The College Sports Journal

Covering All College Sports Since 2012

2017 Season FCS College Football Picks: SWAC

  SWAC Eastern Division Predicted order of finish 1. Alcorn State 2. Alabama State 3. Alabama A&M 4. Jackson State 5. Mississippi Valley State SWAC Western Division Predicted order of finish 1. Grambling State 2. Southern 3. Prairie View 4. Texas Southern 5. Arkansas Pine Bluff Alcorn State Fearless Prediction: The Braves look to continue.

Playoffs ‘Til I Die: Playoff Projections, 11/1/2016

This year, we are picking a consensus bracket based on staff picks, Sagarin Ratings, and the FCS Coaches’ Poll to determine who we think will be in the playoff field, who is seeded, who is in, who is out. In the FCS playoffs, there are 10 conferences that get autobids, the Big Sky, Big South,.

2016 Missouri Valley Football Conference Preview

College Sports Journal Missouri Valley Football Conference 2016 Preview By Kent Schmidt Predicted Order of Finish North Dakota State Northern Iowa Illinois State South Dakota State Youngstown State Western Illinois Southern Illinois Indiana State South Dakota Missouri State OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jake Wieneke, WR, Jr., South Dakota State DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:.

2016 FCS Preview: Penn Quakers

Penn Quakers Head Coach: Ray Priore, 2nd season (7-3) Biggest Strength in 2016: Could there have been an unlikelier Ivy League championship candidate than Penn’s first season under head coach Ray Priore? After losing back-to-back games vs. Dartmouth and Fordham and giving up more than 40 points in each game, the 1-3 Quakers then proceeded.

2016 FCS Preview: Harvard Crimson

Harvard Crimson Head Coach: Tim Murphy, 22nd season (156-63-0) Biggest Strength in 2016: You could pencil in Harvard’s biggest strength every single year as “despite losing N talented, all-Ivy League players, their depth is so great that they’ll simply plug in the next round of talented, all-Ivy players, and they’ll finish over .500 and compete.

2016 FCS Preview: Colgate Raiders

Colgate Raiders Head Coach: Dan Hunt, 3rd season (14-12) Biggest Strength in 2016: Most teams break out in Year 3 of a new head coach, but Dan Hunt’s Raiders decided to break out after a 2-4 start and fired off seven straight wins, knocking out a Patriot League title contender (Lehigh) and three nationally-ranked teams.

2016 FCS Preview: Fordham Rams

Fordham Rams Head Coach: Andrew Breiner, 1st season (0-0) Biggest Strength in 2016: When the “Battering Ram” offense of Joe Moorhead was firing on all cylinders last season, Fordham’s multiple no-huddle offense was awfully difficult to stop. Eight times last season, Fordham scored more than 35 points in a game; eight times, they came out.

2016 FCS Preview: Duquesne Dukes

Duquesne Dukes Head Coach: Jerry Schmitt, 11th season (68-51) Biggest strength in 2016: The Dukes, always close but never the ultimate victors of the NEC, changed all that last season. They finally seized their chance after performing pretty much as expected in out-of-conference play, beating two sub-D-I opponents and Bucknell but falling to the eventual.

2016 FCS Preview: St. Francis (PA) Red Flash

St. Francis (PA) Red Flash Head Coach: Chris Villareal, 6th season (24-41) Biggest strength in 2016: The theme of the 2015 Red Flash season had to be defense (almost) wins championships. With one of the top-rated defenses in FCS, St. Francis had a season to remember, securing their first winning season since 1992 and coming.

2016 FCS Preview: Yale Bulldogs

Yale Bulldogs Head Coach: Tony Reno, 4th season (21-19) Biggest strength in 2016: When the Bulldogs really buckled down and played clean football, they had stretches of dominance that showed the rest of the Ivy League that they can compete with the best. Behind by two scores to Colgate, the Eli scored two late touchdowns.

2016 FCS Preview: Patriot League

Here at CSJ, we are previewing the upcoming 2016 season, and we are counting up from 7 to 1 as to who we think how the Patriot League football season will shake itself out. Last season, Colgate overcame an 0-3 start and won seven of their next eight regular season games, including a shock 31-29 win.

2016 FCS Preview: Holy Cross Crusaders

Holy Cross Crusaders Head Coach: Tom Gilmore, 12th season (66-69) Biggest strength in 2016: Battlers until the end of the season, Holy Cross navigated a strange schedule to finish above .500, but more importantly winning four of their last five games. After losing a closer-than-it-looked 31-14 loss to Colgate in Week 3, Tom Gilmore’s team.

2016 FCS Preview: Sacred Heart Pioneers

Sacred Heart Pioneers Head Coach: Mark Nofri, 4th season (25-11) Biggest strength in 2016: Good teams stop the run well, and the Pioneers’ front seven stopped the run better than any other team in the NEC, allowing ony 3.2 yards per carry during the season. Additionally, in their six wins, Sacred Heart held the opposition.

2016 FCS Preview: Princeton Tigers

Princeton Tigers Head Coach: Bob Surace, 8th season (25-35) Biggest strength in 2016: The biggest strength of the Tigers last year was basically the way they competed in the first four games of the season, pummeling Lehigh, Lafayette, Columbia and Colgate by a combined score of 146-58. Granted, they faced the Patriot League champion Raiders.

2016 FCS Preview: Lehigh Mountain Hawks

Lehigh Mountain Hawks Head Coach: Andy Coen, 10th season (68-46) Biggest strength in 2016: Last season, the Mountain Hawk offense went from an above-average unit to the type of scary offensive force that Lehigh fans love and expect. Averaging over 30 points per game in their last five contests of last season, with an impressive.

2016 FCS Preview: The Ivy League

Here at CSJ, we are previewing the upcoming 2016 season, and we are counting up from 8 to 1 as to who we think how the Ivy League will shake itself out. Last season saw a thrilling Ivy League football season with three teams, Harvard, Penn, and Dartmouth, enjoying a co-championship. Harvard beat Dartmouth in a 14-13.

2016 FCS Preview: Bryant Bulldogs

Bryant Bulldogs Head Coach: Marty Fine, 12th season (75-55) Biggest strength in 2016: When the Bulldogs were at their best in 2016, it was the middle of the season, with Bryant’s junior QB and senior RB keeping opposing offenses guessing. In consecutive weeks at home, Marty Fine’s team knocked off Duquesne and St. Francis (PA),.

2016 FCS Preview: Dartmouth Big Green

Dartmouth Big Green Head Coach: Buddy Teevens, 17th season (75-83-2, 109-160-2 overall) Biggest strength in 2016: It is difficult to narrow down one strength of the coIvy League champion 2015 Dartmouth Big Green. Was it their dynamic, incredible playmaking QB? Was it their smothering defense, who gave up more than two touchdowns in a game.

2016 FCS Preview: Central Connecticut State Blue Devils

Central Connecticut State Blue Devils Head Coach: Pete Rossomando, 3rd season (7-16) Biggest strength in 2016: The stat sheet doesn’t necessarily reflect it, but the Blue Devils have a great young core of defenders on which they will build this season. Rising seniors CB Jevon Elmore (71 tackles, 16 pass breakups) and DE Asia Bolling.

2016 FCS Preview: Brown Bears

Brown Bears Head Coach: Phil Estes, 19th season (108-71-0) Biggest strength in 2016: If you’re competing on a team with Phil Estes as your head coach, chances are your big strength is going to be on offense, and the Bears’ starting five offensive linemen seem to be Brown’s biggest strength in 2016. Two bookend tackles,.

2016 FCS Preview: Lafayette Leopards

Lafayette Leopards Head Coach: Frank Tavani, 16th season (82-98) Biggest strength in 2016: After suffering through an immense number of injuries in 2015, the end of season finally saw Frank Tavani’s offense sputter to life, thanks to the emergence of an effective running game. The emergence of RB DeSean Brown (877 all-purpose yards, 5 TDs).

2016 FCS Preview: Wagner Seahawks

Wagner Seahawks Head Coach: Jason Houghtailing, 2nd season (1-10) Biggest strength in 2016: In a tough 2015 campaign where Wagner struggled on both sides of the ball, Houghtailing’s squad finally got a glimpse of strong play from a player on whom the Seahawks will be relying on next season, RB Matthias McKinnon. Wagner’s multi-faceted running.

2016 FCS Preview: Columbia Lions

Columbia Lions Head Coach: Al Bagnoli, 2nd season at Columbia (2-8), 232-91 overall Biggest strength in 2016: After a 2014 season that ended with morale at an all-time low, the shock hire of Al Bagnoli after his retirement tour at Penn was a desperately needed jolt of enthusiasm. With the full knowledge that a ground-up.

2016 FCS Preview: Georgetown Hoyas

Georgetown Hoyas Head Coach: Rob Sgarlata, 3rd season (7-15) Biggest strength in 2016: It is probably very cloying to call a team “better than their 4-7 record”, but you could definitely make that case about the 2015 Hoyas. In the Patriot League, Sgarlata’s squad came within a touchdown of Colgate, Fordham and Lehigh, while for.