A couple of teams forged upsets, several more came up just short, and one team laid a very embarrassing egg. Scores and notes beyond the jump.
BIG SKY:
Obviously the big winner on the day was #24 Sacramento State, who allowed the Pac-12’s Beavers to erase a 21-6 deficit in the fourth quarter before righting the ship and prevailing in overtime, which led to a jump all the way to #12 in the new poll. Eastern Washington and Weber State have plenty to be proud of, taking their FBS opponents to the wire, while Montana State has nothing to be ashamed of either.
Northern Colorado, on the other hand, fell to a Lindenwood team in the final year of their transition from the NAIA to Division II, which can also be read as “Northern Colorado lost to a team that’s not even a D-II team yet.” That’s got to hurt.
None of this, however, should be a surprise. Sacramento lost three conference games last year by a total of 10 points, and although EWU is clearly the class of the league, Sac State is in the discussion. There’s little separating the top five teams in this conference, and the four exceptional performances this weekend were turned in by four of those top five teams. The important thing is that Sac State has made an early claim to a potential at-large bid to the playoffs should they come up short in the chase for the league title. It would be welcome; they haven’t sniffed the post-season since the 1980s, and that was in D-II.
Portland State 0-0 0 0 1-0 52 0 12 Sacramento State 0-0 0 0 1-0 29 28 1 Eastern Washington 0-0 0 0 0-1 27 30 Idaho State 0-0 0 0 0-1 21 64 15 Montana 0-0 0 0 0-1 16 42 6 Montana State 0-0 0 0 0-1 10 27 Northern Arizona 0-0 0 0 0-1 10 41 Northern Colorado 0-0 0 0 0-1 20 22 Weber State 0-0 0 0 0-1 32 35 This week: 1400 ET: NORTHERN COLORADO at Colorado State (1-0; FBS) 1505 ET: Cal Poly-SLO (0-1) at MONTANA 1505 ET: Cal-Davis (0-1) at MONTANA STATE 1505 ET: SACRAMENTO STATE at Southern Utah (0-1) 1705 ET: EASTERN WASHINGTON at South Dakota (0-1) 1705 ET: Fort Lewis (1-0; D-II) at NORTHERN ARIZONA 1800 ET: Western State (0-1; D-II) at IDAHO STATE 2000 ET: WEBER STATE at Utah State (0-1; FBS) IDLE: PORTLAND STATE
Next week, Big Sky action will center around cross-conference matches with the Great West. Northern Colorado will probably get curbstomped if last week is any indication. Given Weber’s valiant effort against Wyoming (over 500 yards of offense, kids) and Utah State’s thrilling defense-free loss to Auburn, the Weber/USU game should be of particular interest even to the casual observer.
BIG SOUTH:
The best result on the day was probably Coastal’s win over a generally decent Furman squad, although special recognition must be given to Stony Brook’s near-upset of UTEP. Presbyterian did well against a tough Wofford unit, and Liberty can’t be too upset over their loss to NC State. The only real cringe-worthy result was Charleston Southern’s loss to UCF, but then UCF is a decent FBS team, and Charleston’s simply not very good anyway. We’ll have to wait and see whether VMI’s loss was bad or just disappointing, but Delaware State hasn’t had a decent program for three years now.
In terms of pre-season expectations, the only real surprise of week one was Presbyterian’s performance against Wofford. Presby was the consensus pick to finish last in the conference, but given their performance and Charleston Southern’s incompetence I think we can already discard that notion. A close battle against the #8 team in the country bodes well for a more optimistic season for the Blue Hose. Keep an eye on them.
Coastal Carolina 0-0 0 0 1-0 30 23 Gardner-Webb 0-0 0 0 1-0 34 17 Charleston Southern 0-0 0 0 0-1 0 62 24 Liberty 0-0 0 0 0-1 21 43 Presbyterian 0-0 0 0 0-1 28 35 Stony Brook 0-0 0 0 0-1 24 31 Virginia Military 0-0 0 0 0-1 21 24 This week: 1330 ET: North Greenville (1-0; D-II) at PRESBYTERIAN 1330 ET: William & Mary (0-1) at VIRGINIA MILITARY 1800 ET: CHARLESTON SOUTHERN at Florida State (1-0; FBS) 1800 ET: Catawba (0-1; D-II) at COASTAL CAROLINA 1800 ET: STONY BROOK at Buffalo (0-1; FBS) 1900 ET: GARDNER-WEBB at Ohio (1-0; FBS) 1900 ET: Robert Morris (PA) (0-1) at LIBERTY
The only things I’m willing to say for certain here are that Coastal’s going to go to 2-0 and that after last week a Stony Brook win over Buffalo may not even be an upset. Charleston Southern may still not have scored a point by the time we next discuss them; if UCF smashed them around that badly, certainly it’s going to be even worse visiting Tallahassee. We’ll see what Presbyterian’s really all about, as North Greenville is a potent D-II squad; a close game may dash our early optimism, while a solid butt-spanking will alter our perceptions even more.
Colonial:
This was not the typical opening-week gala fiesta party we’ve come to expect from the CAA. William & Mary, James Madison, New Hampshire, and Villanova were humiliated rather than threatening or even knocking off mediocre FBS competition. Richmond did beat Duke, but let’s be honest: who wasn’t expecting that to begin with? Massachusetts struggled with a Holy Cross team they should have manhandled, and while Maine handled Bryant with relative ease, it was still closer than one might have hoped for.
The only teams that did what they were supposed to do were brand-new member Old Dominion and not-quite-yet member Georgia State. (Towson didn’t do what they were supposed to; Towson had no business throttling Morgan State in such convincing fashion. They’re officially your team to watch; not that they have any chance of winning the CAA, but it’ll be fun to see if they can actually stay out of the cellar.) There’s no real reason for anyone to panic just yet; nobody in the conference has lost to an FCS team yet, after all. But it was not an impressive opening weekend by any stretch of the imagination.
Maine 0-0 0 0 1-0 28 13 21 Massachusetts 0-0 0 0 1-0 24 16 Old Dominion 0-0 0 0 1-0 41 14 9 Richmond 0-0 0 0 1-0 23 21 Towson 0-0 0 0 1-0 42 3 Rhode Island 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0 8 Delaware 0-0 0 0 0-1 17 40 19 James Madison 0-0 0 0 0-1 10 42 13 New Hampshire 0-0 0 0 0-1 22 58 20 Villanova 0-0 0 0 0-1 7 42 5 William & Mary 0-0 0 0 0-1 3 40 Georgia State --- - - 1-1 17 40 This week: 1200 ET: OLD DOMINION at GEORGIA STATE 1230 ET: NEW HAMPSHIRE at Lehigh (1-0) 1300 ET: MAINE at Pittsburgh (1-0; FBS) 1330 ET: WILLIAM & MARY at Virginia Military (0-1) 1630 ET: RHODE ISLAND at Syracuse (1-0; FBS) 1800 ET: West Chester (0-1; D-II) at DELAWARE 1800 ET: Central Connecticut State (1-0) at JAMES MADISON 1800 ET: Wagner (1-0) at RICHMOND 1900 ET: VILLANOVA at TOWSON IDLE: MASSACHUSETTS
If there’s one game that’s truly interesting this week, it’s Old Dominion and Georgia State. It, of course, is not a conference game yet, but it will be a quick check on the relative progress of the two new programs. Towson/Villanova will also be curious, as both teams performed pretty much at the opposite ends of the spectrum last week, both compared to one another and compared to expectations. A close game (or even, heaven forfend, a Towson win) will cause a serious reconsideration of the way this year’s CAA race is going to shake out. New Hampshire should also be on alert, as Lehigh is no pushover; outside of those games, next weekend should play out as expected.
GREAT WEST:
At first glance, not a great start to the season. At second glance, Southern Utah and South Dakota’s losses are more impressive than North Dakota’s win, and Cal Poly didn’t really do badly either. Southern Utah’s still the favorite after the first lap.
North Dakota 0-0 0 0 1-0 16 0 Cal-Davis 0-0 0 0 0-1 14 48 Cal Poly-SLO 0-0 0 0 0-1 21 49 South Dakota 0-0 0 0 0-1 20 37 Southern Utah 0-0 0 0 0-1 28 29 This week: 1305 ET: CAL-DAVIS at Montana State (0-1) 1305 ET: CAL POLY-SLO at Montana (0-1) 1305 ET: Sacramento State (1-0) at SOUTHERN UTAH 1700 ET: NORTH DAKOTA at Idaho (0-1; FBS) 1705 ET: Eastern Washington (0-1) at SOUTH DAKOTA
Except for North Dakota, everyone will be facing Big Sky competition this weekend. That could be bad, as they’re facing the upper rung of that conference. North Dakota is almost certainly going to join the rest of the conference in already having a loss as they travel to Moscow to face the Vandals.
IVY:
None of the teams in the Ivy League begin play until September 17. As usual, Harvard and Penn will be the favorites, but in an exceptionally experienced league — all eight teams return last year’s starting quarterbacks — everyone outside of New York appears to have a legitimate shot this year.
MID-EASTERN:
An examination of the pre-season predictions would indicate that there was only one surprise outcome last weekend, that being Morgan State’s obliteration at the hands of the CAA’s resident bottom-dwellers from Towson. Bethune-Cookman showed why they’re the favorites; SC State, Florida A&M, and Hampton didn’t do anything to embarrass themselves.
25 Bethune-Cookman 0-0 0 0 1-0 63 14 Delaware State 0-0 0 0 1-0 24 21 Florida A&M 0-0 0 0 1-0 28 22 Hampton 0-0 0 0 1-0 21 20 Norfolk State 0-0 0 0 1-0 37 3 North Carolina A&T 0-0 0 0 1-0 38 7 Howard 0-0 0 0 0-1 9 41 Morgan State 0-0 0 0 0-1 3 42 N Carolina Central 0-0 0 0 0-1 0 48 Savannah State 0-0 0 0 0-1 34 37 South Carolina St 0-0 0 0 0-1 6 21 This week: THURSDAY 1930 ET: FLORIDA A&M at HAMPTON SATURDAY 1200 ET: Central State (OH) (0-1; D-II) at NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 1300 ET: NORFOLK STATE at West Virginia (1-0; FBS) 1530 ET: Morehouse (1-0; D-II) at HOWARD 1530 ET: NORTH CAROLINA A&T at Appalachian State (0-1) 1600 ET: SOUTH CAROLINA STATE at BETHUNE-COOKMAN 1800 ET: Shaw (0-1; D-II) at DELAWARE STATE 1900 ET: MORGAN STATE at Bowling Green (1-0; FBS) 2000 ET: SAVANNAH STATE at Southeastern Louisiana (0-1)
Interestingly, the MEAC race will immediately get some separation this weekend, as the expected top four teams will be pairing up. The winners of those two games will already be in decent position going forward. The remainder of the schedule consists of games whose results should be fairly obvious if one presumes SE Louisiana will handle Savannah State.
MISSOURI VALLEY:
An iffy week for the Valley. Its ranked teams did take care of business in FCS games, and Northern Iowa almost pulled the curtains down on Iowa State. South Dakota State escaped with what will probably be viewed later in the year as a solid win over Southern Utah, but aside from these examples things went awry.
11 North Dakota State 0-0 0 0 1-0 42 6 South Dakota State 0-0 0 0 1-0 29 28 17 Southern Illinois 0-0 0 0 1-0 38 10 Illinois State 0-0 0 0 0-1 26 33 Indiana State 0-0 0 0 0-1 7 41 Missouri State 0-0 0 0 0-1 7 51 4 Northern Iowa 0-0 0 0 0-1 19 20 Western Illinois 0-0 0 0 0-1 6 20 Youngstown State 0-0 0 0 0-1 6 28 This week: 1200 ET: SOUTH DAKOTA STATE at Illinois (1-0; FBS) 1400 ET: Jacksonville (0-1) at WESTERN ILLINOIS 1405 ET: Butler (1-0) at INDIANA STATE 1600 ET: Valparaiso (0-1) at YOUNGSTOWN STATE 1800 ET: SOUTHERN ILLINOIS at Mississippi (0-1; FBS) 1800 ET: MISSOURI STATE at Eastern Kentucky (0-1) 1900 ET: Saint Francis (PA) (0-1) at NORTH DAKOTA STATE 1900 ET: NORTHERN IOWA at Stephen F. Austin (1-0) 1930 ET: Morehead State (1-0) at ILLINOIS STATE
By next Sunday, North Dakota State will probably be the only remaining unbeaten team in the Valley, but Mississippi’s always good for a potential upset. Illinois might be too, given their head coach. Everyone else has a decent chance to win Saturday, but Northern Iowa has a tough task ahead of them with Stephen F. Austin looming.
NORTHEAST:
On a week in which the conference had no worries about losing to any FBS teams, it can be taken as a very, very bad sign that the league’s only win over an FCS team was also a loss TO an FCS team (i.e., the conference meeting between Wagner and Saint Francis). Central Connecticut State remains the favorite, and Albany and Duquesne didn’t damage their outlook any despite losses. Judging the Robert Morris loss to Dayton is difficult until we see what sort of team Dayton really is this year, but Dayton’s matchup with Duquesne this weekend will answer more than one question. For the moment, though, Wagner’s all alone in first place.
Wagner 1-0 38 28 1-0 38 28 C. Connecticut St. 0-0 0 0 1-0 35 21 Albany 0-0 0 0 0-1 34 37 Bryant 0-0 0 0 0-1 13 28 Duquesne 0-0 0 0 0-1 26 27 Monmouth (NJ) 0-0 0 0 0-1 24 49 Robert Morris (PA) 0-0 0 0 0-1 13 19 Sacred Heart 0-0 0 0 0-1 7 20 Saint Francis (PA) 0-1 28 38 0-1 28 38 This week: 1300 ET: BRYANT at American International (1-0; D-II) 1300 ET: DUQUESNE at Dayton (1-0) 1800 ET: CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE at James Madison (0-1) 1800 ET: WAGNER at Richmond (1-0) 1900 ET: ROBERT MORRIS (PA) at Liberty (0-1) 1900 ET: SAINT FRANCIS (PA) at North Dakota State (1-0) IDLE: ALBANY, MONMOUTH (NJ), SACRED HEART
I have to be honest: I do not foresee a pleasant Saturday for the NEC. I would expect every single one of the five teams playing FCS opponents to lose (a function of who they’re playing, not so much who they ARE), and Bryant’s got a bad D-II matchup too. Anyone that actually wins this week has to be in the discussion for the league title.
OHIO VALLEY:
It wasn’t a bad week for the OVC; the league probably takes second place behind the Big Sky in the “Reasons for Optimism” rankings. Two teams had very competitive losses to FBS teams, and two others tucked good FCS wins into the filing cabinet. The only team that had a tangibly disappointing result was last year’s co-champion Southeast Missouri State, who were completely overmatched by Southern Illinois. (Austin Peay got gobsmacked by Cincinnati, but… well, it’s Austin Peay.)
The most important piece of information here, however, is Tennessee-Martin’s performance against Jacksonville State. Don’t write the Skyhawks off yet.
10 Jacksonville State 1-0 24 23 1-0 24 23 Eastern Illinois 0-0 0 0 1-0 33 26 Tennessee State 0-0 0 0 1-0 33 7 Austin Peay 0-0 0 0 0-1 10 72 Eastern Kentucky 0-0 0 0 0-1 7 10 Murray State 0-0 0 0 0-1 9 21 Samford 0-0 0 0 0-1 17 31 SE Missouri State 0-0 0 0 0-1 10 38 Tennessee Tech 0-0 0 0 0-1 7 34 Tennessee-Martin 0-1 23 24 0-1 23 24 This week: THURSDAY: 2000 ET: TENNESSEE TECH at Maryville (TN) (0-1; D-III) SATURDAY: 1530 ET: EASTERN ILLINOIS at Northwestern (1-0; FBS) 1700 ET: MURRAY STATE at Mississippi Valley State (0-1) 1800 ET: Missouri State (0-1) at EASTERN KENTUCKY 1800 ET: JACKSONVILLE STATE at Tennessee-Chattanooga (0-1) 1900 ET: TENNESSEE STATE at Jackson State (1-0) IDLE: AUSTIN PEAY, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE, TENNESSEE-MARTIN
I don’t see any surprises waiting to happen here. The most interesting game this week is probably Missouri State and Eastern Kentucky, and I think the Colonels should be favored here based on their respective performances against FBS competition last week; MSU got throttled by Arkansas while EKU very nearly beat Kansas State. Arkansas is a lot better than Kansas State, but it takes a lot more to nearly beat a bad FBS team than it does to avoid being housed by a good one.
PATRIOT:
Lehigh’s not screwing around, anyway. Colgate got a nice OT win over Albany. Bucknell handled what may or may not be a decent Duquesne team thanks to DT Josh Eden. Last season, Eden blocked two field goals and six PATs; the margin of victory in Bucknell’s victory was thanks to Eden again, as he blocked the PAT on Duquesne’s first TD. Eden is in a virtual death match with SMU DE Margus Hunt for the title of NCAA’s best kick-blocker. We’ll be paying attention to this through the season, because it’s silly and we’re like that.
Bucknell 0-0 0 0 1-0 27 26 Colgate 0-0 0 0 1-0 37 34 Georgetown 0-0 0 0 1-0 40 16 14 Lehigh 0-0 0 0 1-0 49 24 Holy Cross 0-0 0 0 0-1 16 24 Lafayette 0-0 0 0 0-1 6 42 Fordham --- 0 0 0-1 3 35 This week: 1700 ET: New Hampshire (0-1) at LEHIGH 1300 ET: COLGATE at HOLY CROSS 1800 ET: Marist (1-0) at BUCKNELL 1800 ET: LAFAYETTE at GEORGETOWN IDLE: FORDHAM
A reminder; Fordham is ineligible for the conference title because they’ve started offering football scholarships, and the rest of the league is trying to decide whether to follow suit. Conference play gets underway, and the Colgate/Holy Cross matchup could be interesting. Lehigh gets a shot at a New Hampshire team that looked pretty bad last week; admittedly, it was a loss to an FBS team, but then again that team was Toledo. Bucknell/Marist may be a close game as well, and a Bucknell win will make the Patriot race even more interesting.
PIONEER:
This is the only conference where you can already start eliminating teams from playoff contention by Labor Day. One week into the season, and it looks like the PFL’s playoff hopes now rest squarely on the shoulders of Dayton and Marist. Because of the rules that govern the PFL’s eligibility for an auto-bid, half the teams in the conference are already eliminated either due to not playing enough D-I games to begin with, or due to having already lost and thus preventing themselves from earning enough D-I wins. Jacksonville, 10-1 last year and still left out, probably shot themselves in the foot by getting hammered by The Citadel.
Butler 0-0 0 0 1-0 31 17 Dayton 0-0 0 0 1-0 19 13 Marist 0-0 0 0 1-0 20 7 Morehead State 0-0 0 0 1-0 67 0 San Diego 0-0 0 0 1-0 42 40 Campbell 0-0 0 0 0-1 14 41 Davidson 0-0 0 0 0-1 16 40 Drake 0-0 0 0 0-1 0 16 Jacksonville 0-0 0 0 0-1 9 31 Valparaiso 0-0 0 0 0-1 35 49 This week: 1300 ET: Apprentice (0-1; n/a) at CAMPBELL 1300 ET: Duquesne (0-1) at DAYTON 1405 ET: BUTLER at Indiana State (0-1) 1400 ET: JACKSONVILLE at Western Illinois (0-1) 1630 ET: VALPARAISO at Youngstown State (0-1) 1800 ET: MARIST at Bucknell (1-0) 1900 ET: Lenoir-Rhyne (1-0; D-II) at DAVIDSON 1900 ET: Grand View (1-1; NAIA) at DRAKE 1930 ET: MOREHEAD STATE at Illinois State (0-1) 2100 ET: Western New Mexico (1-0; D-II) at SAN DIEGO
It’s not going to be easy for Dayton and Marist to keep their records clean this week, but it’s doable. Jacksonville has to recover from last week’s loss, and WIU may be the ticket. The most interesting question may be what Morehead will do in Normal.
SOUTHERN:
Woof. The FBS losses were expected, and Citadel’s win was nice, but… Furman absorbed an unexpected loss and Wofford did not look good against a team picked to finish dead last in the Big South. Even Georgia Southern has to be somewhat disappointed, as they were clearly better than two-touchdown favorites over Samford. The important thing now is how the SoCon regroups.
Citadel 0-0 0 0 1-0 31 9 2 Georgia Southern 0-0 0 0 1-0 31 17 7 Wofford 0-0 0 0 1-0 35 28 3 Appalachian State 0-0 0 0 0-1 13 66 Elon 0-0 0 0 0-1 14 45 Furman 0-0 0 0 0-1 23 30 23 Tenn-Chattanooga 0-0 0 0 0-1 7 40 Western Carolina 0-0 0 0 0-1 21 63 This week: 1530 ET: North Carolina A&T (1-0) at APPALACHIAN STATE 1530 ET: WOFFORD at Clemson (1-0; FBS) 1800 ET: Jacksonville State (1-0) at TENNESSEE-CHATTANOOGA 1800 ET: FURMAN at CITADEL 1800 ET: Tusculum (1-0; D-II) at GEORGIA SOUTHERN 1800 ET: Mars Hill (1-0; D-II) at WESTERN CAROLINA 1900 ET: Concord (0-1; D-II) at ELON 1900 ET: Stillman (1-0; D-II) at SAMFORD
Everyone except Wofford has a decent chance of correcting any issues this week, although a Citadel win over Furman is going to cause a wholesale reappraisal of the SoCon race, as Citadel was expected to be in a fight for last place and a 2-0 start would belie that.
SOUTHLAND:
On the surface, it was a good weekend for the Southland, but… Northwestern State nearly got knocked off by a D-II team. Admittedly, it’s the defending national runners-up, but come on. Stephen F. Austin freight-trained McMurry, but McMurry is in its first year transitioning from D-II to D-III, which means whatever players they do have on scholarship are mostly freshmen. Lamar and Nicholls crushed… NAIA teams. It wasn’t a BAD week by any stretch of the imagination; it just wasn’t as good as it looks at first blush.
18 Central Arkansas 0-0 0 0 1-0 38 14 Lamar 0-0 0 0 1-0 58 0 Nicholls State 0-0 0 0 1-0 42 0 Northwestern State 0-0 0 0 1-0 24 23 Sam Houston State 0-0 0 0 1-0 20 6 16 Stephen F. Austin 0-0 0 0 1-0 82 6 22 McNeese State 0-0 0 0 0-1 24 42 SE Louisiana 0-0 0 0 0-1 33 47 Texas-San Antonio --- - - 1-0 31 3 Texas State --- - - 0-1 10 50 This week: 1700 ET: LAMAR at South Alabama (1-0) 1900 ET: CENTRAL ARKANSAS at Louisiana Tech (0-1; FBS) 1900 ET: NICHOLLS STATE at Western Michigan (0-1; FBS) 1900 ET: Northern Iowa (0-1) at STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 2000 ET: NORTHWESTERN STATE at Louisiana State (1-0; FBS) 2000 ET: Savannah State (0-1) at SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA IDLE: McNEESE STATE
Lamar/South Alabama could be interesting, although USA’s probably going to remain forever-and-0. We’ll see just how good SFA is this week. Everyone else is probably going to eat a loss (especially Northwestern State).
SOUTHWESTERN:
The teams expected to contend won; the rest didn’t. However, Prairie View’s beatdown in Orlando has to be of concern, since they were expected to finish in the middle of the West Division.
EAST DIVISION Alabama State 1-0 41 9 1-0 41 9 Jackson State 0-0 0 0 1-0 42 2 Alabama A&M 0-0 0 0 0-1 20 21 Alcorn State 0-1 14 21 0-1 14 21 Miss. Valley State 0-1 9 41 0-1 9 41 WEST DIVISION Grambling State 1-0 21 14 1-0 21 14 Texas Southern 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0-0 0 0 0-1 12 19 Prairie View A&M 0-0 0 0 0-1 14 63 Southern 0-0 0 0 0-1 7 33 This week: 1300 ET: ALABAMA STATE at Eastern Michigan (0-1; FBS) 1700 ET: Murray State (0-1) at MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 1900 ET: ALABAMA A&M at SOUTHERN 1900 ET: ALCORN STATE at ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 1900 ET: GRAMBLING STATE at Louisiana-Monroe (0-1; FBS) 1900 ET: Tennessee State (1-0) at JACKSON STATE 2000 ET: PRAIRIE VIEW A&M at TEXAS SOUTHERN
All the teams that didn’t play conference games last weekend do so this weekend, and Texas Southern takes the field for the first time. PVA&M and Texas Southern will be a key game that sets up the rest of the West Division race.
INDEPENDENT:
South Alabama is still undefeated. That may end as they travel to Lamar (1-0) at 1700 ET Saturday; if not, it’s almost certainly going to end the following week against North Carolina State.