2018 Upsets

[VandalBasher]

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/fcs-football-fbs-group-5-upsets-2018

I would love to see UC Davis take down SJSU. Which FCS teams aren't listed here might have a chance on the road?

[VandalBasher]

For clarification: Idaho plays Fresno State (likely contender for the MWC) and Florida (an SEC team, nonetheless). These will undoubtedly result in a couple of L's.

[Outsider1]

I wouldn't say we have a big chance for an upset against Baylor, but I would not completely rule it out. Baylor is still rebuilding even though they should be better than last year when they were upset by Liberty. Liberty wasn't a powerhouse FCS team either. We are still in the very early stages of our Dorrel era and have a lot of unknowns. Still, we have a lot of talent and better depth than last year. We know our plays better and the players are more on-board than last year's coach transition year. So, if we execute very well and Baylor makes critical mistakes that we capitalize on we could possible give them another upset two years in a row. We played decently against both New Mexico and Colorado State last year despite our losses.

[nevadagriz]

KSU Should be favored over GSU.
If Gsu is favored I'm putting some money on that game!

[ST_Lawson]

Obviously who knows what could happen, but Massey currently has WIU as 3-point favorites over Illinois. Compughterratings.com simulation has WIU winning 28-22, and the final Sagarin ratings last year had WIU at #82 and Illinois at #126.

Last year, the Illini beat only Ball State (by 3) and Western Kentucky (by 13). U of I was down by 5 to Ball State until the last 2 minutes of the game.
Neither Ball State nor Western Kentucky were "great" teams last year either, although WKU did end up with a winning record, losing to Georgia State in the Autonation Cure Bowl.

U of I is also the second closest FBS team to WIU (131.5 miles from the Hanson Field 50-yard line to U of I's Memorial Stadium 50-yard line), so there should be a decent number of WIU fans there.

[JSUSoutherner]

I think JSU upsets MVSU.

[Lion1983]

Would Alabama A&M, Cambpell, or Incarnate Word be upsets for UNA? I'm really not sure?

[cx500d]

Would Alabama A&M, Cambpell, or Incarnate Word be upsets for UNA? I'm really not sure?

No, it will be an upset if una loses


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[JacksFan40]

SDSU over Iowa State could happen. Iowa State is starting to get good under Campbell, should be good.

[VandalBasher]

These are my favorites from the article.


Illinois State at Colorado State (Sept. 22)

The Redbirds beat Northwestern in their most-recent FBS game two years ago. They’ll have to handle the elevation in Fort Collins, but their offense should be able to move the ball on a Rams defense that allowed 6.3 yards per play last year.


Wofford at Wyoming (Sept. 15)

Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl faced Wofford in the 2012 FCS playoffs on the way to leading North Dakota State to the second of his three national titles. But preparing for a triple-option team is never easy, especially one that returns its top three rushers (Andre Stoddard, Lennox McAfee and Blake Morgan).


UC Davis at San Jose State (Aug. 30)

The best offensive player on the field might be UC Davis senior wide receiver Keelan Doss, one of the leading 2019 NFL Draft prospects (https://athlonsports.com/college-football/top-fcs-2019-nfl-draft-prospects-watch) from the FCS. San Jose State had a mere two wins in head coach Brent Brennan’s first season.

[WestCoastAggie]

So no A&T vs ECU, huh? Interesting.

[Lion1983]

No, it will be an upset if una loses


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I guess UNA over Southern Utah would be our upset if we can pull it off.

A miracle upset over NDSU, but I did say miracle.

[JSUSoutherner]

So no A&T vs ECU, huh? Interesting.

That’s not an upset.

[VandalBasher]

(FCS 2017 wins over FBS with rankings from the STATS poll)


August 31:

Tennessee State (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Tennessee_State_Tigers_football_team) 17, Georgia State (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Georgia_State_Panthers_football_team) 10




September 2:

No. 1 James Madison (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_James_Madison_Dukes_football_team) 34, East Carolina (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_East_Carolina_Pirates_football_team) 14
Liberty (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Liberty_Flames_football_team) 48, Baylor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Baylor_Bears_football_team) 45
Howard (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Howard_Bison_football_team) 43, UNLV (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_UNLV_Rebels_football_team) 40




September 9:

No. 12 New Hampshire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_New_Hampshire_Wildcats_football_team) 22, Georgia Southern (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Georgia_Southern_Eagles_football_team) 12
South Dakota (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_South_Dakota_Coyotes_football_team) 35, Bowling Green (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Bowling_Green_Falcons_football_team) 27




September 16:

No. 25 North Carolina A&T (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_North_Carolina_A%26T_Aggies_football_team) 35, Charlotte (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Charlotte_49ers_football_team) 31
Idaho State (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Idaho_State_Bengals_football_team) 30, Nevada (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Nevada_Wolf_Pack_football_team) 28




September 23:

No. 19 Western Illinois (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Western_Illinois_Leathernecks_football_team) 52, Coastal Carolina (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Coastal_Carolina_Chanticleers_football_team) 10

[VandalBasher]

Since 1/3 of the wins were to MWC and another 1/3 were to Sun Belt Teams, I thought it would be interesting to see what were the match-ups. It will be from this list where the majority of wins should come from. I added in my picks of possibilities.

MWC games
Idaho at Fresno St.
UC Davis at SJSU
Portland St. at Nevada
Stony Brook at AFA
Incarnate Word at New Mexico
Sacramento St. at SDSU
Tenn. Tech at USU
Prairie View at Wyoming
Duquesne at Hawaii
Illinois St. at Colorado St.

Sun Belt games
Kennesaw St. at Georgia St.
SELA at ULM
Grambling at Louisiana
SEMO at Arkie St.
South Carolina St. at Georgia So.
Texas Southern at Texas St.
FAMU at Troy
Campbell at Coastal Carolina
Gardner-Webb at Appy St.

[WestCoastAggie]

That’s not an upset.

We play you all the week before though.xcoffeex

[JSUSoutherner]

We play you all the week before though.xcoffeex
It won’t be an upset either.

[ASU33]

Would Alabama A&M, Cambpell, or Incarnate Word be upsets for UNA? I'm really not sure?

UNA v Alabama A&M could get interesting

[RootinFerDukes]

KSU Should be favored over GSU.
If Gsu is favored I'm putting some money on that game!

Oh man KSU is going to bang them like a drum. How far GSU has fallen chasing that sun belt pie in the sky.

[VandalBasher]

Oh man KSU is going to bang them like a drum. How far GSU has fallen chasing that sun belt pie in the sky.


This is going to be a well attended game. I don't think anyone actually thought Kennesaw St. would be at this level, this fast.

[bonarae]

This is going to be a well attended game. I don't think anyone actually thought Kennesaw St. would be at this level, this fast.I think they are the most well-performed of the upstart teams in all of NCAA Football. I can think of a few others like UMHB but Kennesaw surprised all of us.

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[IBleedYellow]

Oh man KSU is going to bang them like a drum. How far GSU has fallen chasing that sun belt pie in the sky.

GSU would have been fine, if they wouldn't have hired Tyson Summers - they should never have let Willie Fritz leave for LESS MONEY. Their AD and President ducked up bad by not saying they'd give him a contract.

[F'N Hawks]

GSU would have been fine, if they wouldn't have hired Tyson Summers - they should never have let Willie Fritz leave for LESS MONEY. Their AD and President ducked up bad by not saying they'd give him a contract.

What? xconfusedx

[McNeese75]

I think they are the most well-performed of the upstart teams in all of NCAA Football. I can think of a few others like UMHB but Kennesaw surprised all of us.

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Kennesaw is a big school (over 35,000) which certainly helps.

[WestCoastAggie]

Kennesaw is a big school (over 35,000) which certainly helps.

There start had been much better than Georgia State. Speaking of which Georgia State will have their hands full with the Owls this fall.

[Son of Eli]

Cornell over Delaware. Cornell has nearly their entire starting defense returning, a huge offensive line and their starting QB and RB returning. Last year Cornell had 5 turnovers against Delaware. If they avoid turning the ball over this year they will pull off the upset.

[Milktruck74]

Season Upset: It looks like theSoCon is shaping up to be a 3 horse race, and my Mocs are not in it. I'm not calling an upset SoCon Championship for my Mocs, not even a playoff berth.....however, I think my Mocs will have a deciding win on who the eventual SoCon Champ is (or rather, who isn't). They will beat one of the three, and with a bunch of 7/8 win teams crowding the top of the traditional conferences, the SoCon may only be a 2 bid league....the Mocs may let somebody focus on Basketball early this season.

[ElCid]

Season Upset: It looks like theSoCon is shaping up to be a 3 horse race, and my Mocs are not in it. I'm not calling an upset SoCon Championship for my Mocs, not even a playoff berth.....however, I think my Mocs will have a deciding win on who the eventual SoCon Champ is (or rather, who isn't). They will beat one of the three, and with a bunch of 7/8 win teams crowding the top of the traditional conferences, the SoCon may only be a 2 bid league....the Mocs may let somebody focus on Basketball early this season.

Rebuilding sucks doesn't it?

[MrLahey]

SDSU over Iowa State could happen. Iowa State is starting to get good under Campbell, should be good.

I just don't see this happening, and I would be willing to bet that Iowa State covers a -21 spread. Taryn Christion is good, don't get me wrong.. but those numbers are highly indicative of what Goedert and Wieneke brought to the table. The true test of Christion this year will be what he is capable of without the best TE in all of College Football last year and a WR that is going to make waves in the NFL.

I love the FCS and would love to be wrong.

[Catatonic]

GSU would have been fine, if they wouldn't have hired Tyson Summers - they should never have let Willie Fritz leave for LESS MONEY. Their AD and President ducked up bad by not saying they'd give him a contract.

You are confusing your GSU’s.

[bluehenbillk]

Cornell over Delaware. Cornell has nearly their entire starting defense returning, a huge offensive line and their starting QB and RB returning. Last year Cornell had 5 turnovers against Delaware. If they avoid turning the ball over this year they will pull off the upset.

That would be a heckuva upset. Cornell was "cupcake city" last season & UD should be just as good, if not improved this year with their first actual QB in years.

[JacksFan40]

I just don't see this happening, and I would be willing to bet that Iowa State covers a -21 spread. Taryn Christion is good, don't get me wrong.. but those numbers are highly indicative of what Goedert and Wieneke brought to the table. The true test of Christion this year will be what he is capable of without the best TE in all of College Football last year and a WR that is going to make waves in the NFL.

I love the FCS and would love to be wrong.
SDSU always puts up a good scare against FBS teams. Nearly beat TCU in 2016 and they’ve nearly beaten Minnesota and Nebraska. Put a big scare into the top SEC East team at the time in Missouri in 2014. Missouri pulled away eventually but not until Sumner got hurt. I’m not saying they’ll win, but it’ll be under 15 points, unless they play like they did against JMU, then it’ll be 50+ win for ISU.

[Redbird 4th & short]

I think they are the most well-performed of the upstart teams in all of NCAA Football. I can think of a few others like UMHB but Kennesaw surprised all of us.

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The surprise for me was how much they improved from game 1 to playoffs... beginning of year they were not a top 25 team ... they just kept getting better every week. Nkt sure weve ever seen anything truly like that . Ive seen sporadically good and bad team get hot at right time .. but this was different. Got to be coaching aspect.

[Professor Chaos]

I just don't see this happening, and I would be willing to bet that Iowa State covers a -21 spread. Taryn Christion is good, don't get me wrong.. but those numbers are highly indicative of what Goedert and Wieneke brought to the table. The true test of Christion this year will be what he is capable of without the best TE in all of College Football last year and a WR that is going to make waves in the NFL.

I love the FCS and would love to be wrong.
We'll see how it goes for Christion without Weineke and Goedert but don't be too quick to pigeonhole him as a guy who's dependent on having NFL caliber receivers. I'm reminded of some NFL draft pundits (who will remain nameless) knocking Carson Wentz a few years back by saying that whoever drafts him needs to put him in a low volume passing offense because he rarely threw it more than 25 times in any given game for NDSU. Then he goes out and sets the NFL rookie record for attempts and completions in a season. Just because a guy hasn't done something doesn't always mean he can't. Any QB worth his salt who was in Christion's position over the last couple year would be throwing the ball to Weineke and Goedert as often as they could since those guys were so good at winning their matchups. With the drop off of high level talent in his receiving corps can Christion adapt to spreading the ball around more? If he can they've got a puncher's chance against Iowa St.

Personally, I hope they beat Iowa St... should really amp up the intensity for that 9/29 game in Fargo this year and it likely cools the talk of Campbell moving on since I think Iowa St is one of the most likely Klieman poachers out there if their HC job opens up.

[KPSUL]

Bold prediction!!

[KPSUL]

Cornell over Delaware. Cornell has nearly their entire starting defense returning, a huge offensive line and their starting QB and RB returning. Last year Cornell had 5 turnovers against Delaware. If they avoid turning the ball over this year they will pull off the upset.

One can only hope!

[KPSUL]

Oh man KSU is going to bang them like a drum. How far GSU has fallen chasing that sun belt pie in the sky.

Georgia State was so low on the FCS totem pole there was no where to fall to.

[FormerPokeCenter]

Oh man KSU is going to bang them like a drum. How far GSU has fallen chasing that sun belt pie in the sky.


Uh...you're thining of Georgia Southern....GSU in this instance is Georgia State, which - to my knowledge - has never even remotely approached being considered "good."

[FormerPokeCenter]

GSU would have been fine, if they wouldn't have hired Tyson Summers - they should never have let Willie Fritz leave for LESS MONEY. Their AD and President ducked up bad by not saying they'd give him a contract.

Different GSU.... ;)

This is the one on the upset watch list!

http://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?73891-Should-NAIA-s-Lambuth-make-the-jump-to-FCS&highlight=Lambuth

[FormerPokeCenter]

McNeese, coming off a 9-2 where we didn't play anybody takes on BYU, who was 4-9 last year.

Not sure what BYU will have this year, and definitely not sure what my Cowboys will have, but - at least on paper - that one might be one to watch...

My recollection is that BYU throws a lot, historically. We're replacing most of the secondary, so...the posibility exists that this one could get ugly...

[TheKingpin28]

McNeese, coming off a 9-2 where we didn't play anybody takes on BYU, who was 4-9 last year.

Not sure what BYU will have this year, and definitely not sure what my Cowboys will have, but - at least on paper - that one might be one to watch...

My recollection is that BYU throws a lot, historically. We're replacing most of the secondary, so...the posibility exists that this one could get ugly...Provo is a beautiful town, but man does it feel awkward being the only heathen in a town full of Mormons. There is something just off about a town that is overtly nice. Like almost fake nice.

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[cx500d]

Provo is a beautiful town, but man does it feel awkward being the only heathen in a town full of Mormons. There is something just off about a town that is overtly nice. Like almost fake nice.

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I ran the Utah Valley Marathon there for a couple years. I enjoyed the place and never felt awkward.


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[TheKingpin28]

I guess being drunk and done from partying and skiing and being visibly still hamsauced does not reflect well.

As I said, love the area, but could never live in Provo. Moab on the other hand, I could move there and be content with life.
I ran the Utah Valley Marathon there for a couple years. I enjoyed the place and never felt awkward.


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[Bison Fan in NW MN]

We'll see how it goes for Christion without Weineke and Goedert but don't be too quick to pigeonhole him as a guy who's dependent on having NFL caliber receivers. I'm reminded of some NFL draft pundits (who will remain nameless) knocking Carson Wentz a few years back by saying that whoever drafts him needs to put him in a low volume passing offense because he rarely threw it more than 25 times in any given game for NDSU. Then he goes out and sets the NFL rookie record for attempts and completions in a season. Just because a guy hasn't done something doesn't always mean he can't. Any QB worth his salt who was in Christion's position over the last couple year would be throwing the ball to Weineke and Goedert as often as they could since those guys were so good at winning their matchups. With the drop off of high level talent in his receiving corps can Christion adapt to spreading the ball around more? If he can they've got a puncher's chance against Iowa St.

Personally, I hope they beat Iowa St... should really amp up the intensity for that 9/29 game in Fargo this year and it likely cools the talk of Campbell moving on since I think Iowa St is one of the most likely Klieman poachers out there if their HC job opens up.


Iowa State will build on last year and they will be pretty good in '18. IMO, they will cover a 3 TD spread against SDSU.

[TheKingpin28]

I spent a week at an equipment dealership in Idaho that was ran by Mormons, they guy that set up the dealer call didn't brief me on that and when I got there I asked them where the coffee and pop was and they pointed across the street to the gas station. They seemed to be very family oriented, the opened at 8 and closed at 5, even during peak times. They said their people need to spend time with their families. We have dealerships back here that run 24/7 during beet harvest and 9 to 10 p.m. during spring and harvest. I thought it was an interesting approach, two different approaches to business I guess.Oh they are some of the most kind hearted people it's just when everyone seems to be like that, it is just slightly off for me. At least in Fargo, we always have something to complain about in that Moorhead is right across the river. xlolx

I went to a wedding here in the cities for a Mormon couple. I knew the girl in high school and she went to BYU-Idaho and it was fine. Sure I had to sit in a waiting area for the Temple ordinances to begin, but what threw me off completely was when I asked them where the cash bar was at the reception, they stared blankly at me and explained how they do not use caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, etc...

That was when I started to read about their theology and practices and I was like, "Yeah if I made it through the interview process for BYU, I'd be kicked out that same day as move in weekend." I don't need coffee as I have only ever had 2 cups my entire life, but saying no to Mountain Dew, having a cold one with the boys, or enjoying a cigar out on the course was too much for me.

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