Those Other Guys

Non-Division I for the Division I Fan

NAIA: Week 6 Recap/Week 7 Preview.

Oct 14

Posted by Jon Morse in Division News and Notes, NAIA | Comments off

One team can clinch their conference title this week, although that title no longer carries with it an automatic bid to the NAIA playoffs. An NAIA coaching legend notched career win #250, and a couple of undefeateds were upset as the season tips into its second half.

Five games entirely within the top 25 this week, plus another big game involving a top-5 team facing a pesky foe:

#2 Marian (IN) at #6 Saint Francis (IN)
#21 Rocky Mountain at #3 Carroll (MT)
#4 Missouri Valley at #9 Benedictine (KS)
#5 Georgetown (KY) at 4-2 Pikeville
#15 Southern Nazarene vs #7 MidAmerica Nazarene (at Cessna Field, Wichita KS)
#8 Morningside at #13 Dakota Wesleyan

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D-III: Week 6 Recap/Week 7 Preview.

Oct 13

Posted by Jon Morse in Division III, Division News and Notes | 1 Comment

I don’t have anything really exciting to lead with this week, so let’s just get right down to business. This week’s games to watch:

#2 Mount Union at 4-1 Heidelberg
#14 Delaware Valley at 4-2 Albright
#18 Salisbury at #23 Alfred
4-0 Centre at #24 Birmingham-Southern
4-2 McMurry at 4-1 Texas Lutheran
6-0 Endicott at 4-2 Plymouth State
4-2 Emory & Henry at 5-1 Hampden-Sydney
5-1 Washington & Lee at 5-1 Randolph-Macon
5-1 Huntingdon at 5-0 Trinity (TX)
5-1 Westminster (MO) at 5-0 Saint Scholastica

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D-II: Week 6 Recap/Week 7 Preview.

Oct 12

Posted by Jon Morse in Division II, Division News and Notes | Comments off

Last week’s chaos did not extend to this week, and what carnage there was in the poll took place either at the hands of higher-ranked teams or down at the bottom of the ladder… with one notable exception.

There will be carnage this week, though; several massive games this week, including the nation’s second 1v2 matchup of the fall, and we have our first potential title-clinching game of the season:

#2 Delta State at #1 North Alabama
#11 Colorado State-Pueblo at #4 Nebraska-Kearney
#6 Wayne State (MI) at 4-2 Ashland
#17 West Texas A&M at #10 Abilene Christian
#22 West Alabama at #12 Valdosta State
#13 Winston-Salem State at 1-5 Livingstone (WSSU clinches CIAA South with a win)
#14 California (PA) at 5-1 Slippery Rock
5-1 Fairmont State at #21 West Virginia Wesleyan
4-2 American International at #18 New Haven

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FCS: Week 6 Recap/Week 7 Preview.

Oct 12

Posted by Jon Morse in Division News and Notes, FCS | Comments off

#1 survived a serious scare in a week where most of the top 25 action went as expected. The FCS record for career blocked extra points fell, and a program’s founder reached a coaching milestone. And for the first time ever, an FCS/I-AA team played a game without attempting a single pass. All that and more after the break, but first:

It’s a slowish week this week, with only a handful of key games on the radar including a clash between the division leaders in the SWAC:

#6 New Hampshire at #16 William & Mary
#17 Towson at #18 Old Dominion
4-2 Prairie View A&M at #24 Alabama State
4-2 Bucknell at 3-1 Harvard
5-1 Drake at 5-1 San Diego

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NAIA: Week 5 Recap/Week 6 Preview.

Oct 7

Posted by Jon Morse in Division News and Notes, NAIA | Comments off

Big games last week were of course headed up by the #1 vs #2 matchup between conference-mates Saint Xavier and Saint Francis (IN). Xavier prevailed, and the new #2 is also an MSFA member, Marian (IN). This week, there’s a relative dearth of hot matchups in the NAIA:

3-1 Taylor at #2 Marian
#4 William Penn at #15 Saint Francis (IL)
#13 Doane at #9 Morningside
#25 Cumberland (TN) at #22 Shorter

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D-III: Week 5 Recap/Week 6 Preview.

Oct 6

Posted by Jon Morse in Division III, Division News and Notes | Comments off

Two top ten teams stumble, while a team returns to the top ten after knocking off a scholarship FCS team? Say WHAT?

There’s only one game matching up two top-25 teams this week, but there are a lot of other important contests as well:

#3 Saint Thomas (MN) at 4-0 Augsburg
#15 Cortland State at #11 Montclair State
2-2 Washington (MO) at #12 Wabash
#14 Wittenberg at 4-1 Huntingdon
#20 Wartburg at 5-0 Dubuque
3-1 Springfield at #22 Salisbury
3-1 Heidelberg at 4-0 Muskingum
4-1 Randolph-Macon at 3-1 Catholic
4-1 Washington & Lee at 4-1 Emory & Henry
3-1 Bridgewater at 4-1 Hampden & Sydney

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D-II: Week 5 Recap/Week 6 Preview.

Oct 5

Posted by Jon Morse in Division II, Division News and Notes | Comments off

Who lost? Oh, #1, #3, #4, and #12 for good measure, shaking up the entire top half of the poll.

Only one game this week matches teams in the top 25, but several other ranked teams face major tests against dangerous foes:

#7 Northwest Missouri State at #19 Central Missouri
4-1 Colorado Mines at #11 Colorado State-Pueblo
#13 Valdosta State at 3-1 Ouachita Baptist
#14 Shepherd at 5-0 West Virginia Wesleyan
4-1 Minnesota State-Mankato at #17 Saint Cloud State
#21 New Haven at 4-1 Southern Connecticut State
4-1 Slippery Rock at #25 Edinboro

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FCS: Week 5 Recap/Week 6 Preview.

Oct 4

Posted by Jon Morse in Division News and Notes, FCS | Comments off

The CAA takes over the poll, and this week we’ve got 7 games with two top-25 opponents facing one another (and that’s with three ranked teams idle).

Big doings:
#24 Tennessee-Chattanooga at #1 Georgia Southern
#17 Indiana State at #2 Northern Iowa
#3 Montana State at 3-1 Portland State
#4 North Dakota State at #20 Southern Illinois
#19 Maine at #7 James Madison
#9 William & Mary at #13 Delaware
#10 Lehigh at 4-1 Bucknell
#14 Richmond at #25 Towson
#22 Southern Utah at #18 South Dakota

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Comparing the Divisions on the Field.

Sep 30

Posted by Jon Morse in Analysis, Division II, Division III, FBS (aka I Couldn't Help Myself), FCS, NAIA | Comments off

Since we’re actually (gasp) caught up, and I got all four previews up before a single game had been played at any level this week (oh, my), I actually have time to tinker with ideas.  So today, I thought I’d take a peek at the differences between the divisions on paper.  I’m using the Massey Ratings for this, since Richard includes every team down through the NAIA, and has a formula separate from the one he provides to the BCS in which he does include margin of victory.

Naturally, there’s not really anything surprising here.  I will argue as to the aesthetic superiority of the lower divisions in certain respects until I’m blue in the face, but none of those respects includes “quality of play”.  Mostly, this is just a fun look at how things compare both on average and on the margins.
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NAIA: Week 4 Recap/Week 5 Preview.

Sep 29

Posted by Jon Morse in Division News and Notes, NAIA | Comments off

The truly important news is on the very next line, in bold, among the games of the week:

#1 Saint Xavier at #2 Saint Francis (IN)
#22 Montana State-Northern at #4 Carroll (MT)
#11 Southern Nazarene at 3-1 SW Assemblies
#25 Evangel at #12 Benedictine (KS)
#14 Midland at #17 Doane
3-1 Pikeville at #19 Campbellsville

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