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SU DOG
August 16th, 2016, 02:32 PM
Interesting, and somewhat surprising in certain picks after #1.

http://www.fcs.football/cfb/story.asp?i=20160816120119832497504
SU DOG
August 16th, 2016, 02:37 PM
Wonder when we lost our RB Denzel Williams? Must have happened today - LOL. Probably should have said surprising after picks #1 and #2.
PaladinFan
August 16th, 2016, 03:08 PM
Wonder when we lost our RB Denzel Williams? Must have happened today - LOL. Probably should have said surprising after picks #1 and #2.

I'm not surprised by any ranking that has UTC at the top, ETSU at the bottom, and everyone else jumbled in the middle.

One thing I think hasn't been really discussed much is the scheduling. By my count, only VMI will avoid a SoCon game in September. UTC, Citadel, and Furman will all play two conference games in the first month. By October 1, the Citadel will have played Mercer, Furman, and WCU as well as a rarely-easy Gardner Webb team.

Not sure I can remember so many conference games that early in the season. We'll see a lot of really big matchups right out of the gate that may have a big effect on the conference race down the road.
FUBeAR
August 16th, 2016, 03:15 PM
Interesting, and somewhat surprising in certain picks after #1.

http://www.fcs.football/cfb/story.asp?i=20160816120119832497504

Harrumph
Catamount87
August 17th, 2016, 09:33 AM
I'm not surprised by any ranking that has UTC at the top, ETSU at the bottom, and everyone else jumbled in the middle.

One thing I think hasn't been really discussed much is the scheduling. By my count, only VMI will avoid a SoCon game in September. UTC, Citadel, and Furman will all play two conference games in the first month. By October 1, the Citadel will have played Mercer, Furman, and WCU as well as a rarely-easy Gardner Webb team.

Not sure I can remember so many conference games that early in the season. We'll see a lot of really big matchups right out of the gate that may have a big effect on the conference race down the road.

Talk about brutal starts to the season, your Paladins have it about as tough as it comes. @ Michigan State, @ The Citadel, UTC then @ Coastal. Ugh, that could easily be an 0-fer Sept.
PaladinFan
August 17th, 2016, 01:48 PM
Talk about brutal starts to the season, your Paladins have it about as tough as it comes. @ Michigan State, @ The Citadel, UTC then @ Coastal. Ugh, that could easily be an 0-fer Sept.

I don't think I am being a homer in saying Furman has consistently played one of the tougest schedules in the SoCon for a number of years. I'm really not even sure there's another team in the same zipcode as they are schedule-wise except potentially the Citadel and UTC. Cannot accuse them of shying away from anyone.

I personally think Furman has to beat either UTC or the Citadel. Bad strategy to go down a game in the loss column to those two early in the season. Maybe the Paladins could pick off a transitioning Coastal team (who we always tend to play very close). The good news is beating any of those four teams is a pretty big statement win. Even if a non-SoCon victory, coming out of September with a win over CCU or Michigan State wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

On the other hand, if Furman were to beat the Citadel and UTC in consecutive weekends, it'd send a jolt through the conference. We are UTC's first road game and our contests in Charleston are always tough fights.

No question, though, Furman has to survive September.

Incidentally, this was tweeted today. I like the mentality. https://twitter.com/PaladinFootball/status/765945064153608192/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw