{"id":8,"date":"2010-10-13T05:14:44","date_gmt":"2010-10-13T05:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/?p=8"},"modified":"2010-10-13T05:14:44","modified_gmt":"2010-10-13T05:14:44","slug":"division-i-fcs-week-seven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/2010\/10\/13\/division-i-fcs-week-seven\/","title":{"rendered":"Division I FCS: Week Seven."},"content":{"rendered":"

The first half of the 2010 season has seen some brilliance on the part of the reduced-scholarship D-I crowd.\u00a0 We all know what James Madison did to Virginia Tech, and that was just the pinnacle.<\/p>\n

But, as much as these FCS-over-FBS wins are nice and all, that’s not what we’re here to discuss.\u00a0 This being the first post, I’m going to give a rundown of relative conference strength among the FCS conferences.<\/p>\n

I’m going to rank the conferences based on their total votes in the Sports Network\/Fathead Top 25 poll, as that seems the most sensible way to give everyone an idea what’s what.\u00a0 This is more robust than a similar exercise would be for FBS, as there are a LOT more teams receiving votes in the FCS poll than in the FBS poll; this week, seven unranked teams are receiving votes in the FBS AP poll, whereas a whopping thirty-five<\/strong> unranked FCS teams are receiving votes.\u00a0 (Also, the FCS poll has 146 voters, while the AP poll only has 60.\u00a0 Which, of course, is probably why<\/em> there are so many extra teams receiving votes, yes?)<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Colonial (.354)<\/li>\n
  2. Southern (.140)<\/li>\n
  3. Big Sky (.140)<\/li>\n
  4. Ohio Valley (.091)<\/li>\n
  5. Southland (.071)<\/li>\n
  6. Missouri Valley (.070)<\/li>\n
  7. Mid-Eastern (.061)<\/li>\n
  8. Great West (.038)<\/li>\n
  9. Big South (.017)<\/li>\n
  10. Ivy (.007)<\/li>\n
  11. Pioneer (.005)<\/li>\n
  12. Southwestern (.004)<\/li>\n
  13. Patriot (.001)<\/li>\n
  14. Northeast (.001)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Colonial, to be horribly blunt, is what the SEC wishes it was.\u00a0 In terms of overall excellence and depth, there’s simply no comparison between the CAA and the rest of FCS; they have five teams in the top ten (actually, five teams in the top eight<\/strong>).\u00a0 Of course, some may question 3-2 Villanova’s presence at #6, but their losses have been legitimate.<\/p>\n

    The SoCon and Big Sky are literally in a dead heat, with both conferences gaining a total of 6625 votes in the poll.\u00a0 I give the SoCon the #2 spot because it’s deeper in the lower end and has more teams actually in<\/em> the top 25, but these two conferences are as even as it gets.\u00a0 Plus, the SoCon does have the #1 team in the land, Appalachian State.\u00a0 The Big Sky’s highest-ranked team is #8 Montana State.<\/p>\n

    The next tier, as you can see, is 4-7.\u00a0 The OVC is where it is because of two highly-ranked teams and a team just outside the top 25; the Southland and Valley are where they are because most of the teams in both leagues are getting some semblance of voter support in the poll.\u00a0 The Valley probably deserves to be higher; their primary problem this year is they’re beating the crap out of one another.\u00a0 You can look at the difference between the OVC and the other two sort of the same way you can look at the Mountain West, I suppose, and you wouldn’t be wrong; the bottom end of the OVC, just like the MWC, is pretty weak.\u00a0 The top end can play with anyone.\u00a0 Our #7 conference, the MEAC, is having a respectable year; in most years, they’d probably still rank #7, but not be quite so close to the tier overall.<\/p>\n

    The Great West is next, but that league is a transitional holding ground for the most part.\u00a0 It’s losing at least one team next year (South Dakota, to the Valley), and North Dakota might<\/em> escape, although they’ll probably have to stick around through 2011.\u00a0 Below that, the Big South is (a) not very good and (b) very small, in terms of number of teams.<\/p>\n

    After those two, you have the non-scholly or limited-scholly leagues.\u00a0 For reasons which should be patently obvious, they’re not going to be as competitive, and as a result it’s really hard to rank them.\u00a0 I would suggest that perhaps the Ivy league is better than it looks based on this, but without trying to segregate the 65-scholarship conferences from the rest, you get a situation where the performance of the rest is affected by too much noise.<\/p>\n

    There’s one exception, however: the SWAC is just as bad at football as they are at basketball.\u00a0 I really hate having to say it, but it’s true; it’s an endemic problem with many of the HBCU leagues, and it’s a direct result of finances more than anything else.\u00a0 If the HBCUs were better supported overall<\/em>, they’d probably put up more of a fight on the field.<\/p>\n

    So, that’s a (somewhat) brief outline of the relative strengths of the conferences.\u00a0 In the future, when I go through and do a weekly conference recap, I’ll do them in that basic order.\u00a0 Before I do that this week, however, allow me to direct you to this week’s top 25.<\/a><\/p>\n

    Okay?\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 State of the Conferences, which will be briefer this week than in future weeks since I’ve already taken up several hundred words to get here:<\/p>\n

    Colonial<\/strong>: Delaware and UMass sit in the driver’s seat at the moment.\u00a0 William and Mary and Towson have the week off; all four remaining games involve at least one team in the top 25.\u00a0 The two highest-ranked teams, #2 Delaware and #6 Villanova, get relative cupcake games against, respectively, Rhode Island and Maine.\u00a0 The other two games should be tons of fun: #16 New Hampshire visits #7 James Madison, and #20 Richmond travels to #8 UMass.<\/p>\n

    Things to know: Rhode Island is apparently contemplating a move to the Northeast Conference.\u00a0 We’ll keep an eye on that.\u00a0 Also, remember that the Big East has “requested” that Villanova consider upgrading their program to FBS.<\/p>\n

    Southern<\/strong>:\u00a0 Top-ranked Appalachian State and #14 Wofford still haven’t lost in-conference.\u00a0 This week, they get The Citadel and Western Carolina, at home, which should pose no problems.\u00a0 #21 Georgia Southern travels to Chattanooga, where they should actually be underdogs.\u00a0 Furman visits Sanford in the remaining game.<\/p>\n

    Things to know: Georgia Southern and Appalachian State are both considering a move to FBS.<\/p>\n

    Big Sky<\/strong>:\u00a0 No, #11 Montana is not in control of this conference this year.\u00a0 Their loss on the red turf at #12 Eastern Washington has left #8 Montana State in sole possession of first place.\u00a0 All three teams are on the road this week, with State visiting Northern Arizona, Montana facing Portland State, and EWU trekking all the way to Greeley, Colorado to take on the UNC Bears.\u00a0 The remaining game involves Weber State visiting hapless Idaho State.<\/p>\n

    Thing to know: Montana, of course, is now the direct target of WAC expansion.<\/p>\n

    Ohio Valley<\/strong>: Undefeated, #3 Jacksonville State is not<\/em> actually in first place in the OVC.\u00a0 That honor falls to #18 Southeast Missouri State, who despite a 5-1 overall record are a half-game up on the Gamecocks in the win column in conference play.\u00a0 SEMO visits Austin Peay in a winnable contest, while Tennessee State visits JvSU.\u00a0 In other games, Eastern Kentucky visits Tenn-Martin, and Tennessee Tech entertains Eastern Illinois.<\/p>\n

    Things to know: Nothing special.<\/p>\n

    Southland<\/strong>: Conference play is barely started here, so there’s still a three-way tie at 1-0 atop the standings.\u00a0 SE Louisiana visits Sam Houston State, Texas State should ring up a win hosting Nicholls State, and #5 Stephen F. Austin hosts Central Arkansas.\u00a0 Oh, and McNeese State will go collect a paycheck and a loss in Baton Rouge Saturday.\u00a0 Unless the devil decides Les Miles has had enough of his comedy stylings…<\/p>\n

    Things to know: Texas State, which was already planning a move to FBS anyway, is among the WAC targets.<\/p>\n

    Missouri Valley<\/strong>:\u00a0 If you haven’t been paying close attention, this is the league formerly known as the Gateway.\u00a0 You know, the one full of MVC basketball teams, and you couldn’t understand why they didn’t just call themselves the Missouri Valley?\u00a0 Yeah, them.<\/p>\n

    As I noted above, they’ve been beating the crap out of one another; every team in the league has suffered a conference loss already.\u00a0 The two Dakota schools, who you may remember from their thrilling tour to the Southern Great Plains, are both 1-2, which may give you an idea this league’s not too bad.<\/p>\n

    South Dakota State visits #15 Southern Illinois; #15 North Dakota State travels to Illinois State; South Dakota hosts #22 Northern Iowa.\u00a0 Games without unranked teams include Missouri State visiting Indiana State, and Western Illinois hosting Youngstown State.<\/p>\n

    Things to know: South Dakota joins next year.\u00a0 North Dakota will, probably, join later.\u00a0 Once that nasty mascot thing is finally settled once and for all, you know.<\/p>\n

    Mid-Eastern<\/strong>: There are three distinct levels to this conference this season.\u00a0 There are three teams which stink on ice, three which are mediocre, and three which are pretty good.\u00a0 This week, two of those pretty good teams face off as #10 South Carolina State hosts #23 Bethune-Cookman.\u00a0 Unranked Hampton, also 3-0 in conference, hosts cross-river rival Norfolk State.\u00a0 Florida A&M hosts winless Savannah State in a not-quite-yet-conference tilt, while last place in the MEAC is up for grabs as 0-6 North Carolina A&T pays a visit to 0-5 Delaware State.<\/p>\n

    Things to know: Twice in the last few years, a team was either supposed to move from this league to FBS (Florida A&M), or was supposed to move to this league from Division II (Winston-Salem State), only to reverse course due to financial considerations.\u00a0 North Carolina Central did make the move from D-II, and Savannah State is in the process of joining the league (formerly independent).<\/p>\n

    Great West<\/strong>: Not really<\/em> a league, of course.\u00a0 They have no auto-bid, and won’t be getting one anytime soon since teams use the league as a revolving door.\u00a0 Every team in the conference has won at least two games; every team in the conference has lost at least two games.\u00a0 Despite this, one team is ranked.\u00a0 This weekend, #13 Cal Poly-SLO visits Southern Utah, and South Dakota hosts #22 Northern Iowa in a non-conference game…<\/p>\n

    Things to know: …which won’t be next year, as the Coyotes join the Valley.\u00a0 North Dakota, of course, hopes to do the same as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

    Big South<\/strong>: Just started conference play, so nothing’s shaken out yet.\u00a0 #19 Liberty visits VMI, Gardner-Webb visits Charleston Southern, and Coastal Carolina visits winless Presbyterian.\u00a0 Stony Brook travels to 0-5 Lafayette for a non-conference matchup.<\/p>\n

    Things to know: Campbell is rejoining the Big South next year, but will remain in the PFL for football.\u00a0 The conference is actively seeking another football playing member, as well.\u00a0 This year, for the first time, the Big South champion receives an automatic bid to the tournament, having met NCAA criteria for same.<\/p>\n

    Ivy League<\/strong>:\u00a0 Unranked Yale, who hosts Fordham in a non-conference game Saturday, leads the standings by half a game at 2-0.\u00a0 In other non-conference tilts, Harvard hosts Lehigh, Dartmouth entertains Holy Cross, and Cornell welcomes Colgate.\u00a0 Brown visits Princeton, and #25 Penn hosts Columbia to round out the weekend slate.<\/p>\n

    Things to Know: Come on, it’s the Ivy League.\u00a0 Okay… the Ivy League champion technically does get an automatic bid to the playoffs, but traditionally declines.<\/p>\n

    Pioneer<\/strong>:\u00a0 Dayton and Jacksonville sit atop the standings at 3-0.\u00a0 No conference team is ranked; Jacksonville would be #29, and might crack the top 25 next week as they should pick up a win visiting winless Valparaiso.\u00a0 San Diego travels all the way to New York to face Marist, Dayton visits Butler, Drake is on the road at Campbell, and Davidson treks to Morehead State.<\/p>\n

    Things to Know: The PFL does not get an automatic automatic bid.\u00a0 (Under NCAA rules, they technically qualify for one, but they have not petitioned to receive one, which is a required step in order to get one.)\u00a0 However, they do get an automatic at-large bid if a team wins 8 games against D-I teams, 2 games against FCS AQ teams, and is ranked in the top 20 of the poll.<\/p>\n

    Southwestern<\/strong>:\u00a0 No teams are ranked; Grambling would be #30.\u00a0 In the west, Grambling is 4-0, a game up on Texas Southern, who will host the Tigers later in the year in what should probably be the western division title game.\u00a0 Jackson State and Alcorn State, at 2-1 in conference, are a game up on Alabama State.\u00a0 Jackson and Alcorn meet in the regular season finale.\u00a0 This week, action is light; Prairie View hosts D-II Lincoln (MO) in non-conference action, while Alcorn visits Grambling, Jackson hosts Southern (LA), and Alabama A&M travels to Arkansas-Pine Bluff.<\/p>\n

    Things to Know: Like the Ivy League, the SWAC technically receives an automatic bid, but does not participate.\u00a0 This is mostly because before they stopped participating, they had never, not even once, won a playoff game.<\/p>\n

    Northeast<\/strong>: Robert Morris (unranked, would be #36) leads the field at 4-0, a half-game ahead of Central Connecticut State.\u00a0 RMC hosts Albany, while CCSU is idle.\u00a0 Bryant visits Monmouth, Sacred Heart is at Duquesne, and Wagner travels to St. Francis (PA).<\/p>\n

    Things to Know: The NEC is a limited-scholarship league, offering only 40 scholarships at present.\u00a0 This year, it was finally granted an automatic bid with the expansion of the playoffs to 20 teams.<\/p>\n

    Patriot<\/strong>:\u00a0 The Patriot league has only played three conference games, all of which have involved Georgetown (2-1), so there’s no clear favorite in play yet.\u00a0 The only conference game this week also involves the Hoyas, as they host Bucknell in their first league game of the year.\u00a0 Other games involve a tour of the Ivy League with Lehigh at Harvard, Colgate at Cornell, Holy Cross at Dartmouth.\u00a0 Lafayette hosts Stony Brook in the remaining game this week.<\/p>\n

    Things to Know: The Patriot League is a non-scholarship conference, and receives an automatic bid.\u00a0 Fordham is ineligible for the conference title, as they have begun offering football scholarships; however, they continue to play a league schedule (at least through 2012, after which the future is uncertain).<\/p>\n

    Independents<\/strong>:\u00a0 Just like FBS, there are only three independents in FCS.\u00a0 (Technically there are five, but two of those are teams joining the MEAC — North Carolina Central and Savannah State.)\u00a0 All three independents are in the process of joining conferences, as well; Georgia State and Old Dominion to the Colonial, and Lamar to the Southland.\u00a0 This week, Georgia State hosts NC Central, Lamar hosts South Alabama (who will become an FCS independent next year, as they transition toward full FBS and Sun Belt membership), and Old Dominion is idle.<\/p>\n

    Things to Know: Already covered, for the most part.\u00a0 Georgia State, of course, is in their first year of football ever, and have received attention due to their appearance on Alabama’s schedule.<\/p>\n

    And thus ends our initial entry here.\u00a0 Do feel free to comment and offer suggestions, constructive criticism, or even tell me I’m just flat-out wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The first half of the 2010 season has seen some brilliance on the part of the reduced-scholarship D-I crowd.\u00a0 We all know what James Madison did to Virginia Tech, and that was just the pinnacle. But, as much as these FCS-over-FBS wins are nice and all, that’s not what we’re here to discuss.\u00a0 This being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,6],"tags":[41],"class_list":["post-8","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-division-news-and-notes","category-fcs","tag-fcs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p185sV-8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions\/11"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jonfmorse.com\/tog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}