re: Weekly FCS Poll and discussion...Theres been some movement....

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Corpus Christi doesn't have a football team, and even if they did, should only be allowed in if other teams leave.

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Yeah. I was just looking on cfbdatawarehouse.com and it said they had a discontinued team. That's all I know about them. Seems like if the ever made a commitment, it wouldn't be hard to get recruits to come to the beach.

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You have 1 or 2 very good teams that beat everyone they play. You have 5-6 teams that beat each other in conference play but lose to everyone else they play. You have 1-2 teams that can not beat anyone.

That is a top heavy conference, in my opinion.

The Gateway until 2010 was very top heavy. The SLC was not.

I get your rationale, but it to me is somewhat flawed. But I understand it and you are making your point.

By the way, welcome to the weekly FCS thread.

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Love that this thread is here. Probably won't post anywhere else on this board, but man, this is cool. No other forum I'm on, except the McNeese forum, discusses FCS football.

I can see where you're coming from though. I still contend that a lot of the problem was the additions that we've had recently. Houston Baptist and Incarnate Word kill our strength. We literally got 2 more Nicholls-like teams in the conference.

Over time, I think Abilene will be a good add. They seem to be a pretty good squad. But other than that, the adds have been terrible. There hasn't been a good one since Lamar started football. It should have stopped at them. At that point the conference is:

McNeese
SHSU
SELA
SFA
Nicholls
Northwestern
UCA
Lamar

You could easily play 7 conference games and still have room for 4 nonconference games. That let's you get a money game in, a DII (if so inclined), and a couple of FCS games. That would be my ideal schedule. At that point, Nicholls was really the only weak team in the conference. Northwestern was up and down, but still pretty competitive. They still are, but losing 6 or 7 conference games is worse than 4 or 5.

I know some conferences fare just fine with that many teams, but it didn't do the SLC any good adding 3 more schools when 2 of them are just plain bad. What's good for the goose isn't always good for the gander.

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Do you follow McNeese basketball?

The coach there has made one NIT in 9 seasons. 7 of those 9 have been losing years. I know it's hard to jump SFA right now, but do you foresee a coaching change? Does McNeese care about hoops?

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To tell you the truth, I don't. Went to one basketball game in the 6 years I was at McNeese. I keep up with football and baseball. So everything from November or December to late February is down time for me. Spend that time hunting.

When it comes to basketball though, I don't really expect much. The way college basketball is set up, its hard for a team like McNeese to do more than win a conference title and make an NCAA tournament appearance every now and then. Even if we make the tournament, you are going to need one hell of a draw to have a shot at advancing. Not saying it can't be done, but you need a perfect storm of coaches and players at those "mid-majors", if the SLC would even be considered a "mid-major", to make one of those Cinderella runs.

Not saying I expect much out of baseball either, but I like college baseball.

Cowboyfan89

You should try out the AnyGivenSaturday board. AGS is all FCS all the time.

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Coastal moves up next year

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Did not know that. My alma mater (Presbyterian) hung with them this past weekend and lost by a touchdown. Close game

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It seems like a lot of SLC fans feel this way compared to other "FCS" conferences. Makes sense I guess since some SEC fans like college baseball over basketball and it's in a similar geographic footprint.

I went to more UCA baseball games than i did basketball games last year (doesn't help that we're God awful in basketball ) and worked the SLC tournament when it was in Conway a few years ago. Had a blast

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I think the geographic footprint is just a coincidence. The Big 12 footprint is similar to the Southland footprint, but the Big 12 is probably more of a basketball conference than the Southland is. I think it has to do with the type of teams the schools put out. I don't know much about the Big Sky when it comes to basketball, but considering I never hear much about them, I'm going to assume they aren't a big basketball conference. The Sun Belt probably isn't either.

Looking forward to this weekend in college football. I saw SFA is playing Southeastern. I guess we will find out who is who and what is what with those two. I don't know if last weekend's outcome was a result of them not playing anyone to this point, but Southeastern was really shut down by McNeese. I'd like to think (just because the past few seasons have taught me so) that SELA has a really solid running game again this year, but that McNeese's defense is just that much better this year. It was really something special watching those guys work and attack the Lion offense for 4 quarters. One bad play is really what gave the Lions their lone touchdown. Otherwise, it was a stellar performance by the Cowboys.

I could say the same about SFA. Are they a good team who has had some bad breaks? They've lost 3 games by a combined 15 points. The other two losses came to TCU (good luck keeping up with them) and McNeese, who just flat out shutdown the Jacks after the first quarter. The weak link may just be their defense and special teams, as they have given up at least 24 points in every game. Three of the five games left on their schedule are by no means "gimmees". SELA, Central Arkansas, and Northwestern will put up a fight.

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This will probably be the first, and last time I mention a SWAC team.

Alcorn plays Grambling for the lead in SWAC. The winner will have a 5 game winning streak.

I find it ludicrous and stupid that these teams are going to "bowls" instead of competing for FCS playoffs. The money grab, while needed, is not being used to fund the schools teams.

I truly believe that is why neither of these two teams are ranked, as they are not playoff teams. Although Alcorn is getting votes and I think is 26th in line.

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Why exactly does the SWAC not participate in the FCS Playoffs? I understand that the MEAC is giving up its autobid to play in this "Celebration Bowl", but why are the HBConferences going this route? What is the benefit of not playing? Or is this some kind of, "we aren't going to participate because of who we are" deal?

I would, however, disagree with the reason for those teams not being ranked. Both polls rank Harvard, and the Ivy League has declined participation in the playoff since the 1950s, citing academic reasons. I'm not sure why neither is ranked, although neither Dartmouth nor Princeton (both unbeaten) are ranked.

He deserves it.

Some predictions for the weekend's games....


X-No. 4 Illinois State (4-1, 2-0 Missouri Valley) at Missouri State (1-4, 0-2), The Bears keep it within 49 I will be amazed. Steckle is an assclown and needs to be fired tonight
X-Southern Illinois (2-3, 1-1 Missouri Valley) at No. 21 Indiana State (3-2, 1-1), 3:05 p.m.,Must win for INS and I think they do win SIU dropped 73 on SMS
X-No. 9 Sam Houston State (3-2, 3-1 Southland) at Abilene Christian (2-3, 2-2), 3:30 p.m.
South Dakota (3-2, 0-2 Missouri Valley) at X-No. 2 North Dakota State (4-1, 2-0), 3:30 p.m
No. 16 Montana State (3-2, 2-1 Big Sky) at X-No. 17 Portland State (4-1, 1-1), 3:30 p.m. - The visiting Bobcats bring in an eight-game win streak in the series as they match the Big Sky's top-scoring offense against Portland State's top-scoring defense. In my opinion it's the GOW. I like PSU and I think it is a "loser leaves town game" the loser is out of the playoffs
No. 7 South Dakota State (4-1, 1-1 Missouri Valley) at X-No. 11 Youngstown State (3-2, 1-1), 4 p.m. - It's a huge game for both teams, especially YSU considering its late-season collapses in recent seasons. First-year Penguins coach Bo Pelini, the former Nebraska mentor, is coaching in his 100th career game, with a 70-29 overall record. I like YSU also, FR QB first start on the road for SDSU
Western Illinois (3-2, 2-0 Missouri Valley) at X-No. 12 Northern Iowa (2-3, 0-2), 5 p.m., Must win for UNI and I think will be easy
X-No. 15 McNeese State (5-0, 4-0 Southland) at Central Arkansas (3-2, 3-0), 7 p.m.
X-Lamar (3-2, 2-1 Southland) at Northwestern State (0-5, 0-3), 7 p.m.
X-Eastern Illinois (2-3, 2-0 OVC) at Tennessee State (3-2, 0-2), 7 p.m. An Eastern wins sets them up for a showdown to win the OVC with Jax St. I picked EIU to be a playoff team in pre-season.
Stephen F. Austin (1-5, 1-3 Southland) at X-No. 23 Southeastern Louisiana (3-2, 2-1), 8 p.m.

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You should try out the AnyGivenSaturday board. AGS is all FCS all the time.

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Eh, that board isn't as good as it used to be. I was on there a good bit years ago.

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I would, however, disagree with the reason for those teams not being ranked. Both polls rank Harvard, and the Ivy League has declined participation in the playoff since the 1950s, citing academic reasons. I'm not sure why neither is ranked, although neither Dartmouth nor Princeton (both unbeaten) are ranked.

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I would argue that history has shown more times than not that the SWAC and MEAC teams just don't hold up well against non-HBCUs. Sure you will have some that are legitimately good teams, but pollsters have never really given much attention to teams from those conferences.

Look at the results, neither stands out to me as a team that should be in the top 25.

Alcorn St
L - Georgia Tech 6-69
W - Alabama St 31-14
W - Mississippi Valley St 55-14
W - Concordia College 40-7
W - Arkansas=Pine Bluff 61-14

Grambling St
L - California 14-73
L - Bethune-Cookman 53-56
W - Alabama St 34-10
W - Prairie View 70-54
W - Jackson St 59-27
W - Alabama A&M 37-14