Brace yourselves, FCS football fans. There are going to be a lot of opinions below — and in general — at Gridiron Heroics.
But first, let’s get these kudos out of the way. The elite “undefeated club” is fun to be a part of around this time of year, and this will include the Ivy League now that it has played for several weeks. The 6-0 realm is held only by Holy Cross, which is cruising towards its top season since 1989. Weber State, Montana, and Sacramento State are all 5-0, but they have a lot of ton of challenging games ahead of them. Jackson State is the lone undefeated among the HBCU ranks at 5-0 after Saturday, and the Ivy League’s Princeton and Penn come in at 4-0.
The undefeated teams when you throw away FBS losses and just go with FCS records (which the FCS playoff committee will do) are the following: NDSU, SDSU, Montana State, SEMO, Chattanooga, Elon, Idaho, Mercer, Samford, Fordham.
BMAC’S FCS FOOTBALL POLL BALLOT VOTE (OCT. 9): What do you disagree with?
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BMAC’S POLL – THE TOP SIX DEBATE:
Folks, this is brutal. This can be seen in three different ways — in my opinion — regarding the argument for the No. 1 spot changing. What would be the reason for dropping North Dakota State? Well, the Bison have won five FCS games against teams that are a combined 6-20. It’s not their fault that the teams they’ve played are down, but their struggles on the road against Indiana State this past weekend (behind until late in the 3rd quarter) made for some scratching of heads.
NDSU plays SDSU this weekend in Fargo. Any doubts about the Bison can be erased with a win over the visiting Jackrabbits, or a loss drops them from the No. 1 spot. It’s that simple, so I’m waiting a week. Based on every year seeing the Bison have one or two games that make you scratch your head (but usually win), then watching them bulldoze strong opponents down the stretch and in the playoffs when it matters most? I’m not budging NDSU just because Montana beat Indiana State badly and NDSU didn’t. It’s going to take more than one blip for me to budge NDSU out of the No. 1 spot in the FCS football poll.
BMAC’S FCS FOOTBALL POLL BALLOT VOTE (OCT. 9): What do you disagree with?
So who is No. 2? This to me is the clearest spot. It’s Weber State — and there are no arguments. Zero, nada. The Wildcats blew out an FBS team (Utah State by 28), they blew out Eastern Washington this weekend, a team that’s playing arguably the toughest schedule in the nation — and the win on the road against a tough UC Davis team was a quality result.
The No. 3 through No. 5 spots could make an argument to all be tied for No. 3. None of the three has played an eye-popping schedule, yet (but all three will soon). I’m giving SDSU the nod for the No. 3 spot and the Jackrabbits have that big opportunity next weekend at NDSU. After that? We’ll know a whole lot.
Three Big Sky teams could make claims on the No. 4 spot, and undoubtedly their fan bases will say they deserve higher than No. 4. These schools? Montana State, Montana, and Sacramento State. They all have arguments. None of their schedules have been as tough as Weber State’s.
THE RISE AND FALL:
A pair of CAA teams are beginning to float to the top of their league. Elon and William & Mary look like they’ll be challenging what looked like a runaway Delaware team (at least CAA-wise). Elon beat William & Mary by three points in Virginia, and William & Mary knocked off Delaware at home this weekend. So they look like the strongest three in the CAA, in that order.
Of course, New Hampshire is leading the CAA at 4-0. But it has beaten Stony Brook, Monmouth, Albany, and Towson — four teams that have combined for a 7-15 overall record. UNH lost a home head-scratcher to the MEAC’s North Carolina Central by 18 points. This “Rise and Fall” category turned into a CAA snippet, but the CAA does have some teams rising to prominence.
BMAC’S FCS FOOTBALL POLL BALLOT VOTE (OCT. 9): What do you disagree with?
For that matter in the FCS football “rising” department, the SoCon is in the same boat. Mercer, Samford, and Furman are gradually rising. Their schedule strength isn’t the best yet, but they’ll all get a shot at each other and another strong SoCon team, Chattanooga, soon enough.
So who is descending after a hot September? Central Arkansas, Southeastern Louisiana, and Missouri State have all done some big things this year, but have cooled off recently. And Eastern Washington and UC Davis haven’t caught a break yet, schedule-wise, but looked like rankable programs in the preseason. In general, the ASUN-WAC conglomerate looks up for grabs right now, as does the Southland Conference. At this point, it doesn’t look like either has a rock-solid second team that would qualify as an at-large — but there’s plenty of season left to change that.
THE HBCUs and IVYs:
After capturing its 500th all-time win Saturday, beating Alabama State, Jackson State continues to steamroll its way through its schedule, en route to a potential 11-0 record. As a poll voter, I’m hesitant to move the Tigers out of the 20s on my ballot, but clearly, they’re worth voting for. They’ve mostly hammered their opponents to come into this upcoming week 5-0. Coach Prime (also known as Deion Sanders, but not “Neon Deion” — he hates that nickname) has brought instant energy to this team and has turned around a program that was more used to going 4-7 not long ago.
Keep an eye on the Jackson State trip to Campbell on Oct. 22 — that will be the biggest test left for JSU.
Jackson State won’t be in the FCS playoffs because it will go to the SWAC Championship and possibly the Celebration Bowl/HBCU National Championship if it keeps winning like this. It’s just too bad there aren’t many opportunities to see it match up with in-common opponents with some of the elite FCS teams. One exception is its 13-point win over Tennessee State — its closest win. Eastern Washington (1-4) picked up its lone win in a 7-point victory over Tennessee State.
In the Ivy League, Princeton and Penn continue their undefeated ways — both going 4-0 so far. Harvard looks like the best 3-1 team, with its lone loss coming out of conference to 6-0 and top-10 Holy Cross. Obviously, when this trio of Harvard, Penn, and Princeton play each other in the second half of the season, we’ll learn a lot more about these teams.
BMAC’S BONUS FCS FOOTBALL TALKING POINTS:
1) Campbell is sneaking along under the radar but looks more and more like the clear favorite to capture its first conference championship since restarting football after more than 50 years in 2008. The Camels have never been to the playoffs, but this might be the year coming out of the Big South. They played a very good William & Mary team on the road and kept it close until late in the third quarter. They have the ability, when one looks at the schedule, to win eight or nine games this year. The non-conference home game on Oct. 22 vs. Jackson State looms large.
2) We feel like we bring this up every week, but this Patriot League matchup with Fordham traveling from the Bronx up to the Boston area to take on Holy Cross on Oct. 29 is getting bigger every week. The two teams are a combined 11-1, with the only loss coming when FBS Ohio U. slipped by Fordham late in their shootout (Fordham led by 11 going into the fourth quarter). These two teams are good, and they’ll settle the championship and then the runner-up will get a shot at an at-large playoff spot, which is rare in the Patriot League.
3) How about St. Thomas, the budding Minnesota powerhouse in the non-scholarship Pioneer League? The Tommies’ win over Davidson was surprising this weekend. Only a few years ago, this was a Division III team, but could it win the Pioneer League (it is ineligible for the playoffs this year, though)? Could this be a smaller example of what the Dakota powerhouses do when they build their programs? I’m starting to wonder.
4) Like St. Thomas above, Tarleton out of Utah is playing well after transitioning up from the DII ranks and doing rather well in the WAC (they also are ineligible for the playoffs). The Texans are 4-1 with only a blowout loss to P5 TCU. The schedule gets tougher as the season progresses but one has to think Tarleton fans are liking this decision to move up.
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