2013 Southern Conference Power Rankings/Predictions - Week Three.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

I was 4-2 this week. Western Carolina and Georgia Southern came up short. Samford, UT-Chattanooga and Wofford scored their second D1 win of the season. This is where I have it after this week.

1) Samford - Struck down the Rattlers on the road.
2) Wofford - Takes down the Eagles in an epic matchup
3) UT-Chattanooga - Evens their slate vs. the OVC with win against Austin Peay
4) Georgia Southern - Gets their first loss in SoCon play
5) The Citadel - Notches first SoCon win vs WCU
6) Western Carolina - Had nothing to be ashamed of today.
7) Appalachian State - Can they turn their season around.
8) Furman - Close win prevented Paladins from going 0-3 vs. Big South
9) Elon - Continuing to embarrass the CAA by losing to NC A&T
Mercer - 2-0 in their inaugural season back
VMI - North Greenville, are you kidding me?
ETSU - their volleyball team knocked off UT today (first win since 1978).

This week's predictions
SE Louisiana @ Samford - Bulldogs continue to roll against the Lions.
Mars Hill @ Western Carolina - Catamounts finally pickup their first win.
The Citadel @ Old Dominion - Monarchs will be too much in this one.
Appalachian State @ Elon - Mountaineers finally get their season on track.
Gardner-Webb @ Wofford (Game of the week) - Terriers continue to win.
Berry @ Mercer - Bears go to 3-0
VMI @ Virginia - If VMI was in the SoCon, this would be the beatdown of the week.
ETSU - Is it 2015 yet?

[walliver]

Top 3
1) Samford - Their wins are over teams that are a combined 1-5. They did play Arkansas tough
2) Wofford - Wins are over teams that are a combined 3-3. Bad loss at Baylor still weighs heavy.
3) Chatty - Two "impressive" wins over tames that are a combined 0-6

Middle of the pack:
4) GSU - Played sloppy in the third game of the season, should improve rapidly over the next few weeks
5) ASU - will team be able to get it together over the bye week? Coaching transition has gone much less smoothly than expected.
6) Citadel- finally got a win.
7) Furman - won a game. A win is always better than a loss, but not much more can be said about beating PC. Finished 1-2 in Big South.

Bottom of the barrel (no D-I wins)
8) Western Carolina- improving, but need to win a game to move up.
9) Elon - just plain bad so far. Tempted to make a CAA joke, but Elon's replacement (VMI) is much worse.

Mercer - two good wins, and hopefully will be competitive in SoCon in a few years
ETSU - team will beat VMI in their first year of football
VMI - bad ... just bad

Predictions:
SELA @ Sammy - The bulldog's OOC opponents are generally from outside the SoCon footprint, so I am less knowledgable about them, but I pick Sammy by 10
Mars Hill @ WCU - WCU has lost these type games in the past, but win this by 21
The Citadel @ ODU - If the bull pups play at the level they are of which they are capable, this could be a close game, but team hasn't gelled and ODU wins 56-10
App @ Elon - Elon's last chance for a win against the Yosef's, but it doesn't happen: ASU 35-13
GWU @ Wofford - The running pups won't sneak up on anyone from here on out. Terriers gain more than 10 on the ground, and win 28-17

Mercer wins (where do they find these teams?)
VMI doesn't.

[ElCid]

1 - Wofford - Easy choice for top Dog after sticking it to Ga So
2 - UTC - Gotta give the nod to the Mocs over Samford for their big victory over the Peay. And the Tenn-Martin loss does not look as bad as it first did
3 - Samford - Expected more out of them. They let Florida A&M hang around way toolong
4 - Georgia Southern (not a real player)- The loss tarnishes them a bit
5 - The Citadel - Whew. Needed that win bad. The Offense finally got it going a bit. Still worried though, WCU almost came back in the second half
6 - Western Carolina - Never say die, they just need consistency
7 - Appalachian State (not a real player) - I hope Bye did not beat them too bad; at least Elon did not beat NC A&T
8 - Furman - Really should have lost to the Blue Hose
9 - Elon - Are they still here?


SE La @ Samford - Samford finally at home and SE LA on the road 3straight. SE La no slouch, close win for the Samdogs - 37-31
Mars Hill @ Western Carolina - Western gets a big win 48-10
Appalachian State @ Elon - NC A&T wins this one, oh wait....Mountaineers win the losers bracket after they finally get going -38-13
The Citadel @ Old Dominion - My Dogs have only one chance...never let their offense touch the ball, not going to happen - 49-31
Gardner-Webb @ Wofford - Gardner Webb really did not look all that good in their victory over Richmond, Wofford bursts their bubble - 42-20

[md64179]

1. SAMFORD
2. UTC
3. WOFFORD
4. GSU
5. APP
6. EL CID
7. FURMAN
8. ELON
9. WCU

SAMFORD
WCU
ODU
APP
WOFFORD

[catamount man]

1) Wofford
2) Ga Southern
3) Chatt
4) Samford
5) Citadel
6) WCU
7) APP
8) Furman
9) elon

all I can say is that after 2 FBS schools and 1 half of storming back, we're not out of the woods yet, but there Is a light at the end of the tunnel. GO CATS!
8)

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Sanford #1 after an underwhelming win over FAMU?

[kdinva]

ETSU - team will beat VMI in their first year of football


If Sparky doesn't right the ship in time for the Robert Morris game in 13 days.......the clock starts on him & 2014. Yesterday we played like we were wearing our Coatees w/full dykes & shako. I never saw a team move so slow, especially the HB's and WR's. Our receivers don't know how to run an 8 yard sideline pattern. They jog the 8 yards, then wonder why the CB is in their face, still.

[woffordgrad94]

1. Wofford- showed they were class of the SoCon against GSU, throw the Baylor game out as every SoCon team would have a similar result in Waco.
2. Samford- have not beaten a team as good as GSU yet.
3. GSU- too many people overrated them
4. Chattanooga- not convinced they will contend yet
5. ASU- not what the Mountaineers envisioned so far for SoCon swan song
6. The Citadel- held on for dear life against WCU
7. Furman- very luck to beat Presbyterian
8. Western Carolina- improved but a ways to go
9. Elon- not improved and a ways to go

Wofford over Gardner-Webb: Terriers can't celebrate too long, can't overlook an improved G-W team.
Samford over SE Louisiana
WCU over Mars Hill- Cats roll
Old Dominion over The Citadel- Monarchs have too much offense for Cadets
ASU over Elon- Mountaineers notch first win

[Reign of Terrier]

Wofford-Baylor loss was bad, but has whipped 2 good FCS teams
Samford-played well and has won a few but hasn't done anything impressive quite yet. Ws are Ws though
GSU-got handled pretty well by a hot Wofford team. Still a fired up offensive team
Chattanooga-they've beaten teams badly that they should have but the UTM loss still looks really bad
Citadel-got that win over western, and still has a lot of potential
Furman-not so good right now. PC had every opportunity imaginable to beat them. The Socon is going to be rough for the Dins
App-winless, but talented. They'll move up on this list within the next couple weeks
Elon- They're really bad, a win against a sub D1 win doesn't change that
Western-they'll probably beat Mars Hill this week.

Samford over SE Louisiana
App State over Elon
Western over Mars Hill
ODU over the citadel in a close one
Wofford over Gardner Webb

I'm not predicting the score against Gardner Webb. I feel like we should win, but i won't say handly. They're a good team, and I like our chances. our offense was so-so last year and they had all offseason to prepare for us and we still beat them something like 34-7. This year our offense is better and I don't think they had that time to prepare for us. The game is at home as well. They'll have a hard time stopping the option, let alone the hurry up option. It's important for Wofford to win this game going into the bye week.

[SU DOG]

Wofford - Forget Baylor, and remember they have Ayers.
UTC - Playing up to another level since opener.
Samford - Still need an impressive win.
GSU - Probably lots better than folks think after last night.
App State - Probably don't deserve this high right now, but a lots of talent there.
The Citadel - Up and down week to week?
Western Carolina - Still believe the Cats will get that SoCon win or two.
Furman - Young and improving, but still a big question mark.
Elon - Here's to you CAA.

Picks
Samford - Lots of stats to show the FAMU Game was nowhere near that close in reality. Still, turnovers and sloppy play that the Dogs can't get away with now. This is probably a homer pick, because SELA is for REAL. Evidently there are many on here that don't know how good this Lions team is.
WCU
ODU
App State
Wofford

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

ETSU - team will beat VMI in their first year of football


If VMI continues to play like that in 2015, I can see that happening for Torbush is no slouch.

[The Cats]

1) Wofford
2) Samford
3) Chattanooga
4) Georgia Southern
5) The Citadel
6) Appalachian State
7) Furman
8) Western Carolina
9) Elon



This week's predictions

Samford
Old Dominion
Appalachian State
Wofford
Mars Hill @ Western Carolina (I won't pick WCU games anymore)
Mercer
Virginia

[T-Dog]

SE Louisiana @ Samford -Sammy continues to roll.
Mars Hill @ Western Carolina - Cats get their one win.
The Citadel @ Old Dominion - ODU throws for 600 yards.
Appalachian State @ Elon - No prediction. We're gonna get killed though.
Gardner-Webb @ Wofford - Woffy continues the momentum.

[PaladinFan]

Can we can it on the "Furman is 1-2 in the Big South" story line? It is fairly obvious that Coastal is a top 25 team, and Gardner Webb is monumentally better than anyone assumed they were. Yes, we should have beaten Presbyterian by more, but it might be that PC isn't a laughing stock either by season's end.

I'm not asking for cookies, rank Furman where you want to, but just recognize their first two losses are looking like they were 7 point road defeats against pretty good teams.

[citdog]

Can we can it on the "Furman is 1-2 in the Big South" story line? It is fairly obvious that Coastal is a top 25 team, and Gardner Webb is monumentally better than anyone assumed they were. Yes, we should have beaten Presbyterian by more, but it might be that PC isn't a laughing stock either by season's end.

I'm not asking for cookies, rank Furman where you want to, but just recognize their first two losses are looking like they were 7 point road defeats against pretty good teams.

furman is 1-2 in the big south. freaking hate vermin.

[Apphole]

1) Wofford
2) Samford
3) Georgia Southern
4) App State
5) Chatty
6) The Citadel
7) Western
8) Furman
9) Elon





Samford
Old Dominion
App State
Wofford
Western Carolina

[Reign of Terrier]

Can we can it on the "Furman is 1-2 in the Big South" story line? It is fairly obvious that Coastal is a top 25 team, and Gardner Webb is monumentally better than anyone assumed they were. Yes, we should have beaten Presbyterian by more, but it might be that PC isn't a laughing stock either by season's end.

I'm not asking for cookies, rank Furman where you want to, but just recognize their first two losses are looking like they were 7 point road defeats against pretty good teams.

better than usual Big South team usually translate to average team.

I may eat crow next week if we lose to Gardner Webb, but I don't think that'll happen. If Wofford beats the hell out of them it'll be typical status quo talk but if we lose or play close the headlines will be about how average Wofford is and how down the Socon is while how much improved the Big South is.

I think this is a mountain out of a mole hill personally.

[PaladinFan]

better than usual Big South team usually translate to average team.

I may eat crow next week if we lose to Gardner Webb, but I don't think that'll happen. If Wofford beats the hell out of them it'll be typical status quo talk but if we lose or play close the headlines will be about how average Wofford is and how down the Socon is while how much improved the Big South is.

I think this is a mountain out of a mole hill personally.

At the end of the day, the Big South does not get a lot of credit. Still, Furman's schedule, though perhaps not apparent in the preseason, has been significantly tougher than most SoCon schools. I don't care where folks rank Furman because the final standings will be settled on the field. I just am asking that folks stop looking at two losses to the Big South as some kind of mark of shame. Coastal is a top 25 team. GWU is a heckuva lot better than most assumed they were.

Wofford may blow GWU into next Tuesday. They are still a veteran team with a stout defense, a good running back, and size on offense (particularly on the lines and at receiver). They might be the "biggest" FCS team Furman or Wofford will see all year.

[elcid83]

furman is 1-2 in the big south. freaking hate vermin.

Citdog, GWU and Citadel have agreed to home and home matchup which will be played over the next 3-4 years. I'm looking forward to seeing how my son's alma mater fares against ours.

[RabidRabbit]

SE Louisiana @ Samford - Lions solve their turnover issues, and beat Sammy. SELU should have picked up a W in Brookings.
Mars Hill @ Western Carolina - Catamounts finally pickup their first win.
The Citadel @ Old Dominion - Monarchs will be too much in this one.
Appalachian State @ Elon - Mountaineers finally get their season on track.
Gardner-Webb @ Wofford (Game of the week) - Terriers continue to win.
Berry @ Mercer - Bears go to 3-0
VMI @ Virginia - If VMI was in the SoCon, this would be the beatdown of the week.
ETSU - Is it 2015 yet?

[fc97]

at least we will have a new coach this year. here's hoping for no more wins to solidify the coaching search.

[phoenix3]

SE Louisiana @ Samford -Sammy continues to roll.
Mars Hill @ Western Carolina - Cats get their one win.
The Citadel @ Old Dominion - ODU throws for 600 yards.
Appalachian State @ Elon - No prediction. We're gonna get killed though.
Gardner-Webb @ Wofford - Woffy continues the momentum.

Smart asse.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

1. Ankle Biters - wanted to win more, made fewer mistakes, and stuck to what they do best instead of trying to come in with a million different looks on offense
2. Eagles - Onward and upward. There is tremendous potential for this team
3. UTC - Jumps Samford (see #4)
4. Samford - Not impressed with their win over FAMU
5. The Citadel - got it done against a determined Western team. Not a bad effort
6. App. State - not counting them out, but #6 for now
7. Western Carolina - SoCon losing streak contunues, don't think it'll last all year
8. Furman - lucky for Furman PC can't kick a FG.
9. Elon - still bringing up the rear

Samford by 10
Western by 21
ODU by 30
App. by 17
Wofford by 20

[PaladinFan]

This is just a theory, but there are a few seasons where I have watched very good Georgia Southern teams lose, and consider one of the great factors in those games that GSU simply isn't prepared for a four quarter fight. I first began thinking about this in 2004, where an absolutely unstoppable GSU team suffered their first FCS loss in Greenville in an epic fight against the Paladins.

A few years, GSU has been so good offensively, that their starters are sitting on the sidelines just after half time. GSU also has a propensity for scheduling fairly weak teams early in many seasons, which also leads to their starters sitting on the sidelines through much of the game. Then you walk into a tough team like Wofford, who has spent the first few weeks of the season playing tough character games, and the Terriers close the game out in the second half. Their guys were used to playing four quarters. The Eagles' weren't.

I thought Wofford had a great chance to win the game, not necessarily because they had more talent, but I think there's a huge advantage for a team that has already fought through tough games going against a team that hasn't.

[dystopiamembrane]

Here are my power rankings.
1. Wofford
2. Georgia Southern
3. Samford
4. Chattanooga
5. Appalachian State
6. Furman
7. The Citadel
8. Elon
9. Western Carolina

Here are my predictions.
Samford 28-30 SE Louisiana
Western Carolina 34-31 Mars Hill
Old Dominion 42-28 The Citadel
Elon 26-29 Appalachian State
Wofford 28-7 Gardner-Webb

[OL FU]

furman is 1-2 in the big south. freaking hate vermin.

I am not very good at math but I think 1-2 versus the BSouth is better than 0-1 versus the BSouth;)

[eaglewraith]

This is just a theory, but there are a few seasons where I have watched very good Georgia Southern teams lose, and consider one of the great factors in those games that GSU simply isn't prepared for a four quarter fight. I first began thinking about this in 2004, where an absolutely unstoppable GSU team suffered their first FCS loss in Greenville in an epic fight against the Paladins.

A few years, GSU has been so good offensively, that their starters are sitting on the sidelines just after half time. GSU also has a propensity for scheduling fairly weak teams early in many seasons, which also leads to their starters sitting on the sidelines through much of the game. Then you walk into a tough team like Wofford, who has spent the first few weeks of the season playing tough character games, and the Terriers close the game out in the second half. Their guys were used to playing four quarters. The Eagles' weren't.

I thought Wofford had a great chance to win the game, not necessarily because they had more talent, but I think there's a huge advantage for a team that has already fought through tough games going against a team that hasn't.

That could have been the problem in the past and very may well have been in 2004.

That's not the case for this past Saturday. It's almost like we never showed up. We outpaced Wofford in a lot of the statistics, but it was obvious who had grabbed control of the game from the beginning. Wofford was more physical than us from the start of the game, so this is a different case.

We looked unsure of ourselves on offense, confused on defense, and inept at special teams. I was sure that the coaches had seen Wofford was running a no huddle this year, but we insisted on substituting every few plays so there were times we had 15 guys on the field, none of them ready, and Wofford would be snapping the ball. We were just totally unprepared.

[citdog]

I am not very good at math but I think 1-2 versus the BSouth is better than 0-1 versus the BSouth;)


it is?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUk42TYdP0I

[longtimemocfan]

but the UTM loss still looks really bad

Not really considering we were down 8 starters or 2 deep players for that game and the fact UT-Martin just knocked off the #8 team UCA.

1.)-Wofford
2.)-Ga.Southern
3.)-Samford
3.)-Chattanooga
5.)-The Citadel
6.)-Appy St.
7.)-Furman
8.)-Western Car.
9.)-Elon

[SpeedkingATL]

This weeks SoCon Rankings (not sure the word "Power" should be included considering the play in the SoCon so far).

1) Wofford - Huge win over GaSo. They gotta be using smoke and mirrors at Wofford. How can a team that lost a game by 60+ points be ranked #1 in the SoCon??? (Answer=Ayers)
2) UTC - The Mocs finally appear to be playing at the level that one of their fans expected. The loss to UT-M doesn't look as bad today as it did a couple of weeks ago. On the other hand beating GaSt and Austin Peay doesn't a champion make.
3) Samford - A decent road win for the SoCon's most boring team. They get this ranking as much for their performance in a road loss to a decent SEC as for wins against 1 bad (GaST) and 1 okay team.
4) GaSo - Two wins over bad teams and a lost to a good Wofford team land the Eagles here. I would expect them to rebound in future games. They seem to throw in one clunker about every year and maybe Wofford was it.
5) Citadel - Gets this spot because they won a game; yes it was over The Whee but it is still a SoCon win. They get my vote as the unpredictable team Sybil of the SoCon for a second consecutive year. Beware playing these dogs.
6) App State - They get this spot because they didn't lose last week. Maybe a bye week was what the Mountaineers needed to figure out some things. If not, this week against Elon should help a bit.
7) Furman - Going 1-2 against the Big South earns the Furple this rating this week. They finally got a win, by one point against something called the "Blue Hose".
8) WCU - The Cants were at least very competitive against the Citdogs in defeat last week. I hear their band is really good!!
9) Elon - Elon somehow managed to make Apps loss to A&T look not so bad. Bet their glad their joining the CAA rather than the MEAC after that game.

This weeks winners and losers:

SE Louisiana @ Samford - Hundreds will turn out in 100 degree heat to watch the Bulldogs win their 3rd game of the season. Sammy wins 28-17.
Mars Hill @ Western Carolina - Where would The Whee be without Mars Hill on the schedule?? (Winless the last 3 years). Whee rolls to a 38-14 victory.
THE Citadel @ Old Dominion - One travels by air and the other travels via ground. I don't expect a lot of punts during this game and Citadel could pull the upset. Still I have to go with the home team to win. ODU 42-34.
App @ Elon - This is the last time these 2 play in the SoCon and Elon would love to at least win ONE game against the Mountaineers. I've seen Elon play...it ain't happening this year. A sluggish App team wins 28-7.
Gardner Webb @ Wofford - This is suddenly an important game and a real challenge for the ankle biters. The SoCon hasn't performed well against the Big South this season but I expect Wofford to return the season to reason. Wofford wins at home 31-28.

[seantaylor]

This is just a theory, but there are a few seasons where I have watched very good Georgia Southern teams lose, and consider one of the great factors in those games that GSU simply isn't prepared for a four quarter fight. I first began thinking about this in 2004, where an absolutely unstoppable GSU team suffered their first FCS loss in Greenville in an epic fight against the Paladins.

A few years, GSU has been so good offensively, that their starters are sitting on the sidelines just after half time. GSU also has a propensity for scheduling fairly weak teams early in many seasons, which also leads to their starters sitting on the sidelines through much of the game. Then you walk into a tough team like Wofford, who has spent the first few weeks of the season playing tough character games, and the Terriers close the game out in the second half. Their guys were used to playing four quarters. The Eagles' weren't.

I thought Wofford had a great chance to win the game, not necessarily because they had more talent, but I think there's a huge advantage for a team that has already fought through tough games going against a team that hasn't.

Our former AD, the worst AD in the history of college football, set this schedule up. Not having anything to play for in addition to this schedule is tough sledding for the coaches.

Right now our worst enemy is our OC. We are running cookie cutter formations now, getting away from what we do best. Hopefully Monken has seen enough and takes the play calling away from him.

[Smitty]

Our former AD, the worst AD in the history of college football, set this schedule up. Not having anything to play for in addition to this schedule is tough sledding for the coaches.

Right now our worst enemy is our OC. We are running cookie cutter formations now, getting away from what we do best. Hopefully Monken has seen enough and takes the play calling away from him.

I bet our old AD (chip smith) could give him a run for his money

[seantaylor]

I bet our old AD (chip smith) could give him a run for his money

Unless he is responsible for Watergate, you would be dead wrong.

[PaladinFan]

Our former AD, the worst AD in the history of college football, set this schedule up. Not having anything to play for in addition to this schedule is tough sledding for the coaches.

Right now our worst enemy is our OC. We are running cookie cutter formations now, getting away from what we do best. Hopefully Monken has seen enough and takes the play calling away from him.

If your football team puts in the time and effort all year to play football, and plays flat because they can't play for a conference title, then they are mentally weak.

Old Dominion was precluded from a CAA title last year, they went 11-2. In 1993 Auburn was banned from post season play and a conference title and still went 11-0 and beat both teams that played for the SEC title. What's Georgia Southern's excuse?

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

Our former AD, the worst AD in the history of college football, set this schedule up. Not having anything to play for in addition to this schedule is tough sledding for the coaches.


As an ETSU alumnus, I would like to nominate recently "retired" Dave Mullins. Mullins (along with Stanton) was responsible for the demise of the ETSU football program and, as a byproduct, the current state of ETSU athletics.

As a UT fan, I would like to nominate Mike Hamilton. His head coaching hires (Lane "Leave You Like" Kiffin and Derek "The Dummy" Dooley) are the reason why UT football is in its current state.

[Smitty]

Unless he is responsible for Watergate, you would be dead wrong.

He would be responsible for Wagner, the contract extension for Wagner (who he gave after the first losing season totalling $1 mil), hired the coach that turned women's bball from SoCon champions to bottom feeders. He also stated that it is difficult to bring good players to WCU because there isn't "bling".

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Our former AD, the worst AD in the history of college football, set this schedule up. Not having anything to play for in addition to this schedule is tough sledding for the coaches.

Let it go, man. He wasn't an overly good AD but he was pretty much hamstrung by a president who was not very athletics friendly. A lot of ongoing projects like the FOC and new stadium seating were in the works not long after Brooks Keel became the GSU president.

[blueballs]

If your football team puts in the time and effort all year to play football, and plays flat because they can't play for a conference title, then they are mentally weak.

Old Dominion was precluded from a CAA title last year, they went 11-2. In 1993 Auburn was banned from post season play and a conference title and still went 11-0 and beat both teams that played for the SEC title. What's Georgia Southern's excuse?

But ODU was playoff eligible last year so the situations aren't the same... other than that I agree with you completely.

[ElCid]

He would be responsible for Wagner, the contract extension for Wagner (who he gave after the first losing season totalling $1 mil), hired the coach that turned women's bball from SoCon champions to bottom feeders. He also stated that it is difficult to bring good players to WCU because there isn't "bling".
Who needs bling? Seriously gorgeous mountains all around. I go wandering those mountains around there frequently and as soon as I decide to quit working, I am going to move near there just up the road from you.

[Seabiscuit]

SE Louisiana @ Samford - Lions are for real. Won't give it away this week.
Mars Hill @ Western Carolina - Catamounts get on the board with a W.
The Citadel @ Old Dominion - ODU rolls.
Appalachian State @ Elon - Mountaineers lose this one all hell breaks loose.
Gardner-Webb @ Wofford (Game of the week) - Wofford wins but don't sleep on GW.
Berry @ Mercer - Bears stay perfect.
VMI @ Virginia - Yawn.

[eaglewraith]

If your football team puts in the time and effort all year to play football, and plays flat because they can't play for a conference title, then they are mentally weak.

Old Dominion was precluded from a CAA title last year, they went 11-2. In 1993 Auburn was banned from post season play and a conference title and still went 11-0 and beat both teams that played for the SEC title. What's Georgia Southern's excuse?


But ODU was playoff eligible last year so the situations aren't the same... other than that I agree with you completely.

To add onto this the situation with the CAA gave them plenty of motivation cause it gave them a chip on their shoulder. They wanted to beat the hell out of the CAA for "wronging" them and make the playoffs ahead of any CAA team. So the situations don't match at all.

But yea, if they are wanting to give up on this year just because they feel like there's nothing to play for, I hope 10 years from now they don't regret giving up on something they've devoted so much of their lives to and not giving it a good finish. Seems like a waste to me.

[PaladinFan]

To add onto this the situation with the CAA gave them plenty of motivation cause it gave them a chip on their shoulder. They wanted to beat the hell out of the CAA for "wronging" them and make the playoffs ahead of any CAA team. So the situations don't match at all.

But yea, if they are wanting to give up on this year just because they feel like there's nothing to play for, I hope 10 years from now they don't regret giving up on something they've devoted so much of their lives to and not giving it a good finish. Seems like a waste to me.

Ok, we can agree ODU is distinguishable. Still, college football is full of teams that were barred from all post season accolades that still went on to be successful. The '93 Auburn team is an example. So is the '12 Ohio State team, which went undefeated as well with no hope of post season play.

The fact of the matter is it is no excuse that a team is "not motivated" because they cannot play for a conference or national title. If the team cannot get motivated to play football, they should have done something else with their time or the GSU boosters should demand their money back.

[GATA]

Our former AD, the worst AD in the history of college football, set this schedule up. Not having anything to play for in addition to this schedule is tough sledding for the coaches.

Right now our worst enemy is our OC. We are running cookie cutter formations now, getting away from what we do best. Hopefully Monken has seen enough and takes the play calling away from him.

Right...because all of these offensive changes had nothing to do with Jeff Monken in the first place...

He had no clue and no input into anything we're currently doing offensively...

[seantaylor]

Right...because all of these offensive changes had nothing to do with Jeff Monken in the first place...

He had no clue and no input into anything we're currently doing offensively...


Not saying that Monken had no say in it. But, clearly this is Davis's bag. They are old friends so Monken is giving him a little more rope so far. That rope got tighter after last Saturday.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Not saying that Monken had no say in it. But, clearly this is Davis's bag. They are old friends so Monken is giving him a little more rope so far. That rope got tighter after last Saturday.

Let's wait and see what happens when we have Swope at 100% and Nardo Govan comes back for UTC.

[Sandlapper Spike]

SE Louisiana @ Samford - Samford wins
Mars Hill @ Western Carolina - WCU wins
The Citadel @ Old Dominion - ODU, [Lee Corso] but closer than the experts think [/Corso]
Appalachian State @ Elon - App wins
Gardner-Webb @ Wofford - Wofford wins
Berry @ Mercer - Mercer wins (tremendous scheduling, by the way)
VMI @ Virginia - UVA wins

[PaladinFan]

SE Louisiana @ Samford - Samford wins
Mars Hill @ Western Carolina - WCU wins
The Citadel @ Old Dominion - ODU, [Lee Corso] but closer than the experts think [/Corso]
Appalachian State @ Elon - App wins
Gardner-Webb @ Wofford - Wofford wins
Berry @ Mercer - Mercer wins (tremendous scheduling, by the way)
VMI @ Virginia - UVA wins

Strange as it is to say, Mercer may finish the season with an impressive record. They play a bunch of first year programs, and the team I watched them play last week has now been outscored 115-3 in three games. So, there aren't a lot of behemoths on that slate.

I do think its good, though. Build up the fan base with a lot of wins. Lot of home games. Next year the sledding will get significantly tougher.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

I honestly didn't even know Berry had a football team. A D3 school with less than 2000 students (and about 1/3 male), I imagine it won't be very close.

[eaglemachine]

Not saying that Monken had no say in it. But, clearly this is Davis's bag. They are old friends so Monken is giving him a little more rope so far. That rope got tighter after last Saturday.

Apparently alot of our team is injured right now: http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/291/article/53378/

[AppChicago]

I have no prediction on the App/Elon game, but the rest of the home teams win.