Brian McLaughlin’s Week 8 Five-Minute Recap

What a wacky FCS weekend we just observed a few days ago.

I’ve had Montana State at No. 1 for several weeks now and haven’t budged and felt the results of this weekend helped solidify that. I know a majority of the voters believe that last year’s national champions (South Dakota State) should stay atop the poll until an FCS team knocks them off – sort of like playing hoops with the make-it-take it dealio.

Well, NDSU (my No. 2 for more than a month) beat two-time national champion SDSU (No. 3 on my ballot for more than a month) … and it was close, and it was in Fargo, and it reinforces what my ballot has been saying for several weeks. 

And none of this is going to change a damned thing about how I look at the FCS picture now that we’re about a month away from setting the FCS seeding picture pre-Turkey Day. 

After that? It gets really interesting, as Villanova and Mercer looked very human this past weekend – which is common with the CAA and SoCon and why they don’t creep into my Top Four realm very often. These programs are strong but rarely look like national title caliber.

Aside from that, here are some of the FCS highlights of the Week 8 schedule.

THE HEADLINE

Sure, NDSU’s narrow win over SDSU is big – but let’s face it, again, this isn’t going to change the postseason path for these two Dakota powers. They’ll be fine deep into December.

The shocks were what unranked Maine did to highly-ranked Villanova. I mean, it wasn’t even close … by 28 points. Maine didn’t exactly have a signature win coming in, but the Bears are historically tough and just caught the typically strong Wildcats by the scruff on a key date. Sheesh.

To be honest? The CAA was a tad bit crazy overall, starting with that “upset” … or was it an upset? The CAA looks once again like a league that is going to eat its own, kind of like the SoCon usually does – but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Rhody’s win over New Hampshire puts Rhody in a position it hasn’t been in for many years – but the other question is, will the Rams capitalize on it or falter like they have several times in the past when they’ve reached this pinnacle in the latter half of October? The win over UNH makes it look like Rhody will capitalize. It was impressive. Stony Brook, William & Mary, and Richmond also had big wins – and the big question right now is this? Outside of the MVFC and Big Sky, does anyone have a chance to do anything big – like make the national semifinals?

As mentioned above, the other big question is the Southern Conference. Mercer was undefeated, but not anymore. And it wasn’t pretty. Samford hammered the Bears in Alabama, which seems like a common case in this crazy, balanced league. And now Mercer has to face a Western Carolina team that’s putting up points in bonkers style.

The Catamounts set all kinds of offensive records down in Greenville, S.C. when they faced off against bitter rival Furman. Chattanooga also looked stout in a blowout home win over one of the better Wofford teams in years.

I think we’re beginning to see an upper crust develop in one of the top FCS conferences that undoubtedly will get at least two at-large teams in the playoffs – if not three – behind the automatic berth bid that goes to the SoCon champions. Which again – who is that champion going to be?

I mention the CAA and SoCon above because I think they are pivotal in the overall FCS picture. But both look like they’ll beat each other up – and may lose an at-large playoff berth because of it. Right now? I think you’d need to be at the 8-win mark to guarantee a postseason berth out of these conferences, while the Big Sky and MVFC look pretty good with 7 wins as a cutline.

TALKING POINTS

**The UAC continues to look like either the No. 3 or at worst the No. 4 league in the FCS, even though it’s relatively new. Tarleton State hasn’t lost a game since August (P4 Baylor), and has fought off some good competition in McNeese, North Alabama, and Houston Christian. Abilene Christian has also impressed, as has Central Arkansas. It turns out this league is pretty darned good and will be something to be reckoned with a month from now. This could be the league that could most take advantage of what you read above about the SoCon and CAA.

**In the Ivy League, Dartmouth has been the one school that has survived to 5-0, but is hardly the clearcut, rock-solid leader of the conference. Harvard and Columbia are both 4-1 and have three-point losses so far, with Harvard’s being against Brown and Columbia’s being against Georgetown out of the Patriot League. The next five weeks will tell us a ton about this league but don’t just rest your opinion on Dartmouth. It’s too early for that.

**The HBCU picture got at least a tad bit clearer when we saw Jackson State handle Florida A&M by 14 and Southern deal with rival Alcorn State by 10. That begins to focus the picture of the two SWAC divisions a bit. We are still wondering what happens in the MEAC, but North Carolina Central is 5-2 and looks to be the team to beat so far with a month remaining in 2024.

POLL EFFECT

I can’t lie, I made several changes within the Top 10 after the Villanova and Mercer losses. It took some serious debate. That’ll be the focus of my poll vote piece coming out this week and pinned to the top of my Twitter account (@BrianMacWriter).

FINAL THOUGHTS

Things are certainly cranking up within the FCS ranks, and this weekend will make it even crazier – as anyone who has followed the FCS knows. Check back Sunday at the top of my Twitter account (@BrianMacWriter) about what the most profound changes took place nationally.