The College Sports Journal

Group of Five Heavy Hitter Saturday Preview 9/21/19

This week there are still a number of G5 versus Power Five games and I will be keeping my eyes on these but the one game that has the majority of my attention this Saturday is another Mountain West opener (following the Friday Air Force-Boise State game) in Utah State visiting San Diego State.  This game.

College Sports Journal Big Sky Conference Previews: Week of 9/21/2019

Week 4 is upon us and the last of the intriguing non-conference play will be wrapping up for the majority this week. The Big Sky – Missouri Valley games will see several games this week of varying degrees of competitiveness to be observed. Missouri Valley fans will likely be harassing Big Sky fans after this week as the matchups are lopsided even when seemingly close. Despite the spreads, this week will feature two marquee matchups, even if the Big Sky is favored in neither.

College Sports Journal Patriot League Previews: Week of 9/21/2019

Last week was a mixed one for the Patriot League.  Georgetown overwhelmed a Division III team 69-0, while Fordham topped Bryant by double digits.  The rest of the league was not so lucky, however, losing to two CAA schools (William and Mary, Villanova), a NEC school (Sacred Heart) and a Big Sky school (UC Davis).  This week, the entire Patriot League faces daunting challenges against tough competition – three CAA teams and an Ivy League title favorite.

College Sports Journal Ohio Valley Conference Previews: Week of 9/21/2019

The Ohio Valley picked up the signature FCS win this year when they stormed back with 21 fourth quarter points to beat Eastern Washington. The Gamecocks were led by Zerrick Cooper and Marlon Bridges. Eastern Kentucky had a chance to put a solid win on its resume, but wound up losing to Indiana State. Most of the rest of the league played and lost to FCS competition.

College Sports Journal Big South Previews: Week of 9/21/2019

Conference play is still a couple of weeks away, but the teams of the Big South take on some interesting challenges out-of-conference this week, including an FBS game, a trip to an iconic FCS football stadium, and a game against a Missouri Valley opponent.

Group of Five Heavy Hitter Friday Preview 9/20/19

There are two key G5 match-ups on Friday but really there is just one that is the biggest  is a Mountain West opener with Air Force visiting Boise State.   Both teams are undefeated and have wins over Power 5 programs on their resumes.  The outcome of the conference opener could play a pivotal role in.

College Sports Journal Ivy League Previews: Week of 9/21/2019

Finally the wait is over – the Ivy League awakens from their annual football slumber and rejoins the college football universe almost a full month after the rest of college football has started their season.  Top 25-caliber powerhouses Princeton, Dartmouth and Yale finally will be able to prove where they stand in the national picture.

College Sports Journal Southland Conference Previews: Week of 9/21/2019

Week three brought a mixed bag of results in the Southland. Houston Baptist shocked the FCS world with their exciting 53-52 upset of MVFC member South Dakota. Sam Houston State was unable to avenge their 2018 loss to North Dakota, again falling to the Fighting Hawks. In conference, Central Arkansas and Abilene Christian lived up to the pregame hype with the Bears prevailing late 31-30.

College Sports Journal Southern Conference Previews: Week of 9/21/2019

The Southern Conference continues to look like a strong league in 2019. But, the one team everyone expected to be the top team in the league, Wofford, has looked anything but strong through two games. The biggest win in week three for the conference was picked up by The Citadel who defeated FBS Georgia Tech in overtime.

Group of Five Heavy Hitter Thursday Preview 9/19/19

  This Thursday there is just one game in all of Division I college football and is an intriguing American Conference opener for both teams where Houston travels to Tulane. Coach Dana Holgorsen is off to a bumpy start in Houston as the Cougars are 1-2 after its three game non-conference play. The two losses,.

College Sports Journal Colonial Athletic Association Previews: Week of 9/21/2019

Towson showed they aren’t going away in the CAA and FCS race. The Tigers easily beat Maine by 22 points last week. In the only other CAA matchup, Elon picked up its first conference win, cruising by Richmond. In a couple more weeks, conference play will be in full swing. But for this week there are only two conference matchups while James Madison plays an interesting out of conference contest at Chattanooga.

College Sports Journal Missouri Valley Football Conference Game Previews: Week of 9/21/2019

Week 3 saw another good showing for the Missouri Valley Football Conference as a whole (See the recap here).  The league went 6-3 as a whole in non-conference action.  This week will be the last where the full conference has out-of-conference games with another nine games this week (Youngstown State is the lone conference team.

Big Sky Conference Week 3 Games Review – Week of 9/14/2019

Marquee: Jacksonville State def. Eastern Washington 49-45 A tidal wave of shock was sent across the FCS landscape as Jacksonville State pulled off a momentous upset. After the first quarter it seemed as if the fate of the game was going to be easily determined with a 28-7 EWU lead. Things would even out much.

College Sports Journal Top 25 Rankings, 9/17/2019

Week three was highlighted by a couple of much maligned teams pulling off exciting upsets – Houston Baptist 53-52 over South Dakota and VMI 31-24 over East Tennessee State in overtime. The marquee matchup of the week certainly lived up to its billing. Jacksonville State stormed back with 21 fourth quarter points to beat Eastern.

FCS Playoffs ‘Til I Die: Your Modestly More Relevant 2019 FCS Playoff Projection, Week of 9/14/2019

Last week, we shook the dust off our first laughable attempt at picking an FCS Playoff field, and this week, we make another laughable attempt at picking an FCS Playoff field, but with a few more data points so that it’s, well, a tiny bit less hilarious. This week, we saw North Dakota State extend.

College Sports Journal FBS Group of Five National Players of the Week-Sept. 16

Five players including Mike Glass III from Eastern Michigan, Dillion Gabriel from UCF, Malcom Perry from Navy, Treshaun Hayward from Western Michigan, and Jaylond Adams from Southern Miss have been selected as the College Sports Journal All-Stars for the week ending Sept. 9, 2019 from the NCAA Division I FBS Group of Five schools. The.

Missouri Valley Football Conference Week 3 Review

The Missouri Valley this week had another good week with its nine out-of-conference games.  There were nine games with Northern Iowa being off this past week.  Overall, the league went 6-3 against its competition. The top game this week as top ranked North Dakota State visiting the CAA’s Delaware, who were also ranked in the.

The Week That Was: Highlights of the Five Top FCS Games, Week Ending 9/14/2019

It was a week of high-profile Top 25 clashes in FCS this week, as the marquee games of the week pitted Delaware vs. North Dakota State and Eastern Washington vs. Jacksonville State.  One was a Bison display of dominance, the other a thriller that could be the game of the year.  Adding to the fun of this week’s games was a shootout in Vermillion, South Dakota and another big FBS upset in Georgia.

College Sports Journal Sagarin FBS G5 Top 25–Sept. 14

Here are the Top 25 FBS Group of Five (G5) rankings based on the Sagarin rankings for the week ending Sept. 14th, 2019. UCF remains the top ranked team this week as the Knights were the top team last week.  CSJ will show weekly rankings from the Sagarin rankings throughout the season and will have.

College Sports Journal Sagarin FCS Top 25 – Sept. 14

Here are the Top 25 FCS rankings based on the Sagarin rankings for the week ending Sept. 14th, 2019.  North Dakota State continues to hold down the top spot as the Bison had the preseason top spot. CSJ will show weekly rankings from the Sagarin rankings throughout the season and will have a final ranking.

Highlights: CSJ FBS Group of Five Top Five Games and Recap of Week 3

Some G5 conference play got underway in Week 3 but it was the G5 wins over Power 5 teams that received most of my attention again this week.  For the second straight week, BYU scored another overtime win over a Group of Five and this one was over AP Top 25 ranked USC. But the.

Maier Dissects Lehigh Defense En Route To a 41-13 Win For UC Davis

UC Davis QB Jake Maier had a tremendous evening in the Aggies’ home opener in UC Davis Health Stadium, going 38-for-49 passing for 389 yards in a 41-13 win over Lehigh Saturday Evening in front of 9.908 fans. Maier threw for four touchdown passes, all coming off of long drives of more than 50 yards. .

College Sports Journal Northeast Conference Previews: Week of 9/14/2019

Things pretty much played out as expected when the teams of the NEC stepped up in class, losing some games against tough competition.  It was the losses to D-II squads that were an issue, with Wagner and Robert Morris losing some bad games against sub-D-I competition.  This week, the NEC has another mixed back of play-up and play-down competition.

College Sports Journal Patriot League Previews: Week of 9/14/2019

Last week, Holy Cross stunned many with their 13-10 upset of New Hampshire, the Patriot League’s first win over a CAA school this season.  This week Colgate hopes to make it a second when they face William and Mary on the road.  NEC, Big Sky, and even a D-III opponent graces the Patriot League schedule this week. 

Group of Five Heavy Hitter Saturday Preview 9/14/19

This Saturday slate has many great contests again but I have two games that will be taking most of my attention.  These two games are two strong Power Five Pac-12 teams traveling to two powerful Group of Five teams in Stanford visiting UCF and USC visiting BYU. I will go over these two games in.

College Sports Journal Big Sky Conference Previews: Week of 9/14/2019

The non-conference gauntlet continues in Week 3 with PAC 12 and Mountain West FBS matches, long distance FCS games, and one D-II game. Weber State has the best chance to make a “Fear the FCS” moment, but all of the FBS games this week have the potential to be ugly. Looking ahead at the FCS games is a different story, as Big Sky teams have the talent to win big. NAU versus Western New Mexico will be an obvious win barring a strong Lumberjack performance.

Group of Five Heavy Hitter Friday Preview 9/13/19

There is just one game on Friday this week involving a G5 team but it is quite interesting with Houston hosting the Pac-12’s Washington State.  It will be the Cougars versus the Cougars in a rare common nickname out-of-conference game. Game 1 of the Night: Washington State (2-0) at Houston (1-1) When: Friday, September 13th,.

College Sports Journal Ohio Valley Conference Previews: Week of 9/14/2019

Only one Ohio Valley team picked up a win last week – Jacksonville State – while everyone else lost. Of course six of the teams played FBS opponents, so those results are not too surprising. In FCS action, both Austin Peay and Southeast Missouri State lost well hyped out of conference games last week. Week three brings even more competitive non-conference games, including the game that probably got the most hype of any non-conference game over the summer.

College Sports Journal Southland Conference Previews: Week of 9/14/2019

The Southland did not have many FCS vs FCS games last week. However, two of its teams – Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin – lost to Division II opponents. The one team we continue to be impressed by is Central Arkansas. The Bears used another comeback to defeat Austin Peay.

College Sports Journal Missouri Valley Football Conference Game Previews: Week of 9/14/2019

The Missouri Valley Football Conference did well in Week 2  as the league as a whole.  The biggest win in the league was Southern Illinois’ 45-20 win at UMass.  Te MVFC now has had at least one FBS win in each of the last 10 seasons.  The MVFC recorded a 1-7 mark vs. the FBS.

College Sports Journal Southern Conference Previews: Week of 9/14/2019

The Southern Conference continued its slow start to 2019 with only one team picking up a win against an FCS opponent. The one bright spot, Furman, gave Georgia State all it could handle, but just couldn’t finish the job in the end.

College Sports Journal Colonial Athletic Association Previews: Week of 9/14/2019

Week two brought a mixed bag of results. The highlight of the weekend was the triple OT thriller in Meade Stadium that saw Delaware outlast the host Rhode Island Rams. That game set the stage for what should be an excellent season of conference matchups.

For The First Time Since 1977, Lehigh Is Invited Back to UC Davis To Play a Football Game

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks (0-2) make a trip to Davis, California to take on the UC Davis Aggies (1-1).  It’s a game that promises to be an interesting clash of East Coast vs. West Coast in UC Davis Health Stadium – a Big Sky vs. Patriot League matchup, which is a rarity during the regular season.

FCS Playoffs ‘Til I Die: Your Near-Meaningless 2019 FCS Playoff Projection, Week of 9/7/2019

There truly is a never-ending search for content, a fact I was reminded of when I was politely and earnestly asked this week about coming up with an FCS playoff projection for the 2019 season.

Big Sky Conference Week 2 Games Review – Week of 9/07/2019

Marquee: Montana State def. SEMO 38-17 The Redhawks gave their best effort, but the Bobcats prevailed dominant. A close halftime score did not define the game as Montana State went on a 28-7 run to win. Casey Bauman performed adequately, while the running game established itself as a deciding factor. Bauman passed for 136 yards.

College Sports Journal Top 25 Rankings, 9/10/2019

Week two was a little more tame than week one from a top 25 standpoint. At the bottom of the FCS, six teams lost to sub D1 opponents while only one FCS team was able to beat and FBS team – Southern Illinois easily defeated Massachusetts. Over the first two weeks there have been 100 games against non-FCS teams.  This week there are 30, so the FCS picture will start to sharpen. Conference play will swing into full gear over the next two weeks as well.

College Sports Journal FBS Group of Five National Players of the Week-Sept. 9

Five players including Darrynton Evans from Appalachian State, JoJo Ward from Hawai’i, Xavier Jones from SMU, Chandler Kryst from Coastal Carolina, and Matt Araiza from San Diego State have been selected as the College Sports Journal All-Stars for the week ending Sept. 9, 2019 from the NCAA Division I FBS Group of Five schools. The.

The Week That Was: Highlights of the Five Top FCS Games, Week Ending 9/7/2019

Most years, it’s FCS teams stunning FBS teams, but this week, it was non-scholarship FCS and sub-Division-I teams stunning FCS squads instead. In their home opener, non-scholarship Dayton (1-0) stunned Indiana State (0-2) 42-35.  Flyer QB Jack Cook accounted for four touchdowns, two rushing and two passing, while RB Sean Prophit scored on a 13-yard.

Missouri Valley Football Conference Week 2 Review

The Missouri Valley Football Conference as a whole had a much better week than in Week 1 during this past Week 2.  The league as a whole went 6-3 with one of the highlight wins being Southern Illinois’ win at FBS Massachusetts.  Two of the losses were to FBS teams with Western Illinois falling at.

College Sports Journal Sagarin FBS G5 Top 25–Sept. 7

Here are the Top 25 FBS Group of Five (G5) rankings based on the Sagarin rankings for the week ending Sept. 7th, 2019. UCF remains the top ranked team this week as the Knights were the top team last week.  CSJ will show weekly rankings from the Sagarin rankings throughout the season and will have.

College Sports Journal Sagarin FCS Top 25 – Sept. 7

Here are the Top 25 FCS rankings based on the Sagarin rankings for the week ending Sept. 7th, 2019.  North Dakota State continues to hold down the top spot as the Bison had the preseason top spot. CSJ will show weekly rankings from the Sagarin rankings throughout the season and will have a final ranking.

Highlights: CSJ FBS Group of Five Top Five Games and Recap of Week 2

Just like in Week 1, Week 2  had its share of highlights and upsets with the Group of Five.  The biggest suprise had to go to BYU defeating Tennessee in overtime for the second G5 win over the SEC school .  I will go through my Top 5 G5 games with a mixture of P5.

Appalachian State Sprints Past Charlotte, 56-41

As sprinters, Darrynton Evans and Jalen Virgil would make a fine start to building a successful track relay team.

And at Kidd Brewer Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Appalachian State needed all of that speed and more to hold off upset-minded Charlotte, 56-41 in a non-conference football game.

Villanova’s Packed Home Opener A Happy One for Wildcat Fans, Win 38-10 over Lehigh

The Villanova Wildcats (2-0) surged to a 17-3 halftime lead over Lehigh, and ultimately cruised to a 38-10 win on Saturday evening on the Main Line.

It was a game where the Mountain Hawks (0-2) would make way too many mistakes to pull off the upset on the road of a nationally-ranked FCS football team on the road.

College Sports Journal Northeast Conference Previews: Week of 9/7/2019

Wagner, who came within a blown defensive penalty from having a chance to beat FBS UConn, isn’t the only NEC team chomping at the bit to start Week 2 of the football season.  Duquesne, Central Connecticut State, Robert Morris and Sacred Heart also have their home openers this week.

College Sports Journal Pioneer Football League Previews: Week of 9/7/2019

Davidson’s narrow win against Georgetown last week was a really nice win for the Pioneer, who went 2-4 in their games last week.  This week boasts another interesting grouping of games against the top teams of FCS and sub-D-I opponents.

College Sports Journal Patriot League Previews: Week of 9/7/2019

0-2 Colgate, who lost two extremely challenging games to Villanova and FBS Air Force to start the season, earn a well-deserved bye week, while the rest of the Patriot League enters action looking to achieve their first victories of the season.  As a conference, the Patriot League is a combined 0-8 to start the year.

Group of Five Heavy Hitter Saturday Previews 9/7/19

There are a number of Power 5 match-ups this week for the Group of Five but it is two G5 vs. G5 match-ups that I have most of my attention towards this week.  The two games I am watching closely are Florida Atlantic hosting current CSJ Sagarin G5 Top ranked UCF and then the battle.

Group of Five Heavy Hitter Friday Previews 9/6/19

This Friday, one game stood out but a second game came to light that a week ago looked like a walkover type game in the Group of Five.  The highlight game Friday for sure is Marshall visiting Boise State.  But the second game came to light with the typically low ranked Rice played a 11-win.