CAA wins over the SoCon

[ChickenMan]

Athough the recent series was evenly split 2-2.. I declared victory for the CAA in the '08 CAA/SoCon series. My rational.. the SoCon had three home games to the CAA's one and it seems to me... a tie goes to the road team... :D :p ;)

[PurpleandGold]

I think you could also say it's CAA 2.5 to SOCON 1.5. Northeastern taking GSU to overtime is half a victory in my opinion.

[OL FU]

Athough the recent series was evenly split 2-2.. I declared victory for the CAA in the '08 CAA/SoCon series. My rational.. the SoCon had three home games to the CAA's one and it seems to me... a tie goes to the road team... :D :p ;)

It was nice meeting this homer face to facexthumbsupx



xlolx xlolx xlolx

[PaladinFan]

I thought, for sure, that this season would put the debate to bed a little. Nope.

[appfan2008]

Who cares... all that matters is NC and there is no doubt who both recently and historically owns that category... GO SOCON!

[PaladinFan]

2-2, there are still more matchups. ;)

Will Playoff games hold more weight?

History shows that won't dictate much either. CAA got five teams in and none could beat App State. So, is the better conference the one with more teams in the playoffs, or the conference with the better teams in the playoffs?

Let's just put it to rest. This debate won't get solved this year.

[Death Dealer]

This series has proven what most of us already knew, when comparing these two conferences, it's a coin toss from week to week. xnodx Here's to being members of the best two conferences in FCS!!xthumbsupx

[SoCon48]

This series has proven what most of us already knew, when comparing these two conferences, it's a coin toss from week to week. xnodx Here's to being members of the best two conferences in FCS!!xthumbsupx

A voice of reason!xeyebrowx

[elcid96]

More proof that the CAA and SOCON are two best FCS conferences. I cannot wait for the playoffs. Go SOCON.

[BlueHen86]

This series has proven what most of us already knew, when comparing these two conferences, it's a coin toss from week to week. xnodx Here's to being members of the best two conferences in FCS!!xthumbsupx
Spot on.

[Rob Iola]

You're forgetting that even though Furman technically "won" Saturday, Keeler was right (I was sitting 50 feet behind him) in saying that daHenz were the better team, so that's got to count for something towards the CAA side of the ledger...

BTW, my poll submittal has Furman breaking into the top 10 and UD plummeting to a number so high that many ASU grads can't get there counting on their fingers alone (well, some probably can)...

[Appstate29]

You're forgetting that even though Furman technically "won" Saturday, Keeler was right (I was sitting 50 feet behind him) in saying that daHenz were the better team, so that's got to count for something towards the CAA side of the ledger...

BTW, my poll submittal has Furman breaking into the top 10 and UD plummeting to a number so high that many ASU grads can't get there counting on their fingers alone (well, some probably can)...

what about with the addition of toes? (you can count mighty high with fingers and toes, hold on one second...twenty!! Thems some big high numbers)

but, back to the spirit of this thread, it really is 2.5 socon and 1.5 CAA, see ASU won the FIRST half of the game, and JMU won the second, so we get a half point there. :D

[appmaj]

I think you could also say it's CAA 2.5 to SOCON 1.5. Northeastern taking GSU to overtime is half a victory in my opinion.

App was leading 21-0 at halftime is that worth .25 of a victory???
xeyebrowx

2-2 only final scores count. CAA/SoCon match up very well on the field and that gives us great football as fans.

[ChickenMan]

I think it is fair to say that three of the four CAA/SoCon games were up for grabs and could have gone either way.. the only convincing win was Richmond over Elon.

[lizrdgizrd]

I'm just glad we can argue that one of our two conferences is the best in the nation and can easily ignore all the others. :D

[OL FU]

You're forgetting that even though Furman technically "won" Saturday, Keeler was right (I was sitting 50 feet behind him) in saying that daHenz were the better team, so that's got to count for something towards the CAA side of the ledger...

BTW, my poll submittal has Furman breaking into the top 10 and UD plummeting to a number so high that many ASU grads can't get there counting on their fingers alone (well, some probably can)...

About 80% of the time I have seen Furman lose I thought Furman was the better team. The other 20% of the time were againts I-A teamsxnodx xeyebrowx





xsmiley_wix

[BDKJMU]

I'm just glad we can argue that one of our two conferences is the best in the nation and can easily ignore all the others. :D

Just wait till someone from the MVC chimes in and claims the MVC is as good as the So-Con and CAA. Some years they are. Right now the 2 best asre CAA and So-Con. MVC is clearly the 3rd best. Big Sky clearly 4th.

[Khan4Cats]

I'm just glad we can argue that one of our two conferences is the best in the nation and can easily ignore all the others. :D

Here I Am!!!

Not sure you can make that claim using win-loss just yet.

Through this weekends games, counting only games against FCS (and FCS transitional teams):

1) MVFC: .778 7-2
2) Southland: .750 6-2
3) Colonial: .737 14-5
4) Southern: .733 11-4
5) Ohio Valley: .643 9-5
6) Big Sky: .571 4-3
7) Patriot: .529 9-8
8) MEAC, Ivy, Pioneer: .500 5-5, 4-4, 4-4

SoCon should jump up to .765 with only two FCS non-conf games left. (ASU-Presby and Elon-Liberty, don't think I'm on a limb assuming wins there). Valley can match if they go 6-2 in their last 8. Southland has only 6 non-conf FCS games, but three are against Valley schools. Colonial has 11 games left and would need to finish 9-2 in those to top where the SoCon should finish. Ohio Valley only has 2 left and Big Sky only has 3 left, so they cannot mathematically catch in win percentage. Patriot could top .765 if they win their last 19 games in non-conf.

By the end I think it will be SoCon and MVFC. With Colonial in 3rd. Interesting, I think at this point the NC will come from the Colonial, and it probably won't be the team with the auto-bid.

[IndianaAppMan]

I don't know how many people follow the NFL here, but I'd like to use the two strongest divisions from last year to illustrate how impossible it is to determine whether one conference (or division) is better than the other.

Here are the facts:

NFC East: AFC South:
13-3 Dallas 13-3 Indianapolis
10-6 New York 11-5 Jacksonville
9-7 Washington 10-6 Tennessee
8-8 Philadelphia 8-8 Houston

The middle 2 AFC teams had better records, but an NFC East team won the SB. The AFC went 32-32 against the NFC, but no teams from opposing divisions played against each other. Each had 3 teams in the playoffs, which is the maximum possible for any division.

So which division was "the best"? Answer: The evidence is inconclusive.

The evidence to the SoCon-CAA debate is equally unsubstantial. In four matchups (hardly a definitively large sample size), SoCon teams are 2-2 at home vs. CAA teams.

The playoffs may reveal much more about which league is better. Then again, it may just make it hazier. It's quite possible you could have 3 of the 9 SoCon teams in the playoffs and 4 of the 12 CAA teams in the playoffs. How do you decide which is better when, for example, a CAA team gets knocked out by a SoCon team, then that same SoCon team gets knocked out by a different CAA team?

Oh, and one more thing: Are we all writing off the Missouri Valley? These teams in the heartland don't exactly have any more "gimme" games in-conference than CAA or SoCon teams do. They're pretty freakin' solid themselves and could easily get 3 playoff bids.

Historically, I'll go out on a limb and argue that the SoCon has the edge as the strongest since the 1-AA split in 1978. Four current and former SoCon members own 8 national titles. That includes former member Marshall's titles but not GSU's from their pre-SoCon years. Here are all the championship results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_I_Football_Championship

But history can't win any team a game today. We don't have enough evidence, especially this early, to determine which conference is the best in 2008.

[IndianaAppMan]

Just wait till someone from the MVC chimes in and claims the MVC is as good as the So-Con and CAA. Some years they are. Right now the 2 best asre CAA and So-Con. MVC is clearly the 3rd best. Big Sky clearly 4th.

Uh, let's see: MVFC has a LOT of teams capable of making the playoffs, with or without the autobid.

In my book, the CAA is UNDERachieving any year in which they don't lead the FCS in number of bids because they have 12 members, with more waiting in the wings in a few years.