THE BIG SOUTH

[MUHAWKS]

I am probably jumping the gun here, but it seems there is a chance The Big South may be sort of decent this year overall. I am not saying it is on the level of top FCS conferences or anything but I feel here and other similar venues, it was thought of as sort of trash, maybe just a step up from the NEC "No way the Big South deserves an at large" type talk. I am beginning to get the feel that it may be pretty solid this year.

There is only a small bit of information to work with and assumptions are surely made, but:

Assumptions made that may or may not be true- Monmouth is as good or close to as good as The Spring and even 2019. Kennesaw is back to being capable of knocking off good teams.

Things that seem like that may be true- Gardner Webb, Charleston Southern are improved teams. Gardner Webb hung well with Georgia Southern after showing signs of life last year. Charleston Southern beat The Citadel handily (no clue if Citadel is even good but saw they had a couple close games against good teams last couple of years). North Alabama has some talent and Campbell (at least before this week) was thought to be a team on the rise. Tough to gauge NC A&T at this point but if they are where their pre season ranking was, then that helps.

Seems that all the good teams may beat each other and possibly create a log jam, so I guess the conference needs some good OOC wins to make this true.

As an MU guy, our only two conference losses in 2017, 2018, 2019 and spring 2020 combined were both Kennesaw in 2017 and 2018. We have gone 17-2 in conference since 2017 and avenged the Kennesaw losses with 2 blowout wins against them in 2019 and 2020. A lot of games we won big. I just get the feeling there is more parity this year.

Anyone know why Monmouth is the only Big South team that does not get to play Hampton? Not complaining really, but seems that it matters..

[WestCoastAggie]

A&T has rust and injuries plaguing our defense, specifically with the passing game. However, we just finished up with arguably the toughest part of our schedule playing Furman and Duke.

The Jury is out on the Aggies until get get to our rivalry game with NCCU in 2 weeks. Thank goodness for a bye.

- - - Updated - - -


I am probably jumping the gun here, but it seems there is a chance The Big South may be sort of decent this year overall. I am not saying it is on the level of top FCS conferences or anything but I feel here and other similar venues, it was thought of as sort of trash, maybe just a step up from the NEC "No way the Big South deserves an at large" type talk. I am beginning to get the feel that it may be pretty solid this year.

There is only a small bit of information to work with and assumptions are surely made, but:

Assumptions made that may or may not be true- Monmouth is as good or close to as good as The Spring and even 2019. Kennesaw is back to being capable of knocking off good teams.

Things that seem like that may be true- Gardner Webb, Charleston Southern are improved teams. Gardner Webb hung well with Georgia Southern after showing signs of life last year. Charleston Southern beat The Citadel handily (no clue if Citadel is even good but saw they had a couple close games against good teams last couple of years). North Alabama has some talent and Campbell (at least before this week) was thought to be a team on the rise. Tough to gauge NC A&T at this point but if they are where their pre season ranking was, then that helps.

Seems that all the good teams may beat each other and possibly create a log jam, so I guess the conference needs some good OOC wins to make this true.

As an MU guy, our only two conference losses in 2017, 2018, 2019 and spring 2020 combined were both Kennesaw in 2017 and 2018. We have gone 17-2 in conference since 2017 and avenged the Kennesaw losses with 2 blowout wins against them in 2019 and 2020. A lot of games we won big. I just get the feeling there is more parity this year.

Anyone know why Monmouth is the only Big South team that does not get to play Hampton? Not complaining really, but seems that it matters..

To answer your last question, I think the Big South moved to a 7-game schedule for at least A&T and Hampton. A&T doesn't play Campbell which could throw a wrench into the final standings.

[FUBeAR]

I am probably jumping the gun here, but it seems there is a chance The Big South may be sort of decent this year overall. I am not saying it is on the level of top FCS conferences or anything but I feel here and other similar venues, it was thought of as sort of trash, maybe just a step up from the NEC "No way the Big South deserves an at large" type talk. I am beginning to get the feel that it may be pretty solid this year.

There is only a small bit of information to work with and assumptions are surely made, but:

Assumptions made that may or may not be true- Monmouth is as good or close to as good as The Spring and even 2019. Kennesaw is back to being capable of knocking off good teams.

Things that seem like that may be true- Gardner Webb, Charleston Southern are improved teams. Gardner Webb hung well with Georgia Southern after showing signs of life last year. Charleston Southern beat The Citadel handily (no clue if Citadel is even good but saw they had a couple close games against good teams last couple of years). North Alabama has some talent and Campbell (at least before this week) was thought to be a team on the rise. Tough to gauge NC A&T at this point but if they are where their pre season ranking was, then that helps.

Seems that all the good teams may beat each other and possibly create a log jam, so I guess the conference needs some good OOC wins to make this true.

As an MU guy, our only two conference losses in 2017, 2018, 2019 and spring 2020 combined were both Kennesaw in 2017 and 2018. We have gone 17-2 in conference since 2017 and avenged the Kennesaw losses with 2 blowout wins against them in 2019 and 2020. A lot of games we won big. I just get the feeling there is more parity this year.

Anyone know why Monmouth is the only Big South team that does not get to play Hampton? Not complaining really, but seems that it matters..

https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/69649315/not-sure-if-youre-being-sarcastic-or-serious.jpg

[Reign of Terrier]

I will make this simple for everyone:

If Kennesaw State beats Wofford this weekend, an at-large Big South team is possible.

If not, it's pretty much not going to happen. Charleston Southern beating the citadel is fine, but I think this is going to be a bad year for the Bulldogs. Furman beating A&T and Chattanooga controlling UNA have made the Big South a big o-fer so far in their OOC games that would carry weight. Again, Kennesaw can save the Big South, but if they can't, the only opportunity for a quality OOC win the Big South has left is James Madison against Campbell and that's...just not happening.

Keep in mind, going into the third week of the season, the Big south only has two OOC FCS wins right now. Granted, they have 13 OOC FCS games left, but the games that would impress the committee are concentrated among 3 or 4 teams (KSU, UNA, A&T, and Monmouth) and the socon has already beaten 2 of them. If Wofford sweeps KSU, those teams will basically have to clean house in conference play (win 6 or 7 games+) to have a shot on selection.

I bring up the socon not to make this about the conference my teams plays for but because the socon will legitimately have 3-5 competing for a spot (I'd say 3 is likely), and if you have Chattanooga, Furman, or Wofford on the bubble, as well as UNA, A&T, and KSU (when the former three swept the latter), you're not going to have a good argument for any of the latter three getting in over the former.

Bottom line:the Big South's OOC prospects depend on Kennesaw State against Wofford and Jacksonville State IMO. I don't see UNA sweeping through Nicholls and Jacksonville State. Maybe one, but not both, and likely neither. Maybe A&T goes on a run and beat SC State and NCCU, but really the Big South has put themselves in a corner.

[MUHAWKS]

I will make this simple for everyone:

If Kennesaw State beats Wofford this weekend, an at-large Big South team is possible.

If not, it's pretty much not going to happen. Charleston Southern beating the citadel is fine, but I think this is going to be a bad year for the Bulldogs. Furman beating A&T and Chattanooga controlling UNA have made the Big South a big o-fer so far in their OOC games that would carry weight. Again, Kennesaw can save the Big South, but if they can't, the only opportunity for a quality OOC win the Big South has left is James Madison against Campbell and that's...just not happening.

Keep in mind, going into the third week of the season, the Big south only has two OOC FCS wins right now. Granted, they have 13 OOC FCS games left, but the games that would impress the committee are concentrated among 3 or 4 teams (KSU, UNA, A&T, and Monmouth) and the socon has already beaten 2 of them. If Wofford sweeps KSU, those teams will basically have to clean house in conference play (win 6 or 7 games+) to have a shot on selection.

I bring up the socon not to make this about the conference my teams plays for but because the socon will legitimately have 3-5 competing for a spot (I'd say 3 is likely), and if you have Chattanooga, Furman, or Wofford on the bubble, as well as UNA, A&T, and KSU (when the former three swept the latter), you're not going to have a good argument for any of the latter three getting in over the former.

Bottom line:the Big South's OOC prospects depend on Kennesaw State against Wofford and Jacksonville State IMO. I don't see UNA sweeping through Nicholls and Jacksonville State. Maybe one, but not both, and likely neither. Maybe A&T goes on a run and beat SC State and NCCU, but really the Big South has put themselves in a corner.


Excellent analysis, tough to disagree- Kind of sucks, b/c I feel in some years a decent Campbell or Gardner Webb is just as good as middle of the pack CAA teams and similar but a team will not get the same type of credit. But I understand why. From our perspective (Monmouth) we feel as though the only path back to the playoffs is to win the Big South. FBS lost will not hurt too bad as was 1st game of year but if we do not win The Big South it means we probably have 2 in conference losses, so even if we beat Holy Cross and Princeton not sure 8-3 would get in. MAYBE 1 conference loss and run the table away from that is not even a shoe in. Lots of stuff to happen still and who knows, and frankly Monmouth needs to start playing a good deal better anyway- I guess I will change my first thought of the conf being a lot better to maybe it will just be a lot tougher to win out in conference, seems there are some quality teams that just may not be top 15 type yet but still good..

[Reign of Terrier]

In my view, the Big South is as good as it's been since Stony Brook, Coastal, and Liberty left. They finally have their 7-8 teams.

Now, granted, some of them like Hampton and Robert Morris are total garbage. And teams like Campbell, North Alabama, Charleston Southern and Gardner Webb are very much improved (or will be) and can compete for playoff spots one day (but not at the same time). Kennesaw, Monmouth, and A&T are probably the only ones that have a shot this year to make the playoffs. I think two teams is possible, if not likely. Three not so much.

The Big South will suffer from the same problems the Socon does: not everyone can finish 8-3 overall, which means OOC wins or losses matter. This isn't the big sky or the CAA or the MVFC where you get brownie points just for showing up in these games. This year that means, regardless of the quality of the teams, the Big South is behind the 8 ball.

If Kennesaw state loses to both Wofford and Jacksonville State and doesn't win the conference, I don't see them getting in, which will hurt the rest of the conference if they go, say 6-1. Monmouth may be able to get in as an AQ, but the only way that happens is by beating Princeton and Princeton being good, and beating the BS AQ. A&T has a more open future than both KSU/Monmouth because SC State and NCCU could be potentially good OOC wins.

[Libertine]

The jury is very much out on EVERYONE in the Big South at this point.

* Monmouth lost to FBS MTSU and squeaked by Fordham. The FBS is an FBS but we don't really know how good Fordham is and probably won't know until sometime in October.
* Kennesaw looked shaky on defense in the spring and looks more so now. We'll know more after they play Wofford but, after only game against Elon, we don't really know how good Wofford is either.
* Campbell is really athletic but is still playing a lot of underclassmen as their first rounds of scholarship players are finally seniors. Mike Minter's coaching style is aggressive which may reap benefits down the road but, so far, has backfired in both games this season.
* Charleston Southern is slightly better than I expected because I expected The Citadel to destroy them but, then again, The Citadel hasn't shown up well so far and their game against North Greenville won't tell us anything. CSU meets Monmouth this week which is the only game close to a "barometer" on either team as we'll have anytime soon.
* Gardner-Webb had eight months to prepare for Georgia Southern and looked good but, with one week to prepare, did not look good against Charlotte. They have D2 Lincoln next week and Western Carolina the week after that so, again, we'll have no idea on the Runnin' Bulldogs until at least mid-October.
* NC A&T hasn't looked like what we're used to seeing against Furman and Duke but with an open date, a rivalry game and RMU coming up, it'll be the second week of October before we know anything there.
* North Alabama is still transitioning and ineligible but so far has been adequate against OOC competition. How does that transfer to conference games when the conference games don't count? Who knows.
* Hampton struggled to put away D2 Va Union and got wrecked by ODU, one of the worst FBS teams in the country, so we probably know an idea about what we've got the Pirates. No playoff berth there.
* Ditto for Robert Morris. After their opener was cancelled and getting blanked by FBS Central Michigan, the Colonials have an open date so it's going to be, at a minimum, Week #4 before RMU scores a point. I'm not saying they're necessarily going to be a bad team but transitioning from the limited scholarship NEC to the full scholarship Big South is going to challenge their depth.

[FUBeAR]

The jury is very much out on EVERYONE in the Big South at this point.

* Monmouth lost to FBS MTSU and squeaked by Fordham. The FBS is an FBS but we don't really know how good Fordham is and probably won't know until sometime in October.
* Kennesaw looked shaky on defense in the spring and looks more so now. We'll know more after they play Wofford but, after only game against Elon, we don't really know how good Wofford is either.
* Campbell is really athletic but is still playing a lot of underclassmen as their first rounds of scholarship players are finally seniors. Mike Minter's coaching style is aggressive which may reap benefits down the road but, so far, has backfired in both games this season.
* Charleston Southern is slightly better than I expected because I expected The Citadel to destroy them but, then again, The Citadel hasn't shown up well so far and their game against North Greenville won't tell us anything. CSU meets Monmouth this week which is the only game close to a "barometer" on either team as we'll have anytime soon.
* Gardner-Webb had eight months to prepare for Georgia Southern and looked good but, with one week to prepare, did not look good against Charlotte. They have D2 Lincoln next week and Western Carolina the week after that so, again, we'll have no idea on the Runnin' Bulldogs until at least mid-October.
* NC A&T hasn't looked like what we're used to seeing against Furman and Duke but with an open date, a rivalry game and RMU coming up, it'll be the second week of October before we know anything there.
* North Alabama is still transitioning and ineligible but so far has been adequate against OOC competition. How does that transfer to conference games when the conference games don't count? Who knows.
* Hampton struggled to put away D2 Va Union and got wrecked by ODU, one of the worst FBS teams in the country, so we probably know an idea about what we've got the Pirates. No playoff berth there.
* Ditto for Robert Morris. After their opener was cancelled and getting blanked by FBS Central Michigan, the Colonials have an open date so it's going to be, at a minimum, Week #4 before RMU scores a point. I'm not saying they're necessarily going to be a bad team but transitioning from the limited scholarship NEC to the full scholarship Big South is going to challenge their depth.
Exactly what I intended to convey in the picture I posted, but 1000 (or so) words works also. Thanks for spelling it out. I was too lazy (or disinterested) to do so.

That said, I do think the BS is, very much so, “on the come-up” and I’m glad about that.

[JSUSoutherner]

Take this from a guy who doesn't hate Kennesaw:

Kennesaw is hot dog*****.

[Libertine]

Take this from a guy who doesn't hate Kennesaw:

Kennesaw is hot dog*****.

Well, not terrier **** anyway.

After today, we know that Monmouth wasn't going to be caught napping.

Also, you still can't spell "sucks" without C, S and U.

[Reign of Terrier]

Wofford isn't good. Kennesaw state may be good, but we are just awful.

[MUHAWKS]

First of all there is No such thing as Monmouth being able to be "caught napping" as we started 1-1 and barely escaped Fordham. They were out for blood and to get some momentum going. I am very happy about the win b/c we played no less than 7 backups for most of the 2nd half and still did well. There will be no such thing as catching anyone no less Monmouth napping b/c I think the league is tough this year. I know it was the subject of the small back and forth in this loop, but I think TBS is better than perception. Kennesaw's win yesterday helps that opinion along with North Alabama taking JSU to the wire. The Campbell blowout of PC I do not think matters to much but 70+ points is still something. Then there are still the small example of Gardner Webb hanging w. GA Southern which is still a better showing than say losing to Rutgers (although they are much improved) by 35.

So I am not saying that TBS is a 3 bid league or anything but I am more saying that the winner of the Big South, if they get through league play undefeated and have no more than 2 losses aside from that should probably be a seeded team. I also think a 2-3 loss 2nd place in the league team should prob make it. Aside from the top 3-5 teams in the nation (JMU, South Dakota etc) I think many teams would have a serious problem trying to go undefeated against- Monmouth, Kennesaw, Campbell, NC A&T, North Alabama, Charleston Southern, Gardner Webb in one season. Do people think Delaware for example would just come in and beat all those teams? The same Del who got smoked by SD last year, had some trouble with Sacred Heart? And beat what looks like an average Main team by 10? Did NOT blow out St Francis? This is the #6 team in the country! The Big South is a lot better than people think. The problem is that our best 1-2 teams are not as good, probably not even that close to the best conferences top teams. I am NOT saying I think TBS is close to the MVFC or even CAA, but I DO think the top team or 2 in TBS CAN compete nationally and also that we have a few teams that would give the non top 5-10 schools problems. Like I think North Alabama and Campbell can and would beat the Albany, Maine, Stony Brook etc's of the world. They can also lose to those teams, but playing some of these Big South teams is NOT like going to play St Francis or Wagner or Valpo like some people think.

[Serpentor]

I am probably jumping the gun here, but it seems there is a chance The Big South may be sort of decent this year overall. I am not saying it is on the level of top FCS conferences or anything but I feel here and other similar venues, it was thought of as sort of trash, maybe just a step up from the NEC "No way the Big South deserves an at large" type talk. I am beginning to get the feel that it may be pretty solid this year.

Speaking as someone whose team spent 35 years in the Southland, a conference moving up from horrible to mediocre is always a massive improvement, just make sure your commissioner has your conference's best interests at heart, otherwise he'll end up driving away the best teams and be stuck with the mess that remains. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.

[Libertine]

just make sure your commissioner has your conference's best interests at heart, otherwise he'll end up driving away the best teams and be stuck with the mess that remains.

xlolxxlolx Oh, the verbal irony! This exactly describes Kyle Kallander's MO for the last 25 years.