Week 4 and going strong

Here comes another week of FCS football.  

It is a bit slow, but the Ivy League finally kicks off.  Most of the Ivy League schools are taking on Patriot League schools, so it will be fun to get the first look at these teams.  Harvard is the exception as they take on San Diego.

The Big Sky sees only one conference game with Southern Utah taking on Sacramento State in what should be a win for Southern Utah.  Eastern Washington and Cal Poly are taking a bye and Montana basically is playing a team a division down while Montana State travels to SF Austin.  

Big South is looking very interesting, as Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina are undefeated with Liberty's only loss coming to Kent St. and Gardner-Webb's to Marshall.  This week the first two should win and Liberty gets Richmond, who just lost to Gardner-Webb while Gardner Webb travels to Wofford.  This is going to be an exciting conference.

The Colonial Athletic Association is always entertaining and newcomer Stony Brook travels to Villanova, who is struggling this year.  Rhode Island goes to William and Mary.  However the favorites to win the CAA, Towson plays out of conference against NC Central and ought to win, Delaware hosts Wagner, which should be a win, and undefeated Maine goes to Northwestern where they will lose.  Still to early to tell who is for real and who is not.

The MEAC conference is all out of conference and a lot of playing FBS teams as Bethune Cookman plays Florida St and Florida A&M plays Ohio State.  and Savannah State goes to Miami.  So we need to wait another week before we start to see North Carolina A&T who is off can dethrone Bethune Cookman as the odds on favorite to win this league as A&T are off this week.  In a quirk of the schedule, NC A&T does not play Bethune Cookman this year.  Could this mean that both teams make the playoffs?  MEAC fans can only hope.

The Missouri Valley ought to have its big names win this week as NDSU and Youngstown St and Northern Iowa all have very winnable games.  SDSU is the real interesting one as they travel to Nebraska, a team that looked very bad this past week, especially at stopping the run (Zack Zerner is averaging 180 for SDSU), and the starting quarterback is down for Nebraska.  This is the best bet for an upset.  I should note that I am looking forward to South Dakota versus Northern Arizona as well.  That could be a good game.  

The NEC is fairly uninteresting this week with Robert Morris and Bryant off.  Sacred Heart, who is undefeated ought to stay that way hosting a team down a division.  The others are going to lose. 

The Ohio Valley Conference is another interesting conference in the long run.  Eastern Illinois is undefeated including a big win over the FBS team, San Diego State.  They have another shot at one this week against the much better Northern Illinois.  Jacksonville State ought to win this week.  Murray State is 2-1 as are Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee Martin.  Tech plays Tennessee State in a game that has potential to be the game of the week.  

The Pioneer conference and new automatic bid is still up for grabs.  San Diego should win over Harvard and Mercer is playing a team down a level as is Stetson.  These are teams to watch for when league play heats up.

The Southern Conference is mostly out of conference too.  Wofford hosts Gardner-Webb and Samford hosts SE Louisiana.  Both teams need to win to hope to make the SoCon a two bid league this year.  The in conference match up to watch is Elon and App. State.  Both teams are underperforming and desperate for a win.  It is really a must win for both teams.

The Southland is a good conference this year and Sam Houston State and McNeese State should continue on the path to their head to head showdown.  NW St. may have the best chance to upset a FBS team as they go to UAB.  Worth keeping an eye on.  Central Arkansas needs a win over Missouri State to stay hopeful of post season play.  

The SWAC does not have an automatic bid, but Jackson State is looking like a championship team as they destroyed Texas Southern Thursday night.  Alcorn State maybe their only obstacle, who also ought to move up to 2-0 in conference after they play AR-Pine Bluff this week.  For those keeping track, Grambling State has yet to win and Southern only has one win.  Both are playing winnable games this week, both on the road.