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Teams 15-6
15. Stony Brook
Ten wins overall and seven in the CAA were program records for the Seawolves in 2017. After rolling Lehigh 59-29 in the first round, Stony Brook lost to conference foe James Madison 26-7. Finishing near the top, second to be exact, in the conference standings is right where the Seawolves want to be again.
The CAA is strong enough to earn two playoff seeds in 2018. But the conference schedule gets tougher this year for Stony Brook, dropping William & Mary and adding a road visit to JMU. Quarterback Joe Carbone is going to need a big senior year after losing his No. 1 running back and top two pass catchers. But with three returning offensive linemen and a defense that returns three of its top five tacklers, the Seawolves should remain competitive in a conference that looks to get stronger this year. [divider]
14. Sam Houston State
If you take all the FCS teams since 2011, there’s no question SHSU is the second most successful. Two national title appearances and three semifinal games back that up. But there’s a big ol’ asterisk next to SHSU when the Bearkats get brought up. The reason why is they’ve gotten eliminated in the playoffs the last four years by 42, 58, 52 and 32 points. You can’t ignore those scores when debating where SHSU belongs in the national conversation. So the Bearkats want to prove to the doubters that they do belong in that top tier.
The problem is the roster isn’t as loaded as it was last year. Two-time Walter Payton Award winner Jeremiah Briscoe is gone at quarterback. So is NFL Draft pick defensive lineman P.J. Hall on a unit that already gave up 31.2 points per game. Plenty of talent remains, like receivers Davion Davis and Nathan Stewart and defensive lineman Chris Stewart. Former Rutgers quarterback Mike Dare hopes to win the job and keep the offense at its blistering pace. But no matter what the Bearkats’ record is and what the statistics show, we won’t truly know how good they are until December hits. [divider]
13. Wofford
The Terriers have made the quarterfinals the last two seasons, losing last year at NDSU 42-10. Their option offense and stout defense has made them a tough out in recent years. The program now has a new face with Mike Ayers retiring after 30 seasons as head coach. In comes Josh Conklin, who previously spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator at Pittsburgh. He coach the Wofford secondary from 2007-09. Conklin looks to keep the momentum going with another run in the playoffs.
The option offense won’t be going anywhere, as Wade Lang returns for his 29th season as offensive coordinator. He’ll need to find a new quarterback to run the offense with Brandon Goodson gone. However, Wofford’s top three rushers all return. The defense has more question marks with five of the top 10 tacklers gone. With Samford and Furman bringing a huge number of starters back, the Terriers have two worthy challengers to the SoCon title.
MORE: Predicting Every 2018 Conference Champion in the FCS
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12. Weber State
The Wildcats were oh-so close to pulling a shocker in the quarterfinals, losing 31-28 on a last-second field goal to the defending national champs, JMU. Two potentially game-sealing interceptions were dropped, making it a heartbreaking end to the season in which 11 points were allowed in the final 3:14 of play.
Weber State now looks to build and enter that top tier of the FCS. The Wildcats showed they can compete, but they’ll have to do it again with some big holes to fill. Stefan Cantwell was the heart and soul of the offense at quarterback. His top target in tight end Andrew Vollert signed an NFL free agent deal. Defensively, cornerback Taron Johnson was a draft pick and defensive tackle McKay Murphy signed as a free agent. Weber State is no doubt on the rise, but there’s still a lot of questions to be answered on who’s filling those big roles. [divider]
11. South Dakota State
Coming off their best season in Division I history, the Jacks keep getting closer and closer to a national championship game. They advanced to their first ever semifinal, but put up a clunker in a 51-16 loss at James Madison. SDSU doesn’t want to take any steps back as a program, but have a whole lot to replace offensively to match last season’s success.
Tight end Dallas Goedert and wide receiver Jake Wieneke are off to the NFL. Gone is leading rusher Brady Mengarelli and the leader on the offensive line Jacob Ohnesorge. However, Taryn Christion is one of the top quarterbacks in the FCS. He has three o-linemen back and some up-and-coming running backs and pass catchers. (But really, every college football team likes to say they have promising underclassmen waiting in the wings.) The schedule is tough, playing at Iowa State and hosting Montana State while playing conference foes NDSU and Illinois State on the road. The Jacks should still remain a playoff team, but there’s still too many question marks to sort out right now to predict if they’ll be back where they were last year. [divider]
10. Elon
A surprise team last year, the Phoenix started the season 8-1 with the lone loss coming at Toledo. But they ended on a three-game skid, the last a 28-27 heartbreaker to Furman in the first round of the playoffs. The season had to be considered a success, though, finishing third in the CAA after being picked 11th.
Now they want to prove it wasn’t lighting in a bottle and they’re here to stay. With 18 starters back, including CAA Offensive Rookie of the Year in quarterback Davis Cheek and all-American linebacker Warren Messer, the Phoenix don’t appear to be going anywhere. The schedule is daunting, however. Elon plays just five home games with road trips to South Florida, Charleston Southern, JMU and Delaware. [divider]
9. Furman
The unseeded Paladins were two points away from advancing to the FCS quarterfinals, losing to conference rival Wofford 24-23. It was an intense race in the Southern Conference between those two teams along with Samford. Furman finished third at 6-2 in the league and has plenty of pieces to climb the standings in 2018.
Those pieces include 17 starters back with all 11 regulars on defense. Replacing All-SoCon quarterback P.J. Blazejowski is the biggest offseason question mark. But on paper, the Paladins should be a stronger team in 2018, meaning a playoff seed and a trip to the quarterfinals should be an expectation. [divider]
8. Northern Arizona
On the other side of San Diego being a playoff Cinderella for the second straight year is the team it defeated. Northern Arizona, to put it bluntly, had an embarrassing effort at home against the non-scholarship program. The game was a 41-10 loss in which USD did basically whatever it wanted to offensively and defensively.
NAU did go 6-2 in the Big Sky last year. And the Lumberjacks look to put themselves in contention for the conference title and obviously, put on a much better performance in the postseason. The offense should be lights out with Case Cookus trying to cement himself as a top quarterback in the FCS and receiver Emmanuel Butler returning from injury. Add in top rusher Cory Young returning, and NAU should be able to make people forget about its 2017 exit. [divider]
7. Samford
A promising season was cut short in the first round for the Bulldogs, losing 28-17 to Kennesaw State, who went on to make the quarterfinals. Samford was 8-3 overall in the regular season and 6-2 in the Southern Conference. With the talent it has coming back, expectations are high for the team to make a deeper run in the playoffs.
Samford returns 10 starters on offense and six on defense. Keep an eye on the reigning SoCon Offensive Player of the Year Devlin Hodges and Defensive Player of the Year Ahmad Gooden. Both will gain steam as NFL talents with big senior seasons. [divider]
6. Nicholls State
The Colonels went from 5-6 in 2016 to an 8-3 overall record in the regular season and a 6-2 mark in the Southland Conference. A narrow 38-31 loss to South Dakota in the first round ended the memorable season. Now Nicholls wants to show it should be considered among the Southland top dogs with Sam Houston State, Central Arkansas and McNeese State.
Fifteen starters returning from that playoff game indicates the Colonels should remain near the top. The main offensive weapons like running back Kyran Irvin, receiver Damion Jeanpiere and quarterback Chase Fourcade return. If the defense can tighten up, Nicholls should take another step forward as a program.
