This weekend didn’t really have a ton of drama. Looking back at my Top 25 vote from a week ago, the only real upset was North Dakota’s loss in overtime to Youngstown State – which I’ll admit is a true jaw-dropper. Why? NEC frontrunner Duquesne knocked off YSU earlier this year, but UND fell to the Penguins. Thus is life in the Missouri Valley Football Conference once it gets rolling, right?
Obviously, the game of the week was the two South Dakota powers doing business in Brookings. And true to form, just like UND-YSU? It went to overtime. For a late moment, it looked like the two-time defending national champion Jackrabbits would suffer their second straight tight loss against a top FCS team (NDSU last week) and would drop to three losses overall. But overtime being the coinflip that it is? SDSU prevailed at home. This is certainly a quality win – and the highlight of the weekend.
Aside from that, here are some of the FCS highlights of the Week 9 schedule.
THE HEADLINE
Gang, I know and hear your argument. I heard you on Twitter, but I’m going to answer here because of the limitations of communicating on Twitter.
Fans in the Dakotas are screaming at me because I tweeted that not a damned thing is going to budge in my top four vote: 1) MSU; 2) NDSU; 3) SDSU; 4) USD.
Fans in the Dakotas – like we see with any situation like this – are screaming that Montana State doesn’t have the resume, etc. etc. etc. Well, remember … I’m projecting a couple of things here, and once again – I don’t care who wins it all, I’m only trying to give you a logical take.
The Bobcats are really good. They aren’t at fault for their schedule – the boys play who is put in front of them and so far, they’ve hammered them. Dakota fans want to discredit MSU’s schedule – that’s what fans do, but so far, MSU’s team is perfect, and this team is stout. The Dakota trio isn’t far off, and everyone knows that. But I’ve had MSU No. 1 since Week 2and nothing has changed. I think they have an outstanding quarterback in Tommy Mellott, a stout line, and just an overall great roster – and I’m saying that for the umpteenth time. So, people keep asking me why I have that ballot order – that is why I have that order.
When it comes to NDSU? Hey – the Bison are No. 2 on my ballot – which translates to home-field advantage through to Frisco. Why is this a disadvantage when most likely? You’re going to have to deal with SDSU or South Dakota in the semifinals anyway, just like Montana State (if everything holds up as it looks).
TALKING POINTS
**FCS Nation – I hate to continue to beat the glass-half-full drum for the teams outside of the Big Sky and MVFC, but this needs to be said when it comes to who really has a chance at the national title. The UAC had three of my top-tier teams in the poll ballot last week, but these three can’t move up – I’m sorry. The same goes for the Big South-OVC situation and the Southland dealio. The results against unrankable teams just weren’t that good, maybe with UIW’s win over SE Louisiana being the exception.
The SoCon straightened up a bit with Mercer beating a dangerous Western Carolina team, but last week’s blowout loss to Samford makes one wonder a bit about Mercer in a “national elite” situation. The Bears are certainly a nationally ranked team, but a potential top-tier seed? We just need to see more, and the SoCon always does this in the final weeks. Seriously.
**Sheesh, the CAA is too big, right? All four conference teams that were on my ballot last week won though. It’s hard for me to differentiate between Villanova’s win and Rhody’s win in terms of which one meant more for their program. Rhody hasn’t been in this situation very often heading into November. Villanova is in a good position pretty much every year in recent memory, but last week’s blowout loss at Maine was made a tad uglier when Rhody took care of the Bears of Orono. Overall, though, these two programs and Stony Brook and Richmond need key wins down the stretch to be relevant – or they’ll be early playoff fodder for the top two FCS conferences already mentioned prominently above.
**Harvard and Dartmouth have ascended to the top of the Ivy League, and they’ll face off this week in a battle to decide who is best. Harvard slipped up against Brown by a hair early, and Dartmouth is still undefeated. Who will win the Ivy League? We may find out this weekend in this battle played in New Hampshire.
**And how about the HBCU ranks? North Carolina Central is certainly making waves within the MEAC with its recent win over upstart Morgan State, but nothing is firmed up yet. Jackson State lost to rival Grambling in a head-scratcher back in September, but so far it seems to be the team to beat in the SWAC – but it’s hardly clear and there are a lot of steps to take before that’s in stone.
POLL EFFECT
I can’t get it out of my mind that this is the year of the biggest disparity in the FCS Nation that I’ve ever seen. In the past? We’ve had the James Madisons, Sam Houston States, Jacksonville States, Kennesaw States depart this realm … and now we’re losing a program like Delaware. Not that much longer before the aforementioned programs, we saw Coastal Carolina, Liberty, Appalachian State, and Georgia Southern all leave – and yes, I know I’m leaving out somebody.
Is this really going to turn into the Montana-Dakota Conference vs the FCS Universe? Unreal, but it seems to be drifting that way. I applaud those schools for doing what their institutions want, but man oh man there’s a lack of balance in the FCS these days.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As we head into the final, critical weeks of the FCS season, we will give more feedback about how the FCS picture seems to be sizing up. Check back Monday at the top of my Twitter account (@BrianMacWriter) about what the most profound changes took place nationally within my poll vote.
