Everything’s gone haywire and topsy-turvy, helping to make me look like an idiot. Only 16 undefeated teams remain in FCS, and that’s because three of them didn’t play last week. Leading the mighty CAA after two weeks of play is… what? TOWSON? Check it out after the jump.
A note: trying to present the scores and standings is a pretty heavy burden; to be blunt, it turns this into a full-time job. (Compiling them isn’t so bad, but formatting them and making them not look like crap is another story.) If you think they’re necessary, then let me know; I’m willing to go back to trying to figure out an aesthetically-pleasing method of doing it if I know I have a readership that relies on it. But for now, I’ll just direct you to The Sports Network, where you can pull up schedules and standings for each team (although you’ll have to pull up the Independents pages for the teams I’ve conveniently grouped with their future/former conferences).
BIG SKY:
After a fairly impressive opening week, the Big Sky did a collective faceplant on Saturday, at least outside of Montana, where #6 Montana State and #15 Montana coasted to home wins over Cal-Davis and Cal Poly-SLO, respectively. #12 Sacramento State, fresh off an upset of FBS Oregon State, got manhandled by Southern Utah 35-14, and #1 Eastern Washington got slapped down on the road by South Dakota 30-17, precipitating their fall to #10 in this week’s poll. Other than the Montanans, the only wins on the ledger this week came at the expense of D-II teams, and all of a sudden the Big Sky relinquishes the power conference slot back to the CAA.
It was fun for a week, though. I guess.
This week: 1505 ET: #10 EASTERN WASHINGTON (0-0, 0-2) at #12 MONTANA (0-0, 1-1) 1535 ET: Minot State (0-3; D-II) at #5 MONTANA STATE (0-0, 1-1) 1800 ET: NORTHERN COLORADO (0-0, 0-2) at IDAHO STATE (0-0, 1-1) 2005 ET: NORTHERN ARIZONA (0-0, 1-1) at PORTLAND STATE (0-0, 1-0) 2005 ET: #20 SACRAMENTO STATE (0-0, 1-1) at WEBER STATE (0-0, 0-2)
After the last two weeks, I’ll be damned if I can make heads or tails of what’s going to happen this weekend. The only team so far that hasn’t exposed a mass of festering warts is Portland State, but they haven’t played anyone yet. #10 Eastern Washington at #12 Montana, in addition to being the best game of the week in terms of “ranked teams meeting”, is the potential last gasp of the Eagles; they simply cannot sustain an 0-3 start and remain relevant. Equally critical now is the Sacramento/Weber game; Sacramento has to rebound or they’re in deep trouble with their FCS record; Weber’s losses have both been to FBS teams, but you still don’t want to start 0-3.
BIG SOUTH:
This was not a bad weekend at all for the Big South. Its four losses came to FBS teams and to #5 William & Mary. Sure, the three wins (including #24 Liberty’s 38-7 glide over Robert Morris) weren’t anything to get overly celebratory over, but the bottom line is they won the games they were supposed to. For advanced FBS trolling maneuver purposes, note that Charleston Southern allowed both Central Florida and Florida State to hang 62 on them… but Central Florida shut them out, while Florida State gave up ten points.
This week: 1300 ET: CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (0-0, 0-2) at Jacksonville (0-2) 1300 ET: COASTAL CAROLINA (0-0, 2-0) at Georgia (0-2; FBS) 1730 ET: PRESBYTERIAN (0-0, 1-1) at California (2-0; FBS) 1800 ET: Brown (0-0) at STONY BROOK (0-0, 0-2) 1800 ET: VIRGINIA MILITARY (0-0, 0-2) at #6 Richmond (2-0) 1830 ET: GARDNER-WEBB (0-0, 1-1) at Wake Forest (1-1; FBS) 1900 ET: #13 James Madison (1-1) at #22 LIBERTY (0-0, 1-1)
Charleston Southern continues their three week long Florida road trip. They probably won’t beat Jacksonville, but I think it’s likely they won’t get beat by 60 this time. Stony Brook may have acquired the proper preparation to handle dark horse Ivy contender Brown in Brown’s season opener. Everyone else, sadly, is probably in for a beatdown. (And the question must be asked: why in hell is Presbyterian even scheduling a road game on the west coast?)
Colonial:
A decent bounce-back week for the CAA. #5 William & Mary handled VMI 24-7, #8 Delaware topped D-II West Chester 28-17, #9 Richmond dispatched Wagner 21-6, and #19 James Madison ground out a 14-3 victory over Central Connecticut State. #13 New Hampshire came out on top in an overtime tussle with the team right below them in the rankings, beating #14 Lehigh 48-41. The only non-conference losses were both thrilling near-upsets of Big East teams, as Rhode Island fell 21-14 to Syracuse and Maine lost 35-29 to Pittsburgh.
The big story, of course, is at the top of the CAA standings, where we find the word “Towson”, which frightens and confuses us. The Tigers flat-out crotch-kicked #20 Villanova (31-10), and now have to be taken seriously as a potential threat. Are they going to win the conference? I’m not ready to go that far yet, as Villanova proved to my satisfaction last week that they’re not a very good team. But never mind that; let’s just give the perennial bottom-dwellers a well-deserved round of applause and see where their season takes them from here.
This week: 1530 ET: GEORGIA STATE (1-1) at #17 Jacksonville State (1-1) 1530 ET: Monmouth (NJ) (0-1) at VILLANOVA (0-1, 0-2) 1800 ET: Delaware State (2-0) at #7 DELAWARE (0-0, 1-1) 1800 ET: MAINE (0-0, 1-1) at Albany (0-1) 1800 ET: Hampton (2-0) at OLD DOMINION (0-0, 2-0) 1800 ET: Virginia Military (0-2) at #6 RICHMOND (0-0, 2-0) 1830 ET: RHODE ISLAND (0-0, 0-1) at #21 MASSACHUSETTS (0-0, 1-0) 1900 ET: #13 JAMES MADISON (0-0, 1-1) at #22 Liberty (1-1) 1900 ET: New Haven (2-0; D-II) at #4 WILLIAM & MARY (0-0, 1-1) IDLE: #11 NEW HAMPSHIRE (0-0, 1-1) IDLE: TOWSON (1-0, 2-0)
The era of good feelings outside of Baltimore will continue one more week, as Towson doesn’t play Saturday. Chance of a good tussle in Hampton Roads as unbeatens Old Dominion and Hampton tangle. Richmond should extend to 3-0 easily, William & Mary and Delaware are locks, and Villanova ought to stanch the bleeding. Maine will be favored, though they could experience a surprise; James Madison will be contending with a ranked Liberty team they’re probably better than. Georgia State will be an underdog to the Gamecocks, and I would like to say UMass will handle Rhode Island, but after the Rams’ loss to Syracuse I’m no longer sure.
GREAT WEST:
Three games went as expected; two decidedly did not. Southern Utah’s 35-14 manhandling of the Sac State team that knocked off Oregon State was a surprise. South Dakota’s 30-17 win over #1 Eastern Washington, on the other hand, can only be described as stunning, and it vaulted the Coyotes into the poll at #24. (Southern Utah just missed, leading the pack of “others receiving votes”.)
This week: 1700 ET: Northwestern Oklahoma State (0-2; NAIA) at #24 SOUTH DAKOTA (0-0, 1-1) 1905 ET: South Dakota State (1-1) at CAL POLY-SLO (0-0, 0-2) 2000 ET: Texas-San Antonio (1-1) at SOUTHERN UTAH (0-0, 1-1) 2100 ET: San Diego (2-0) at CAL-DAVIS (0-0, 0-2) 2200 ET: NORTH DAKOTA (0-0, 1-1) at Fresno State (0-2; FBS)
South Dakota and Southern Utah should be in decent shape to win again this week. North Dakota won’t, as they travel to face an angry Fresno State team. Cal Poly is probably in trouble; Cal-Davis and San Diego is too nebulous to call, but San Diego has looked good against iffy competition while Davis hasn’t looked good period.
IVY:
The Ivy League will finally get underway this weekend:
This week: 1200 ET: Georgetown (2-0) at YALE 1300 ET: COLUMBIA at Fordham (0-1) 1300 ET: HARVARD at Holy Cross (1-1) 1330 ET: Colgate (1-1) at DARTMOUTH 1800 ET: BROWN at Stony Brook (0-2) 1800 ET: Bucknell (2-0) at CORNELL 1800 ET: Lafayette (0-2) at PENNSYLVANIA 1800 ET: #16 Lehigh (1-1) at PRINCETON
The Ivies visit or entertain the entire Patriot League (plus Stony Brook), and with the exception of Cornell (facing a Bucknell team that’s looking good) and perhaps Princeton (against ranked Lehigh) should all open with wins. Harvard cannot afford to sleep on Holy Cross, however, as the Crusaders gave UMass a fight in week one.
MID-EASTERN:
Out of conference, nothing strange happened at all. Well, except for Norfolk State embarrassing West Virginia for a half before Dana Holgorson unleashed the Viking hordes on the hapless Spartans and drove them into the sea, 55-12. In-conference, Hampton’s 23-17 win over FAMU wasn’t surprising, but #25 Bethune-Cookman’s 26-18 loss to South Carolina State was (mildly). SC State simply took over BCC’s spot at the tail of the poll.
This week: 1300 ET: NORFOLK STATE (0-0, 1-1) at HOWARD (0-0, 1-1) 1300 ET: Robert Morris (PA) (0-2) at MORGAN STATE (0-0, 0-2) 1500 ET: #25 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE (1-0, 1-1) at Indiana (0-2; FBS) 1800 ET: DELAWARE STATE (0-0, 2-0) at #7 Delaware (1-1) 1800 ET: HAMPTON (1-0, 2-0) at Old Dominion (2-0) 1800 ET: Elon (1-1) at NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL (0-0, 1-1) 1800 ET: SAVANNAH STATE (0-0, 0-2) at #3 Appalachian State (1-1) 1900 ET: FLORIDA A&M (0-1, 1-1) at South Florida (2-0) IDLE: BETHUNE-COOKMAN (0-1, 1-1) IDLE: NORTH CAROLINA A&T (0-0, 1-1)
Delaware State, FAMU and Savannah are going to get trucked. NC Central’s got a rough weekend ahead, and South Carolina State as well (although it IS Indiana, so an upset might be in the offing). Morgan State might get off the carpet. Hampton is capable of winning this weekend based solely on performance thus far, but I wouldn’t lay any scratch on them. As for the week’s only conference game, flip a coin.
MISSOURI VALLEY:
Three categories of teams in the Valley this week: teams that played and lost to FBS opponents (including #17 Southern Illinois’ 42-24 loss to Ole Miss), teams that beat FCS non-conference opponents (#11 North Dakota State over Saint Francis (PA), 56-3), and Missouri State. The Bears lost by four to a team that led Kansas State 7-3 until the closing minutes a week past, so they may have simply lost a close game to a pretty good team. We just don’t know yet. The big win, however, was #4 Northern Iowa’s 34-23 win over #16 Stephen F. Austin.
This week: 1530 ET: MISSOURI STATE (0-0, 0-2) at Oregon (1-1; FBS) 1600 ET: ILLINOIS STATE (0-0, 1-1) at YOUNGSTOWN STATE (0-0, 1-1) 1900 ET: INDIANA STATE (0-0, 1-1) at Western Kentucky (0-2; FBS) 1900 ET: WESTERN ILLINOIS (0-0, 1-1) at Missouri (1-1; FBS) 1905 ET: SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (0-0, 1-1) at Cal Poly-SLO (1-1) IDLE: #8 NORTH DAKOTA STATE (0-0, 2-0) IDLE: #2 NORTHERN IOWA (0-0, 1-1) IDLE: #15 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (0-0, 1-1)
It’s not going to be all that exciting in the Valley this week, as the pre-season’s consensus three best teams are sitting at home, and three others are playing up against FBS competition. (Indiana State has a chance, though.) The conference game between Illinois State and Youngstown State will be curious; was Youngstown’s offensive explosion last week merely victimization of a bad team, or did they click? Lastly, SD State should handle Cal Poly.
NORTHEAST:
Yeah. Bryant struggled some but handled a D-II team I predicted might give them trouble, scoring a 27-16 win over American International. Duquesne took down Dayton 22-13 (and with them, the PFL’s reasonable hopes for a playoff berth, and here it’s only week two). Everyone else who played lost, and none of them looked remotely decent.
This week: 1200 ET: Valparaiso (0-2) at DUQUESNE (0-0, 1-1) 1300 ET: CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE (0-0, 1-1) at WAGNER (1-0, 1-1) 1300 ET: ROBERT MORRIS (PA) (0-0, 0-2) at Morgan State (0-2) 1300 ET: Morehead State (1-1) at SAINT FRANCIS (PA) (0-1, 0-2) 1530 ET: MONMOUTH (NJ) (0-0, 0-1) at Villanova (0-2) 1800 ET: Maine (1-1) at ALBANY (0-0, 0-1) 1900 ET: BRYANT (0-0, 1-1) at SACRED HEART (0-0, 0-1)
It’s a good thing there’s two conference games this week. Duquesne will win, and Robert Morris has a good shot; the rest of the non-conference games are going to be losses. Wagner is probably going to relinquish their hold on the conference lead, while Bryant/Sacred Heart is a toss-up.
OHIO VALLEY:
You never would have convinced me that the entire OVC would be carrying a loss already, but here we are. Murray State was impressive-ish in beating down Mississippi Valley State 39-0, and Eastern Kentucky may actually be up to something after their 28-24 win over Missouri State. But #10 Jacksonville State is looking to be a disappointment, following a one-point win over UT-Martin with a 38-17 loss to Chattanooga and a drop of seven places in the poll. They still lead the conference here in the early going, though, so that’s something.
This week: THURSDAY: 1900 ET: Union (KY) (1-1; NAIA) at TENNESSEE-MARTIN (0-1, 0-1) SATURDAY: 1200 ET: SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE (0-1, 0-1) at Purdue (1-1; FBS) 1530 ET: Georgia State (1-1) at #17 JACKSONVILLE STATE (1-0, 1-1) 1800 ET: #14 Tennessee-Chattanooga (1-1) at EASTERN KENTUCKY (0-0, 1-1) 1900 ET: AUSTIN PEAY (0-0, 0-1) at Memphis (0-2; FBS) 1900 ET: TENNESSEE STATE (0-0, 1-1) at MURRAY STATE (0-0, 1-1) 1930 ET: TENNESSEE TECH (0-0, 1-1) at EASTERN ILLINOIS (0-0, 1-1)
Martin, Jax, and — yes — Austin Peay should win this week. (Memphis really is that bad.) The two conference games are either-or propositions, while EKU is probably going to lose. SEMO definitely will.
PATRIOT:
#14 Lehigh can’t be faulted for a 48-41 OT loss to #13 New Hampshire (and indeed, the loss only cost them two places in the new poll). Bucknell remained unbeaten with a 28-14 win over Marist; surprisingly, so does Georgetown, taking down Lafayette 14-13.
This week: 1200 ET: GEORGETOWN (1-0, 2-0) at Yale (0-0) 1300 ET: Columbia (0-0) at FORDHAM (0-1) 1300 ET: Harvard (0-0) at HOLY CROSS (1-0, 1-1) 1330 ET: COLGATE (0-1, 1-1) at Darmouth (0-0) 1800 ET: BUCKNELL (0-0, 2-0) at Cornell (0-0) 1800 ET: LAFAYETTE (0-1, 0-2) at Pennsylvania (0-0) 1800 ET: #16 LEHIGH (0-0, 1-1) at Princeton (0-0)
It’s Ivy-Patriot week; see the Ivy writeup.
PIONEER:
Not a single win against another FCS team this week, and that’s all there really is to say. I believe, though I cannot be 100% certain, that no PFL team can now receive an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, which in practice means nobody’s going to get one (unless San Diego goes unbeaten, in which case they might merit an at-large). Of note, Campbell thrashed Apprentice 76-0; on the other side of the coin, Valparaiso was totally molested by Youngstown State, trailing 63-0 at the half on the way to a 77-13 loss.
This week: 1200 ET: VALPARAISO (0-0, 0-2) at Duquesne (1-1) 1300 ET: BUTLER (0-0, 1-1) at Taylor (2-0; NAIA) 1300 ET: MARIST (0-0, 1-1) at DAYTON (0-0, 1-1) 1300 ET: Charleston Southern (0-2) at JACKSONVILLE (0-0, 0-2) 1300 ET: MOREHEAD STATE (0-0, 1-1) at Saint Francis (PA) 1900 ET: Missouri S&T (1-1; D-II) at DRAKE (0-0, 1-1) 2100 ET: SAN DIEGO (0-0, 2-0) at Cal-Davis (0-2) IDLE: CAMPBELL (0-0, 1-1) IDLE: DAVIDSON (0-0, 1-1)
Next week won’t be so bad. Morehead, Butler, Drake and Jacksonville should come away with wins, and San Diego’s got a decent shot. Marist and Dayton will fire the opening salvo of the conference slate, and I’m not altogether sure who to favor in this one.
SOUTHERN:
The two most interesting results were #23 Chattanooga’s 38-17 win over #10 Jacksonville State and #7 Wofford’s 35-27 loss to Clemson, which qualifies as the hated moral victory. #3 Appalachian State pounded North Carolina A&T 58-6, and #2 Georgia Southern laid claim to the top spot in this week’s poll by trashing D-II Tusculum 62-21. Furman, with a 16-6 win over The Citadel, grabbed a share of the early conference lead.
This week: 1800 ET: Savannah State (0-2) at #3 APPALACHIAN STATE (0-0, 1-1) 1800 ET: #14 TENNESSEE-CHATTANOOGA (0-0, 1-1) at Eastern Kentucky (1-1) 1800 ET: ELON (0-0, 1-1) at North Carolina Central (1-1) IDLE: CITADEL (0-1, 1-1) IDLE: FURMAN (1-0, 1-1) IDLE: #1 GEORGIA SOUTHERN (1-0, 2-0) IDLE: SAMFORD (0-1, 1-1) IDLE: WESTERN CAROLINA (0-0, 1-1) IDLE: #9 WOFFORD (0-0, 1-1)
Two-thirds of the conference will be off this week, and two of the three teams playing should have no issues whatsoever. Chattanooga-EKU, however, could be interesting.
SOUTHLAND:
The only win this week for the Southland was Southeastern Louisiana’s 63-6 romp over Savannah State. #16 Stephen F. Austin fell at home to #4 Northern Iowa, 34-23, while three conference teams (and one departing member) all lost on the road to FBS squads, including #18 Central Arkansas losing a heartbreaker in overtime to Louisiana Tech, 48-42. UCA’s loss resulted in them holding their position in the poll. Most embarrassing, perhaps? D-II McMurry, who was shellacked last week by Stephen F. Austin, turned around and defeated Texas-San Antonio 24-21.
This week: 1900 ET: #18 CENTRAL ARKANSAS (0-0, 1-1) at SAM HOUSTON STATE (0-0, 1-0) 1900 ET: NICHOLLS STATE (0-0, 1-1) at Louisiana-Lafayette (1-1; FBS) 1900 ET: SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (0-0, 1-1) at Southern Mississippi (1-1; FBS) 1900 ET: #19 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN (0-0, 1-1) at Baylor (1-0; FBS) 1900 ET: Tarleton State (0-2; D-II) at TEXAS STATE (0-2) 2000 ET: Incarnate Word (1-1; D-II) at LAMAR (0-0, 1-1) 2000 ET: Sioux Falls (0-2; D-II) at #23 McNEESE STATE (0-0, 0-1) 2000 ET: NORTHWESTERN STATE (0-0, 0-1) at Southern Methodist (1-1; FBS) 2000 ET: TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO (1-1) at Southern Utah (1-1)
This week’s schedule falls neatly into four distinct groups: expected wins over lower-level competition (Texas State, Lamar, McNeese), expected losses to FBS teams (Nicholls, SE Louisiana, SF Austin, Northwestern State), a probable non-conference loss within FCS (UTSA), and the marquee game of the week as UCA visits Sam Houston in the conference opener. Tough call there, but UCA probably has the edge.
SOUTHWESTERN:
The west rolled the east last week, taking both three cross-divisional games, while there was a fun 37-34 shootout which saw Prairie View knock off Texas Southern in a West Division tilt.
This week: 1700 ET: MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE (0-1, 0-2) at ALCORN STATE (0-2, 0-2) 1900 ET: Tuskegee (0-1; D-II) at ALABAMA A&M (0-1, 0-2) 1900 ET: ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF (1-0, 1-1) at PRAIRIE VIEW A&M (1-0, 1-1) 1900 ET: JACKSON STATE (0-0, 2-0) at SOUTHERN (1-0, 1-1) 1900 ET: Texas College (0-3; NAIA) at TEXAS SOUTHERN (0-1, 0-1) 2000 ET: GRAMBLING STATE (1-0, 1-1) at ALABAMA STATE (1-0, 1-1)
Alabama A&M and Texas Southern should win step-down games; in-conference, all four games are matchups between relatively equal teams, so there’s no predicting what will happen. This is the SWAC, after all.
INDEPENDENT:
South Alabama moves up to 19-0 with a 30-8 rolling of Lamar, and now the question is whether than can make it 20 on the road at 1800 ET against a pretty bad North Carolina State team in the Jaguars’ first-ever shot at an FBS opponent. If they do, an unbeaten season is not out of the question (although next week, they go FBS again against Kent State).