The FCS is the least understood, yet most impressive college football level in Division I — and Gridiron Heroics is going to tell you all about it, 12 months a year, conference by conference, beginning with this week’s FCS football preview series for 2022. Today we publish the FCS’ Big South Conference Football Preview for 2022.
The college football programs are good, these programs produce NFL-level talent, they beat FBS teams every year (want evidence? stay tuned – we will publish this in the next week) and they still get overlooked. But Gridiron Heroics won’t be overlooking the FCS like everybody else does annually, we will be embracing the level and the stories these schools tell, year in and year out.
Enjoy the preview.
Also, from Monday, Aug. 22 until our FCS overall preview finale, Gridiron Heroics’ team of eight (yes, eight) FCS reporters break down the 15 conferences that make up the awesome, special level that is — the FCS. Check out the previews with the links below, conference by conference:
THE REST OF THE BEST FCS CONFERENCES IN AMERICA (click on links below)
OVERALL FCS PREVIEW: Overall FCS Preview
MONDAY, AUG. 22: ASUN-WAC & Big Sky
TUESDAY, AUG. 23: Big South, CAA, MVFC
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 24: OVC, Patriot
THURSDAY, AUG. 25: Pioneer, Southland
MONDAY, AUG. 29: HBCU DAY – MEAC & SWAC
TUESDAY, AUG. 30: NEC, SoCon
MONDAY, SEPT. 13: Ivy League (1st game Sept. 16)
RELATED STORY: The Top 30 for 30 Shows in College Football — We Rank Them
BMAC AND THE NACH PODCAST (Aug. 23 episode at top)
FCS NUTS AND BOLTS: All of the key facts for the 2022 FCS season
THE FCS CONFERENCE: Big South Conference (BSC
THE TEAMS: Bryant, Campbell, Charleston Southern, Gardner Webb, North Carolina A&T, Robert Morris
THE 2021 CHAMPIONS: Kennesaw State (Now in the ASUN Conference) (11-2) overall (7-0) conference
THE NEXT BEST TEAMS:
Monmouth (7-4) overall (6-1) conference (Now in the CAA Conference), NC A&T (5-6) overall (3-4) conf.
THE FIVE BEST PLAYERS (STATS): Brevin Allen- Campbell Sr. Defensive lineman, ranked Big South preseason defensive player of the year, 126 tackles, 16 sacks career stats.
Narii Gaither- Gardner Webb had 991 rushing yards 7 touchdowns and 351 receiving yards 5 touchdowns last season,
Myles Rouser – Campbell freshman DB, highest rated recruit in program history.
Jack Chambers – NC A&T QB senior, Chambers transferred in from Charleston Southern , 2500 yards passing, 477 yards rushing, 24 touchdowns. was his stats last season.
Ty French – Gardner Webb, JR defensive lineman in 14 games he has 12.5 sacks. 96 tackles.
THE GOOD: The Big South and Ohio Valley Conference will be teaming up in 2023 because of conference realignment. This was the only way that the Big South could be eligible to send a team to the playoffs who win the conference, with the rule that a conference must have at least six playoff eligible teams. This agreement is and will be necessary to stay competitive in recruiting with the bigger conferences. With so many schools joining the bigger conferences it keeps the FCS competitive by smaller conferences agreeing to work together.
THE BAD: The downfall of the Big South would be if teams keep jumping to the bigger conferences and not being able to stay in a working agreement with the OVC or another conference. If Big South dropped below the six teams and was not automatic playoff bid eligible, then recruiting would drop and the remaining teams would start looking for other conferences to join. It would eventually be the end of the Big South as a football conference.
THE BIGGEST CONF GAME OF THE YEAR (AND WHY): Campbell at North Carolina A&T on October 29th. This will be the biggest game because NC A&T is favored to win the conference this season, but Campbell is the biggest threat to take that spot from them. They both have big playmakers returning and Campbell just had a huge recruiting class to make them a definite post season threat. This game will be exciting and I definitely have it marked on my calendar.
THE BEST CHANCE FOR AN FBS UPSET WIN (AND WHY): Campbell at East Carolina on September 17th. This will be the best chance for an Big South team to upset an FBS team. I also looked at NC A&T at Duke but Duke is a lot better team so I can’t see NC S&T pulling off the upset.
THE PREDICTION — WHO GOES TO THE FCS POSTSEASON (AND WHY): North Carolina A&T will be the team to go to the playoffs. I wouldn’t be surprised if we Campbell made it in the postseason as well but they may still be a year out.
THE SURPRISE — WHO WILL SHOCK THE CONFERENCE (AND WHY): Gardner-Webb will be a tough team to beat this year. I don’t think they are on NC A&T or Campbells equal but don’t be surprised if they make a run for it. The all around rusher\pass catcher in Narii Gaither will make this offense hard to deal with and Ty French will be a menace on defense. They will not be an easy game for anyone and if overlooked they will beat you.
THE TOP THREE (AND WHY)?: North Carolina A&T, Campbell, and Gardner-Webb in that order. NC A&T is favored to win the conference this season and Jack Chambers will be one of the top FCS quarterbacks. Campbell is much improved and will be a definite challenger but may still be a year out from true potential, Gardner Webb is going to be a tough play for every team that plays them.
This is the Big South Conference’s preview and my take on how I see this season going. It will definitely be a fun year to be a football fan in the Big South. If you love big plays mixed with hard hitting defenses then you came to the right place. I stand by my opinion that FCS football is the most competitive d1 football. These Players give it all every play and refuse to be second best to any conference.
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