FCS Football

[tarcone]

After this weekend, I dont think there is that huge of a gap between the divisions anymore. App State was the FCS champ and beat Michigan. W and Mary beats UVA, Iowa survives against the #4 FCS ranked UNI Panthers.

With the limitations of scholarships, the advent of the spread option, the ability of the coaches to coach and recruit. Things are changing.

UNI had Abdul Hodges brother playing MLB. A. Hodge played for Iowa and is currently in the NFL. This is just one example of the type of players in the FCS.

Would the FCS champ beat Florida this season? I doubt it, but you never know anymore.

I can see a lot more of these "upsets" in the near future.

[DeToxRox]

They won't beat Florida or anything but these teams are filled with kids who didn't qualify for SEC schools and the like. The talent is there for sure. North Alabama I believe it was has like 15 players committed to SEC schools who never made it there.

[sovereignstar]

Never made it to SEC schools? Can they play football and talk at the same time?

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

They won't beat Florida or anything but these teams are filled with kids who didn't qualify for SEC schools and the like. The talent is there for sure. North Alabama I believe it was has like 15 players committed to SEC schools who never made it there.

FWIW, this may be how schools like N. Alabama are getting it done - but most of the CAA schools (the clearly dominant FCS conference) are not doing it this way - the JMUs, Richmonds, William and Marys, Delawares, etc of FCS are not doing this with kids that "did not qualify SEC schools and the like".

At any rate. I think that the best FCS schools can clearly compete with the non-BCS conferences. They are certainly not at the level of the top-tier teams, but the best FCS teams are at least competitive with the bottom halfish of FBS.

The CAA getting three wins over FBS schools this weekend is very telling - but I think a lot of what it tells is how dominant the CAA is. You get your one or two teams from other conference, but if you really follow FCS it's amazing how good the CAA is.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

Never made it to SEC schools? Can they play football and talk at the same time?

(Really? How dumb do you have to be to not get accepted at the football factories?)

SI

[CU Tiger]

I have read this a lot this morning, and I think this is over played.
Sure App St beat Michigan, once in a Millenia debacle.

Bill & Mary beat probably the worst team in the ACC, which I regularly hear is the worst Conference in the country.

App State 3x FCS Champion lost to ECU, who is mid to bottom half in my estimation.

And are we really going to say getting someone's brother is a measure of talent?

Ozzie Canseco, Justin Giambi, Dan McGuire come to mind...and I am just talking about the Oakland A's...

I mean Clemson had Emory Smith in the 90s, clearly he was as good as Emmitt.

Meanwhile mid pack BCS teams beat upper Tier FCS teams by 35 every week and rest their starters the entire second half.

Depth plays as large a part as anything, with today's scholarship limitation, there is often much drop off from 1s to 1s...but the days of FSUs 5th string being able to dissmantle top 5 1-A teams starters are definitely long gone.

[lordscarlet]

Duke and Temple also lost to FCS (CAA along with W&M) teams.

[CU Tiger]

(Pipe dream I know)
Id love to see a relegation style where if you are UVA and you lose to W&M next year you are FCS and W&M gets your spot in the ACC...

I know scheduling would be a bitch and such but damn it would make it fun

[sovereignstar]

Is there a CAA newsletter we can all follow along and read?

[RedKingGold]

Go Nova!

[Tigercat]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

Never made it to SEC schools? Can they play football and talk at the same time?

FYI, many SEC schools have stronger admission requirements (not necessarily grades/test scores, but stricter prerequisite courses and such as well) than schools in other major conferences. As a LSU fan, I can name at least 5 players off the top of my head that went to Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Oklahoma St because they couldn't make the requirements at LSU. (And LSU sure isn't the academic powerhouse of the SEC.)

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar

Is there a CAA newsletter we can all follow along and read?

Just follow my posts .






If you are being serious (which I'm pretty sure that was just some friendly sarcasm) I can give you places.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

I have read this a lot this morning, and I think this is over played.
Sure App St beat Michigan, once in a Millenia debacle.

Bill & Mary beat probably the worst team in the ACC, which I regularly hear is the worst Conference in the country.

App State 3x FCS Champion lost to ECU, who is mid to bottom half in my estimation.

And are we really going to say getting someone's brother is a measure of talent?

Ozzie Canseco, Justin Giambi, Dan McGuire come to mind...and I am just talking about the Oakland A's...

I mean Clemson had Emory Smith in the 90s, clearly he was as good as Emmitt.

Meanwhile mid pack BCS teams beat upper Tier FCS teams by 35 every week and rest their starters the entire second half.

Depth plays as large a part as anything, with today's scholarship limitation, there is often much drop off from 1s to 1s...but the days of FSUs 5th string being able to dissmantle top 5 1-A teams starters are definitely long gone.

While I think you're exaggerating some, I don't think you and I are that far apart.

Like I said, I think that the top FCS teams would compete highly with non BCS FBS conferences, but would certainly struggle in the BCS conferences. Two CAA teams beating bottom feeder ACC teams is a proud moment for our conference, but I certainly do not have the dillusion that top CAA schools would be competitive day in and day out in the ACC. Sun Belt? Yeah, maybe.

[Philliesfan980]

Anygivensaturday.com is a great FCS forum. A lot of very knowledgeable posters there.

There still is a pretty large talent gap between the FCS and the top 25 programs, but not so much between the FCS and the "mid-major" type conferences such as the MAC. I was at the Temple / Nova game this past Thursday, and you could tell that Temple had the overall better athletes (it appears they outweighed them on the line by 20-30 lbs at each position), but the guys from Nova just knew how to play football and win games. That goes a long way.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

App State 3x FCS Champion lost to ECU, who is mid to bottom half in my estimation.

ECU would have lost if Armanti Edwards had played and was healthy. He is the best player in FCS and perhaps one of the best ever.

The top FCS schools can hang with the bottom half of FBS. I think the gap between that has shrunk over the years. The top FBS schools are still well above anything FCS has to offer.

[RainMaker]

Also, all the FCS schools play on the road. If half had home games, you'd have close to a dozen of those schools winning a week during the OOC schedules.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The top FCS schools can hang with the bottom half of FBS. I think the gap between that has shrunk over the years.

The gap does seem to have closed, but "half" seems waaaay overblown.
1/3rd to 1/4th sounds more realistic to me.

[Young Drachma]

More and more kids I think would rather go to a FCS program and compete for a national title, than go to a low major FBS program and play in the Leftover Foods Bowl.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The gap does seem to have closed, but "half" seems waaaay overblown.
1/3rd to 1/4th sounds more realistic to me.

Perhaps, but I'm also taking into account that all these FCS schools play on the road in often times hostile environments. There were a lot of close calls yesterday to go along with the multiple victories posted. I'm also talking about top ranked FCS schools, not the subdivision as a whole.

I'd be interested in seeing a breakdown of the games. I'd also be interested to see how the FCS playoffs teams did against non-bowl teams in the FBS at the season's end. I believe it would be pretty even.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Duke and Temple also lost to FCS (CAA along with W&M) teams.

And UMass went into K-State and only lost 21-17. (On the flip side, UMaine needed OT to beat DII St. Cloud St.)

[RainMaker]

Indiana had a tough time with Eastern Kentucky and Southern Illinois almost beat Marshall.

[lynchjm24]

The CAA is a better league then the Sun Belt at this point. It's probably only a half a rung below the MAC.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by lynchjm24

The CAA is a better league then the Sun Belt at this point. It's probably only a half a rung below the MAC.

Well, I'd at least say that the top tier CAA teams are better than the top tier Sun Belt teams.