Three more FCS playoff automatic berths were determined today, though one wasn't exactly expected. Welcome to the drama … again.
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HERDER: Missouri Valley Did Itself No Favors Today[divider]
EDITOR'S NOTE: Will update story throughout Saturday evening[divider]
For Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State, everything went their way on the road on Saturday. These two teams — which have a pre-determined date to play each other in Atlanta exactly one week from today — clinched their conference's championships and automatic FCS Playoff berths, though in completely different fashions.
Later, San Diego clinched the Pioneer League with a win over Davidson — in comeback style. The Wildcats came from Charlotte to San Diego and didn't lay down, but ultimately couldn't handle the USD team that has extinguished the candles of two straight Big Sky teams in the first round.
HERDER: San Diego Was A Part Of A Barn-Burner
Kennesaw needed no help in nailing down the Big South title, dispatching Monmouth in New Jersey in the same fashion it has knocked off so many teams in the past two years — suffocating them. It was textbook Owls football. Jacksonville State, on the other hand, needed help from a team it blew out a few weeks ago — Murray State. The Racers were throttled in the first half against the team that came into Saturday as the No. 1 OVC program — SEMO. But in the second half Murray State rallied to make it a game and ultimately knocked SEMO out of the OVC title race and possibly the FCS Playoffs when it returned a squib kick kickoff for a touchdown with just seconds after SEMO had gone back ahead.
It was a wild and wooly day, and now we have four of the 10 automatic bids sewn up.
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Now these two participants will face off in Atlanta with major seeding implications on the line. Jacksonville State needs help. Its resume alone probably isn't strong enough to nab a seed and first-round bye without a win against Kennesaw State — who eliminated the Gamecocks from the FCS Playoffs last year in Jacksonville. Kennesaw State, on the other hand, wants to secure a Top Four seed, if not a Top Two, which might be possible with a win over JSU. A Top Four seed allows KSU a chance to host in the quarterfinals, and obviously a Top Two could mean hosting the semifinals. While it remains to be seen how strongly the Big Sky Conference will finish out and possibly challenge KSU for one of the highest spots, the Owls have a chance.
Colgate and North Dakota State already punched their tickets last week and both won convincingly on Saturday to stay undefeated — the only two undefeated teams in the FCS, currently.
Five are in. Who else wants to join the party?[divider]
SATURDAY'S TOP UPSETS
1. Murray St. 40, SEMO 38
2. S.C. State 44, FAMU 21
3. Youngstown 31, UNI 10
4. Stony Brook 17, Delaware 3
5. Norfolk St 29, Howard 17
6. Indiana St. 28, Ill. St. 23
7. Citadel 42, Samford 27
8. So. Dak 17, WIU 12[divider]
CONFERENCES
- What do you do with the Big Sky? There's no question that several teams will come from this Top 3 conference, but the question is who? At this point, regardless of today's results, you have to think UC Davis, Weber State and Eastern Washington are in. But undoubtedly there will be more room, and that's when you start to look at next weekend's Montana-Montana State game as a play-in game, especially with the Missouri Valley Conference falling apart this weekend. The other big question? Could a Weber State or Eastern Washington creep into a Top 4 seed where it is at home for most of the playoffs.
- In the CAA, only one league team — Maine — has one league loss. The Bears going into the finale at home against a wounded Elon team looking pretty darned good for an 8-3 overall record (losses to FBS Central Michigan, Ivy League's Yale and a head scratcher to William & Mary). Truth be told? The CAA, thanks to its eat-its-own mentality, may not get a Top 4 seed, even though it is clearly the best league in the FCS this year.
- The Missouri Valley? Sam Herder tells you
- In the SoCon, it's down to 8-win ETSU holding off all of the challengers, and that may happen. The Bucs have to hold off 5-5 Samford this upcoming weekend. If that doesn't happen and Furman beats Mercer too, we may have a 3-way tie (ETSU-Furman-Wofford) that the SoCon has to decide. But there is one thing that's not a debate: We were correct in the preseason when we said the SoCon would have a 2-loss champion. That's already a definite.
- In the Southland? This entire league has flipped upside down since September. On Saturday, Abilene Christian, Incarnate Word and Lamar clinched winning records by capturing their sixth victory. Nicholls is holding firm as the league's top hope, as McNeese lost again in overtime.
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EXTRA POINTS
- Sacred Heart came into Saturday able to lock in the NEC title and auto bid, but fell to fellow front runner Duquesne in Pittsburgh, and then defending champion CCSU also won. So now we'll have to wait a week to see what happens in this group. The league winner likely will travel to a CAA opponent in the first round of the playoff the week of Thanksgiving.
- Florida A&M fell but it had no effect on the overall picture because — this loss to S.C. State didn't count in the MEAC standings. Um … don't get me started on "counting" MEAC games on Nov. 10. To me it makes one shake the head. But apparently FAMU and NCAT are in the same boat in Nov. SMH (yes, I'm using Twitter handles).
- Colgate (9-0) handled its business and now we have to wonder if the Raiders can hang with Army in the way Lafayette did this weekend. Truth is … Colgate's score looks better than Army's when it comes to playing Lafayette. Tune in next week … an FCS seed could be in play.
MORE: Top FCS Recruiting Commitments[divider]
