Toughest FCS Schedule to Date: Montana or Delaware?

[Green26]

I did some looking using the most recent GPI (and Sagarin to a lessor extent) and review of each team's schedule to date. My analysis is only of I-AA games (not I-A or lower level games) to date.

Montana has played (and beaten) 4 I-AA teams ranked in the top 25 of the GPI: NAU (15), Cal Poly (17), EWU (22) and Davis (23). UM has also played Portland St.

Delaware has played 3 top 25 I-AA teams: Richmond (1), W&M (5) and UMass (11). They have also played Maine, Del. St. and Towson.

No other top 25 team has yet played more than 2 top 25 I-AA teams. 10 schools have played 2 top 25 I-AA teams: Richmond, Villlan., W&M, UNH, UMass, SFA, Cal Poly, McNeese, EWU and Liberty.

Looking at Sagarin, in the strength of schedule column (I didn't look for this in the GPI only because I didn't see where it was, or how to get it), the toughest schedules of the top teams in Sagarin are (starting with toughest): Davis, Cal Poly, Mont. St., NAU, SFA, Del., W&M, No Dak, EWU, and Montana. I realize that I'm not apples to apples on all of this, as the Sagarin is not the GPI, I used the Sagarin top teams not the GPI for SOS (only because it was easier to do), I stopped looking after I got to Montana, and Sagarin includes I-A games.

A honorable mention goes to JMU. While not in the top 25 GPI, I noticed that they have played 3 top 25 teams: Richmond, Villan and Liberty.

Notably, Jacksonville St., Elon, and So. Car. St. have not played a top 25 team.

The I-AA SOS will change as the season progresses. While Montana is yet to play Weber and Mont. St. (not in the GPI top 25, but in the Sagarin top 25), the Colonial schools will play more games against each other (and increase their SOS).

I did this fairly quickly, so feel free to point out glitches.

[iceman4221]

Actually SCSU played formerly 22nd ranked FAMU on Oct 17, 2009 and knocked them out of the all of the FCS Polls... xnodx

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Oh please. How is Montana's schedule tough? UC-Davis is the only tough game (and obviously they weren't) other than the good Big Sky teams (EWU, Weber, NAU) on their schedule and a mediocre Cal Poly team (over hyped because of last season's results), Montana hasn't played anybody.

If anything EWU has the tougher schedule between the both of 'em (UM and UD) with Cal and a good SUU team.

[Poker Alan]

Oh please. How is Montana's schedule tough? UC-Davis is the only tough game (and obviously they weren't) other than the good Big Sky teams (EWU, Weber, NAU) on their schedule and a mediocre Cal Poly team (over hyped because of last season's results), Montana hasn't played anybody.

If anything EWU has the tougher schedule between the both of 'em (UM and UD) with Cal and a good SUU team.

Lets not get carried away with saying SUU is 'good' yet... do you think SUU beats Cal Poly this year? I don't.

[HensRock]

The NCAA posts this based not on rank but on W-L record.
Sorted by past competition only, UD ranks 6th and Montana 23rd.
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2009/Internet/toughest%20schedule/fcs_9games_past.pdf


Sorted by cumulative opposition, UD ranks first.
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2009/Internet/toughest%20schedule/fcs_9games_cumm.pdf

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Sorted by cumulative opposition, UD ranks first.
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2009/Internet/toughest%20schedule/fcs_9games_cumm.pdf

And Lehigh No. 2! So you're saying that we have a chance! xnodx

[slostang]

and a mediocre Cal Poly team (over hyped because of last season's results)

Are you talking about a 2009 Cal Poly team that beat #11 South Dakota State? Cal Poly's only FCS loss this year is to #3 Montana, a team they held a lead on for 3 quarters playing on the road in one of the toughest FCS stadiums. Yeah, they are only mediocre and over hyped. xrotatehx

[uofmman1122]

Are you talking about a 2009 Cal Poly team that beat #11 South Dakota State? Cal Poly's only FCS loss this year is to #3 Montana, a team they held a lead on for 3 quarters playing on the road in the toughest FCS stadium. Yeah, they are only mediocre and over hyped. xrotatehxLet's be accurate here, shall we? xlolx

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Are you talking about a 2009 Cal Poly team that beat #11 South Dakota State? Cal Poly's only FCS loss this year is to #3 Montana, a team they held a lead on for 3 quarters playing on the road in one of the toughest FCS stadiums. Yeah, they are only mediocre and over hyped. xrotatehx

Yeah... not hard if the home team coughs up the ball 6 times. If Montana hadn't turned the ball over at all, it probably would've been closer to 45-17. SDSU is also overrated. I can't wait for UNI to blow them out.

[aggiemba]

To all the Davis naysayers out there,

NOTE: Davis has had the toughest FCS schedule to date.

How do you like them apples?

[GrizFanStuckInUtah]

To all the Davis naysayers out there,

NOTE: Davis has had the toughest FCS schedule to date.

How do you like them apples?

Road? xsmiley_wix

[slostang]

Yeah... not hard if the home team coughs up the ball 6 times. If Montana hadn't turned the ball over at all, it probably would've been closer to 45-17. SDSU is also overrated. I can't wait for UNI to blow them out.

Good teams create turnovers.

Cal Poly was playing the game without their #1 WR Dominique Johnston, 4 year starting RB Jon Hall, 3 year starting CB Xavier Gardner and a QB that was playing on one leg most of the game.

I think that Montana was the better team, but Cal Poly is a good team that is a little banged up.

You a little bitter on how EWU's season has gone so far? Sure seems that way.

[gbhmt]

To all the Davis naysayers out there,

NOTE: Davis has had the toughest FCS schedule to date.

How do you like them apples?

You know, bragging about your strength of schedule isn't very effective if you don't win games on your tough schedule. xrulesx

[Hellgate60]

To all the Davis naysayers out there,

NOTE: Davis has had the toughest FCS schedule to date.

How do you like them apples?

Your point? Southern Utah had the toughest schedule a couple of years ago. That didn't mean they were a good team that year.

[UNH Fanboi]

I know some high school teams that have a tougher schedule than Montana.

[Poker Alan]

I know some high school teams that have a tougher schedule than Montana.

Ridiculous statement, at best, this season. UC Davis, Cal-Poly, NAU, EWU are on the resume, so far...

[Hellgate60]

I know some high school teams that have a tougher schedule than Montana.

what does that say about New Hamsphire? Using the toughest schedule on past oppostition Montana is ranked 23rd while New Hampshire is 83rd. Using the toughest scheulde on cumulative opposition Montana is ranked 65th and New Hampshire is ranked 99th.

Cumulative:
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2009/Internet/toughest%20schedule/fcs_9games_cumm.pdf

Past opposition:
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2009/Internet/toughest%20schedule/fcs_9games_past.pdf

[CAAisBOSS]

play in the CAA and then tell me about tough.

[State Line Liquors]

The NCAA posts this based not on rank but on W-L record.
Sorted by past competition only, UD ranks 6th and Montana 23rd.
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2009/Internet/toughest%20schedule/fcs_9games_past.pdf


Sorted by cumulative opposition, UD ranks first.
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2009/Internet/toughest%20schedule/fcs_9games_cumm.pdf

But wait, where's Eastern Washington????

Oh, let me turn the page. There they are at number 63. xlolx

Did somebody just let the air out of a whoopie cushion?

[Green26]

The combined win-loss record of UNH's first 4 opponents--St. Francis, Ball St., Dartmouth and Towson--is 3-22. (The records of the last two, Villan. and UMass, are, of course, much better.)

[mlbowl]

I know some high school teams that have a tougher schedule than Montana.


Please enlighten us...


BTW...smack belongs in the SMACK FORUM....can you say smack forum...sure...I knew you could!

[WestCoastAggie]

Is there a EAST Coast/ WEST Coast Beef goin on here between the Big Sky & Colonial?

[Native]

I did some looking using the most recent GPI (and Sagarin to a lessor extent) and review of each team's schedule to date. My analysis is only of I-AA games (not I-A or lower level games) to date. ...

Montana and Weber will end up the regular with virtually identical FCS (1-AA) strengths of schedule, both having played the same Big Sky schedule and Cal Poly.

Until Weber beats Montana, you could even say that Weber's FCS schedule is stronger, since Montana is rated more highly than Weber, and Montana doesn't get to play itself.

Any team playing four our of five among Monatana, Weber, Northern Arizona, Eastern Washington, and Montana State has a very strong FCS schedule. With five teams consistently in or near the top 25, the Big Sky deserves its reputation as a power conference.

Of course, Weber's over all strength of schedule is significantly greater than Montana's, having scheduled no lower level games and played well against two FBS teams, each of which has been rated consistently higher than all but a handful the FCS teams, including Montana.

[mlbowl]

Until Weber beats Weber again,



Fixed it for yaxnodx

[Native]

Oh please. How is Montana's schedule tough? UC-Davis is the only tough game (and obviously they weren't) other than the good Big Sky teams (EWU, Weber, NAU) on their schedule and a mediocre Cal Poly team (over hyped because of last season's results), Montana hasn't played anybody.

If anything EWU has the tougher schedule between the both of 'em (UM and UD) with Cal and a good SUU team.

Cal Poly is a legit top 25, no more over-hyped than teams from other conferences. The Mustangs beat South Dakota State and have a tough conference schedule.

[Native]

Fixed it for yaxnodx

xeyebrowx If Weber beats Weber again in Missoula, that would mean that Weber would still have the stronger schedule.

Hello? Anyone home? Turn on the lights in there!

[blue4gold]

Cal Poly is a legit top 25, no more over-hyped than teams from other conferences. The Mustangs beat South Dakota State and have a tough conference schedule.

Davis and Cal Poly both have 1 FCS loss. Both to Montana. The bottom line is whoever wins our head to head match up should have a serious look at the playoffs. Fortunately, that game is in Davis.
xnodx

[griz8791]

. . . If Weber beats Weber again in Missoula . . .

Sorry, Native, but that just makes my head hurt.xconfusedx

[Native]

Fixed it for yaxnodx


Sorry, Native, but that just makes my head hurt.xconfusedx

Hey, I learned it from all you Griz fans who claimed that Montana beat Montana in Ogden last year. xlolxxlolxxlolx

[Native]

Davis and Cal Poly both have 1 FCS loss. Both to Montana. The bottom line is whoever wins our head to head match up should have a serious look at the playoffs. Fortunately, that game is in Davis.
xnodx

Sorry, aggs, but this will not be the year for either CP or UCD. I admire the Great West, but even if either team wins out, neither team will have more than 7 DI victories this year. There will be too many 8-win teams with better resumes in the at-large pool.

[slostang]

Sorry, aggs, but this will not be the year for either CP or UCD. I admire the Great West, but even if either team wins out, neither team will have more than 7 DI victories this year. There will be too many 8-win teams with better resumes in the at-large pool.

If Cal Poly wins out they will be 8-3 with wins over South Dakota State and Weber State and their only FCS loss will be to #3 Montana. Cal Poly's other two losses would be to FBS teams. They will have 7 D-I wins and should at least be in the conversation.

[mlbowl]

Hey, I learned it from all you Griz fans who claimed that Montana beat Montana in Ogden last year. xlolxxlolxxlolx


I learned it from youxnodx

[Owl Wingman]

I think you have to throw Cal Poly into that mix because they've played two I-A teams (Ohio and San Jose State) and have played Montana and South Dakota State. The Mustangs also play Weber State to close out the season.

I'm not at all a Cal Poly fan, but their schedule was brought to my attention.

[Native]

If Cal Poly wins out they will be 8-3 with wins over South Dakota State and Weber State and their only FCS loss will be to #3 Montana. Cal Poly's other two losses would be to FBS teams. They will have 7 D-I wins and should at least be in the conversation.

...and if Weber loses to Montana but beats Cal Poly they will have beaten three top 25 teams in EWU, NAU and CP, but at 7 DI wins they would be only a little more competitve for that last at-large spot.

Yeah, sure, in the discussion, in the discussion... HOWEVER,

For Weber or Cal Poly to finish with 7 DI wins and have a shot at an at-large bid, a lot of other teams in the MVFC, Southland, SOCON, CAA and maybe even MEAC
will have to cooperate by self destructing.

[blue4gold]

Sorry, aggs, but this will not be the year for either CP or UCD. I admire the Great West, but even if either team wins out, neither team will have more than 7 DI victories this year. There will be too many 8-win teams with better resumes in the at-large pool.

All I'm saying is we should get a serious look . 7-1 teams with their only FCS loss being to Montana (ours being by 1 td) should at least get a look. There may be teams with better resumes for the at-large spots, but we'll have to see at the end of the season.

*BTW- Our FBS schedule included #4 Boise St. and Fresno St. Doubt any FCS team could beat EITHER of those teams.

[lucchesicourt]

also, slostang, the same can be said for UCD. Afterall we played an even tougher schedule than Poly. Though, if the GWC gets slighted and yet have the higher GPI than almost every other conference (as for now), shouldn't a 7 win FCS schedule be enough to include a member of the GWC with 7 wins. I think definitely the conference champ should be invited. However, a 3rd place team with 8 wins being picked over a conference champ in one of the BEST conferences (GPI wise) with 1 less FCS win is just not reasonable. Just because of 2 losses to very good BCS teams should not justify their exclusion from playoff possibilities, IMO. By scheduling a bunch of patsies just so you can get to 8 FCS wins, should not be better than 7 wins with either of our schedules. I'd don't believe there are too many FCS teams that could do any better than 7 wins with eitehr of our schedules. That does not mean our teams with 7 wins are worse than teams with 8 FCS wins. Do you think it does? Afterall, I thought the whole idea of a playoff system was to settle the idea of who is the best FCS team, not who has the most wins should get the opportunity to vie for the NC. I think all conference champs should be invited. Why? Because, you do not know how good they are until you play them. Ask Boise, we were in the game with them until late 4th quarter. I would say few FCS teams would have had more success than we had against Boise. Though Fresno did destroy us.

[GoAgs72]

I think UC Davis will have a slight chance if we win out including Cal Poly and a rapidly improving SUU. Cal Poly will also have a chance if they win out including UC Davis and Weber State. It is certainly not a given and Cal Poly's chances are probably better only based upon past history and continuing to be ranked even while 3-3.

[jacksfan29]

Yeah... not hard if the home team coughs up the ball 6 times. If Montana hadn't turned the ball over at all, it probably would've been closer to 45-17. SDSU is also overrated. I can't wait for UNI to blow them out.

Eastern Who? If you want to talk about overrated lets discuss Eastern's schedule top to bottom. Look at your wins this year. A D2 school and the bottom feeders of an average conference. No wonder you consider SUU to be a strong argument for your strength of schedule.

[mlbowl]

SDSU is also overrated. I can't wait for UNI to blow them out.


How'd that work outxlolx

[fencer24]

Isn't this essentially mental masturbation? Week to week, every team is different, either through injuries, or improvements or whatever. Teams at week 1 that won, would not necessarily beat the same team at week 10.

[KUlawJack]

Yeah... not hard if the home team coughs up the ball 6 times. If Montana hadn't turned the ball over at all, it probably would've been closer to 45-17. SDSU is also overrated. I can't wait for UNI to blow them out.

I have a large plate of crow for you if you want to sit down at the dinner table.:D

[LacesOut]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........

Zzzzzzzzzzzz.....

ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZz....................

[Twentysix]

Yeah... not hard if the home team coughs up the ball 6 times. If Montana hadn't turned the ball over at all, it probably would've been closer to 45-17. SDSU is also overrated. I can't wait for UNI to blow them out.

Dang them panthers and there blowout! (Oh wait...)

Lol.

[Native]

I have a large plate of crow for you if you want to sit down at the dinner table.:D

Congrats on the win over a legit UNI team. Before you plass the crow, you might want to recall the loss to Cal Poly.

[aggiemba]

Congrats on the win over a legit UNI team. Before you plass the crow, you might want to recall the loss to Cal Poly.

So when Davis beats Cal Poly on Nov 7th, do you suppose they will finally be worthy of talking about as an outside shot to the playoffs?

[Native]

I think you have to throw Cal Poly into that mix because they've played two I-A teams (Ohio and San Jose State) and have played Montana and South Dakota State. The Mustangs also play Weber State to close out the season.

I'm not at all a Cal Poly fan, but their schedule was brought to my attention.

I admire the Cal Poly program, one of the best in the country! xthumbsupx

However, the Mustangs did not perform well in their two losses to mediocre FBS teams.

Might as well throw in Weber with its two close losses to FBS Wyoming (7 points, roughly equivalent total yards) and Colorado State (1 point, Weber outperformed CSU in total yards but fumbled at the goal line in the closing moments).

[KUlawJack]

Congrats on the win over a legit UNI team. Before you plass the crow, you might want to recall the loss to Cal Poly.

Really? Does that have anything to do with what he said? Exactly. He said UNI would blow SDSU out. Nothing to do with Cal Poly at all. Give me a freakin' break.

I think SDSU will be just fine.

[NC Aggie]

To all the Davis naysayers out there,

NOTE: Davis has had the toughest FCS schedule to date.

How do you like them apples?

I'd like'em better if the Ags would have beaten Montana......and not just showed up at Fresyes.

Played well at Boise.

[Grizaholic17]

I didn't know Montana had a hard schedule. Everyone has told me it's a Cupcake schedule like always **rolls eyes**

[Screamin_Eagle174]

I have a large plate of crow for you if you want to sit down at the dinner table.:D

Mmmmm, crow. Tastes delicious! xthumbsupx

Congrats on the win you rascally rabbits.

[Kemo]

Mmmmm, crow. Tastes delicious! xthumbsupx

Congrats on the win you rascally rabbits.

Way to come back and be a good sport Screamin Eagle, but I think you need to have a picture of a Jacks Player/Logo as your avatar for at least the duration of the week after that prediction xsmiley_wix

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Way to come back and be a good sport Screamin Eagle, but I think you need to have a picture of a Jacks Player/Logo as your avatar for at least the duration of the week after that prediction xsmiley_wix

No. xsmiley_wix

[Dallas Demon]

Although we have nothing to show regarding wins, I'd challenge anyone to show they have had a tougher schedule than ours for the first 7 games:

@Houston
@Grambling
North Dakota
@Baylor
Central Arkansas
@McNeese
Texas St.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Although we have nothing to show regarding wins, I'd challenge anyone to show they have had a tougher schedule than ours for the first 7 games:

@Houston
@Grambling
North Dakota
@Baylor
Central Arkansas
@McNeese
Texas St.

Likewise, Idaho State has nothing to show for their rough schedule... Arizona State, Oklahoma, ranked Weber, EWU, NAU, and UM squads, almost ranked MSU, and D-II powerhouse Central Washington.