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Official Non-FBS Thread

Starting to feel football in my veins so I'm going to get to FCS football this upcoming season.

MVFC is still going to be tough as nails. SDSU is expected to win the title and repeat as FCS champions. NDSU isn't going to make it easy and Murray State joins from the OVC.


Big Sky Conference...UNC is expected to finish #10. Idaho State is dead last with Cody Hawkins in his first year as the HC there. I'm going to follow Idaho State this year to see how things go. Coach Juicebox returns for another season at UC Davis. Idaho looks like it could have a real good season too.


United Athletic Conference...that is the combined WAC & ASUN football conference. Both conferences have FBS ambitions and the WAC still has its FBS charter.

 
Every year I wonder why Ft. Lewis doesn't just move to D3. That said, that program would likely get beat by 90% of D3 programs as it is, yet sits there in the RMAC taking 70-0 losses every week.

D3 is pointless since there are hardly any D3 schools in the region...it's just not going to happen. Same problem with NAIA (map below).

Only option is to drop football and you have to consider the Title IX implications in that case.

1692126639090.png
 
Only three FCS games this weekend:

North Alabama @ Mercer
Fordham @ UAlbany
South Carolina State vs Jackson State (Coach Prime's old team) in Atlanta at GSU's stadium.

Going to be interesting to see how Jackson State does after Coach Prime left for Boulder.

No D2 football games this weekend.
 
D3 is pointless since there are hardly any D3 schools in the region...it's just not going to happen. Same problem with NAIA (map below).

Only option is to drop football and you have to consider the Title IX implications in that case.

View attachment 63086
As you state there are no D3 schools in the area, the cost of travel would be prohibitive. Even though Ft. Lewis is a bit of an outlier in the conference they can make most other campuses in a day by bus, many are close enough that they don't need to book a hotel. If they went D3 they would either have to fly or do multi-day trips to almost all games.

Dropping football for Ft. Lewis like most schools would make their Title IX situation easier. The real problem is that as bad as they has been football is still that "front porch" for the college, it is the easiest way to access media coverage.

Fort Lewis has a beautiful campus location in a great small college town but is far enough away that they have to work to attract sufficient students to keep the school healthy. When my daughter was there for the state mountain biking championships the college put on a full press to try to recruit students to go there. If you are a mountain biker by the way it would be hard to find a better place to go. A significant portion of the US National Team has connections to Durango and a number of them went to school at FLC.

Football has been proven to have a direct correlation to enrollment numbers at many schools. What they really need to do is find some donors to fund an upgrade to the program and get themselves to a point where they are at least decent in the RMAC. Competing for championships would be a stretch because the top end of the conference is very good but to be at least a .500 team would help the school a great deal.

1692907664101.png
 
Boise State has come to dominate Idaho as "the team" by way of tons of continual success, sort like Gonzaga basketball (which was unknown and generally irrelevant until the mid-90s, and once played in the Big Sky). From '99 on, BSU's been a winner and really haven't stopped. Given the lack of academic and athletic pedigree that school had, it's almost unbelievable.

The U of Idaho's free fall in football has been an unbelievable half-century plus of negative trajectory. They once played in the Pacific Coast Conference, the forerunner to the Pac-8/10/12. Now they're, as you mention, not even the most popular team in Idaho. Growth of Boise certainly helps BSU... I guess my point is that a glorified JuCo can will itself into being a market leader, irrespective of history. But I doubt Utah Tech will.
I wonder if John Stockton has anything to do with Gonzaga these days?
 
Every year I wonder why Ft. Lewis doesn't just move to D3. That said, that program would likely get beat by 90% of D3 programs as it is, yet sits there in the RMAC taking 70-0 losses every week.
This last game I went to was a few years ago against, I think, Nebraska Kearny. OMG, it was 49-3 at ****ing halftime. Needless to say, I looked over at my son early in the 3rd quarter and said let's get the hell out of here. We'll grab something to eat and go home. It was that bad.
 
Every year I wonder why Ft. Lewis doesn't just move to D3. That said, that program would likely get beat by 90% of D3 programs as it is, yet sits there in the RMAC taking 70-0 losses every week.
I would have thought Colorado Mesa would be a lot better. Are they not recruiting as well as CSU Pueblo or what?
 
I would have thought Colorado Mesa would be a lot better. Are they not recruiting as well as CSU Pueblo or what?
They are not. GJ is not the oasis it once was. Pueblo is a sh!thole, but they do fund the hell out of that program. The program that is definitely punching above its weight is Western. Jas has pulled some serious talent to Gunnison the last few years and done a good job coaching them up. Mines is like Stanford. They can get whoever they want from wherever they want because of the school.
 
I would have thought Colorado Mesa would be a lot better. Are they not recruiting as well as CSU Pueblo or what?

Agree with you. GJ is just about five hours away from the southern edge of the SLC area and nine hours away from the PHX area.
 
They are not. GJ is not the oasis it once was. Pueblo is a sh!thole, but they do fund the hell out of that program. The program that is definitely punching above its weight is Western. Jas has pulled some serious talent to Gunnison the last few years and done a good job coaching them up. Mines is like Stanford. They can get whoever they want from wherever they want because of the school.
I love GJ (my daughter was born there). Being there in late September through October yields way better weather than being there for a few days in early August. The heat was more noticeable than any of my trips to the Phoenix area in early August.

I couldn’t imagine playing football in that. Then again, playing football in heat with high humidity (****ing Omaha, NE) was no fun in itself.
 

Mtn mentioned UNC-Albiene State and ASU is one of those four under the radar teams that could surprise in FCS this year.

And some notable FCS games this weekend:

Eastern Washington at North Dakota State
Jackson State versus Florida A&M in Miami.

Just like their FBS counterparts, not that many interesting games this opening weekend.
 
Going to go with this week's FCS games to watch and apologies for the standard MtnBuff post length.

Idaho State at Utah State

Short trek down I-84 to I-15 for Cody Hawkins' squad. The Bengals fell just 36-28 at San Diego State last weekend...maybe the former Buffs QB notches his first win as ISU HC.

Montana State at South Dakota State

Big game for sure.

Jackson State at Southern

Maybe ESPN GameDay would have been at Southern if Coach Prime was still at JSU.

North Carolina Central versus NC A&T

NC A&T has long been viewed as the standard for HBCU schools at the D1 level. NCCU beat Coach Prime's Jackson State squad in his final game for JSU.

Holy Cross at Boston College

BC is FBS but Holy Cross has been a good FCS team for awhile and have been making the playoffs. BC seemingly hasn't played great football of late. FBS-FCS upset alert.

St. Thomas at South Dakota

I'm just seeing how St. Thomas is doing since they were D3 a few years ago before being kicked out of their D3 conference because they were simply too good. Plus the D2 Northern Sun was just full. They are still playing non-scholly football perhaps for the time being until they get their D1 legs under them then they might just join the MVFC later on.

Charleston Southern at Clemson

Just for the fun of it but at least a team from South Carolina will win a game this week.

Southern Illinois at Northern Illinois

SIU might be good enough to knock off NIU.

Colorado Mesa at San Diego

Will the D2 Mavericks be good enough to beat a D1 non scholly team?

Weber State at Northern Iowa

Interesting matchup and like the FBS ranks, the FCS marquee games aren't there this year.

Norfolk State at Hamptom

HBCU rivalry game in the Tidewater region.

Idaho at Nevada

If Idaho wins, will Nevada realize maybe it's time to move back down to FCS?

Grambling State at LSU

LSU should win this one easily but if the game is close, Coach Kelly could be in hot water in Baton Rogue.
 
Been awhile with this thread.

Cody Hawkins got his first win against UNC (no surprise) two weeks ago and fell at Montana 28-20. The Bengals face EWU who is coming off a 44-36 loss to Idaho at home. I looked at the rest of ISU's schedule and see that Cody will be going against his father when UC Davis visits Poctaello on November 11th.

Man UNC blew a 21-7 lead against Weber State at home. They welcome Sacramento State to Greeley this week. Idaho, both Montana schools, and Sacrmento State appear to be the top Big Sky teams so far this season.

NDSU might be the third best Dakota school behind both South Dakota schools since South Dakota just beat the Bison in Fargo 24-19. If UND beats the Bison, NDSU is a lock to be the weakest Dakota school this season because SDSU is still winning and haven't lost yet.

Some people appear to have never heard of Utah Tech...they used to be Dixie State but based on their results to date, you will not be hearing much about them the rest of the season. Central Arkansas, Tarlenton State, and Austin Peay appear to be the top teams of the UAC (WAC-ASUN combined conference). CSU should be hapy they won against Utah Tech since that means the Rams wouldn't be very good in the FCS either. It sucks to be a CSU Ram.
 
I feel this is an appropriate place for this.

After I saw this I bought a gold hoodie from Scheels for my son to wear to the Stanford Gold Rush game.


I think some of the CU/Prime gear I bought online came from Johnstown, according to the USPS tracking. I wonder if Lamb fan would enjoy the Omaha Scheel’s more so, since Nub and lamb fans seem to be interchangeable…
 
Some good FCS games this week:

NDSU @ UND...battle of North Dakota. NDSU loses this one, they are at risk at becoming the 4th best Dakota school.
Youngstown State @ USD...Bo Pelini isn't at YSU since the last Nebraska severance check cleared the bank but this looks like a good one.
UNI @ SDSU...Panthers have played the Jacks tough which isn't unusual in the rugged MVFC.
Chatoonga @ Mercer...good SoCon game.
Montana @ Idaho...I remember this being an important game when both were still I-AA schools.

Cody Hawkins & Idaho State hosts EWU this weekend. Hope the Bengals pull this one out.
 
Recapping the weekend:

UND beat NDSU so at this point, NDSU is the fourth best Dakota school.
USD beat YSU in a close game.
SDSU crushed the Panthers 41-6.
Terrell Owens' alma mater beat Mercer.
Montana beat Idaho 23-21 in the Kibbie Dome.

Cody Hawkins and the Bengals pulled off the W over EWU.

Now for this week's games:

Illinois State at YSU
SDSU @ Southern Illinois
UND @ UNI
Montana State @ Sac State
Penn @ Yale
Lafayette @ Holy Cross
Furman @ Western Carolina (surprised by WCU's 5-1 record so far)
Charleston Southern @ UT Martin
Rhode Island @ Albany

Idaho State plays at Portland State. Can the Bengals get Cody Hawkins two consecutive wins?

UNC plays at Cal Poly which is a matchup between two bad teams. I wouldn't subscribe to ESPN+ for this one.
 
Idaho State beat Portland State on the road and the Bengals are tied for second place in the Big Sky Conference with a 3-1 with Idaho & Montana. Great company to be in at this point. Now it's off to Sacramento to face the Hornets. After that game, the Bengals host Weber State followed by UC-Davis & his father Dan, and then end the season at the Battle of the Domes at Idaho.

At least there is no height requirement for being a head coach or Nick Saban would have never coached at all.

The Teddy Bears from Greeley visit the Grizzles in Missoula. There's going to be a lot of teddy bear stuffing spread out on the floor and I'm being as G rated as I can be.

There's a big game up in Moscow (not the Russian version) as Montana State, atop the BSC, visits Idaho.

The Dakota Championship game will be at USD and the Coyotes host defending FCS champs SDSU. Will the coyote have better luck against the Jacks than with the roadrunner, mexican mouse, or rabbit in the cartoons?

Incarnate Word visits Lamar in Southland play and the funny thing is that both nearly ended up in the WAC before backing out.
 
FCS season is winding down. Seems like most schools have two games left (FCS has one less game than FBS per year).

Buff fans aren't the only fanbase dealing with a fading season since Idaho State has dropped its last two games: 51-16 at Sacrmento State and 33-21 at home against an usually good Weber State team. ISU Bengals are at 3-3 in conference play and they host UC Davis in the first Hawkins bowl as Cody faces daddy Dan. I would love to see ISU pull off the win in this case. ISU's last game will be at Idaho so it would be great to send off the ISU Bengal seniors with one more win which would guarantee a 4-4 BSC record which isn't too shabby.

Looking at conference records, it seems like the Big Sky Conference has beat each other up and there are three 5-1 teams in Idaho, Montana, and Montana State in addition to six 3-3 teams. That's nothing compared to the CAA which has five 5-1 teams and I'm guessing the CAA is going to have quite a few teams in the 24 team FCS playoff.

The MVFC has undefeated SDSU in addition to two 4-2 teams and three 3-3 teams. I'm not sure if NDSU will make the playoffs this year and that is after going 0-3 against their Dakota rivals. No way the NDSU HC's seat isn't warm at this point. The Bison has to deal with Southern Illinois who is always going to be a tough out before ending the season at Northern Iowa who doesn't like the Bison that much. But they are still ranked #13 with an overall 6-3 record. USD is #6 with a 7-2 record and UND is #12 with a 6-3 record. Perhaps NDSU's SOS will nudge them into the FCS playoffs. Two more MVFC teams are in the FCS Top 25 as well.

As for HBCU football, Jackson State has a 7-3 overall record with a 5-2 conference record. Florida A&M is ahead with a 7-0 conference record in the same division as JSU. F-A&M appears to have clinched their spot in the SWAC CCG and the West division still has a few teams fighting for that spot in the CCG. North Carolina Central is the class of HBCU as they are currently ranked #7 in all of FCS and I'm thinking they will win the HBCU FCS championship once again.
 
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