FCS Daily Dose: CAA-SoCon Matchups Providing Good Gauge Of Conferences

The FCS Daily Dose is a blog-style article series featuring an assortment of news, rumblings, quick hitters, and commentary on various topics.

A new Daily Dose will be published multiple times a week.

CAA-SoCon Matchups Providing Good Gauge Of Conferences

There is an argument in the small world of FCS national conversation about who the No. 3 conference in the FCS is. Is it the CAA or the SoCon?

The argument for the CAA is its depth of solid teams and its recent success of sending two teams deep into the playoff bracket. The counterargument is the watered-down bottom part of the league leads to inflated records for the top teams and high playoff seeds, and regionalization in the bracket leads to favorable early-round matchups.

The argument for the SoCon is getting three different teams into the quarterfinals in three straight years and the fact that every team has to play each other in the conference slate, leading to parity and records that aren’t inflated. The counterargument is the league hasn’t gotten multiple teams in the quarterfinals or beyond. Also, playing every team in your conference could be an advantage because the bottom of the standings might not be very good, and truly nationally elite teams shouldn’t be losing to bottom conference foes.

Now, after making the league offices both happy and mad in those two paragraphs above, let’s make them happy again by giving kudos to the teams for scheduling several CAA-SoCon matchups.

FCS Top 25: Sam Herder’s Ballot

Conference reputation goes a long way in playoff seed and at-large selections, even if it’s a subconscious thing for playoff committee members. And how a league improves or worsens its reputation is how it performs in the non-conference and the playoff bracket.

If a seven-win SoCon team and a seven-win CAA team are battling for one of the last at-large bids, conference perception could be the difference. Head-to-head records are a part of that equation.

There are a handful of CAA vs. SoCon games this fall, all data points during the playoff selection process.

In Week 1, then-No. 15 William & Mary beat VMI 41-7.

Last week, the conferences exchanged upsets. Campbell knocked off then-No. 17 Western Carolina 24-16. And Wofford took down then-No. 14 Richmond 26-19.

So there’s a 2-1 advantage for the CAA with a few more games to go.

This week, No. 13 William & Mary goes to Wofford, who is No. 28 in the media poll voting. And Western Carolina, who is No. 31 in voting, goes to No. 22 Elon.

Next week, ETSU plays at No. 22 Elon. And Furman (No. 33 in voting) goes to No. 13 William & Mary.

Past Daily Doses

Can UND Keep Momentum Going After Its Big Ranked Win? + 4 Ranked Matchups This Week … READ MORE

3 All-American-Level Montana Players Were Sidelined In Week 1, Statuses Unknown This Week … READ MORE

Sun Belt Admits Officiating Error In UCA-Arkansas State Game-Winning TD + 1-Score FCS-FBS Losses … READ MORE