SoCon 2023 Predictions and Power Rankings - Week 2

[Reign of Terrier]

Week One wasn't great for the Socon. But honestly, if you look at the entirety of the FCS, last week everyone who didn't play a cupcake had a bad week, with only a handful of exceptions. I think in the last 5 years the Power 5 has collectively gotten better and so I don't read too much into getting blown out by Pitt, Arkansas, and Ole Miss. However, there were some surprises with the performances by Chattanooga, VMI, and ETSU.

Week 2 Games (my picks)
Samford @ Western (2:30)
Campbell @ The Citadel (3:00)
Carson Newmann @ ETSU (5:30)
VMI @ Bucknell (6:00)
KSU @ Chattanooga (6:00)
Wofford @ William & Mary (6:00) [no pick - I'm biased and can't shake my bias]
Morehead State @ Mercer (7:00)
Furman @ South Carolina (7:30)

Power Rankings:

Teams that did good:
Samford
Furman

Teams that we can't say because of the opposition
Wofford
Mercer
Western Carolina

Teams that we probably can't say because of the opposition, but opponents were G5
ETSU
The Citadel

Teams that looked bad
Chattanooga - their defense didn't look great. Their QB looked good at times, but his completion percentage was below 50%
VMI - at the end of the day, VMI has 63 scholarships and Davidson has zero. There wasn't enough control at the LOS for VMI for my liking and they made way too many mistakes on offense.

The top two categories above shouldn't feel bad about anything, but the bottom two categories should be concerned.

[bonarae]

Samford
Campbell
ETSU
VMI
Kennesaw
W&M
Mercer
USC Gamecocks

[caribbeanhen]

William & Mary

[FUBeAR]

William & Mary
Which one?

[Reign of Terrier]

So here's my in-depth breakdown of the games this week. I won't be starting a Wofford/W&M thread because I don't think there's going to be much interest outside of those who post here, and I will be at the game and not on my phone.

Samford @ Western
At the end of the day, I believe in Samford's defense more than Western's. Western is also breaking in a new QB (or 2?). I peaked a little at the Arkansas game and I don't think either QB has the same dynamic athleticism as Dotson did last year. A lot of people have a lot of good things to say about Bell, but I want him to show me at the FCS level. A win for the Catamounts here would be a step in that direction. These teams are mirror images of each other, but Hatcher's system has more proven results than Western...for now.


Campbell @ The Citadel
I just don't think the Citadel is good. The triple option has been legislated out of existence and I feel every team who continues to run some variation of it is in extreme denial. Because when you don't have the ability to cut block like we did 6 years ago, a big component of misdirection and equalizing talent (smaller players going at the knees of bigger players) is just gone. And what you're left with is just a run-first offense with lots of zone read and TO out of shotgun. It's a lot easier to defend because it's more limited. If a "multiple option" is going to work, it has to pass super efficiently, and do so at least 15 times a game or so. There are examples of this with Wofford in the late 2010s under Conklin, and I would argue William & Mary is doing something similar. The Citadel doesn't seem to be doing that, based on the stat line of the Georgia Southern game.

On top of that, I saw Campbell play W&M, and I think they are very good on offense, and the prep they did for W&M will probably help prep for the Citadel. They won last year too. I'm not sure how good Campbell is in the grand scheme of things (their tackling was suspect at times last week), but I think they're still better than the Citadel.


Carson Newmann @ ETSU
ETSU is D1. Carson Newmann is not. I don't think Quarles is the guy to lead ETSU back to the playoffs or to a socon title, but he's still good enough to do this.

VMI @ Bucknell
I mean, I guess VMI because Bucknell is Patriot. They were definitely better than the final score against Davidson, and so we'll see week 1 to week 2 improvement, but I'm not holding my breath.


KSU @ Chattanooga
Chattanooga seems vulnerable on defense. Their quarterback made some good throws yesterday, but he completed less than 50% of them. They ran almost 90 plays and didn't get 30 points. As I said previously, I've never been super sold on UTC. To make matters worse, this game is almost certainly a must-win for Chattanooga. They have Bama as their FBS game, and if they have no OOC wins, they will have to finish top 2, maybe even win the conference to get in the playoffs. 7-4 with a loss to KSU and UNA would be possibly the best case scenario for getting into the playoffs with a socon autobid. Anyway, I think KSU will be in a good place because they're still going to be well coached and they're still going to run the ball, which UTC struggled with last week.

I would like Chattanooga to win, I just don't think they will.


Wofford @ William & Mary
I've droned on and on for weeks about this game. I can see Wofford winning this game by 2 touchdowns or losing it by 2 touchdowns. I'm confident Wofford can hold W&M under 30 or even 20 points, because our front 7 tackles so well, and last year we played teams that had similar tendencies as W&M in KSU and the Citadel. I genuinely don't think the CAA values stopping the run as much as the Socon does, and that's part of the reason why W&M is so dominant in that conference, but I think Wofford will be better equipped to adjust. I could be disproven there, though. The kind of offense William & Mary runs is great for winning conference championships and the tribe is very good at what they do, but it's vulnerable to a fundamentally sound defense that tackles well. I'm speaking from experience as a fan of a team that ran it forever.

When Wofford's offense is on the field, I think we'll look better than we did against Pitt. It's going to come down to our OL protecting Bryce Corriston; I like what I saw out of him against Pitt. If we can protect him, minimize mistakes, and establish the run, we'll be alright. I'm not as impressed with William & Mary's defense as I am their offense. Campbell killed their own chances late in the last 40 minutes of the game with some bad mistakes in consecutive drives, including muffing a punt, a holding call killing a drive, not going for it on 4th down and 1, and later on not capitalizing on a blocked kick. Yes, William & Mary did get a couple stops, but Campbell lost the game by shooting themselves in the foot on offense and not tackling well on defense, allowing William & Mary to break some big plays and play keep away.

Wofford loses this game if they play poorly on the OL and if William & Mary plays good enough on offense to similarly play keep away. But if Wofford's offense gets in rhythm, establishes the run, and doesn't turn the ball over, they can win this game. The good news for Wofford is, even if we lose this game, we'll be okay. We don't need this game to make the playoffs, but it'll help. A win here going into PC and VMI (two very winnable games) would be huge going into chattanooga and Samford. It would inject some energy and momentum back in the program that's been missing for years.

Morehead State @ Mercer
Morehead State is bad and Mercer is good.

Furman @ South Carolina
South Carolina is better than Furman and will be angry about last week.

[caribbeanhen]

Which one?

they all the same now

[FUBeAR]

Had a long post for FUBeAR's rankings all typed up and somehow deleted it....Fitting for the week most SoCon Teams had last week. So...just the rankings and 1 blurb below.

Write your own narratives if you would like. FUBeAR's full write-up was excellent and hilarious with multiple charts, graphs, videos, and other visual aids...but he ain't re-doin' it....

FUBeAR's SoCon POWER RANKINGS (Picks later in the week)

1) Furman - swarming D is KILLER. O is solid and will get better and better. Special Teams are really sound. Let's go 1-0 in the SEC East this week
2) Mercer - secondary MUST repair itself or the Bears are in for a long season. No reason to think they can't. Good win in Week 0 over good UNA Team
3) Samford - Placeholder only - no credit for RecBall win - enjoy Cullowhee - show us what your 43 Transfers got
4) WCU - Placeholder also really - no D in Little Rock - think they will have one - real ranking after Saturday
5) Wofford - Placeholder higher than warranted just so we won't have to move the PorchYappers up too far after they beat William & Mary this week
6) Chattanooga - Lot to fix - may include heart transplant / acquisition - not gonna crucify 'em for the loss to UNA as all of FCS did Mercer after a double-digit win over UNA - Lions are good
7) ETSU - Expected more in JaxVegas - think we'll see more as year moves along
8) The Citadel - Expected more in StinkBurro - think we'll see more as year moves along
9) VMI - Expected good D. Didn't expect 0 Offense. Must find a way to score against scholarship Players...this week.

[caribbeanhen]

Had a long post for FUBeAR's rankings all typed up and somehow deleted it....Fitting for the week most SoCon Teams had last week. So...just the rankings and 1 blurb below.

Write your own narratives if you would like. FUBeAR's full write-up was excellent and hilarious with multiple charts, graphs, videos, and other visual aids...but he ain't re-doin' it....

FUBeAR's SoCon POWER RANKINGS (Picks later in the week)

1) Furman - swarming D is KILLER. O is solid and will get better and better. Special Teams are really sound. Let's go 1-0 in the SEC East this week
2) Mercer - secondary MUST repair itself or the Bears are in for a long season. No reason to think they can't. Good win in Week 0 over good UNA Team
3) Samford - Placeholder only - no credit for RecBall win - enjoy Cullowhee - show us what your 43 Transfers got
4) WCU - Placeholder also really - no D in Little Rock - think they will have one - real ranking after Saturday
5) Wofford - Placeholder higher than warranted just so we won't have to move the PorchYappers up too far after they beat William & Mary this week
6) Chattanooga - Lot to fix - may include heart transplant / acquisition - not gonna crucify 'em for the loss to UNA as all of FCS did Mercer after a double-digit win over UNA - Lions are good
7) ETSU - Expected more in JaxVegas - think we'll see more as year moves along
8) The Citadel - Expected more in StinkBurro - think we'll see more as year moves along
9) VMI - Expected good D. Didn't expect 0 Offense. Must find a way to score against scholarship Players...this week.

must be my lucky day

Go Colonial Town!

[OrangeAndBlack]

I love UNA whooping UTC and justifying the Mercer victory in Week 0. So much hatred for a win that was never in doubt. Yes it would be better for the SoCon if UTC won, but oh well -- Mercer has never made the playoffs and they need to have a Mercer First approach to the season. Not SoCon First!

Picks:

Morehead @ Mercer -- 73-7 in reverse upcoming.
Samford @ Western -- 38-20
Campbell @ Citadel -- 33-3
Carson Newman @ ETSU
VMI @ Bucknell -- 14-13
Kennesaw St @ UTC -- 38-28
Wofford @ W&M -- 35-24
Furman @ USC -- 42-21 (I'll let FUBear be the only one to pick FU and be correct)

[Reign of Terrier]

Isn't it funny how AGS has evolved to where the MVFC fans just get totally livid when any team does well and warrants ranking? AGS is a lot less welcoming, feels like some fanbases just want to tear down accomplishments of up and coming programs. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I feel like there was a lot more positivity about the subdivision, not insecure bashing of teams and fans who think they deserve more recognition. Just an observation I have had over the last couple days.

[SU DOG]

There is NO other FCS conference in the nation that faces the level of FBS competition that the SoCon does. Certainly not all FBS, even P5 teams are, as a general rule, nowhere near as strong as SEC Teams. That is why a competitive game vs FBS for other conferences is not really any better than a SoCon blowout loss vs an SEC team. I realize this is a 'Well DUH" statement, but sometimes it seems to me it is not properly considered in evaluating FCS team performances and in ranking rationale.

[Sir William]

Picks:
Western Carolina (just got a feeling about this one)
The Citadel (only b/c it's in Chucktown)
ETSU (Bucs are mad and Quarles boys roll)
VMI (by several more points than they scored over Davidson)
Kennesaw (in a close one)
William & Mary (somewhat competitive in first half, then Tribe takes over)
Mercer (big)
Furman

Power Rankings:
1) Furman
2) Samford
3) Western Carolina
4) Mercer
5) ETSU
6) Wofford
7) Chattanooga
8) The Citadel
9) VMI

[Reign of Terrier]

People shouldn't over-read what happened with Wofford against Pitt, unless someone in the Socon is capable of producing 3+ all american FBS DL talents in a 6 year period, averaging 4 sacks a game (at the FBS level) and being top 12 in run defense (at the FBS level) over a similar period, while also having 5 OL average 320+ and emphasizing a power run game with two tight ends.

Last I checked, you can probably count on only 1-2 fingers of the teams in the FCS that can do that, and none of them are on Wofford's schedule.

I'm seeing a couple purple fans tee-hee about Wofford's -1 yards rushing, talking about our offense being only 50-50 deep balls (as if those aren't practiced or scripted), but at the end of the day we only ran 36 plays and had the ball for 20 minutes. Take out sack yardage, and we had closer to 45. If you look at the history of what Pitt does to FCS teams, there wasn't anything especially heinous about it.

I'm legitimately interested why people think Wofford's going to regress this year, when we have most of our non-QB production back on offense and most of our playmakers on defense. We're forgetting all the yardage Wofford put up last year against Furman and the rest of the Socon post-Conklin. Wish Wish Wish all you want, the Terriers are coming, regardless of outcome this week.

[Sir William]

Wish Wish Wish all you want, the Terriers are coming, regardless of outcome this week.

You know, I think we all feel where you're coming from ... but you talk too much. No doubt, your enthusiasm is admirable ... but you still talk too much.

UBU - don't go changin'! xthumbsupx

[Reign of Terrier]

You know, I think we all feel where you're coming from ... but you talk too much. No doubt, your enthusiasm is admirable ... but you still talk too much.

UBU - don't go changin'! xthumbsupx

Cope.

Edit: But seriously, I've had to deal with Furman talk for years about how y'all are back, only for you to lose dumb games like at Austin Peay (or what have you). I'm all for it, believe me. I would love to have the Socon back where it used to be, but at the end of the day, Furman has won as many playoff games since 2017 as Wofford has. I've noticed over the years that Furman fans don't like being told how close the margin of error is in the SoCon. You're just now "back" and insulted that people think they can beat you or that you won't run away with the thing. From the Wofford perspective, we've won enough games in enough recent eras to know that anything can happen; there are no "main character" teams outside of Fargo; and that winning in the Socon isn't so much about one team being dominant or the rest of the league being down, but this game of inches.

[caribbeanhen]

You know, I think we all feel where you're coming from ... but you talk too much. No doubt, your enthusiasm is admirable ... but you still talk too much.

UBU - don't go changin'! xthumbsupx

to try and please me

you never let me down before

Billy Joel actually

seems like RoT has backed down a bit on the outcome he wants in The Burg

[caribbeanhen]

Week One wasn't great for the Socon. But honestly, if you look at the entirety of the FCS, last week everyone who didn't play a cupcake had a bad week, with only a handful of exceptions. I think in the last 5 years the Power 5 has collectively gotten better and so I don't read too much into getting blown out by Pitt, Arkansas, and Ole Miss. However, there were some surprises with the performances by Chattanooga, VMI, and ETSU.

Week 2 Games (my picks)
Samford @ Western (2:30)
Campbell @ The Citadel (3:00)
Carson Newmann @ ETSU (5:30)
VMI @ Bucknell (6:00)
KSU @ Chattanooga (6:00)
Wofford @ William & Mary (6:00) [no pick - I'm biased and can't shake my bias]
Morehead State @ Mercer (7:00)
Furman @ South Carolina (7:30)

Power Rankings:

Teams that did good:
Samford
Furman

Teams that we can't say because of the opposition
Wofford
Mercer
Western Carolina

Teams that we probably can't say because of the opposition, but opponents were G5
ETSU
The Citadel

Teams that looked bad
Chattanooga - their defense didn't look great. Their QB looked good at times, but his completion percentage was below 50%
VMI - at the end of the day, VMI has 63 scholarships and Davidson has zero. There wasn't enough control at the LOS for VMI for my liking and they made way too many mistakes on offense.

The top two categories above shouldn't feel bad about anything, but the bottom two categories should be concerned.

really?

[FUBeAR]

really?
Here’s what RoT meant to say about Wofford defeating William & Mary - listen all the way thru - then go break down the locker room door … BTW - The back of FUBeAR’s head makes a cameo at the end of this video…


https://youtu.be/nG2IiS2BsKg?feature=shared

[Reign of Terrier]

What me and FuBear have in common is that we're both homers and know it, I on the other hand won't try to hide the latter point:D

But the reason I'm optimistic about Wofford being back is pretty simple, what Mike Ayers said in the video is right. The reason why any team is successful at this level isn't because of the formation you run, but the ability for coaches to coach up fundamentals and implement a scheme that players by into.

We make a lot of fallacious assumptions when evaluating teams from each season-to-season: we think progress (both as a team and as individual players) is linear when if you put it on a chart, it looks more logarithmic. Improving your defense or offense isn't like improving your bench press weight, where it goes up steadily and stays there. In football, your offense or defense is more like assembling furniture: it either works or it doesn't.

When you have a bad team, you can drill on fundamentals in the offseason, and implement a new scheme and look completely different from the year before. The opposing teams are competent at this level where it's extremely unlikely to go from 1-10 to 10-1 or even to 6-5 (barring a coaching change - which is why I wanted Conklin gone after 2021), but over the course of a year you can see radical improvement, over the course of 2 years it can be revolutionary.

For a contemporary example, just look at what UNA did from last season to this one, going from 1-10 to beating a playoff bubble team from last year to this one. You can also look at what Jamie Chadwell did at Charleston Southern.

For Socon history, look at Samford last year going from 4-7 to 10-1; VMI in 2019 (even with all caveats included) going 1-10 in 2018 to conference champs in 2020; look at what Chattanooga did when they hired Huesman, going from 1-10 in 2008 to 6-5 to the playoff bubble in 2011; look at what Mike Houston did at the Citadel in only 2 years; look at what Jeff Monken did at Georgia Southern in his stint there. Heck, look at what Furman did when they hired Hendrix. (Maybe this is a hot take, but if you're not on the playoff bubble after at least once in the first 3-4 years of a coach, you may have the wrong guy). People thinks a good coach takes a bad team and adds like 3 wins a year or something, but at this level it's often radical and almost instantaneous (notice that the programs listed were in the 3 win neighborhood prior to their hire and made the playoffs in the first year, while the ones that didn't took two. Where does one honestly put Wofford on the spectrum of those teams - playoff contender or not?)

And with all of that said, Wofford is closer to year two in our system than we are year one. Year one was last year. And contrary to what some ACC network broadcasters think, none of these players were recruited to run the option.

The only reason I'm not 100% on the upset for this week is because William & Mary is a very good team (even if I don't think they're top 5) and because we have way too much uncertainty on our offensive line at the moment. But what's great and exciting about this game, is that we don't have to win it. We just have to look good. We're going to have 2 very winnable games following it, and these next three games together will helps us iron out our problems. Even if we aren't "there" yet, this is a team that will get better over the course of the year, and the schedule shapes up in a way that benefits us getting better and better. I see similiarities with this team and the 2016 Wofford team and the 2010 Georgia Southern team. I don't think we'll get to the quarterfinals, but I think we're going to be a tough draw for anyone in late October or November.

[The Cats]

my picks

Samford @ Western Carolina
Campbell @ The Citadel
Carson Newmann @ ETSU
VMI @ Bucknell
KSU @ Chattanooga
Wofford @ William & Mary (hope I'm wrong)
Morehead State @ Mercer
Furman @ South Carolina


Power Rankings:
1 - Furman
2 - Samford
3 - Western Carolina
4 - Mercer
5 - ETSU
6 - Wofford
7 - Chattanooga
8 - VMI
9 -The Citadel

[SU DOG]

I want to give a bit of clarification to the notion that Samford is fielding a team of new and unproven xfer players.xcoffeex Yeah, we have a large number of new players, but what is so overlooked is that we have a great nucleus of good returning players. On offense there is exactly ONE new transfer starter. I guess it would be kinda hard for most teams to keep a former Georgia HS All-Stater who is a 6-1, 220-pound All-Ivy League WR on the bench. According to numbers, Samford lost 2 starters off last season's O-Line. The thing is that one of those was starting because of a preseason injury that took the starter out for the season, so we actually replaced only one O-Lineman. The replacement is not a transfer, but a Jr. who has logged plenty of PT. WR and kick returner Ty King, fastest receiver we have, is back after injury and so is former Phil Steele Fr. All-American Michael Vice. Summation - The Samford Offense on paper should be even better than last season, but of course you never know. Admittedly, last season we did get the breaks.

On defense we have six starters that are not new. Of the five starters that are new, two of them simply beat out the 2 projected starters who were returning players. I really believe this is the fastest Samford defense that I have seen (in fall camp and one game) in a long time, especially the front seven. Still, I don't know about the secondary, especially the CBs. Hatcher certainly has plenty of choices there, however. He has said numerous times that this year's defense has the most depth he has had. I am optimistic that this defense will be improved from last year's, but what that might equate to I dunno. One thing that I am sure of is that this Saturday will be a telling time for our defense. Samford will face a Catamount offense that is loaded with terrific talent.

[FUBeAR]

SoCon Football means more than wins and losses in games. For some people, at least for people in Maconga, Mercer Football means WINNING in business...


https://youtu.be/xg18NeHecYg?feature=shared

[SU DOG]

SAMFORD @ Western Carolina - WCU is the SoCon Team that nobody should want to play especially in Cullowhee. This game has upset potential written all over it. I would love a 1-point win. Having said that, however, I can't pick against my Dogs - SAMFORD in a close one.

Campbell @ The Citadel - Fighting Camels, but maybe I'll be wrong.

Carson Newman @ ETSU - Bucs

VMI @ Bucknell - Keydets

KSU @ UTC - Mocs get the upset win.

Wofford @ William & Mary - Tribe and unfortunately it won't be close.

Morehead State @ Mercer - Bears by a bunch.

Furman @ South Carolina - Gamecocks correct their first game errors.

Power Rankings
1. Furman
2. SAMFORD
3. WCU
4. Mercer and UTC Tie
6. ETSU
7. Wofford
8. The Citadel
9. VMI

[caribbeanhen]

if you like innovation, speed and large frenzied crowds, VMI at Bucknell is a can’t miss type of game

Bucknell is gonna give VMI a good one

[SU DOG]

SoCon Football means more wins and losses in games. For some people, at least for people in Maconga, Mercer Football means WINNING in business...


https://youtu.be/xg18NeHecYg?feature=shared

Mercer does a lot of good things to promote the Bears. The administration obviously wants to win. I will provide this link to show something unique that Samford does.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2023/09/04/technology.aspx

[FUBeAR]

I want to give a bit of clarification to the notion that Samford is fielding a team of new and unproven xfer players.xcoffeex Yeah, we have a large number of new players, but what is so overlooked is that we have a great nucleus of good returning players. On offense there is exactly ONE new transfer starter. I guess it would be kinda hard for most teams to keep a former Georgia HS All-Stater who is a 6-1, 220-pound All-Ivy League WR on the bench. According to numbers, Samford lost 2 starters off last season's O-Line. The thing is that one of those was starting because of a preseason injury that took the starter out for the season, so we actually replaced only one O-Lineman. The replacement is not a transfer, but a Jr. who has logged plenty of PT. WR and kick returner Ty King, fastest receiver we have, is back after injury and so is former Phil Steele Fr. All-American Michael Vice. Summation - The Samford Offense on paper should be even better than last season, but of course you never know. Admittedly, last season we did get the breaks.

On defense we have six starters that are not new. Of the five starters that are new, two of them simply beat out the 2 projected starters who were returning players. I really believe this is the fastest Samford defense that I have seen (in fall camp and one game) in a long time, especially the front seven. Still, I don't know about the secondary, especially the CBs. Hatcher certainly has plenty of choices there, however. He has said numerous times that this year's defense has the most depth he has had. I am optimistic that this defense will be improved from last year's, but what that might equate to I dunno. One thing that I am sure of is that this Saturday will be a telling time for our defense. Samford will face a Catamount offense that is loaded with terrific talent.
...OR...

Offense - 7 Players on 2-Deep are NEW, 6 out of 7 of those are Transfers
Defense - 10 Players on 2-Deep are NEW, 10 out of 10 of those are Transfers
17 New Players on O&D 2-Deep
16 New Transfers on O&D 2-Deep
2 New Players on Special Teams 2-Deep (P & K), 2 out of 2 of those are Transfers

19 New Players on overall 2-Deep
18 New Transfers on overall 2-Deep


...JUST OWN IT...

Samford Football is the FCS version of whatever Coach Prime is doing @ Colorado.

Some people think that's AWESOME...and some people prefer College Football.

[FUBeAR]

Power Rankings
4. Mercer and UTC Tie

RECENT FACTS sure don't agree with your feelings...

NORTH ALABAMA -VS- MERCER


Team
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Total


North Alabama
7
0
0
0
7


Winner Mercer
7
3
0
7
17


CHATTANOOGA -VS- NORTH ALA.


Team
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Total


Chattanooga
0
10
10
7
27


Winner North Ala.
14
7
0
20
41

[SU DOG]

If one went strictly with facts and not feelings, would you ever pick an upset?

[FUBeAR]

If one went strictly with facts and not feelings, would you ever pick an upset?
Good point…

…But not nearly as good as the 24 POINTS that should have you ranking Mercer ahead of Chattanooga in this weeks SoCon Power Rankings

[SU DOG]

Of course FUBeAR always uses facts and never feelings in his picks. That's why last November he still had Furman as #1 in the SoCon and Mercer would win by 3 points vs Samford. LOL! In a few days I might align my picks exactly with his. These choices are subject to change from week to week. It is way too early to call out anyone's picks right now, however.

[FUBeAR]

Of course FUBeAR always uses facts and never feelings in his picks. That's why last November he still had Furman as #1 in the SoCon and Mercer would win by 3 points vs Samford. LOL! In a few days I might align my picks exactly with his. These choices are subject to change from week to week. It is way too early to call out anyone's picks right now, however.
Barring a malicious assault on the integrity of the game of Football by a SoCon Official and WITH their starting QB, Furman was clearly better than Samford last season.

3 Points is considered standard for Home Field Advantage and at the end of a regulation Football game in November, in Homewood, Mercer, if Home Field Advantage was subtracted, was 3 points better than Samford.

Not sure why you think making FUBeAR's case in those matters is helpful to explain your ludicrous decision to rank Chattanooga tied with Mercer this week, but if it somehow makes you feel better, then U-B-U.

And, FUBeAR disagrees. It's never too early to point out people doing silly things to try to help them 'get right.' If FUBeAR saw SU DOG about to walk in front of a moving bus, when would it be appropriate for FUBeAR to warn/alert SU DOG? As soon as possible...of course...is the only correct answer. Same thing with Football Rankings.

Also2 - surprised you are focused on this minor, obvious correction. Thought FUBeAR's commentary in Post #26 might prompt more thought/response. Did you miss it?

[Reign of Terrier]

I know it's been almost 4 years since Wofford won a socon title, but the experience of Wofford being a top 2 socon team in that time is that depth charts don't really mean that much. Maybe I'm much more zen (or dao, to be non-technical) about these things now, but stats help tell the story, they typically aren't the story.

We presuppose progression (we brought back this many players this year and should this be better), when it's more apt to say teams are roughly the same. We look at new faces and swap uncertainty as a conclusion with inferiority.

[FUBeAR]

I know it's been almost 4 years since Wofford won a socon title, but the experience of Wofford being a top 2 socon team in that time is that depth charts don't really mean that much. Maybe I'm much more zen (or dao, to be non-technical) about these things now, but stats help tell the story, they typically aren't the story.

We presuppose progression (we brought back this many players this year and should this be better), when it's more apt to say teams are roughly the same. We look at new faces and swap uncertainty as a conclusion with inferiority.
Seems like you're actually nez (or aod) on this...i.e., backward / upside down

Returning Players don't project improvement (even though that is often true - FUBeAR was FAR, FAR better as a 265 lb Sr than he was a 225 lb Soph). Returning Players project some measure of certainty and consistency. If you had a good Team last year and 80% of your 2-Deep is returning, it's likely that your Team will be good this year and HOPEFULLY better by improvement among the 80% and HOPEFULLY upgrades in talent among the 20%

BUT - New Players do bring uncertainty. If you have a bunch of new Players you could be UIW 2022 or you could be a Start-Up Program losing every game.

We don't presuppose a significant amount of progression upon returning Players. We presuppose significant consistency and some uncertain measure of hoped for progression

We don't presuppose inferiority upon new faces. We accept the that uncertainty is a given and we hope for some uncertain measure of progression.

[SU DOG]

I hardly think a ranking prediction at this time of year deserves to be called "a ludicrous decision" but whatever. As for your comment(s) about Samford's transfers I choose not to argue the situation but to go with it as you suggested. You seem to take it personally if anyone disagrees with your lofty FU and MU rankings. Hey, you may be 100% correct on your assessments who knows? As stated, I could be echoing your choices soon. Right now, however, I think UTC might be on par with Mercer, and yes, that is just a guess from feelings. Aren't these picks and rankings supposed to be primarily for fun?

[FUBeAR]

I hardly think a ranking prediction at this time of year deserves to be called "a ludicrous decision" but whatever.

As for your comment(s) about Samford's transfers I choose not to argue the situation but to go with it as you suggested. COOL - GOOD FOR YOU.

You seem to take it personally if anyone disagrees with your lofty FU and MU rankings. Hey, you may be 100% correct on your assessments who knows? As stated, I could be echoing your choices soon. Right now, however, I think UTC might be on par with Mercer, and yes, that is just a guess from feelings. Aren't these picks and rankings supposed to be primarily for fun?
https://media.tenor.com/M4CGOcI-1OUAAAAd/are-you-not-entertained-gladiator.gif

[SU DOG]

https://media.tenor.com/M4CGOcI-1OUAAAAd/are-you-not-entertained-gladiator.gif


LOL! FUB, you do have a way with ending a conversation (at least an ending for me). Very good funny post.

[caribbeanhen]

SU DOG,
Who is this player?


“I guess it would be kinda hard for most teams to keep a former Georgia HS All-Stater who is a 6-1, 220-pound All-Ivy League WR on the bench.”

[SU DOG]

Rory Starkey, Jr. - Football - University of Pennsylvania Athletics (pennathletics.com) (https://pennathletics.com/sports/football/roster/rory-starkey-jr-/19779)

[FUBeAR]

RECENT FACTS sure don't agree with your feelings...

NORTH ALABAMA -VS- MERCER


Team
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Total


North Alabama
7
0
0
0
7


Winner Mercer
7
3
0
7
17


CHATTANOOGA -VS- NORTH ALA.


Team
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Total


Chattanooga
0
10
10
7
27


Winner North Ala.
14
7
0
20
41



FWIW SU DOG…2 out of the 22 Polls / Rankings in the Massey Composite, which ranked Mercer and/or Chattanooga, agreed with your FEELINGS.



Team
CMP
SAG
SMS
SNW
AGS
BAS
BRN
CGV
DCI
DII
DOK
DWI
ENG
FCP
KLN
KPK
LAZ
MAS
PGH
RDT
RMS
RTP
RWP




Mercer (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf2023&t=4649)
23
26
23
20
19
8
44
28
26
22
20
36
42
24
23
27
27
23
17
25
30
11
22


Chattanooga (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf2023&t=7809)
45
40
42
--
--
17
43
31
58
35
17
48
76
--
36
51
46
50
53
--
99
29
42



You, Born, and Dokter Entropy are all in sync … and silly.

[caribbeanhen]

Rory Starkey, Jr. - Football - University of Pennsylvania Athletics (pennathletics.com) (https://pennathletics.com/sports/football/roster/rory-starkey-jr-/19779)

gotcha thanks

Delaware has a grad transfer WR from Harvard and he’s good
Kym Wimberly and he caught himself a TD pass vs Stony Brook, it also helps the team GPA to get these Ivy kids

By the way, my Alabama hija came down here here to Puerto Rico to get her cat and bring it back. Thank goodness I don’t have to clean up after that animal anymore, but anyway I mentioned Samford football again even showed them where it was on a map and got the ole Dad, we’re just interested in college football…. But you’re in Alabama you have to go….. Im sorry to say I don’t think they will and it stings

[SU DOG]

Not really worried right now about UTC and/or Mercer. My FEELINGS are that Western Carolina is going to be a tough task for any visitor to Cullowhee this season.

[FUBeAR]

Not really worried right now about UTC and/or Mercer. My FEELINGS are that Western Carolina is going to be a tough task for any visitor to Cullowhee this season.
Oooh … the Message Board Game Face is ON!

[FUBeAR]

Another good reason to visit Five Star Stadium when your Team comes to Maconga and visits the Mercer Bears
https://mercerbears.com/news/2023/9/7/athletics-department-ol-toby-easy-ale-to-debut-on-saturday-at-football-home-opener.aspx?mibextid=Zxz2cZ&fbclid=IwAR0Ox5Br7T0MJXmjUZ3IU1A5-6p9B9M4kLT6_z1l5GPeZBGOFpmjaLsVBZo_aem_AbgVI6EPlXY bqmb8bRY2ZTFXgZmPKPRgGkqy5Ufj5xIkbkIgxMvZ3eKm3M3xN xQ6xd0
https://twitter.com/briangerrity/status/1699840052669608349

FUBeAR will be @ Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia this week, Burger Chef & Women’s Soccer Arena in Kennesaw next Sat., and Paladin Stadium for Mercer @ Furman the Saturday after next…but 9/30 vs. VMI…FUBeAR is planning to get to Maconga and get a taste of Ol’ Toby Easy Ale, the beer that tastes like gameday!

[FUBeAR]

FUBeAR's SoCon PICKS



Away
Home
Time
FUBeAR’s Prediculation


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_samford.png?width=30Samford (http://www.samfordsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wcu.png?width=30Western Carolina (https://catamountsports.com/)
2:30P
Wow - Kicking off the SoCon season with a matchup of the 2 best Teams in the SoCon…if you ask Coach Bell. Even if you don’t ask him, he’s happy to tell you (in 4000 words or more) that this Catamount Team is the best Team in the SoCon, if not all of FCS. Not sure that’s what FUBeAR saw in Little Rock last week. OL looked better. D looked kinda OK, QB play was not good. Hard to say about WR’s and FUBeAR is hearing their best RB is out. With Samford’s opener against Team Kappa Kappa Gamma and half their 2-Deep being New Transfers, we just don’t know. This one’s a shot in the dark, but FUBeAR is gonna go with history (Samford has dominated this series) and trust that Coach Hatcher didn’t waste a bunch of schollies and didn’t pay out all that “NIL” money to get Players to transfer to Samford that couldn’t play. Dogs chase Cats.

Final Score: Samford 49 - WCU 24


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/VMI_spider_four_color-2015.png?width=30VMI (https://vmikeydets.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/bucknell_logo.png?width=30Bucknell (http://www.bucknellbison.com/)
3P
The new Keydets scared FUBeAR last week, but he thinks they learned a lot and will find their Offense before the final minute of the game against these bizuns.

Final Score: VMI 24 - Bucknell 13


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Campbell.png?width=30Campbell (http://www.gocamels.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_citadel.png?width=30The Citadel (http://www.citadelsports.com/)
4P
FUBeAR wishes he had taken time to watch CIT @ GaSou. FUBeAR wishes the Coastal Atheltic Association didn’t have some crappy TV deal that only shows their games in Romania. Haven’t seen Campbell or CIT in ‘23. Know Campbell’s roster is talented, but they got double-digited by a meh W&M Team last week @ Home. This one’s in ChuckTown. Camels like sand, but they hate sand fleas and CIT’s field is full of them…even in the fake grass. FUBeAR likes Coach Minter, but FUBeAR trusts Coach Drayton. Gonna ride FUBeAR’s SamsonsiteSlingers 1 more time. Bellhops get over the hump.

Final Score: The Citadel 21 - Campbell 19


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Carson-Newman.png?width=30Carson-Newman (http://www.cneagles.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2020/1/2/etsu_logo.png?width=30ETSU (http://www.etsubucs.com/)
5:30P
Bucs need to get well. A home game against a D2 program just may be the tonic Coach Quarles and his beleaguered band of marauders need right now.

Final Score: ETSU 56 - Carson-Newman 14


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Kennesaw.png?width=30Kennesaw State (http://www.ksuowls.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_chatta_91.png?width=30Chattanooga (http://www.gomocs.com/)
6P
Watched a wee bit of Tusculum @ Kennesaw and about the same amount of Chatty @ North Alabama. 1 of 4 Teams - UNA - looked good. Mocs need to get well too and a plate of owlet is just the cure they need. Moving down to ConfUSA, along with JaxState should allow the owlets to become respectably competitive. But not this week. Mocs regain their footing…if legless reptiles - they’re snakes, right? - can have footing.

Final Score: Chattanooga 31 - Kennesaw 10


https://soconsports.com/images/2023/5/30/Terriers_StackedWHITE.png?width=30Wofford (http://woffordterriers.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/wm_200x200.png?width=30William & Mary (http://www.tribeathletics.com/)
6P
Woffy can name their score in this one … oops sorry FUBeAR was channeling RoT as he started to pick this game. All right…just straight talk…FUBeAR thinks W&M is overrated. Beating a next-to-last Big South by 10 don’t impress Shania Twain or FUBeAR much. FUBeAR knows Woffy will not be as bad as they were under their prior AlphaPup, but, contrary to RoT’s detailed analysis (some would say word salads; not FUBeAR…others), Woffy’s Talent is about 70% of what it was under Coach Ayers. BUT … Terriers are gonna watch that Coach Ayers SC Football HoF Induction Speech FUBeAR posted and bust down the locker room door in StolenLandsBurg…and TCB!

Final Score: Wofford 21 - Bill & Maury 20


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/n6.png?width=30Morehead State (http://www.msueagles.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_mercer.png?width=30Mercer (http://www.mercerbears.com/)
7P
Rewatched Mercer vs. UNA (Cowboy Clicker-like…every man, every play) - impression…UNA is a pretty good Football Team and Mercer is stout up front on both sides of the ball

Rewatched Mercer @ Ole Miss (Cowboy Clicker-like) - impression … Not as bad as it looked. Did some good things. Mercer is stout up front on both sides of the ball. Secondary MUST tackle MUCH better.

Bears get a good workout in during their final pre-season tune-up game before they take a week off to prepare for their ‘regular season’ in their quest for a Playoff berth.

Final Score: Mercer 73 - Morehead State 7


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_furman.png?width=30Furman (http://www.furmanpaladins.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/south_carolina.png?width=30South Carolina (http://www.gamecocksonline.com/)
7:30P
It won’t be as easy as most Football people expect, but the consensus Favorite in this game rides their SEC quality Defense & holds on to win it in the 4th quarter, as Championship Teams do.

Final Score: Furman 28 - South Carolina 23



FUBeAR's SoCon POWER RANKINGS

1) Furman - swarming D is KILLER. O is solid and will get better and better. Special Teams are really sound. Let's go 1-0 in the SEC East this week
2) Mercer - secondary MUST repair itself or the Bears are in for a long season. No reason to think they can't. Good win in Week 0 over good UNA Team
3) Samford - Placeholder only - no credit for RecBall win - enjoy Cullowhee - show us what your 43 Transfers got
4) WCU - Placeholder also really - no D in Little Rock - think they will have one - real ranking after Saturday
5) Wofford - Placeholder higher than warranted just so we won't have to move the PorchYappers up too far after they beat William & Mary this week
6) Chattanooga - Lot to fix - may include heart transplant / acquisition - not gonna crucify 'em for the loss to UNA as all of FCS did Mercer after a double-digit win over UNA - Lions are good
7) ETSU - Expected more in JaxVegas - think we'll see more as year moves along
8) The Citadel - Expected more in StinkBurro - think we'll see more as year moves along
9) VMI - Expected good D. Didn't expect 0 Offense. Must find a way to score against scholarship Players...this week.

[UNHWildcat18]

Random, not a selection of picks but I am currently in Birmingham(Vestavia hills) right near samford campus. Wonderful area and we got dinner in mountain Brook! Went to that chick-fil-a for lunch across the street 😂

I will say I also got to see UABs new stadium. Great stadium for the city and all of the teams that play there.

[ElCid]

See my picks imbedded. I've been lazy the past couple weeks so I'm hijacking your layout.


FUBeAR's SoCon PICKS



Away
Home
Time
FUBeAR’s Prediculation


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_samford.png?width=30Samford (http://www.samfordsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wcu.png?width=30Western Carolina (https://catamountsports.com/)
2:30P
Wow - Kicking off the SoCon season with a matchup of the 2 best Teams in the SoCon…if you ask Coach Bell. Even if you don’t ask him, he’s happy to tell you (in 4000 words or more) that this Catamount Team is the best Team in the SoCon, if not all of FCS. Not sure that’s what FUBeAR saw in Little Rock last week. OL looked better. D looked kinda OK, QB play was not good. Hard to say about WR’s and FUBeAR is hearing their best RB is out. With Samford’s opener against Team Kappa Kappa Gamma and half their 2-Deep being New Transfers, we just don’t know. This one’s a shot in the dark, but FUBeAR is gonna go with history (Samford has dominated this series) and trust that Coach Hatcher didn’t waste a bunch of schollies and didn’t pay out all that “NIL” money to get Players to transfer to Samford that couldn’t play. Dogs chase Cats.

Final Score: Samford 49 - WCU 24 Would not be surprised


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Campbell.png?width=30Campbell (http://www.gocamels.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_citadel.png?width=30The Citadel (http://www.citadelsports.com/)
4P
FUBeAR wishes he had taken time to watch CIT @ GaSou. FUBeAR wishes the Coastal Atheltic Association didn’t have some crappy TV deal that only shows their games in Romania. Haven’t seen Campbell or CIT in ‘23. Know Campbell’s roster is talented, but they got double-digited by a meh W&M Team last week @ Home. This one’s in ChuckTown. Camels like sand, but they hate sand fleas and CIT’s field is full of them…even in the fake grass. FUBeAR likes Coach Minter, but FUBeAR trusts Coach Drayton. Gonna ride FUBeAR’s SamsonsiteSlingers 1 more time. Bellhops get over the hump.

Final Score: The Citadel 21 - Campbell 19 Nope. We will be a dumpster fire for a while. Unless our coach has some hidden silver bullets. But we start slow and Campbell starts fast. The QB situation is still TBD as well.


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Carson-Newman.png?width=30Carson-Newman (http://www.cneagles.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2020/1/2/etsu_logo.png?width=30ETSU (http://www.etsubucs.com/)
5:30P
Bucs need to get well. A home game against a D2 program just may be the tonic Coach Quarles and his beleaguered band of marauders need right now.

Final Score: ETSU 56 - Carson-Newman 14 Probably


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Kennesaw.png?width=30Kennesaw State (http://www.ksuowls.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_chatta_91.png?width=30Chattanooga (http://www.gomocs.com/)
6P
Watched a wee bit of Tusculum @ Kennesaw and about the same amount of Chatty @ North Alabama. 1 of 4 Teams - UNA - looked good. Mocs need to get well too and a plate of owlet is just the cure they need. Moving down to ConfUSA, along with JaxState should allow the owlets to become respectably competitive. But not this week. Mocs regain their footing…if legless reptiles - they’re snakes, right? - can have footing.

Final Score: Chattanooga 31 - Kennesaw 10 Maybe but probably by smaller margin


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/VMI_spider_four_color-2015.png?width=30VMI (https://vmikeydets.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/bucknell_logo.png?width=30Bucknell (http://www.bucknellbison.com/)
6P
The new Keydets scared FUBeAR last week, but he thinks they learned a lot and will find their Offense before the final minute of the game against these bizuns.

Final Score: VMI 24 - Bucknell 13 Flip it most likely. I wasn't impressed with what I saw last week, and on the road.


https://soconsports.com/images/2023/5/30/Terriers_StackedWHITE.png?width=30Wofford (http://woffordterriers.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/wm_200x200.png?width=30William & Mary (http://www.tribeathletics.com/)
6P
Woffy can name their score in this one … oops sorry FUBeAR was channeling RoT as he started to pick this game. All right…just straight talk…FUBeAR thinks W&M is overrated. Beating a next-to-last Big South by 10 don’t impress Shania Twain or FUBeAR much. FUBeAR knows Woffy will not be as bad as they were under their prior AlphaPup, but, contrary to RoT’s detailed analysis (some would say word salads; not FUBeAR…others), Woffy’s Talent is about 70% of what it was under Coach Ayers. BUT … Terriers are gonna watch that Coach Ayers SC Football HoF Induction Speech FUBeAR posted and bust down the locker room door in StolenLandsBurg…and TCB!

Final Score: Wofford 21 - Bill & Maury 20 No. I don't see Wofford coming out on top in this. 14-24 point win for W&M


https://soconsports.com/images/logos/n6.png?width=30Morehead State (http://www.msueagles.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_mercer.png?width=30Mercer (http://www.mercerbears.com/)
7P
Rewatched Mercer vs. UNA (Cowboy Clicker-like…every man, every play) - impression…UNA is a pretty good Football Team and Mercer is stout up front on both sides of the ball

Rewatched Mercer @ Ole Miss (Cowboy Clicker-like) - impression … Not as bad as it looked. Did some good things. Mercer is stout up front on both sides of the ball. Secondary MUST tackle MUCH better.

Bears get a good workout in their final pre-season before they take a week off to prepare for their ‘regular season.

Final Score: Mercer 73 - Morehead State 7 Ok. Sure.


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_furman.png?width=30Furman (http://www.furmanpaladins.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/south_carolina.png?width=30South Carolina (http://www.gamecocksonline.com/)
7:30P
It won’t be as easy as most expect, but the favorite in this game rides their SEC quality Defense & pulls out the win in the 4th quarter, as Championship Teams do.

Final Score: Furman 28 - South Carolina 23 Two to three score win for the cocks.



FUBeAR's SoCon POWER RANKINGS

1) Furman - swarming D is KILLER. O is solid and will get better and better. Special Teams are really sound. Let's go 1-0 in the SEC East this week
2) Mercer - secondary MUST repair itself or the Bears are in for a long season. No reason to think they can't. Good win in Week 0 over good UNA Team
3) Samford - Placeholder only - no credit for RecBall win - enjoy Cullowhee - show us what your 43 Transfers got
4) WCU - Placeholder also really - no D in Little Rock - think they will have one - real ranking after Saturday
5) Wofford - Placeholder higher than warranted just so we won't have to move the PorchYappers up too far after they beat William & Mary this week
6) Chattanooga - Lot to fix - may include heart transplant / acquisition - not gonna crucify 'em for the loss to UNA as all of FCS did Mercer after a double-digit win over UNA - Lions are good
7) ETSU - Expected more in JaxVegas - think we'll see more as year moves along
8) The Citadel - Expected more in StinkBurro - think we'll see more as year moves along
9) VMI - Expected good D. Didn't expect 0 Offense. Must find a way to score against scholarship Players...this week.

Not enough info yet for a very accurate power ranking. This week should clear up a lot of the fog. Not all, but a lot.

[caribbeanhen]

Samford is gonna beat Western Carolina again I’m afraid as Kade Bell takes secret recruiting trip to Bell Glade

Lowly Bucknell with the upset over sleepy Rip Van Rocco’s VMI in The Innovation Bowl

The Citadel is what Wofford was a few years ago … gonna be a long year in ChaCha

The Tribe rolls Wofford by 21 and beat Camels worse than final score…. Yoder Imoh Lester love em 3 times

South Carolina, on the backs of Delaware transfers, whips Furman…. Debo singing you must whip it

[FUBeAR]

Samford is gonna beat Western Carolina again I’m afraid as Kade Bell takes secret recruiting trip to Bell Glade

Lowly Bucknell with the upset over sleepy Rip Van Rocco’s VMI in The Innovation Bowl

The Citadel is what Wofford was a few years ago … gonna be a long year in ChaCha

The Tribe rolls Wofford by 21 and beat Camels worse than final score…. Yoder Imoh Lester love em 3 times

South Carolina, on the backs of Delaware transfers, whips Furman…. Debo singing you must whip it
Albeit all of them being wrong, except the Samford > WCU pick, this is excellent work. FUBeAR appreciates CHen’s literary contributions.

Now…Delaware Transfers? All 1 of them. And he’s a Blue Hen, huh? Actually, going from being a Blue Hen to being a Game Cock, isn’t he more of a Transition than a Transfer?

Regardless, as a one-time Delawarean / Delawareite (depending on your position in that great debate), FUBeAR wants to see this ‘former Blue Hen’s’ YouDee bona fides.

So…How ‘bout you post his stats playing for the Blue & Yella? Maybe start with his GP/GS data.

But no worries, since you say there’s so much of The Diamond State embedded in COLA, SC, we’ll count this as that FU Away game some of y’all Cerulean Chickens claim we owe you.


https://youtu.be/j_QLzthSkfM?feature=shared

[Tribe4SF]

Samford is gonna beat Western Carolina again I’m afraid as Kade Bell takes secret recruiting trip to Bell Glade

Lowly Bucknell with the upset over sleepy Rip Van Rocco’s VMI in The Innovation Bowl

The Citadel is what Wofford was a few years ago … gonna be a long year in ChaCha

The Tribe rolls Wofford by 21 and beat Camels worse than final score…. Yoder Imoh Lester love em 3 times

South Carolina, on the backs of Delaware transfers, whips Furman…. Debo singing you must whip it

Correction on Tribe as Lester graduated and is now the starter at UNLV. "Yoder Imoh LUCAS love em 3 times"

https://twitter.com/i/status/169991669888573032 (https://twitter.com/i/status/1699916698885730324)

“Martin is a very powerful athlete with excellent ball skills and football instincts,” said W&M offensive coordinator Christian Taylor. “He had an incredible offseason preparing his body for a great season and spent a lot of time mastering the playbook. It was a lot of fun seeing his efforts pay off against Campbell. He is a complete running back that is also great in pass protection and can catch the ball out of the backfield.”

https://i.imgur.com/ivnLzpY.jpg

[FUBeAR]

Correction on Tribe as Lester graduated and is now the starter at UNLV. "Yoder Imoh LUCAS love em 3 times"

https://twitter.com/i/status/1699916698885730324
OMG!! - is that clip an example of what passes for tackling in the Coastal Atheltic Association?
https://images.sidearmdev.com/fit?url=https%3a%2f%2fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net %2fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2ffurmanpaladins.com%2fim ages%2f2022%2f11%2f27%2fHuff_TD_ImGzD.jpg&height=450&width=800&type=jpeg

…Oh…guess it is.

No wonder y’all want to keep it out of sight of the viewing public…

FUBeAR was excited when he saw the media below, thinking he had finally found a CAA Football ‘broadcast’…

https://d7hftxdivxxvm.cloudfront.net/?quality=80&resize_to=width&src=https%3A%2F%2Fartsy-media-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2FaqbnqwnenxFSJAb4FKzlng% 252FManson%2Bleap%2Blarge%2B2.jpeg&width=910

…but then he saw someone in the pic was actually making a tackle, so he knew it couldn’t be from a CAA game.

[Tribe4SF]

OMG!! - is that clip an example of what passes for tackling in the Coastal Atheltic Association?
https://images.sidearmdev.com/fit?url=https%3a%2f%2fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net %2fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2ffurmanpaladins.com%2fim ages%2f2022%2f11%2f27%2fHuff_TD_ImGzD.jpg&height=450&width=800&type=jpeg

…Oh…guess it is.

No wonder y’all want to keep it out of sight of the viewing public…

FUBeAR was excited when he saw the pic below, thinking it was how the CAA ‘broadcasts’ their games out to the general public…

https://d7hftxdivxxvm.cloudfront.net/?quality=80&resize_to=width&src=https%3A%2F%2Fartsy-media-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2FaqbnqwnenxFSJAb4FKzlng% 252FManson%2Bleap%2Blarge%2B2.jpeg&width=910

…but then he saw someone in the pic was actually making a tackle, so he knew it couldn’t be a CAA broadcast

LOL! No,, that was wide receiver blocking from #81 and #14... Rfr and True FR for the Tribe.

[FUBeAR]

LOL! No,, that was wide receiver blocking from #81 and #14... Rfr and True FR for the Tribe.
Ah…FUBeAR sees. How did The Social Division do on this series after both of the Blocking in the Back penalties on #81 and #14 were enforced?

https://i.postimg.cc/3wqF13Jk/IMG-0710.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/y8qPJN38/IMG-0709.jpg

[Tribe4SF]

Ah…FUBeAR sees. How did The Social Division do on this series after both of the Blocking in the Back penalties on #81 and #14 were enforced?

https://i.postimg.cc/3wqF13Jk/IMG-0710.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/y8qPJN38/IMG-0709.jpg

Sheesh! I thought FUBeAR was a former player! He doesn't know rules on maintaining contact throughout a block? Guess he's now a defense attorney cherry picking video snippets for his criminall clients.

[TribeNomad1]

Sheesh! I thought FUBeAR was a former player! He doesn't know rules on maintaining contact throughout a block? Guess he's now a defense attorney cherry picking video snippets for his criminall clients.


And I believe an OL at that........

[caribbeanhen]

Albeit all of them being wrong, except the Samford > WCU pick, this is excellent work. FUBeAR appreciates CHen’s literary contributions.

Now…Delaware Transfers? All 1 of them. And he’s a Blue Hen, huh? Actually, going from being a Blue Hen to being a Game Cock, isn’t he more of a Transition than a Transfer?

Regardless, as a one-time Delawarean / Delawareite (depending on your position in that great debate), FUBeAR wants to see this ‘former Blue Hen’s’ YouDee bona fides.

So…How ‘bout you post his stats playing for the Blue & Yella? Maybe start with his GP/GS data.

But no worries, since you say there’s so much of The Diamond State embedded in COLA, SC, we’ll count this as that FU Away game some of y’all Cerulean Chickens claim we owe you.


https://youtu.be/j_QLzthSkfM?feature=shared

Delawarean would be the correct phrase but FuBeaR disqualified for several reasons

biggest reason being you lived “above the canal“ or in in Yankee Delaware

[FUBeAR]

Sheesh! I thought FUBeAR was a former player! He doesn't know rules on maintaining contact throughout a block? Guess he's now a defense attorney cherry picking video snippets for his criminall clients.
Figured some aspiring ‘official’ wearing green & gold lenses would make such a comment about #14’s block - not #81’s though; that one is ‘all there, black and white, clear as crystal’ - summary judgement is GUILTY… but if you watch #14, his initial contact was legal (as you claim), but he then loses contact (as can be clearly seen in the post-initial-engagement pic below), and he then re-engages … from the back (as seen in pic in prior post)…which is a penalty, but also effective. NEXT CASE.

These were both called, weren’t they?

https://i.postimg.cc/nLygTXxW/IMG-0714.jpg

[FUBeAR]

And I believe an OL at that........Members of the gallery should remain quiet while evidence is being presented.

[caribbeanhen]

Correction on Tribe as Lester graduated and is now the starter at UNLV. "Yoder Imoh LUCAS love em 3 times"

https://twitter.com/i/status/169991669888573032 (https://twitter.com/i/status/1699916698885730324)

“Martin is a very powerful athlete with excellent ball skills and football instincts,” said W&M offensive coordinator Christian Taylor. “He had an incredible offseason preparing his body for a great season and spent a lot of time mastering the playbook. It was a lot of fun seeing his efforts pay off against Campbell. He is a complete running back that is also great in pass protection and can catch the ball out of the backfield.”

https://i.imgur.com/ivnLzpY.jpg

thank you for that correction and I did see Lucas on a few plays at Campbell and he’s very much looks the part

[TribeNomad1]

Members of the gallery should remain quiet while evidence is being presented.


Gallery, or jury? I have been a juror.

[kdinva]

Campbell 24, the Citadel 17
Samford 42; WCU 35
ETSU 42; Carson Newman 14
VMI 27; Bucknell 7
Kenny St. 31, UTC 27
Wm & Mary 33, Wofford 13
Mercer 49, Morehead 12
S. Carolina 38, Furman 20

[FUBeAR]

Gallery, or jury? I have been a juror.
OK…Juror #0 … Tell Judge FUBeAR exactly what game, in the name of Buies Creek, this Coastal Atheltic Association Official is watching…

…and…WOW…look how effective #81’s ILLEGAL Block was. No wonder it’s a penalty. Thank goodness it was called…right?
https://i.postimg.cc/htTdfGsr/IMG-0716.jpg

[TribeNomad1]

OK…Juror #0 … Tell Judge FUBeAR exactly what game, in the name of Buies Creek, this Coastal Atheltic Association Official is watching…

…and…WOW…look how effective #81’s ILLEGAL Block was. No wonder it’s a penalty. Thank goodness it was called…right?
https://i.postimg.cc/htTdfGsr/IMG-0716.jpg
Nice job of WR getting in the way. Other official looking right at the action. We are all observers, the official a participant.

[Catamount87]

Adding some thoughts here.




FUBeAR's SoCon PICKS



Away
Home
Time
FUBeAR’s Prediculation


https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_samford.png?width=30Samford (http://www.samfordsports.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_wcu.png?width=30Western Carolina (https://catamountsports.com/)
2:30P
Wow - Kicking off the SoCon season with a matchup of the 2 best Teams in the SoCon…if you ask Coach Bell. Even if you don’t ask him, he’s happy to tell you (in 4000 words or more) that this Catamount Team is the best Team in the SoCon, if not all of FCS. Not sure that’s what FUBeAR saw in Little Rock last week. OL looked better. D looked kinda OK, QB play was not good. Hard to say about WR’s and FUBeAR is hearing their best RB is out. With Samford’s opener against Team Kappa Kappa Gamma and half their 2-Deep being New Transfers, we just don’t know. This one’s a shot in the dark, but FUBeAR is gonna go with history (Samford has dominated this series) and trust that Coach Hatcher didn’t waste a bunch of schollies and didn’t pay out all that “NIL” money to get Players to transfer to Samford that couldn’t play. Dogs chase Cats.

Final Score: Samford 49 - WCU 24

"if you ask Coach Bell. Even if you don’t ask him, he’s happy to tell you (in 4000 words or more) that this Catamount Team is the best Team in the SoCon" Typical HC speak and more so from a high octane offense type who's an ex-QB.

Hard to argue with the analysis here and always a tough one to pick with these two. Don't be surprised if it's this or a really narrow Catamount win. Two factors at play for my Cats, QB play and how much the D has (hopefully) improved. One thing we have seen in Cullowhee, this offense isn't kind to newcomer QBs and WRs. They struggle until they really learn the 'system' and how to precisely execute, especially on route running and adjusting.

My one predictions here, a lot of offense by both teams.




https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Campbell.png?width=30Campbell (http://www.gocamels.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_citadel.png?width=30The Citadel (http://www.citadelsports.com/)
4P
FUBeAR wishes he had taken time to watch CIT @ GaSou. FUBeAR wishes the Coastal Atheltic Association didn’t have some crappy TV deal that only shows their games in Romania. Haven’t seen Campbell or CIT in ‘23. Know Campbell’s roster is talented, but they got double-digited by a meh W&M Team last week @ Home. This one’s in ChuckTown. Camels like sand, but they hate sand fleas and CIT’s field is full of them…even in the fake grass. FUBeAR likes Coach Minter, but FUBeAR trusts Coach Drayton. Gonna ride FUBeAR’s SamsonsiteSlingers 1 more time. Bellhops get over the hump.

Final Score: The Citadel 21 - Campbell 19

I'll respectfully disagree. IMHO, the dogs are, in military terms, a clusterf&*k in waiting. Flip the score is what I'm thinking.




https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Carson-Newman.png?width=30Carson-Newman (http://www.cneagles.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2020/1/2/etsu_logo.png?width=30ETSU (http://www.etsubucs.com/)
5:30P
Bucs need to get well. A home game against a D2 program just may be the tonic Coach Quarles and his beleaguered band of marauders need right now.

Final Score: ETSU 56 - Carson-Newman 14

C-N has traditionally been a good D2 program. The bucs are edging closer to slack air in their sails. I think it'll be closer, a lot closer than this prediction.





https://soconsports.com/images/logos/Kennesaw.png?width=30Kennesaw State (http://www.ksuowls.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_chatta_91.png?width=30Chattanooga (http://www.gomocs.com/)
6P
Watched a wee bit of Tusculum @ Kennesaw and about the same amount of Chatty @ North Alabama. 1 of 4 Teams - UNA - looked good. Mocs need to get well too and a plate of owlet is just the cure they need. Moving down to ConfUSA, along with JaxState should allow the owlets to become respectably competitive. But not this week. Mocs regain their footing…if legless reptiles - they’re snakes, right? - can have footing.

Final Score: Chattanooga 31 - Kennesaw 10

Let the theme continue, I'm not sold on UTC right now and the Owls have proven to be a decent FCS program, albeit on a slow decline the last couple of seasons compared to earlier success. Call this one a toss up but don't be surprised if there is some hootin' over a derailment.




https://soconsports.com/images/logos/VMI_spider_four_color-2015.png?width=30VMI (https://vmikeydets.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/bucknell_logo.png?width=30Bucknell (http://www.bucknellbison.com/)
6P
The new Keydets scared FUBeAR last week, but he thinks they learned a lot and will find their Offense before the final minute of the game against these bizuns.

Final Score: VMI 24 - Bucknell 13

Might be closer than this but feel the roos will bounce and hop in the right direction.




https://soconsports.com/images/2023/5/30/Terriers_StackedWHITE.png?width=30Wofford (http://woffordterriers.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/wm_200x200.png?width=30William & Mary (http://www.tribeathletics.com/)
6P
Woffy can name their score in this one … oops sorry FUBeAR was channeling RoT as he started to pick this game. All right…just straight talk…FUBeAR thinks W&M is overrated. Beating a next-to-last Big South by 10 don’t impress Shania Twain or FUBeAR much. FUBeAR knows Woffy will not be as bad as they were under their prior AlphaPup, but, contrary to RoT’s detailed analysis (some would say word salads; not FUBeAR…others), Woffy’s Talent is about 70% of what it was under Coach Ayers. BUT … Terriers are gonna watch that Coach Ayers SC Football HoF Induction Speech FUBeAR posted and bust down the locker room door in StolenLandsBurg…and TCB!

Final Score: Wofford 21 - Bill & Maury 20

I have mixed feelings here. The terriers I feel are on the verge of barking up the right tree. But will they have enough bite to go with the bark? While the tribe, one has to wonder if they have enough arrows in the quiver.

Call it a toss up.





https://soconsports.com/images/logos/n6.png?width=30Morehead State (http://www.msueagles.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_mercer.png?width=30Mercer (http://www.mercerbears.com/)
7P
Rewatched Mercer vs. UNA (Cowboy Clicker-like…every man, every play) - impression…UNA is a pretty good Football Team and Mercer is stout up front on both sides of the ball

Rewatched Mercer @ Ole Miss (Cowboy Clicker-like) - impression … Not as bad as it looked. Did some good things. Mercer is stout up front on both sides of the ball. Secondary MUST tackle MUCH better.

Bears get a good workout in during their final pre-season tune-up game before they take a week off to prepare for their ‘regular season’ in their quest for a Playoff berth.

Final Score: Mercer 73 - Morehead State 7

Will it be that bad of a beat down? I don't think so. But the bears won't have a problem foraging for points either.




https://soconsports.com/images/2019/9/23/logo_furman.png?width=30Furman (http://www.furmanpaladins.com/)
https://soconsports.com/images/logos/south_carolina.png?width=30South Carolina (http://www.gamecocksonline.com/)
7:30P
It won’t be as easy as most Football people expect, but the consensus Favorite in this game rides their SEC quality Defense & holds on to win it in the 4th quarter, as Championship Teams do.

Final Score: Furman 28 - South Carolina 23

In the end, I don't think the dins will be doing any crowing here.





FUBeAR's SoCon POWER RANKINGS

1) Furman - swarming D is KILLER. O is solid and will get better and better. Special Teams are really sound. Let's go 1-0 in the SEC East this week
2) Mercer - secondary MUST repair itself or the Bears are in for a long season. No reason to think they can't. Good win in Week 0 over good UNA Team
3) Samford - Placeholder only - no credit for RecBall win - enjoy Cullowhee - show us what your 43 Transfers got
4) WCU - Placeholder also really - no D in Little Rock - think they will have one - real ranking after Saturday
5) Wofford - Placeholder higher than warranted just so we won't have to move the PorchYappers up too far after they beat William & Mary this week
6) Chattanooga - Lot to fix - may include heart transplant / acquisition - not gonna crucify 'em for the loss to UNA as all of FCS did Mercer after a double-digit win over UNA - Lions are good
7) ETSU - Expected more in JaxVegas - think we'll see more as year moves along
8) The Citadel - Expected more in StinkBurro - think we'll see more as year moves along
9) VMI - Expected good D. Didn't expect 0 Offense. Must find a way to score against scholarship Players...this week.

[SU DOG]

Random, not a selection of picks but I am currently in Birmingham(Vestavia hills) right near samford campus. Wonderful area and we got dinner in mountain Brook! Went to that chick-fil-a for lunch across the street 

I will say I also got to see UABs new stadium. Great stadium for the city and all of the teams that play there.

Wildcat, I have a son and his family that live in Merrimack. My oldest grandson just graduated from UNH and now works and lives in the Portsmouth area. If you are still here and interested, you could be my guest at a Samford Game.

[ElCid]

Campbell 24, the Citadel 17
Samford 42; WCU 35
ETSU 42; Carson Newman 14
VMI 27; Bucknell 7
Kenny St. 31, UTC 27
Wm & Mary 33, Wofford 13
Mercer 49, Morehead 12
S. Carolina 38, Furman 20

That looks reasonable... except I'm fairly sure we don't score that many points; I'm worried about your Keydets; and I think UTC bounces back. I'm not as confident about WCU keeping it that close either, but they are a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde-like team, so who knows.

[kdinva]

FYI: VMI @ Bucknell KO moved to 3PM....

[Reign of Terrier]

I don't see how people look at the style of play William & Mary plays and say they'll both score 30 on us and keep us below 20. Look at their box scores from last year. They only accomplished that feat twice, and it was against a spiralling Villanova team that couldn't stop the run, and a Gardner Webb team that didn't play good defense and turned the ball over too much.

I've watched William & Mary style offenses enough to know they only really break loose (40+ points) against teams with poor fundamentals on defense. It's why it's super important to play good defense (like, super shut down defense) to complement that style. I'm thinking of Wofford in 2018, who beat Chattanooga simply by scoring 21 points and shut down defense, and pummeling a couple other teams into submission and giving their offense more possessions.

I'll be honest, and I could be proven wrong, I don't see that with this William & Mary team. They don't have a shut down defense, and they replace their DC from last year with a couple guys who have less than 6 years of experience.

My point is: W&M plays keep away, and it works! There were lots of spread-run Wofford teams that were successful in the playoffs and conference play with this strategy, and I hope W&M folks reading this don't see this as me being a hater. I just...know what to expect with it. There are costs and benefits to every system, and the benefit of this system is that you'll go far every year in conference play (provided you have at least an average defense), but the cost is that it doesn't maximize points, and it often runs into walls against teams with good front 7 play. I keep mentioning the 2018-2019 Wofford teams because their offenses look like mirror images at times. They do basically the same things and have the same strengths and weaknesses (maybe W&M has more check downs in the flats on pass plays), but the key difference between those teams and current W&M is the shut down defense.

All of this is to say, I think if this game is a blowout that benefits W&M, it's because Wofford turns the ball over, or Wofford's OL really is bad. But my gut says this one will be under 50 combined. The alternative is a shootout. But I honestly I feel better about Wofford's defense to play straight up and not rely on turnovers than W&M.

[caribbeanhen]

Random, not a selection of picks but I am currently in Birmingham(Vestavia hills) right near samford campus. Wonderful area and we got dinner in mountain Brook! Went to that chick-fil-a for lunch across the street 

I will say I also got to see UABs new stadium. Great stadium for the city and all of the teams that play there.

Vestavia Hills wow, a few months ago I had never heard of the place and today my Son in law, a non football loving geek, is working there. I had heard of Samford though just didn’t know exactly where it was, My daughter recently texted me saying do you know when you walk into a place down here they yell Roll Tide at you….

[Reign of Terrier]

Also, not related, but I think if things don't work out with Rocco, VMI should look at hiring W&M OC. I think that offense could work with VMI (same with Citadel). He spent forever at San Diego.

[caribbeanhen]

I’m seriously starting to think growing up on the Isla has severely damaged my kids, just asked my son if he was taking my advice and going to the William & Mary game tomorrow and he said “ I don’t think so Dad”… he’s like literally 5 minutes away, he does love his Atlanta Braves at least …

[FUBeAR]

I don't see how people look at the style of play William & Mary plays and say they'll both score 30 on us and keep us below 20. Look at their box scores from last year. They only accomplished that feat twice, and it was against a spiralling Villanova team that couldn't stop the run, and a Gardner Webb team that didn't play good defense and turned the ball over too much.

I've watched William & Mary style offenses enough to know they only really break loose (40+ points) against teams with poor fundamentals on defense. It's why it's super important to play good defense (like, super shut down defense) to complement that style. I'm thinking of Wofford in 2018, who beat Chattanooga simply by scoring 21 points and shut down defense, and pummeling a couple other teams into submission and giving their offense more possessions.

I'll be honest, and I could be proven wrong, I don't see that with this William & Mary team. They don't have a shut down defense, and they replace their DC from last year with a couple guys who have less than 6 years of experience.

My point is: W&M plays keep away, and it works! There were lots of spread-run Wofford teams that were successful in the playoffs and conference play with this strategy, and I hope W&M folks reading this don't see this as me being a hater. I just...know what to expect with it. There are costs and benefits to every system, and the benefit of this system is that you'll go far every year in conference play (provided you have at least an average defense), but the cost is that it doesn't maximize points, and it often runs into walls against teams with good front 7 play. I keep mentioning the 2018-2019 Wofford teams because their offenses look like mirror images at times. They do basically the same things and have the same strengths and weaknesses (maybe W&M has more check downs in the flats on pass plays), but the key difference between those teams and current W&M is the shut down defense.

All of this is to say, I think if this game is a blowout that benefits W&M, it's because Wofford turns the ball over, or Wofford's OL really is bad. But my gut says this one will be under 50 combined. The alternative is a shootout. But I honestly I feel better about Wofford's defense to play straight up and not rely on turnovers than W&M.
TL/DR: RoT loves FUBeAR’s Woffy @ W&M pick, but doesn’t want to come out and say it.

[FUBeAR]

It’s Official … https://www.oddsshark.com/ncaaf/furman-south-carolina-odds-september-9-2023-1933854

[Reign of Terrier]

TL/DR: RoT loves FUBeAR’s Woffy @ W&M pick, but doesn’t want to come out and say it.

Well the fact that everyone is picking against them and some of your picks are unorthodox this week, and rarely are any of these weeks slam dunks, I'm feeling good about it!

[Reign of Terrier]

RoT is Williamsburg bound. Haven't been this excited for a Wofford game since 2019. My first away game since the Citadel game in 2019. That one went well.

[caribbeanhen]

RoT is Williamsburg bound. Haven't been this excited for a Wofford game since 2019. My first away game since the Citadel game in 2019. That one went well.

have a safe and smooth drive and don’t be reading AGS while you’re ripping down I 64, every time on the Richmond to Williamsburg home stretch theirs a cop with somebody pulled over

[Reign of Terrier]

have a safe and smooth drive and don’t be reading AGS while you’re ripping down I 64, every time on the Richmond to Williamsburg home stretch theirs a cop with somebody pulled over

I've had my share of bad experiences with Virginia cops. However as a big-brain-haver, I'm taking the Amtrak. In fact, in writing this post I realized I actually went to our homecoming game in 2021 and decided never to drive between these two states again because I got pulled over for speeding xlolx

[caribbeanhen]

I've had my share of bad experiences with Virginia cops. However as a big-brain-haver, I'm taking the Amtrak. In fact, in writing this post I realized I actually went to our homecoming game in 2021 and decided never to drive between these two states again because I got pulled over for speeding xlolx

smart!

[UNHWildcat18]

Wildcat, I have a son and his family that live in Merrimack. My oldest grandson just graduated from UNH and now works and lives in the Portsmouth area. If you are still here and interested, you could be my guest at a Samford Game.

That’s awesome that you have a son and grandson in UNH territory! Thanks for the invite and hospitality but we have other plans for today! I’ll be rooting for Samford today though!

[Reign of Terrier]

Halftime in Williamsburg so far. It looks like W&M is the better team. I'm not disappointed with our effort so far. Our defense isn't playing awful, but our offensive line is a liability. This one isn't over though

[LeadBolt]

Disappointed to only be up 14 on the yippee ankle biters at half after the way that last week’s opponent Campbell pounded the Citadel.

Hope things don’t fall apart in the second half. The Tribe doesn’t need to play an opponent of this caliber close.

Not hating just stating what the observation of the first half makes obvious.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LeadBolt]

A stupid fake fg attempt by W&M that Wofford stuffed has changed the momentum of this game. Need to get back on track.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ElCid]

FUBeAR must be in total bi-polar meltdown with Furman tied and Mercer getting beat by Morehead.

[Smitty]

After a 5 hour delay Western wins 30 to 7 over Samford

[Reign of Terrier]

A stupid fake fg attempt by W&M that Wofford stuffed has changed the momentum of this game. Need to get back on track.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

W&M was the better team tonight, but I liked our defense. We aren't there on offense - our pass protection is very bad. W&M had some big plays on offense tonight, and some great play calls, but Wofford played great situational defense.

[wcugrad95]

The WCU vs Samford game wasn’t that close. Western takes a knee at the end when we could have scored, we have 34 first downs with around 290 rushing yards and over 260 passing. I know it is 1 game, but it was the best the Cats have looked in years. I’ll be interested in RoT’s assessment of our defense after this game against Samford’s offense.

[SU DOG]

Congrats to the Catamounts on their butt kicking of the Bulldogs. Samford played poorly, but I think WCU will be a contender

[OrangeAndBlack]

FUBear -- Tough one out there today. You knew there was no chance when USC was allowed an obvious push off for a long TD.

[The Cats]

https://twitter.com/Catamounts/status/1700733871644364902

[The Cats]

https://twitter.com/SamfordFootball/status/1700742603753603496

[caribbeanhen]

W&M was the better team tonight, but I liked our defense. We aren't there on offense - our pass protection is very bad. W&M had some big plays on offense tonight, and some great play calls, but Wofford played great situational defense.

I watched this game and was very impressed with the Wofford Defense, they are very physical and played Yoder tough. Having said that this could of been a 34-6 Tribe win but again, credit the D for tough RZ play

I too thought that stupid fake field goal was gonna put Wofford right back in the game, but W&M D woke up

Not enough skill players on offense yet but Wofford should be competitive against the Southern Conference best

[caribbeanhen]

Samford is gonna beat Western Carolina again I’m afraid as Kade Bell takes secret recruiting trip to Bell Glade

Lowly Bucknell with the upset over sleepy Rip Van Rocco’s VMI in The Innovation Bowl

The Citadel is what Wofford was a few years ago … gonna be a long year in ChaCha

The Tribe rolls Wofford by 21 and beat Camels worse than final score…. Yoder Imoh Lester love em 3 times

South Carolina, on the backs of Delaware transfers, whips Furman…. Debo singing you must whip it

Well guess what, Western Carolina is better than I thought. Looked like Heirs was dinged up early, hope the young man is ok

As far as The Citadel and VMI… Campbell just had to much speed and Rocco’s Keydets are well…. Bad

[Reign of Terrier]

The WCU vs Samford game wasn’t that close. Western takes a knee at the end when we could have scored, we have 34 first downs with around 290 rushing yards and over 260 passing. I know it is 1 game, but it was the best the Cats have looked in years. I’ll be interested in RoT’s assessment of our defense after this game against Samford’s offense.

I haven't watched that game, but as I've said before, I'm open to being wrong. It looks like WCU kicked Samford's butts. You can caveat any performance, but I'm not going to rob you of that win or the excitement that comes with it. We'll see how good WCU is and how good/bad Samford is in the next few weeks. I will say before yesterday I thought Wofford should be favored against WCU at home, but knowing how aggressive WCU is on defense and how bad Wofford is on OL, I don't think that's true right now.

[Reign of Terrier]

I watched this game and was very impressed with the Wofford Defense, they are very physical and played Yoder tough. Having said that this could of been a 34-6 Tribe win but again, credit the D for tough RZ play

I too thought that stupid fake field goal was gonna put Wofford right back in the game, but W&M D woke up

Not enough skill players on offense yet but Wofford should be competitive against the Southern Conference best

See the thing with W&M is that they didn't stop trying to score on Wofford and Wofford didn't stop stopping them in the second half. Sure, they could have had another field goal, but our defensive plan was pretty stout. The fact that we kept giving them the ball back and they couldn't score was reassuring. This is the third lowest scoring effort W&M has had in like 15 games, and they had all the right pieces coming back, while Wofford is still breaking in a new defensive scheme.

Wofford's problems are all on OL. Bad pass protection, for one, but more importantly, a lot of bad and dumb procedural penalties that killed drives and even put us in positions where we couldn't wisely go for it on fourth down.

I don't think we are a good team yet. I think if we don't get better, we're only going to win 4 games. Having said that, I still think we can steal 6 or 7, and 5 is on the table. How much better we get over the next two weeks will determine how far we go.

I think our defense can keep us in games this year, but our OL, if it doesn't improve, can take us out of them.

[Sitting Bull]

W&M was the better team tonight, but I liked our defense. We aren't there on offense - our pass protection is very bad. W&M had some big plays on offense tonight, and some great play calls, but Wofford played great situational defense.

Hope you enjoyed the visit though the weather sure didn’t seem to help. Did you make it over to Paul’s?

[Reign of Terrier]

Hope you enjoyed the visit though the weather sure didn’t seem to help. Did you make it over to Paul’s?

I took the trip with my gf and so I was on her itinerary when we weren't at the game xlolx

[caribbeanhen]

Hope you enjoyed the visit though the weather sure didn’t seem to help. Did you make it over to Paul’s?

Shortys

[wcugrad95]

I haven't watched that game, but as I've said before, I'm open to being wrong. It looks like WCU kicked Samford's butts. You can caveat any performance, but I'm not going to rob you of that win or the excitement that comes with it. We'll see how good WCU is and how good/bad Samford is in the next few weeks. I will say before yesterday I thought Wofford should be favored against WCU at home, but knowing how aggressive WCU is on defense and how bad Wofford is on OL, I don't think that's true right now.

I do think you are confusing Bell's offense with what Speir was trying to run. Western has a lot more offensive talent than just a really good QB, and the last 2 seasons our TOP has been pretty close to even with the opposition. I expect with Desmond Reid in our backfield and an experienced line in front of him, we will run it every bit as much as we throw it. The TOP in yesterday's game was WCU 41:09 to Samford with 18:51. We gave up 46 rushing yards (2 YPC) and only gave up around 100 to Arkansas. We also had 6 sacks against Hiers. This is not the WCU defense from the past several years.

We may lose the rest of our games, but it will not be because teams can just run all over our defense.

[Reign of Terrier]

I do think you are confusing Bell's offense with what Speir was trying to run. Western has a lot more offensive talent than just a really good QB, and the last 2 seasons our TOP has been pretty close to even with the opposition. I expect with Desmond Reid in our backfield and an experienced line in front of him, we will run it every bit as much as we throw it. The TOP in yesterday's game was WCU 41:09 to Samford with 18:51. We gave up 46 rushing yards (2 YPC) and only gave up around 100 to Arkansas. We also had 6 sacks against Hiers. This is not the WCU defense from the past several years.

We may lose the rest of our games, but it will not be because teams can just run all over our defense.

As we say every year around this time with a good performance, we'll see. Having a pass rush is an advantage like no other. I don't think TOP is the measurement you're looking for to prove your point, but rather possessions per game.

Air raid offenses are high risk and high reward in that they can score a lot of points, sure, but if they're stopped, they can give the ball back at a high clip too. I've seen enough WCU over the last couple years to know they aren't air raid, but they use air raid principles in their pass game, which is the principle I think is bad for defensive proficiency. But having an elite pass rush could offset that. Anyway, Samford is an air raid and then failing TOP is not uncommon in games that unravel (I may check out the recording on ESPN+ when I get a chance or get bored).

Samford is not the best team to judge one's rush defense, especially when they're down. But the sack number is impressive still. I did a little back of the envelope calculation a few weeks ago, and their ypc (excluding sack yardage) last year wasn't great. It wasn't awful either, just not special. I think that's a good omen for Western when they play teams like Wofford or ETSU or VMI, but not necessarily Mercer or Furman or UTC (Teams that prefer to run first and all the time)

I'm a big fan of the idea that we really can't judge teams' potential by their September performances. Usually (and obviously) coming out looking good is better than not, but there are so many examples (especially in the socon) of teams coming flat and rallying. Unfortunately, we also have examples of teams choking in October/November recently, and western is one of those teams that has done it.

We won't be able to judge that until literally the end of the season though. Having said that, this seems like a vibe shift game and I think everyone has to take western seriously.

[gofurman]

Dang, Citadel embarrassing the SoCon. USC is FBS and SEC and all that (i think Furman will be just fine in FCS) but losing to CAMPBELL by about 50? ouch. Of all the scores I saw for the SoCon the Citadel and Samford / WCU surprised me most

Good job Western. I was impressed. Just one game but it counts !

[caribbeanhen]

Dang, Citadel embarrassing the SoCon. USC is FBS and SEC and all that (i think Furman will be just fine in FCS) but losing to CAMPBELL by about 50? ouch. Of all the scores I saw for the SoCon the Citadel and Samford / WCU surprised me most

Good job Western. I was impressed. Just one game but it counts !

Don’t forget the humiliating loss Rip van Rokus VMI took up in the foothills of Pennsylvania in The Innovation Bowl, he needs another 20 year nap

Southern conference losing to Bucknell is different

[Milktruck74]

Don’t forget the humiliating loss Rip van Rokus VMI took up in the foothills of Pennsylvania in The Innovation Bowl, he needs another 20 year nap

Southern conference losing to Bucknell is different

What initially looks like a pretty bad OOC week for the SoCon, must be put into perspective. The SoCon FCS losses were by the 7th-9th best teams in the conference...and were all to teams that finished in the top half of their respective conferences.

I will sai even though it was a win, Mercer allowing Morehead to hang around and lead (before turning on the gas and taking over) was a bit surprising.

But to your point...Is VMI REALLY part of the SoCon? They would be a mid level D2 FB (and BB) program, at best. Every 20 years or so they have a team that will creep up and win a few, but that is rare.

[caribbeanhen]

See the thing with W&M is that they didn't stop trying to score on Wofford and Wofford didn't stop stopping them in the second half. Sure, they could have had another field goal, but our defensive plan was pretty stout. The fact that we kept giving them the ball back and they couldn't score was reassuring. This is the third lowest scoring effort W&M has had in like 15 games, and they had all the right pieces coming back, while Wofford is still breaking in a new defensive scheme.

Wofford's problems are all on OL. Bad pass protection, for one, but more importantly, a lot of bad and dumb procedural penalties that killed drives and even put us in positions where we couldn't wisely go for it on fourth down.

I don't think we are a good team yet. I think if we don't get better, we're only going to win 4 games. Having said that, I still think we can steal 6 or 7, and 5 is on the table. How much better we get over the next two weeks will determine how far we go.

I think our defense can keep us in games this year, but our OL, if it doesn't improve, can take us out of them.

Lots of teams have those problems vs W&M, #8 is All American type player

[Catamount87]

As we say every year around this time with a good performance, we'll see. Having a pass rush is an advantage like no other. I don't think TOP is the measurement you're looking for to prove your point, but rather possessions per game.

Air raid offenses are high risk and high reward in that they can score a lot of points, sure, but if they're stopped, they can give the ball back at a high clip too. I've seen enough WCU over the last couple years to know they aren't air raid, but they use air raid principles in their pass game, which is the principle I think is bad for defensive proficiency. But having an elite pass rush could offset that. Anyway, Samford is an air raid and then failing TOP is not uncommon in games that unravel (I may check out the recording on ESPN+ when I get a chance or get bored).

Samford is not the best team to judge one's rush defense, especially when they're down. But the sack number is impressive still. I did a little back of the envelope calculation a few weeks ago, and their ypc (excluding sack yardage) last year wasn't great. It wasn't awful either, just not special. I think that's a good omen for Western when they play teams like Wofford or ETSU or VMI, but not necessarily Mercer or Furman or UTC (Teams that prefer to run first and all the time)

I'm a big fan of the idea that we really can't judge teams' potential by their September performances. Usually (and obviously) coming out looking good is better than not, but there are so many examples (especially in the socon) of teams coming flat and rallying. Unfortunately, we also have examples of teams choking in October/November recently, and western is one of those teams that has done it.

We won't be able to judge that until literally the end of the season though. Having said that, this seems like a vibe shift game and I think everyone has to take western seriously.

It's interesting in how Bell and now WCU get associated with 'air raid' offenses when in fact we run a very balanced offense from a play calling perspective. In 2022 we rushed 404 times for 2,035 yard and passed 400 times for 3,312 yards. Through the first two games in 2023 the stats are 79 rushing attempts for 348 yards and 77 passes for 489 yards.

In 2022 rushing accounted for 38.1% of our total yards and passing 61.9%. The SoCon averages were 41.7% and 58.3%, so slightly more passing yards % for us. Samford's yards on the other hand 33%(2,081 yards) and 67%(4,223 yards) so more closely aligned to the air raid. While the plays were 550 rushes and 575 passes.

So, it's the efficiency of said attempts that skews the perceptions. This is especially true with the often used bubble and similar type quick out passes which are really more like rushing attempts in disguise.

Now a bit of FCS history here that I dug up. The bubble screen pass play was 'created' by Don Read at Montana. It became widely popularized by Lou Holtz at Notre Dame.

[Tribe4SF]

Lots of teams have those problems vs W&M, #8 is All American type player

And so is #99! Those two off the edge is a QBs nightmare.

[Reign of Terrier]

It's interesting in how Bell and now WCU get associated with 'air raid' offenses when in fact we run a very balanced offense from a play calling perspective. In 2022 we rushed 404 times for 2,035 yard and passed 400 times for 3,312 yards. Through the first two games in 2023 the stats are 79 rushing attempts for 348 yards and 77 passes for 489 yards.

In 2022 rushing accounted for 38.1% of our total yards and passing 61.9%. The SoCon averages were 41.7% and 58.3%, so slightly more passing yards % for us. Samford's yards on the other hand 33%(2,081 yards) and 67%(4,223 yards) so more closely aligned to the air raid. While the plays were 550 rushes and 575 passes.

So, it's the efficiency of said attempts that skews the perceptions. This is especially true with the often used bubble and similar type quick out passes which are really more like rushing attempts in disguise.

Now a bit of FCS history here that I dug up. The bubble screen pass play was 'created' by Don Read at Montana. It became widely popularized by Lou Holtz at Notre Dame.

Okay, so I'm not a football coach, but when I say it uses air raid principles, it's not the amount of times they throw or run but the strategy on those plays: wide splits on the OL to allow QB more time to wait for players to get open, wide receivers running routes to exploit space in the defense. I contrast this with two other styles that are more traditional (like what Mercer or Furman or Chattanooga runs) and west coast ( like what Wofford runs, more about timed routes to specific spots on the field, not spaces between players). The air raid approach is different than the other approaches because it's basically forcing the defense to make a mistake, while the other two can be executed without that. When your practice on predicated on defenders making mistakes, IN MY OPINION, you hurt your defenders ability to have good habits and fundamentals. And when you play good, athletic defenses they have a better time shutting it down (you could argue that was part of the reason WCU did so well against Sanford).


And so is #99! Those two off the edge is a QBs nightmare.

Not trying to take anything away from W&M's defense, but Wofford's struggles were more about us than them. This will probably be Wofford's worst offensive performance and W&M best defensive performance. Our OL was way less experienced than thought (mainly because I didn't look into it). Our projected starting tackles from last season were out with injury and suspension, and we had at least one player making his first start on the OL.

Through two games we've 8 players take snaps on the OL so far. So, of course when we play a good pass rush like Pitt and W&M they're going to struggle. The other tell is the volume of procedural penalties we had. Wofford basically put ourselves in a position where we couldn't even go for it on fourth down because of the spot on the field and down and distance.

We'll get better, and I hope we somehow play again this season.

[The Cats]

Okay, so I'm not a football coach, but when I say it uses air raid principles, it's not the amount of times they throw or run but the strategy on those plays: wide splits on the OL to allow QB more time to wait for players to get open, wide receivers running routes to exploit space in the defense. I contrast this with two other styles that are more traditional (like what Mercer or Furman or Chattanooga runs) and west coast ( like what Wofford runs, more about timed routes to specific spots on the field, not spaces between players). The air raid approach is different than the other approaches because it's basically forcing the defense to make a mistake, while the other two can be executed without that. When your practice on predicated on defenders making mistakes, IN MY OPINION, you hurt your defenders ability to have good habits and fundamentals. And when you play good, athletic defenses they have a better time shutting it down (you could argue that was part of the reason WCU did so well against Sanford).



Not trying to take anything away from W&M's defense, but Wofford's struggles were more about us than them. This will probably be Wofford's worst offensive performance and W&M best defensive performance. Our OL was way less experienced than thought (mainly because I didn't look into it). Our projected starting tackles from last season were out with injury and suspension, and we had at least one player making his first start on the OL.

Through two games we've 8 players take snaps on the OL so far. So, of course when we play a good pass rush like Pitt and W&M they're going to struggle. The other tell is the volume of procedural penalties we had. Wofford basically put ourselves in a position where we couldn't even go for it on fourth down because of the spot on the field and down and distance.

We'll get better, and I hope we somehow play again this season.

wiggle, wiggle, wiggle

[Reign of Terrier]

wiggle, wiggle, wiggle

I haven't said anything different. Don't over hype over one game. Western has beaten Samford before and faded down the stretch.

[The Cats]

I haven't said anything different. Don't over hype over one game. Western has beaten Samford before and faded down the stretch.

no, just lots more wiggling... You're a lot like fubear in that respect, never admit you got something wrong. Like the final "faded down the stretch" - that's pure fubear speak...

...and trust me, that's not a complement.

[caribbeanhen]

What initially looks like a pretty bad OOC week for the SoCon, must be put into perspective. The SoCon FCS losses were by the 7th-9th best teams in the conference...and were all to teams that finished in the top half of their respective conferences.

I will sai even though it was a win, Mercer allowing Morehead to hang around and lead (before turning on the gas and taking over) was a bit surprising.

But to your point...Is VMI REALLY part of the SoCon? They would be a mid level D2 FB (and BB) program, at best. Every 20 years or so they have a team that will creep up and win a few, but that is rare.

I’m afraid so

[caribbeanhen]

no, just lots more wiggling... You're a lot like fubear in that respect, never admit you got something wrong. Like the final "faded down the stretch" - that's pure fubear speak...

...and trust me, that's not a complement.

speaking of The FuBeaR

is it time for a wellness check?

[Reign of Terrier]

no, just lots more wiggling... You're a lot like fubear in that respect, never admit you got something wrong. Like the final "faded down the stretch" - that's pure fubear speak...

...and trust me, that's not a complement.

Our OL is going to improve over the course of the year. We're just beat up, sick, suspended, and if not those things, young. But thankfully none of those things is forever. I admitted I was wrong about it multiple times. Don't know why you think that I said otherwise. I basically took the press clippings about returning starters on face value, and well, that was dumb.

As for fading down the stretch, I remember 2017 and I'm still bitter, because it hurt the whole SoCon (and Wofford by extension, robbing us of a quality win, which may have improved our seeding)

As for Western Carolina, I saw the first 50 minutes or so of the Samford game, and that was all I needed to see. I was really impressed with Western, and I think if they win next week against EKU, they'll make the playoffs. They cover really well, and contrary to what I've been saying up to this point, they tackle really well too. Most of the sacks that I saw were coverage sacks, not a matter of the DL completely overpowering the Samford OL, but the defensive backs playing great coverage and the Samford OL running out of time. I may be critical of teams likes Western and Samford that run the offense they do, but I'm being persuaded in the other direction. If that front 7 can have a good day against Mercer or Furman, they'll do great. I actually like their defensive style, it's a quasi 4-3 they have with one of their linebackers playing up to the line. They attacked Samford with various defensive looks and worked to perfection.

Their offense is their offense, I don't think I really need to say much more. Instead, I want to talk about Samford, because I'd be very concerned with that performance. Does Samford always run a defense with 5 DB playing 10-15 yards deep? If so, that's part of the reason why Western ran the ball so well in the first 20 minutes or so and in the fourth quarter. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see 6 players in the box, Western's OL, and then stick a tight end in there and run the ball. I was surprised Western didn't run more in the first half, but I understood why they didn't. Samford's offense looked flat, out of sync, and mid-way through the third quarter kinda just...gave up? I don't know how to described, I turned it off because that vibe was so apparent.

If you're going to tell me one of those teams was a defending socon champ, I wouldn't presume it to be Samford. The good news for SU is they have a good coach, they've bought into their scheme, and they can catch fire again fast. I'd be very concerned about that defense and the lack of innovation during the game though.

If Western wins next week, especially if they do so convincingly, I'd put them at #1 in my power rating. Heck, if I saw the game before power ratings, I'd put them #1. And if Wofford can't win the socon or make the playoffs this year, I'll be pulling for Western to do so.

[FUBeAR]

speaking of The FuBeaR

is it time for a wellness check?
No “The” please.

FUBeAR ain’t like no silly bellhop

[caribbeanhen]

https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=11605

FuBeaR you posted this Massey index with all the various polls that go into it but what in the world it is the Massey BCS Index and why is Portland State #3 ?

thanks in advance

[FUBeAR]

https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=11605

FuBeaR you posted this Massey index with all the various polls that go into it but what in the world it is the Massey BCS Index and why is Portland State #3 ?

thanks in advance
It’s the Massey Composite, no?

[ElCid]

It’s the Massey Composite, no?

I think it's the BCS calculator used on FCS maybe. The link above is different from the original one I saw. That only had about 5/6 ratings/polls in it.

[caribbeanhen]

I think it's the BCS calculator used on FCS maybe. The link above is different from the original one I saw. That only had about 5/6 ratings/polls in it.

It looks like Fubby foned a friend 😂 All good as CH went south to get his answer

it changes depending on when you refresh the link as new polls come in I think

the BCS one was the one the furthest on the right or at least the last time I checked and if you sort it on that index Portland state is number three with many other crazy anomalies …

Just curious

[caribbeanhen]

Team
Conf
W-L
Δ
CMP
Sort
PGH
RTP
RWP
SAG
SMS
SNW
AGS
ARG
ATC
BAS
BCM
BRN
CGV
DCI
DII
DOK
DWI
FCP
KPK
LAZ
MAS
MB



S Illinois (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf2023&t=7339)
MVFC (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=85697)
2-0 (https://masseyratings.com/539277/7339)
+6
8
>>
8
14
11
4
7
15
13
--
--
19
4
10
18
15
15
11
6
18
13
2
4
1



TN Martin (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf2023&t=7813)
OVC (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=13193)
1-1 (https://masseyratings.com/539277/7813)
+6
25
>>
10
48
30
35
32
--
25
--
--
62
42
21
45
20
36
41
22
--
31
18
15
2



Portland St (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf2023&t=6302)
BSC (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=10668)
0-2 (https://masseyratings.com/539277/6302)
+16
55
>>
48
78
55
56
56
--
--
--
--
110
97
56
89
57
57
81
76
--
65
68
59
3



E Kentucky (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf2023&t=2346)
UAC (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=557749)
0-2 (https://masseyratings.com/539277/2346)
+6
38
>>
22
31
38
36
27
--
--
--
--
81
35
33
38
49
33
51
44
--
40
44
39
4



Delaware (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf2023&t=2108)
CAA (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=11246)
1-1 (https://masseyratings.com/539277/2108)
-2
18
>>
15
20
21
26
26
22
22
--
--
12
23
38
34
30
16
31
31
19
21
20
18
5



UC Davis (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf2023&t=8200)
BSC (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=10668)
1-1 (https://masseyratings.com/539277/8200)
-3
9
>>
16
17
7
10
14
16
16
--
--
4
17
6
15
6
10
13
2
16
3
10
10
6



Idaho (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf2023&t=3415)
BSC (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=10668)
2-0 (https://masseyratings.com/539277/3415)
+5
5
>>
12
7
6
6
2
5
5
--
--
11
1
7
8
11
14
20
9
10
7
5
8
7



Weber St (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf2023&t=8636)
BSC (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=10668)
2-0 (https://masseyratings.com/539277/8636)
+3
4
>>
6
6
4
5
5
9
11
--
--
2
6
4
10
4
5
6
7
7
5
4
3
8



N Dakota St (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf2023&t=5545)
MVFC (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=85697)
2-0 (https://masseyratings.com/539277/5545)
+1
2
>>
2
2
3
2
3
2
2
--
--
9
2
3
6
3
3
1
4
2
4
1
2
9



SE Louisiana (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf2023&t=7314)




The top 10 according to BCS poll for FCS

whatever that is

[ElCid]

Hen, you gotta specific link to it. Nothing above gets you to anything but other places like team records. Let me see a link for the poll in question.

[caribbeanhen]

Hen, you gotta specific link to it. Nothing above gets you to anything but other places like team records. Let me see a link for the poll in question.

https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=11605

scroll all the way to the right (finger and screen display will be moving to the left) and sort on the poll named “MB”

by the way, the AGS poll is available

Edit: nevermind it’s gone now

[ElCid]

https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf&sub=11605

scroll all the way to the right (finger and screen display will be moving to the left) and sort on the poll named “MB”

by the way, the AGS poll is available

Edit: nevermind it’s gone now

Yeah, nothing listed as MB, or BCS. I've actually gone to a lot of these sites listed and some are a complete joke. Like your Portland St example. But look at some of ratings given. It makes little sense. One had G-W at 7. Ok. But they also have SDSU at 30 something.

[caribbeanhen]

Yeah, nothing listed as MB, or BCS. I've actually gone to a lot of these sites listed and some are a complete joke. Like your Portland St example. But look at some of ratings given. It makes little sense. One had G-W at 7. Ok. But they also have SDSU at 30 something.

I wonder if these other polls are some of Masseys students tinkering around… ha

or how these other pollsters convince him to include their poll on his index

[ElCid]

I wonder if these other polls are some of Masseys students tinkering around… ha

or how these other pollsters convince him to include their poll on his index

He explains that in some Q&A section. I read it once a while back. Just have to have some methodology for computer rankings to be included.