Conference Champion Projections

[344Johnson]

I have little to add other than I want to see how long it is before this thread gets taken over and turned into one of the following:

Lakes vs. MplsBison "Battle of the Superfans"

NDSU vs. UND "Its your fault!" "No its your fault!"

NDSU to FBS As Lakes says, "PuMP iT Up!" As Mpls says, "FCS is smalltime."

NDSU thread "Lakes ticks someone off (me) and we engage in a prolonged debate where Ursus comes in and puts Lakes in his place."
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Who will win each of the conferences this season?

I got NDSU, Montana St., JMU, App State, SHSU from the big conferences. I imagine Lehigh will win the Patriot. I don't know the smaller conferences well enough to A.) care who wins, or B.) make an honest projection.

[darell1976]

Big Sky- Cal Poly or MSU
MVFC- NDSU
Big South- Liberty
CAA- ODU
Ivy- Harvard
MEAC- Bethune-Cookman
Northeast-Albany
OVC-Tennessee Tech
Patriot- Lehigh
PFL-Drake
Southern- App St
Southland- SHSU
SWAC- Alabama A&M

[BisonFan02]

Big Sky- Montana St.
MVFC- NDSU
Big South- Liberty/Stony Brook
CAA- Towson (another one that could be up in the air)
Ivy- Harvard
MEAC- Bethune-Cookman
Northeast-Albany/Dukes/Bryant (really a toss up in my head...Monmouth could do damage if they could actually win at home)
OVC-Eastern Kentucky
Patriot- Lehigh
PFL-Drake
Southern- Georgia Southern
Southland- SHSU
SWAC- Alabama A&M

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

GSU
Griz
Delaware
Fargo State
Sam Texas
South Carolina State
Eastern Kentucky
Lehigh
Stony Creek
Scooby Doos

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Big Sky- Montana State
MVFC- NDSU
Big South- Stony Brook
CAA- JMU
Ivy- Penn
MEAC- S.C. State
Northeast-Albany
OVC-Jacksonville State
Patriot- Lehigh
PFL-Dayton
Southern- GSU
Southland- SHSU
SWAC- Grambling

[Pard4Life]

Lehigh will not win the Patriot. I give my nod to HC.

[SpiritCymbal]

I believe that App. St. will win the SoCon.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Lehigh will not win the Patriot. I give my nod to HC.

After reading your posts for the last 2 years if there's one thing you should not predict its Lehigh's success/failures. I believe you had them at 7-4 or so last year and made a point to say how completely overrated they were in the preseason. Yet, somehow that managed to go 11-2 and finished ranked 5th.

I've chalked it up as denial. xlolx

Honestly, I don't see Lehigh going through the league undefeated for 3 straight years. I think they'll split the title with Holy Cross and get an at large bid so in some ways you might be right this time.

[Pard4Life]

They were overrated... that Towson win was tough and rugged but the rest of the PL and schedule weren't exactly composed of world beaters. Lehigh was not a top five team. They played a top team and did nothing. At least we had a TD against NDSU ;)

Anyhow, Lehigh will receive an undeserved top 25 preseaon ranking and will remain there even after a flaw exposing loss. Take it to the bank.

[ngineer]

They were overrated... that Towson win was tough and rugged but the rest of the PL and schedule weren't exactly composed of world beaters. Lehigh was not a top five team. They played a top team and did nothing. At least we had a TD against NDSU ;)

Anyhow, Lehigh will receive an undeserved top 25 preseaon ranking and will remain there even after a flaw exposing loss. Take it to the bank.



Hey, once you establish a reputation for winning and winning playoff games, you do build up some "capital" when it comes to the polls. So, yes it is in the bank. (;-)
Look at some of the bigger "name" schools who are always in the top 15 regardless of what they've lost from prior years. Delaware is a classic example of this. Many vote on what was has been done in the past as opposed to what is actually expected.
I think the PL will be more bunched this year, with LU and HC being the favorites in that order; but LC, GT have some very good talent. The question is will they be a good team. Same with Fordham.

[frozennorth]

Big Sky- Cal Poly
MVFC- NDSU (head to head over ysu)
Big South- Stony brook
CAA- JMU/tossup
Ivy- Harvard
MEAC- don't care
Northeast-Albany
OVC-EKU
Patriot- Lehigh
PFL- dont care
Southern- App St
Southland- SHSU
SWAC- don't care

Cal poly (9-2), ndsu (10-1), app (9-2) ysu (9-2) and stony brooook (10-1) are your seeds in no particular order.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

[/B]

Hey, once you establish a reputation for winning and winning playoff games, you do build up some "capital" when it comes to the polls. So, yes it is in the bank. (;-)
Look at some of the bigger "name" schools who are always in the top 15 regardless of what they've lost from prior years. Delaware is a classic example of this. Many vote on what was has been done in the past as opposed to what is actually expected.
I think the PL will be more bunched this year, with LU and HC being the favorites in that order; but LC, GT have some very good talent. The question is will they be a good team. Same with Fordham.

I think when the media/coaches vote is done Lehigh will be bigger favorites than they were last year which really isn't "true" imo. If i remember correctly the Hawks were picked over Colgate by only a point or two last season.

I think the vote will be
1. Lehigh - fairly unanimous
2. Holy Cross
3. Georgetown
4. Lafayette
5. Colgate
6. Bucknell
7. Fordham *

[TheValleyRaider]

Preseason polls, especially in a conference like the PL, is always more about the past season than the upcoming one. Makes sense, of course, given it can only be based on the information available, but yeah, Lehigh will be pretty unanimously favored in the PL

It may be too much to ask them to run the table again, but they may not need to. The real question will be who steps up to be the main challenger...

At the risk of diverting this thread totally into a PL route (did you hear we're getting scholarships?), here are some early and uninformed guesses as to who will win the rest of the leagues:
Big Sky: Montana St
Big South: Stony Brook
CAA: James Madison
Ivy: Harvard
MEAC: SC State
MVFC: UNI
NEC: Albany
OVC: Jacksonville St
Patriot: Lehigh
Pioneer: Dayton
SoCon: Georgia Southern
SLC: Sam Houston St
SWAC: Grambling St

[seantaylor]

GSU wins the Socon by 2 games

[Horseshoe App]

You said that in your bad years. You win your first one in how long and it goes to your head. Humility has never been your strong point. By the way, I do think it will come down to ASU or GSU. We both will be very good teams.

[blueballs]

GSU has LOT of questions coming into the season and had better have them answered quickly as they travel to Citadel (who should be pretty good) the second week. I can very easily see 7-4 for GSU.

Chatty has both GSU and App at their place. If whoever winds up being their QB plays just average and doesn't get them beat, they should be the favorite.

[Milktruck74]

GSU has LOT of questions coming into the season and had better have them answered quickly as they travel to Citadel (who should be pretty good) the second week. I can very easily see 7-4 for GSU.

Chatty has both GSU and App at their place. If whoever winds up being their QB plays just average and doesn't get them beat, they should be the favorite.

Pretty Sure it is gonna be Robinson, with Huesman coming in, just enough to hide the gimmick plays he is mainly there for. As far as the QB goes, as long as he can get a snap and take a knee 3 straight plays without a turnover, we might be able to still win. The D is better than last year and added some meat in the middle (UGA transfer), so I could see winning a few games 2-0 and 4-0. Ha Ha.

[darell1976]

Big Sky- Cal Poly
MVFC- NDSU (head to head over ysu)
Big South- Stony brook
CAA- JMU/tossup
Ivy- Harvard
MEAC- don't care
Northeast-Albany
OVC-EKU
Patriot- Lehigh
PFL- dont care
Southern- App St
Southland- SHSU
SWAC- don't care

Cal poly (9-2), ndsu (10-1), app (9-2) ysu (9-2) and stony brooook (10-1) are your seeds in no particular order.

They do have a very favorable schedule...no Montana and no Montana State.

[LUHawker]

After reading your posts for the last 2 years if there's one thing you should not predict its Lehigh's success/failures. I believe you had them at 7-4 or so last year and made a point to say how completely overrated they were in the preseason. Yet, somehow that managed to go 11-2 and finished ranked 5th.

I've chalked it up as denial. xlolx

Honestly, I don't see Lehigh going through the league undefeated for 3 straight years. I think they'll split the title with Holy Cross and get an at large bid so in some ways you might be right this time.

I chalk it up to bitterness. P4L has never had any objective perspective when it comes to Lehigh.

I doubt Lehigh will cruise through the League again this year, but I don't understand all the love for HC. They also lost their QB to graduation. I think the PL will have more parity this season. Even the recently hapless Pards should look better.

[CrusaderBob]

I think when the media/coaches vote is done Lehigh will be bigger favorites than they were last year which really isn't "true" imo. If i remember correctly the Hawks were picked over Colgate by only a point or two last season.

I think the vote will be
1. Lehigh - fairly unanimous
2. Holy Cross
3. Georgetown
4. Lafayette
5. Colgate
6. Bucknell
7. Fordham *

Fairly unanimous?? Is that kinda like being a little pregnant??? xconfusedx xlolx

[Gil Dobie]

I like the fact that NDSU core will be the Jr class with 30 players on the roster and only 8 Seniors. Last years Soph class was key in winning the Championship. On the other hand, losing 18 Seniors will create some holes. If the Bison come out of the first 4 games with 1 loss, they will be sitting good for the MVFC championship. @Colorado St, @UNI and home vs YSU will be a tough portion of the schedule.

[Redbirdz]

OVC- Jacksonville State before move to FBS.

[Horseshoe App]

I guess I just have a hard time believing in UTC until they do something. If they do well this season, Chattown will be even harder to deal with than he already is:) He still needs to eat his crow sandwich for the ASU-UTC game last year.

GSU has LOT of questions coming into the season and had better have them answered quickly as they travel to Citadel (who should be pretty good) the second week. I can very easily see 7-4 for GSU.

Chatty has both GSU and App at their place. If whoever winds up being their QB plays just average and doesn't get them beat, they should be the favorite.

[Ivytalk]

Harvard should win the Ivies outright, but Cornell (which has the best QB in the league) could make some noise if it finds a defense.

Penn isn't in the Ivy League.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Fairly unanimous?? Is that kinda like being a little pregnant??? xconfusedx xlolx

Temple guy goes with fairly unanimous, Colgate guy goes with pretty unanimous....it's all relative. xrotatehx

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Harvard should win the Ivies outright, but Cornell (which has the best QB in the league) could make some noise if it finds a defense.

Penn isn't in the Ivy League.

Penn is expected to struggle that much this year?

[Screamin_Eagle174]

I wonder how long my Eagles will fly under the radar. xninjax

[344Johnson]

I wonder how long my Eagles will fly under the radar. xninjax


Until they pound UND by about 30

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Until they pound UND by about 30

That would do nothing to ascertain our position in the BSC. I suppose EWU can't really fly under the radar this year; we'll know right off the bat if we're a contender with Idaho, WSU, Weber and then the Griz in the first 4 games. We should be 3-1 or 2-2, granted SMU transfer Kyle Padron can grasp the offense quickly.

[darell1976]

Until EWU gets pounded against UND by about 30

FIFY:D

[DFW HOYA]

Penn isn't in the Ivy League.

To the purists, H-Y-P is the Ivy League and the other five are guests.

[Ivytalk]

To the purists, H-Y-P is the Ivy League and the other five are guests.

Not so, Hoya. Four invited guests and one squatter!:D

[Screamin_Eagle174]

FIFY:D

We're not playing Notre Dame this year. xthumbsupx

[theSarge]

Maine will win the CAA.

[seantaylor]

I guess I just have a hard time believing in UTC until they do something. If they do well this season, Chattown will be even harder to deal with than he already is:) He still needs to eat his crow sandwich for the ASU-UTC game last year.

Exactly. Calling Chatty a favorite is crazy. GSU has as many as 18 starters returning if you count injured players. Monken best coach in the league. GSU, Woffie,Appy will be the order

[Squealofthepig]

That would do nothing to ascertain our position in the BSC. I suppose EWU can't really fly under the radar this year; we'll know right off the bat if we're a contender with Idaho, WSU, Weber and then the Griz in the first 4 games. We should be 3-1 or 2-2, granted SMU transfer Kyle Padron can grasp the offense quickly.

What is with you guys front-loading your schedule? Hell, you would have easily been ranked all year and in conversation for a playoff berth last year save for scheduling your hardest foes early (and I would concede at the end of the season you guys were a better team than several you lost to in that early stretch - sometimes it sucks to have that bullseye on your team).

[GATA_Eagles]

Best news I have heard regarding football this year, is there is only 103 days until kickoff!

[darell1976]

We're not playing Notre Dame this year. xthumbsupx

xlolx

[Apphole]

Exactly. Calling Chatty a favorite is crazy. GSU has as many as 18 starters returning if you count injured players. Monken best coach in the league. GSU, Woffie,Appy will be the order

Not to say Monken isn't an outstanding coach (bringing back the TO and restoring the glory to the GaSo program) but I feel that one could make a stronger case for Ayers and Moore.

If there's one coach that will have the biggest impact this year, it's Scott Satterfield. The chess master is back. This is the guy who's offensive schemes had every D-coordinator in the conference pulling their hair out on the way to our 30-point wins. We lost the conference championship by a game last year and knocked off a #1 GaSo team with a chimp and an orangutan calling the plays. I've got a feeling the chess master will do a little better of a job.

At this point my I think the top of the SoCon will finish like this.
1. App
2. GaSo
3. Chatty
4. Woff

Then App and GaSo make deep playoff runs in this, our last year of eligibility in the FCS playoffs.

[fatmonarch]

I'm not sure ODU is eligible to win the CAA, but they will compete either way. Honestly, I think it's a toss up between JMU, Towson, Maine, and UNH. For all we know Richmond could pull a Towson this year and win it.

[TheRevSFA]

Not to say Monken isn't an outstanding coach (bringing back the TO and restoring the glory to the GaSo program) but I feel that one could make a stronger case for Ayers and Moore.

If there's one coach that will have the biggest impact this year, it's Scott Satterfield. The chess master is back. This is the guy who's offensive schemes had every D-coordinator in the conference pulling their hair out on the way to our 30-point wins. We lost the conference championship by a game last year and knocked off a #1 GaSo team with a chimp and an orangutan calling the plays. I've got a feeling the chess master will do a little better of a job.

At this point my I think the top of the SoCon will finish like this.
1. App
2. GaSo
3. Chatty
4. Woff

Then App and GaSo make deep playoff runs in this, our last year of eligibility in the FCS playoffs.

Don't you have to have an invite to a FBS conference for this to be your last year of eligibility?

Just sayin....

[Apphole]

Don't you have to have an invite to a FBS conference for this to be your last year of eligibility?

Just sayin....

That is correct. I stand by my post...

[TheRevSFA]

That is correct. I stand by my post...

Ah so when you don't get the invite, I have all free reign to mock you for said post, si?

[Apphole]

Ah so when you don't get the invite, I have all free reign to mock you for said post, si?

If we have no invite by June 1, 2013, mock away.

[BisonFan02]

If we have no invite by June 1, 2013, mock away.

New signature?

[Apphole]

New signature?

xlolx I'll have to wait for another awesome quote I suppose.

[RichH2]

Everyone seems to be discounting Gate. Biddle will not repeat last year. Expect his qb to be improved as well as D, which really couldn't be worse than last yr.

[TheRevSFA]

If we have no invite by June 1, 2013, mock away.

I tried to rep this..but I gotta give some more out. Someone hook him up for me

[TheValleyRaider]

Everyone seems to be discounting Gate. Biddle will not repeat last year. Expect his qb to be improved as well as D, which really couldn't be worse than last yr.

Defense was a big problem last year, though the O-Line struggled through injuries. I think we'll be better (and Biddle's record suggests we will be), but we've got a tough OOC (4 of 5 road games, 2 playoff teams) and have to go to Bethlehem. I have a hard time seeing more than 8 wins, if that

[RichH2]

7-8 wins very possible. Heck , possiblthat a 2 loss squad could take PL next yr

[tribefan40]

I'm not sure ODU is eligible to win the CAA, but they will compete either way. Honestly, I think it's a toss up between JMU, Towson, Maine, and UNH. For all we know Richmond could pull a Towson this year and win it.

CAA will be wide open this year. Towson and ODU are still young and talented, and should do well as they did last year. JMU, Udel and UNH are always competitive, and any or all of those could be near the top. I expect Maine to take a step back this year with heavy roster losses. Villanova should make big strides this year, but I don't expect them to be in the mix. UofR and WM will be the unknowns this year, and I think the QB spot will heavily determine the fate of both.

I'll go ahead and pick JMU, I guess.

[Humble Steward]

Big Sky- MSU
MVFC- NDSU
Big South- Stony Brook
CAA- ODU
Ivy- Harvard
MEAC- Bethune-Cookman
Northeast-Albany
OVC-Jacksonville St.
Patriot- Lehigh
PFL-Drake
Southern- App St
Southland- SHSU
SWAC- Grambling

[BisonFan02]

I tried to rep this..but I gotta give some more out. Someone hook him up for me

Done

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

This is the guy who's offensive schemes had every D-coordinator in the conference pulling their hair out on the way to our 30-point wins.

Thought that was Armanti.... xconfusedx

[Apphole]

Thought that was Armanti.... xconfusedx

Our lack of a 4th consecutive national championship begs to differ.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

What is with you guys front-loading your schedule? Hell, you would have easily been ranked all year and in conversation for a playoff berth last year save for scheduling your hardest foes early (and I would concede at the end of the season you guys were a better team than several you lost to in that early stretch - sometimes it sucks to have that bullseye on your team).

Tell me about it. This year's is only marginally better since there's a bye after the two FBS games, but the first 3 are still on the road before we get the Griz in Cheney in week 5. As long as the injury bug doesn't hit is as bad as last year (knock on wood), we'll be fine.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Our lack of a 4th consecutive national championship begs to differ.

What about '09? Lost to ECU because of a lawn mower, lost to McNeese because of the defense, otherwise you would've been playing Montana in Boone and have likely having defacto home field advantage against Villanova in Chatty.

[Apphole]

What about '09? Lost to ECU because of a lawn mower, lost to McNeese because of the defense, otherwise you would've been playing Montana in Boone and have likely having defacto home field advantage against Villanova in Chatty.

Not sure where you're going with this?..

We had no Satterfield then either. Did you see our offense in the first half of that ECU game?! Atrocious. Travaris Cadet pretty much single handedly led the comeback on his sheer athleticism (he put da team on his back!) A lot of what ifs, but to deny the drop in dominance upon SS's departure is an up hill battle.

[chattownmocs]

An offensive coordinator was more important than Armanti Edwards? That is just silly.

[Sycamore51]

Big Sky- MSU
MVFC- UNI
Big South- Liberty
CAA- ODU
Ivy- Harvard
MEAC- Bethune Cookman
Northeast-Albany
OVC-EKU
Patriot- Lehigh
PFL-Drake
Southern- App St
Southland- SHSU
SWAC- Grambling

[Sycamore51]

Big Sky- Cal Poly
MVFC- NDSU (head to head over ysu)Big South- Stony brook
CAA- JMU/tossup
Ivy- Harvard
MEAC- don't care
Northeast-Albany
OVC-EKU
Patriot- Lehigh
PFL- dont care
Southern- App St
Southland- SHSU
SWAC- don't care

Cal poly (9-2), ndsu (10-1), app (9-2) ysu (9-2) and stony brooook (10-1) are your seeds in no particular order.

I really don't think Youngstown will be there in the MVFC race. I see them losing at least 3 MVFC games this year (NDSU, UNI, and either INST of IllSt)

I see the MVFC like this
UNI 8-0
NDSU 7-1
INST 6-2
YSU 5-3
IllSt 4-4
SIU 4-4
WIU 2-6
MSU 2-6
SDST 1-7
SD 1-7

[BisonHype!]

I see NDSU going 7-1 in the MVFC race as well, but I don't see UNI going 8-0.

[BisonFan02]

I really don't think Youngstown will be there in the MVFC race. I see them losing at least 3 MVFC games this year (NDSU, UNI, and either INST of IllSt)

I see the MVFC like this
UNI 8-0
NDSU 7-1
INST 6-2
YSU 5-3
IllSt 4-4
SIU 4-4
WIU 2-6
MSU 2-6
SDST 1-7
SD 1-7

I personally don't see SDSU going 1-7 in the Valley this year, and I have INST around 4th/5th behind YSU and Ill St. However, 3rd-6th this year could be a real toss up. I'm hoping the MVFC gets a little more postseason love this year though.

[BisonHype!]

I personally don't see SDSU going 1-7 in the Valley this year, and I have INST around 4th/5th behind YSU and Ill St. However, 3rd-6th this year could be a real toss up. I'm hoping the MVFC gets a little more postseason love this year though.

Ya, good job noticing that. SDSU should definitely be closer to middle of the pack. SDSU will most likely be closer to .500.

[Sycamore51]

I personally don't see SDSU going 1-7 in the Valley this year, and I have INST around 4th/5th behind YSU and Ill St. However, 3rd-6th this year could be a real toss up. I'm hoping the MVFC gets a little more postseason love this year though.

I have INST up at 6-2 because they don't have to play UNI. I think that game is the difference between INST and YSU. YSU has to play both UNI, NDSU, IllSt, and INST. They have 3 of the 4 at home though, so I gave them the nod over IllSt who has to go to UNI and INST in back-to-back weeks.

[BisonFan02]

Ya, good job noticing that. SDSU should definitely be closer to middle of the pack. SDSU will most likely be closer to .500.

If Sumner is able to sling the ball around, they could do better than .500, but they need to find a RB that can compliment him before I would go that far.

[BisonHype!]

I have INST up at 6-2 because they don't have to play UNI. I think that game is the difference between INST and YSU. YSU has to play both UNI, NDSU, IllSt, and INST. They have 3 of the 4 at home though, so I gave them the nod over IllSt who has to go to UNI and INST in back-to-back weeks.

YSU has the potential to upset the Bison again this year. YSU will be a little better, NDSU won't be as dominate this year I don't believe. I am rooting for the Bison to rout the Penguins, but that will be a tough away game.

[BisonFan02]

I have INST up at 6-2 because they don't have to play UNI. I think that game is the difference between INST and YSU. YSU has to play both UNI, NDSU, IllSt, and INST. They have 3 of the 4 at home though, so I gave them the nod over IllSt who has to go to UNI and INST in back-to-back weeks.

Good point. I just think YSU (if they can be more consistent) is going to be a force, and I anticipate Ill St. playing with a bit of a chip on their shoulder because of getting snubbed. Like I said, I think 3-6 and maybe 7 is going to be a dogfight this year.

[Sycamore51]

Ya, good job noticing that. SDSU should definitely be closer to middle of the pack. SDSU will most likely be closer to .500.

I think they will win either MSU or WIU at home, but not both. I don't know much about SD, but I gave that win to SD just to not have an 0-8 team in the league. They have a tough schedule, @ INST, @ UNI, @ SIU, @ NDSU, SD is a renewed rival game so it's a toss up, I think YSU is just that much better, so that leaves MSU and WIU. That being said, they might run the table, who the heck knows.

[BisonHype!]

Good point. I just think YSU (if they can be more consistent) is going to be a force, and I anticipate Ill St. playing with a bit of a chip on their shoulder because of getting snubbed. Like I said, I think 3-6 and maybe 7 is going to be a dogfight this year.

You could make a case for all of those 3-7 teams doing better than they will be ranked. Anything can happen in conference games. Games just seem to be tighter. I know NDSU had some tough games last year in the MVFC to where you could have swore those teams were better than their record. MVFC scheduling is going to brutal for any team this year xbangx. Beating up on each other. The new "Black and Blue Division"xholyx

[BisonFan02]

YSU has the potential to upset the Bison again this year. YSU will be a little better, NDSU won't be as dominate this year I don't believe. I am rooting for the Bison to rout the Penguins, but that will be a tough away game.

The YSU game is at home again for NDSU...homecoming

[BisonHype!]

The YSU game is at home again for NDSU...homecoming

Really??? Weird, but ok. Still, they did it last year, and should be a tough game either way. MY BAD! Thanks for correcting my uneducated post! lol xholyx