti Edwards.

Saturday:
Appalachian State clinched the automatic bid and a share of the conference title by beating Wofford. Wofford can still grab a share of the title by beating Chattanooga, and also ensure an at-large bid (I suspect they get in regardless, but obviously a loss would hurt). Chattanooga and/or Georgia Southern might sneak into the field with a win.

#2 Appalachian State (9-1, 7-1) at Florida (6-4, FBS) (non-conference)
Chattanooga (6-4, 5-2) at #9 Wofford (8-2, 6-1)
Georgia Southern (6-4, 4-3) at Furman (5-5, 3-4)
Western Carolina (2-8, 1-6) at Elon (5-5, 4-3)
The Citadel (2-8, 0-7) at Samford (4-6, 2-5)

Big Sky:
at #5 Eastern Washington 31, Southern Utah 24 (non-conference)
at #13 Montana 27, North Dakota 17 (non-conference)
Weber State 27, at Northern Arizona 26
Sacramento State 45, at Idaho State 17
Northern Colorado 35, at Portland State 30
#11 Montana State idle

Cameron Higgins did play Saturday after his knee injury last week, and as for the conference’s career TD passing record which said injury put into question? He took care of that on Weber’s very first play from scrimmage, hitting Joe Collins for a 64-yard strike. He again left the game with an injury, however, this time an ankle ding in the fourth quarter. He surpassed the 12,000 yard career mark in the effort.

Up in Missoula, Chase Reynolds scored his 51st career rushing touchdown, breaking the Grizzlies’ school record. It was Reynolds’ 58th overall touchdown, and needs three more to break the conference record. If he can gain 130 yards this week, he’ll also become Montana’s all-time leading rusher.

Portland State’s Cory McCaffrey racked up 201 rushing yards in the first half. Northern Colorado contained him in the second, limiting him to only 25 more yards, and the Bears held off the Vikings.

Sacramento State’s Zach Nash recorded five sacks in the Hornet’s win over Idaho State, setting a Big Sky single-game record. Following that performance, Idaho State announced Sunday that head coach John Zamberlin will not be returning next season. He will remain on the sideline for the season finale at Eastern Washington. Zamberlin compiled a 6-38 record leading the Bengals, 4-27 in conference play. Despite the record, Idaho State has won their final game of the season the last two years; making it three would both be stunning and a nice send-off.

Saturday:
To repeat last week’s column, Montana State would win the automatic bid and at least a share of the conference title either by beating Montana in the Brawl of the Wild on Saturday (the FCS game of the week in terms of importance), or by Idaho State knocking off Eastern Washington (see below for explanation). If Montana wins and Eastern Washington beats Idaho State, EWU claims both the bid and the title. Both State and EWU are probably playoff-bound either way, and Montana might play their way in with a win. If they don’t, it would be the first time since 1992 that the FCS playoffs will be held without the Grizzlies in attendance. Sacramento State will put themselves on the board with a win, but they’ll need a ton of help to be taken seriously. Weber’s in the same boat, although a win this week might impress the committee enough to put them over the top.

If Montana and Idaho State win, we’ll have a three-way tie at 6-2. That would necessitate dropping to conference opponents in descending order. Sacramento State and Weber State tied at 5-3 in conference; Sacramento is irrelevant because all three teams beat them, but Montana lost to Weber, which would eliminate them, and leave Montana State with the automatic bid. Therefore, if Eastern Washington loses, Montana State grabs the autobid regardless of what happens in Missoula.

Idaho State (1-9, 0-7) at #3 Eastern Washington (8-2, 6-1)
#8 Montana State (8-2, 6-1) at #11 Montana (7-3, 5-2)
Weber State (6-4, 5-3) at Texas Tech (5-5, FBS) (non-conference)
Sacramento State (6-4, 5-3) at Cal-Davis (5-5) (non-conference)
Portland State (2-8, 1-6) at Northern Arizona (5-5, 3-4)
Northern Colorado (3-8, 2-6) idle (season complete)

Ohio Valley:
at #6 Jacksonville State 29, #7 Southeast Missouri State 27
Eastern Kentucky 42, at Tennessee Tech 29
Murray State 61, at Austin Peay 35
at Tennessee-Martin 37, Tennessee State 0
at Illinois State 27, Eastern Illinois 23 (non-conference)

If football games were 59 minutes and 48 seconds long, Southeast Missouri State would be the outright OVC champions. Unfortunately for the RedHawks, Marques Ivory hit Alan Bonner from 17 yards out with 11 seconds to go, lifting Jacksonville State to a two-point win and extending the conference race one more weekend.

Casey Brockman threw for 497 yards in Murray State’s explosive win over Austin Peay. In a downpour, no less. It’s not Brockman’s best game of the season; he threw for 570 yards back in October against Missouri State.

Saturday:
Jacksonville State will claim the autobid and a share of the conference title if they beat Tennessee Tech. Otherwise, Southeast Missouri State wins the autobid and the outright crown. Both teams are almost certainly playoff-bound.

Tennessee-Martin also took possession of the Sgt. York Trophy by beating Tennessee State.

#4 Jacksonville State (9-1, 6-1) at Tennessee Tech (4-6, 3-4)
Austin Peay (2-8, 0-6) at Eastern Kentucky (5-5, 4-2)
Tennessee State (3-7, 0-5) at Murray State (5-5, 4-3)
#10 Southeast Missouri State (9-2, 7-1), and Tennessee-Martin (6-5, 5-3) idle (seasons complete)

Southland:
at #8 Stephen F. Austin 51, Southeastern Louisiana 14
at McNeese State 36, Texas State 6
Nicholls State 37, at Northwestern State 7
Sam Houston State 20, at Central Arkansas 13
at Lamar 24, South Dakota 20

Four interceptions helped Nicholls derail Northwestern’s title hopes; three of the four were converted into points.

McNeese was helped along by lightning in their romp over Texas State; Bernardo Henry had an 87-yard kickoff return for a score, and Malcolm Bronson had a 74-yard pick-six.

Saturday:
Yeesh. Northwestern State’s loss to Nichols makes a bloody mess of things. If Stephen F. Austin wins, they get the autobid, and at least a share of the conference title. If they lose and McNeese wins, McNeese wins the title outright and gets the autobid. If SFA and McNeese both lose, we’ll have a three-way tie. The first relevant tiebreaker in the Southland is the “Rose Bowl rule”; SFA and McNeese were both in the playoffs last year, so the autobid would go to Northwestern State. SFA might get in even with a loss, but they might be victimized by their own actions in decreasing the at-large pool. The winner of the McNeese/UCA game will at least be on the board. If it’s McNeese, they could get in with only a little help; if it’s UCA, they’ll require a great deal of help to make a serious statement.

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

Missouri Valley:
at #16 Northern Iowa 38, Missouri State 14
at Southern Illinois 20, #23 Western Illinois 10
at #24 North Dakota State 31, South Dakota State 24
Indiana State 30, at Youngstown State 24
at Illinois State 27, Eastern Illinois 23 (non-conference)

Indiana State was exorcising ghosts Saturday. It was their first road conference win since 2002, their first win at Youngstown since 1995, it ended a 13-game losing streak to the Penguins and a 36-game overall road losing streak, and ensured the Sycamores first winning season since 1996. Coming into the season, Indiana State had been on a putrid 2-60 run.

Saturday:
That settles that. UNI’s win combined with WIU’s loss gave the outright conference title and autobid to the Panthers. It’s Northern Iowa’s 15th conference title in 26 years. If Western Illinois can knock off UNI, they might warrant an at-large. North Dakota State is also hoping to play their way into the field. Indiana State is a very, very fringe candidate, and would need a ton of help.

Triviality: if Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, and Missouri State win, there will be a seven-team tie for second place at 4-4. That would break the previous “record” for teams locked in a tie for second place by four.

#13 Northern Iowa (7-3, 6-1) at Western Illinois (6-4, 4-3)
#17 North Dakota State (7-3, 4-3) at Missouri State (4-6, 3-4)
North Dakota (3-7) at South Dakota State (4-6, 4-4) (non-conference)
Indiana State (6-4, 4-3) at Southern Illinois (4-6, 3-4)
Illinois State (6-5, 4-4) and Youngstown State (3-8, 1-7) idle (seasons complete)

Mid-Eastern:
at #15 South Carolina State 32, Morgan State 10 (Thursday)
at #10 Bethune-Cookman 35, Howard 20
at Florida A&M 17, Hampton 12
at Norfolk State 31, Delaware State 21
Savannah State 28, at North Carolina Central 21

The longest current losing streak in FCS came to an end as Savannah State halted an 11-game skid with a win over UNCC.

Saturday:
All three contending teams won Saturday, which eliminated Hampton… and SC State, surprisingly. This week, if BCC wins or if SC State wins, BCC wins the title outright and the autobid. Why if SC State wins? Because if that happens and BCC loses, it’ll be a three-way tie. As mentioned last week, this would trigger an arcane point system, the winner of which would now be Bethune-Cookman. If SC State loses and Florida A&M beats Bethune, FAMU gets the autobid.

Should South Carolina State win, the door cracks open slightly for a playoff berth, but a lot of teams are going to have to lose. If FAMU grabs the autobid, it’s an open question as to whether the committee will stiff a 10-1 team, but the MEAC hasn’t won a playoff game since 1999, and that may weigh on the committee’s deliberations. FAMU won’t be a serious candidate even at 8-3 should BCC still get the auto-bid.

#7 Bethune-Cookman (10-0, 7-0) at Florida A&M (7-3, 6-1)
#12 South Carolina State (8-2, 6-1) at North Carolina A&T (1-9, 1-6)
Hampton (5-5, 4-3) at Morgan State (4-6, 3-4)
Norfolk State (5-5, 4-4) at Savannah State (1-9) (not a conference game yet)
Delaware State (2-8, 1-6) at Howard (1-9, 0-7)
Old Dominion (7-3) at North Carolina Central (3-7)

Great West:
Cal-Davis 22, at #19 Cal Poly 21
at #5 Eastern Washington 31, Southern Utah 24 (non-conference)
at Lamar 24, South Dakota 20 (non-conference)
at #13 Montana 27, North Dakota 17 (non-conference)

Cal Poly probably had an at-large bid stamped and waiting for delivery, as they led Cal-Davis 21-0. DERP. Randy Wright threw for 302 yards for the Aggies, including two key fourth quarter touchdowns, the second with 0:35 remaining to lift Davis to the win.

Saturday:
Southern Utah won the title two weeks ago. Cal Poly sits on the fringes of the board, but an at-large is incredibly unlikely.

Sacramento State (6-4) at Cal-Davis (5-5, 3-1) (non-conference)
North Dakota (3-7, 0-5) at South Dakota State (4-6) (non-conference)
#23 Cal Poly (7-4, 2-2), Southern Utah (6-5, 4-0), and South Dakota (4-7, 1-3) idle (seasons complete)

Big South:
at Coastal Carolina 45, #12 Liberty 31
at Stony Brook 55, Gardner-Webb 3
at Old Dominion 45, VMI 28 (non-conference)
at Charleston Southern 42, Presbyterian 39

Coastal and Liberty did Stony Brook about 77 favors Saturday afternoon, including the biggest one of all as CCU knocked off the Flames. Chanticleer QB Zach McDowell tied his own school record with 382 passing yards. Stony Brook’s Davonte Anderson also did his teammates some favors; four of them, to be precise, as he picked off four passes in the Seawolves’ rout of Gardner-Webb.

Great name alert: Liberty RB SirChauncey Holloway.

Saturday:
Well, that made things interesting. If Stony Brook wins, they win the conference title outright, and claim the autobid. If Liberty wins, they’ll share the title with Stony Brook, and they’d claim the autobid with a Coastal loss. If Liberty and Coastal both win, it’s a three-way tie. The relevant tiebreaker would be points allowed in conference games. Currently, Stony Brook has allowed 54, Coastal 106, and Liberty 109. (Liberty and Coastal lighting one another up was precisely the outcome I’d mentioned Stony Brook was looking for last week.) In short, if we have a three-way tie, Stony Brook’s going to claim the autobid unless they lose by 56 or give up 53 more points to Liberty than Coastal gives up to Charleston Southern.

Only Liberty has any chance to make it in as an at-large, but they can only pull it off if Stony Brook or Coastal wins the automatic bid via the three-way tie. A Stony Brook win Saturday will absolutely terminate Liberty’s chances.

Stony Brook (6-4, 5-0) at #21 Liberty (7-3, 4-1)
Charleston Southern (3-7, 1-4) at Coastal Carolina (5-5, 4-1)
VMI (3-7, 2-3) at Gardner-Webb (3-7, 1-4)
Davidson (3-7) at Presbyterian (1-9, 1-5) (non-conference)

Ivy:
at #18 Penn 34, Harvard 14
at Yale 14, Princeton 13
Brown 35, at Dartmouth 28
at Columbia 20, Cornell 17

Dartmouth’s Shawn Abuhoff recorded his third punt-return TD of the year, trailing only Oregon’s Cliff Harris among all Division I players.

Princeton’s defense was stout, only allowing Yale to reach the end zone once. It was the 57-yard fumble return by Geoff Dunham that gave Yale a 7-0 lead which they would never relinquish, as the Elis defense was equally stingy on the afternoon.

Saturday:
Penn won a share of the title by knocking off Harvard. They’ll win the title outright with a win or a Yale loss. If neither of those two things happen, they’ll share the crown. Naturally, this is completely irrelevant to the playoff picture.

The title implications place the Ivy’s focus for the weekend exactly where most people would argue it belongs: Yale vs. Harvard. Live on Versus, noon Eastern.

#16 Penn (8-1, 6-0) at Cornell (2-7, 1-5)
Yale (7-2, 5-1) at Harvard (6-3, 4-2)
Columbia (4-5, 2-4) at Brown (5-4, 4-2)
Dartmouth (5-4, 2-4) at Princeton (1-8, 0-6)

Pioneer:
at #22 Jacksonville 31, Campbell 24
Dayton 41, at Marist 34 (2OT)
at Drake 10, Butler 7
at Morehead State 37, Valparaiso 15
San Diego 29, at Davidson 15

The co-leaders had to sweat hard to finalize their claims to the conference championship. Steve Valentino hit Luke Bellman in the end zone on the first play of the second overtime, leading Dayton to a thrilling double-overtime win over Marist to clinch their share of the PFL title. Over in Jacksonville, Campbell did their best to ruin the Dolphins’ title hopes, but came up short.

San Diego DE Mario Kurn had 3.5 sacks on the day, bringing his season total to an FCS-leading 17. The Toreros held Davidson to -10 yards rushing on the day.

Saturday:
And so it ends; Jacksonville and Dayton share the conference title. We’ll see if the committee deems one (or both) worthy of an at-large bid to the playoffs, but if even one of them makes it, it would be the first time the PFL scored an at-large. They’re a notch below the primary suspects for at-large bids due to strength of schedule, making it a long shot. That said, if four or five of the teams most clearly on the fence manage to lose Saturday, I think at least Jacksonville’s in.

Davidson (3-7, 3-5) at Presbyterian (1-9) (non-conference)
Campbell (3-7, 2-5) at Morehead State (4-6, 3-4)
Marist (3-7, 2-6) at Georgetown (3-7) (non-conference)
#20 Jacksonville (10-1, 8-0), #24 Dayton (10-1, 8-0), Drake (7-4, 6-2), San Diego (5-6, 5-3), Butler (4-7, 2-6), and Valparaiso (0-11, 0-8) idle (seasons complete)

Southwestern:
at Texas Southern 41, #20 Grambling State 34 (OT, Thursday)
Alabama State 21, at Southern 19
at Prairie View A&M 35, Alcorn State 27
Jackson State 52, at Arkansas-Pine Bluff 30
Alabama A&M 21, at Mississippi Valley State 7

Alabama State had to stuff a two-point conversion attempt with 16 seconds to go in order to avoid overtime and knock off Southern. Southern had taken possession at their own 14 with only 1:49 to go, and driven downfield for the score.

Wild ending at Prairie View. Alcorn took a 27-23 lead with 3:30 to go when Brandon Bridge hit Jacque Caldwell for a 35-yard TD pass. After a very quick pair of possession changes, Prairie View took over on their own 22 with 1:06 to go. With only four seconds left, KJ Black threw a 35-yard TD pass to Shaun Stephens to put Prairie View back on top. To add insult to injury, Alcorn fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Yvarian Richardson scooped it up and added another score.

Saturday:
Great game in Houston Thursday night. The result: Texas Southern wins the West if they beat UAPB or Grambling loses to Southern in the Bayou Classic on November 27.

In the east, Alcorn screwed the pooch, and the end result is that Alabama State clinched their first division title since 2005, despite my mistaken statement last week that nobody could do so this week. I’ll try and do better.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-5, 4-3) at Texas Southern (7-3, 7-1)
Jackson State (7-3, 5-3) at Alcorn State (5-5, 4-4)
Prairie View A&M (6-4, 5-3) at Alabama A&M (3-7, 2-6)
Mississippi Valley State (0-10, 0-9) idle (season complete)
Thanksgiving:
Tuskegee (8-2, D-II) at Alabama State (7-3, 6-3) (non-conference)
Saturday, November 27:
#25 Grambling State (8-3, 7-1) at Southern (2-8, 1-7)

Northeast:
at Bryant 27, #25 Robert Morris 21
Central Connecticut State 49, at Monmouth 48 (2OT)
at Albany 24, Wagner 14
at Duquesne 41, St. Francis (PA) 17
Sacred Heart idle

Lawton Arnold keyed Central Connecticut’s win. After Monmouth scored to make it 21-21, the defensive end returned a short kickoff 70 yards to retake the lead. Later in the game, with Monmouth leading by six, Arnold blocked a 24-yard field goal attempt, setting the stage for Central to come back and tie the game in regulation.

Bryant staged a mild upset, knocking off conference champion Robert Morris. Bryant has never lost a conference game to a Pennsylvania school.

Saturday:
Robert Morris celebrated their conference title by deciding to make sure they get a horrible seed, losing to Bryant. Nobody here is at risk of getting a phone call Sunday, not even if CCSU and/or Bryant wins to go to 8-3.

St. Francis (PA) (1-9, 1-6) at Central Connecticut State (7-3, 6-1)
Wagner (5-5, 3-4) at Sacred Heart (3-7, 1-6)
Duquesne (6-4, 4-3) at Bryant (7-3, 4-3)
Monmouth (3-7, 3-4) at Albany (5-5, 3-4)
Robert Morris (8-2, 7-1) idle (season complete)

Patriot:
Lehigh 24, at Georgetown 7
Colgate 31, at Bucknell 7
Holy Cross 37, at Lafayette 27
Fordham idle

Colgate thumped Bucknell, but they left points on the field three separate times as Bison junior Josh Eden blocked three extra point attempts.

Saturday:
Lehigh clinched the conference title outright with their win at Georgetown, making the storied Lehigh-Lafayette game a matter of nothing but pride. Likewise, there’s no at-large candidate here.

#22 Lehigh (8-2, 4-0) at Lafayette (2-8, 1-3)
Colgate (6-4, 3-2) at Fordham (5-5, n/a) (not a conference game)
Marist (3-7) at Georgetown (3-7, 2-3) (non-conference)
Bucknell (1-9, 1-3) at Holy Cross (5-5, 2-2)

Independent:
at South Alabama 31, Arkansas-Monticello 14 (Thursday)

Saturday:
Heck of a first season for the Jaguars. We’ll see how they do next season when they’re “officially” members of FCS.

South Alabama (10-0) idle (season complete)