Week 5 FCS

[gofurman]

maybe wrong place but we are all interested in FCS polls which are on this thread...

One possible (unlikely but possible) loss is W&M to Elon this week. They both beat Campbell in similar fashion. Game At Elon. Go Phoenix - that would be a big boost to our guys!

Look, I know, we just need to win and win in some playoff games hopefully! But it would be nice to force a conversation of a bye week.

Remind me, the top 8 teams get a definite bye and a certain home game in week 2, correct? The other 16 (total 24) bid for the home games in week 1. Is that all correct ? Thanks for the help here! If you are top 8 and get a bye week you are sure to get a home game regardless of the winners, right?

[FUBeAR]

Yes - We should all be BIG fans of the Formerly Fightin' Former Christians this week.

Also - it might be helpful if...

* Eastern Washington could keep Idaho from Vandalizing their blood red turf and pick up an upset W ... and ...
* North Dakota could Fight their way down from the sky in Brookings and make prey of the SDSU bunnies ... and ...
* The SDak Coyotes could scavenge some bizuns in Vermillion ... and ...
* Portland State could sail their longship over to Bozeman, carrying their 75 PPG average in the past 2 games, and bash some bobcat skulls with it ... and ...
* The Crimson Brainiacs could travel a few miles west on I-90 and use their Wokeness to put the Racist Islamophobes in Worcester to sleep...permanently ... and ...

Closer to home...wouldn't hate it if the bellhops could somehow steal the cantamounts luggage and a win in their half-a-stadium ... and ... if the ankle-biters could find it within themselves to be bad dogs and chew up some soft leather shoes in SparkleCity.

[FU Hoopla]

Yes - We should all be BIG fans of the Formerly Fightin' Former Christians this week.

Also - it might be helpful if...

* Eastern Washington could keep Idaho from Vandalizing their blood red turf and pick up an upset W ... and ...
* North Dakota could Fight their way down from the sky in Brookings and make prey of the SDSU bunnies ... and ...
* The SDak Coyotes could scavenge some bizuns in Vermillion ... and ...
* Portland State could sail their longship over to Bozeman, carrying their 75 PPG average in the past 2 games, and bash some bobcat skulls with it ... and ...
* The Crimson Brainiacs could travel a few miles west on I-90 and use their Wokeness to put the Racist Islamophobes in Worcester to sleep...permanently ... and ...

Closer to home...wouldn't hate it if the bellhops could somehow steal the cantamounts luggage and a win in their half-a-stadium ... and ... if the ankle-biters could find it within themselves to be bad dogs and chew up some soft leather shoes in SparkleCity.

Perfect!
Paladins land at #1 in the polls by Monday morning

[The Jackal]

The Citadel may consider it a win if WCU doesn't score 50 on them.

[wcugrad95]

I know, I know - eye-rolls start because the "outsider" is posting again. I would say we want all of the top SOCON teams to keep winning games. It will be much more important for the winners of the games between our top teams to have even higher-quality wins to aid with playoff bids and particularly seeding. I would think both Furman and WCU want our game to be between two top-10 teams.

I had posted something similar on the WCU board about us needing to be Elon fans. All SOCON schools should be hoping for top teams in the BSC and CAA to lose. William & Mary may serioualy go 10-1 or 11-0 (they could beat Virginia) and be the 2nd or 3rd or even 4th best team in the CAA as they don't play Delaware, UNH, Villanova, or Rhode Island. That is a joke.

IMO the only way a SOCON team has a chance to get seeded higher than #6 is to go undefeated in FCS play and have beeten several ranked teams. Since UTC has already lost an FCS game, the only teams that I think that have even a remote chance at a good seed are Furman and WCU. Of course this is after week 4, but unfortunately that is how the seeds are going to work unless there is utter chaos with all the MVFC, BSC, and CAA teams who will nab most of the seeds available.

[FUBeAR]

I know, I know - eye-rolls start because the "outsider" is posting again. I would say we want all of the top SOCON teams to keep winning games. It will be much more important for the winners of the games between our top teams to have even higher-quality wins to aid with playoff bids and particularly seeding. I would think both Furman and WCU want our game to be between two top-10 teams.

I had posted something similar on the WCU board about us needing to be Elon fans. All SOCON schools should be hoping for top teams in the BSC and CAA to lose. William & Mary may serioualy go 10-1 or 11-0 (they could beat Virginia) and be the 2nd or 3rd or even 4th best team in the CAA as they don't play Delaware, UNH, Villanova, or Rhode Island. That is a joke.

IMO the only way a SOCON team has a chance to get seeded higher than #6 is to go undefeated in FCS play and have beeten several ranked teams. Since UTC has already lost an FCS game, the only teams that I think that have even a remote chance at a good seed are Furman and WCU. Of course this is after week 4, but unfortunately that is how the seeds are going to work unless there is utter chaos with all the MVFC, BSC, and CAA teams who will nab most of the seeds available.

All well and good...and logical....

BUT...with all of the WAY, WAY, WAY, WAY TOO EARLY bluster and BS coming from an "ain't never done shite...at least not since 1983" program in lord-knows-where Carolina...it's just hard not to be aroused by the prospect of the 0-4 bellhops cutting their little kitty-cat legs out from under them...isn't it?

[wcugrad95]

I predicted eye-rolls - didn't know they would be from me

[paladinfan12]

I know, I know - eye-rolls start because the "outsider" is posting again. I would say we want all of the top SOCON teams to keep winning games. It will be much more important for the winners of the games between our top teams to have even higher-quality wins to aid with playoff bids and particularly seeding. I would think both Furman and WCU want our game to be between two top-10 teams.

I had posted something similar on the WCU board about us needing to be Elon fans. All SOCON schools should be hoping for top teams in the BSC and CAA to lose. William & Mary may serioualy go 10-1 or 11-0 (they could beat Virginia) and be the 2nd or 3rd or even 4th best team in the CAA as they don't play Delaware, UNH, Villanova, or Rhode Island. That is a joke.

IMO the only way a SOCON team has a chance to get seeded higher than #6 is to go undefeated in FCS play and have beeten several ranked teams. Since UTC has already lost an FCS game, the only teams that I think that have even a remote chance at a good seed are Furman and WCU. Of course this is after week 4, but unfortunately that is how the seeds are going to work unless there is utter chaos with all the MVFC, BSC, and CAA teams who will nab most of the seeds available.

This is correct. Much better for the conference if we can get 3-4 teams in the playoff. Will bode better for finances and future chances of making the playoff.

I would however say that both Mercer and Chattanooga also appear to be in a place where if they can win most of their remaining games they would be in a spot to make the playoffs. If Furman goes 9-2, WCU goes 9-2, and one of the other two goes 8-3 I could see them getting in.

[The Jackal]

Unlike many years when I think the bottom of the conference can compete with the top of the conference, I'm not sure I see that this year. I think there's a pretty wide gap between Furman/Mercer/Samford/UTC/WCU and ETSU/Citadel/Wofford/VMI.

Just beating those four "bottom" teams gets Furman to 7 D1 wins.

I don't think it'd be a great idea to be an 8-3 or 7-4 SoCon team and in third place this year. Samford's already on the playoff bubble and it's not October. UTC is going to have to deal with that UNA loss at the end of the year, and double deal with it because one of their competitors (Mercer) beat the same team. So, UTC almost has to finish second to stay off the bubble, because they are going to be saddled with one of those "bad" losses when it comes time to look at resumes.

[wcugrad95]

@paladinfan12 I certainly think UTC and Mercer can get into the playoffs. My post was that for Furman (or WCU or any SOCON team going forward) they will need to be 8-0 in conference, undefeated against FCS teams, and have wins over other ranked teams to get a decent seed. Furman beat Mercer when they were ranked, and you should probably pull for WCU and UTC to keep winning and be ranked when you play them. I believe all 4 are currently rankable and playoff worthy after week 4. But lots of football left.

[FUBeAR]

Unlike many years when I think the bottom of the conference can compete with the top of the conference, I'm not sure I see that this year. I think there's a pretty wide gap between Furman/Mercer/Samford/UTC/WCU and ETSU/Citadel/Wofford/VMI.

Just beating those four "bottom" teams gets Furman to 7 D1 wins.

I don't think it'd be a great idea to be an 8-3 or 7-4 SoCon team and in third place this year. Samford's already on the playoff bubble and it's not October. UTC is going to have to deal with that UNA loss at the end of the year, and double deal with it because one of their competitors (Mercer) beat the same team. So, UTC almost has to finish second to stay off the bubble, because they are going to be saddled with one of those "bad" losses when it comes time to look at resumes.

FUBeAR believes this is all quite accurate. FUBeAR might only add a few details / examples…

* A 7-4 SoCon Team or an 8-3 SoCon Team with a D2 win will NOT receive an At-Large bid.

* Any 8-3 SoCon Team will be squarely ‘on the bubble’ and the Playoff Committee will be looking for reasons to exclude. The wins AND losses will need to include the ‘right’ Teams and the losses will need to appear as ‘not too bad’ and not be to the ‘wrong’ Teams. Example - As appropriate as it was, FUBeAR doesn’t think Mercer should have pulled the starters the series after Coach Hendrix did. Mercer should have been playing as if they were down 6 and needed a TD to win. 38-21 would likely be viewed as ‘not too bad,’ whereas 38-14 IS and will be viewed as a ‘blowout’ (which, being a 3 point game with 15:54 to play, it was not) by the Playoff Selection Committee. They won’t even go so far as to look at the Box Score.

* It is possible that a 9-2 SoCon Team, as happened with McNeese a few years back, could be left out of the Playoffs. We have to remember there might be 8 to 10 Big Sky and CAA Teams with similar records and better (but completely undeserved) perception. Also, UT-Martin has a good chance of going 10-1 to win the BigSouth/OVC with Eastern Illinois (with win over MVFC Team…ooooh) or Tennessee State (HBCU & Eddie George…yes, please sez the Committee) possibly 9-2. But…looking at the current records of SoCon Teams that ‘could’ finish 9-2 and not win the SoCon, FUBeAR doesn’t see how that could possibly happen…but where the Playoff Selection Committee has a will, it can always justify a way.

To paraphrase the great advice of SoCon Alum, Coach K. Chesney, to all SoCon Teams that want a Playoff shot …

…“DON’T LOSE.”

[furmandad]

Elon up on William & Mary 14-6 with 5 minutes to play.

[FU Hoopla]

W&M goes down

[FU Hoopla]

NDSU goes down

[stonemd]

Elon beat W&M
SD beats NDSU

What will Furman be ranked Monday??!!