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A 31-14 win over Southern Connecticut (D-II) brought the Warriors time in Division II to a close with a 5-5 record. Merrimack announced they would be beginning their transition to becoming a Division I athletics program in 2019, where their final destination will be the NEC.
Win or lose last year, one thing was for certain in Gardner-Webb games: it would not be close. The closest margin of victory in every game the Bulldogs played was 16 points – a 16-0 loss to Charleston Southern.
St. Francis (PA) Red Flash Location: Loretto, PA Coach: Chris Villarrial (40-59), 9th Season at St. Francis (PA) Stadium: DeGol Field (Capacity: 3,500) CSJ Projections: 6th: NEC 8th: Pennsylvania 103rd: FCS 233rd: Division I 2018 In a Sentence: Three heartbreaking, last-minute out-of-conference losses to Lehigh, Richmond, and Albany (NY) turned what could have realistically.
After a 1-9 season, longtime head football coach Phil Estes stepped down as Bears head football coach after an illustrious 21 year career.
The Bulldogs got off to a great start with a win at the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s Youngstown State, but could not use that momentum into PFL play to finish 4-7 overall and just 2-6 in PFL play.
SFA hired 2017 D-II national title winning Coach Colby Carthel away from Texas A&M-Commerce.
On Homecoming, head coach Dewayne Alexander and the Golden Eagles broke their 11 game losing streak, upsetting Murray State 27-24. It was the highlight of an otherwise tough 1-10 season.
The Hatters went 8-2 last season and were in contention for the Pioneer Football League title, had PFL winners San Diego slipped up along the way.
Assistant coach John Hendrick was thrust into the head coaching position on an interim basis after Tony Hughes was let go after a 41-7 drubbing by Southern.
Say what you want about the Wildcats and their feather-light schedule – Davidson was a mighty entertaining football team last year.
Going into November, hopes were high that the 3-5 Leopards would turn the corner and do enough to beat their archrival Lehigh in the final game of the season. Instead John Garrett’s team would lose to Holy Cross, Army and their Rivals to close out a disappointing 3-8 season.
The Red Foxes had a chance to end the year with a winning record, but a 31-14 loss to PFL champions San Diego doomed Marist to a 5-6 record. Marist went 5-3 in Pioneer League play, but went 0-3 outside their conference schedule.
The Bears had modest expectations under interim head coach Earnest T. Jones, and seemed to exceed those expectations greatly with their a 4-7 record, highlighted by perhaps the biggest win in FCS last season: Morgan State’s shocking 16-13 upset of North Carolina A&T 16-13 in Greensboro. The historic upset was not enough to have the “interim” label removed from Jones’ job description, however, and former Michigan running back Tyrone Wheatley was hired to become the Bears’ next head football coach.
The Eagles yielded a staggering 6 touchdowns a game en route to a 3-8 season, giving up 40 or more points in seven of eleven contests. In their two Pioneer Football Conference wins, the defense only yielded 28 and 24 points respectively against Davidson and Valparaiso.
College Sports Journal’s NCAA 2019 College Football FCS Team Previews are being released all summer, and we’re ranking every FCS school from Number 126 to Number 1. Check back to see where your favorite school is ranked!
After a brutal 0-7 start to the Rod Milstead era, the Hornets made a big turnaround by the end of the year, winning three of their final four games to salvage a 3-8 season. One of the wins, however, came against hapless USCAA school Virgina University of Lynchburg.
The Crusaders regressed to a 2-9 overall mark (2-6 PFL) after posting a 6-5 mark in 2017 and also lost its head coach Dave Cecchini in the offseason, who left to be the head man at Bucknell of the Patriot League.
A brutal 1-10 season saw the end of the Joe Susan era at Bucknell, with the Bison hiring former Valparaiso head coach and Patriot League assistant coach and player Dave Cecchini to take over the reins of the program.
In their final season in Division II, LIU-Post went out in style, beating perennial NE-10 power New Haven to win their conference championship and qualify for the playoffs with a 10-0 record.
Following a humiliating 60-14 loss to Prairie View A&M to close out a dismal 2-9 season, three year head coach Michael Haywood resigned and Clarence McKinney, who had served as Associate Head Coach and running backs Coach at Arizona, was hired to replace him.
On November 3rd, the Keydets downed D-II Tusculum 20-11, snapping a 25 game losing streak that dated from 2016. The 1-10 record obscures the fact that VMI gave some major scares to its SoCon opponents, including East Tennessee State, Western Carolina, and VMI’s historic rival The Citadel.
In its fifth season of existence, the Huskies (1-10, 0-9) had its lone win over DII Southwest Baptist and now have not won more than four games (2016) in its history.
Cedric Thomas, former Golden Lion player and defensive coordinator at Alcorn State, took as head coach of the UAPB program last year. The end results were similar as recent years – another 2-9 season – but there was some promise, as four of their losses were by a touchdown or less.
College Sports Journal’s NCAA 2019 College Football Team Previews are being released all summer, and we’re ranking every Division I school from Number 256 to Number 1. Check back to see where your favorite school is ranked! 256. Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (FCS) 255. Robert Morris Colonials (FCS) 254. Presbyterian Blue Hose (FCS).
A somewhat promising season crashed and burned to a disappointing 2-8 record. In eight games, including one of their victories, the Dolphin defense gave up more than thirty points.
Presbyterian Blue Hose Location: Clinton, SC Coach: Tommy Spangler (48-39), 8th Season Stadium: Bailey Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 6,500) CSJ Projections: 7th: Big South 9th: South Carolina 124th: FCS 254th: Division I 2018 In A Sentence: The Blue Hose limped to a 2-8 season, their only victories coming against a pair of NAIA schools, Bluefield College.
College Sports Journal’s NCAA 2019 College Football Team Previews are being released all summer, and we’re ranking all the Division I HBCUs from Number 20 to Number 1. Check back to see where your favorite HBCU is ranked!
In Week 3, the Colonials fell 73-7 to perennial FCS power James Madison, and things didn’t improve much from there, with Robert Morris losing eight other games to their FCS opponents.
At homecoming, the Delta Devils outlasted Arkansas-Pine Bluff in two overtimes, 48-47. It was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal inaugural season for new head coach Vincent Dancy, as MVSU went 1-10.
For the first time, the average FCS crowd size was below 8,000 per game, averaging 7,853 fans. Last year, the average 8,223 fans per contest, marking a 4.5% drop from year to year.
What’s wrong, and can anything be done to reverse the decline?
It’s May. Spring football is over, and the preseason camps don’t start for a couple months. We are in the doldrums of the FCS offseason. But at this point, everyone is 0-0 and hope springs eternal. 127 schools think they have a shot to make the playoffs and compete for an FCS Championship in Frisco..
Lehigh Athletics simply can’t ignore the outside forces of college football and televised sports forever. They need one renovation more than any other – lights in order to open up the possibility of hosting late afternoon or early evening games.
There was no official scoring, but plenty of physical play and competition that made it a fun morning for players and spectators.
The challenges of being a Division I football coach – the recruiting, the staff-building, even the organization of setting up the program the way Gilmore wants it – are clearly something that he relishes, perhaps even a bit more so now.
National championships are hard to come by at any level, particularly team titles. Stop and reflect for a few seconds that it has been nearly 12 years since any Appalachian squad has won a national crown in any sport.
An astounding eight schools in this year’s Unclean Sixteen – Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan State, LSU, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Virginia – have had their names involved in this corruption scandal that has dragged on for more than eighteen months.
The Cavaliers delivered a huge statement to the rest of the field in Sunday night’s second round with their 63-51 dismantling of No. 9 Oklahoma. This Virginia team is ready for the long haul.
The Blue Devils survived two tantalizing UCF shots at the end for their incredible 77-76 victory in one of the most memorable second-round contests in tournament history.
#13 UC Irvine vs. #12 Oregon (South Region) When: Sunday, March 23, 9:40 p.m. ET (approx) Where: SAP Arena, San Jose, California TV/Streaming: TBS, March Madness Live UC Irvine Anteaters (31-5, 15-1) Irvine, California Big West Conference Head Coach: Russell Turner (Ninth season, 188-125 @ UCI & overall) Enrollment: 29,307 Sagarin Rating: 76 Scouting Report: This year is the.
#6 Buffalo vs. #2 Texas Tech (West Region) When: Sunday, March 23, 6:10 p.m. ET Where: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma TV/Streaming: TNT, March Madness Live Buffalo Bulls (32-3, 16-2) Buffalo, New York Mid-America Conference Head Coach: Nate Oats (4th season, 96-42 @ Buffalo & overall) Enrollment: 20,071 Sagarin Rating: 21 Scouting Report: Buffalo enters this.
#7 Wofford vs. #2 Kentucky (Midwest Region) When: Saturday, March 22, 2:40 p.m. ET Where: Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida TV/Streaming: CBS, March Madness Live Wofford Terriers (30-4, 18-0) Spartanburg, South Carolina Southern Conference Head Coach: Mike Young (17th season, 299-243 @ Wofford & overall) Enrollment: 1,650 Sagarin Rating: 32 Scouting Report: Wofford won its first.
#13 UC Irvine vs. #4 Kansas State (South Region) When: Friday, March 21, 2:00 p.m. ET Where: SAP Arena, San Jose, California TV/Streaming: TBS, March Madness Live UC Irvine Anteaters (30-5, 15-1) Irvine, California Big West Conference Head Coach: Russell Turner (Ninth season, 187-125 @ UCI & overall) Enrollment: 29,307 Sagarin Rating: 87 Scouting Report:.
#10 Florida vs. #7 Nevada (West Region) When: Thursday, March 20, 6:50 p.m. ET Where: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa TV/Streaming: TNT, March Madness Live Florida Gators (19-15, 9-9) Gainesville, Florida Southeastern Conference Head Coach: Mike White (Fourth season, 69-37 @ UF, 170-77 overall) Enrollment: 35,247 Sagarin Rating: 28 Scouting Report: Florida is back.
The intrigue over this game is interesting. Oni for Yale is an NBA-caliber talent, but he can’t do it all alone.
This game features two of the best scorers that college basketball has to offer. This game could be the game of the day on Thursday with two teams who can get the score into the 80s or even the 90s.
#12 New Mexico State vs. #5 Auburn (Midwest Region) When: Thursday, March 20, 1:30 PM Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah TV/Streaming: TNT, March Madness Live New Mexico State Aggies (30-4, 15-1) Las Cruces, New Mexico Western Athletic Conference Head Coach: Chris Jans (Second season, 58-10 @ NMSU, 79-22 overall) Enrollment: 11,713 Sagarin.
Arizona State under head coach Bobby Hurley has been a rollercoaster ride, never quite getting over the top (losing to Pac 12 champs Oregon twice down the stretch) but still eking out a 20+ win season and doing just enough to get into the tourney despite the overall perceived weakness of the Pac 12 in general.
#16 North Carolina Central vs. #16 North Dakota State (South Region) When: Wednesday, March 19, 6:40 PM Where: UD Arena, Dayton, Ohio TV/Streaming: truTV, March Madness Live North Carolina Central Eagles (18-15, 10-6) Durham, North Carolina Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Head Coach: LeVelle Moton (Ninth season, 175–128 @ NCCU & overall) Enrollment: 6,355 Sagarin Rating: 296 Scouting Report: NCCU.
With the AAC down overall this season, the Owls had to sweat our selection Sunday. They 13-5 record was enough to get them in despite losing in the quarterfinal of the conference tournament.
#16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. #16 Prairie View A&M (West Region) When: Tuesday, March 19, 6:40 PM Where: UD Arena, Dayton, Ohio TV/Streaming: truTV, March Madness Live Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (20-13, 12-6 ) Hackensack, New Jersey Northeast Conference Head Coach: Greg Herenda (sixth season, 80-107 @ FDU, 205-188 overall) Enrollment: 6,464 Sagarin Rating: 217 Scouting Report: FDU won a share of.
A 31-14 win over Southern Connecticut (D-II) brought the Warriors time in Division II to a close with a 5-5 record. Merrimack announced they would be beginning their transition to becoming a Division I athletics program in 2019, where their final destination will be the NEC.
Win or lose last year, one thing was for certain in Gardner-Webb games: it would not be close. The closest margin of victory in every game the Bulldogs played was 16 points – a 16-0 loss to Charleston Southern.
St. Francis (PA) Red Flash Location: Loretto, PA Coach: Chris Villarrial (40-59), 9th Season at St. Francis (PA) Stadium: DeGol Field (Capacity: 3,500) CSJ Projections: 6th: NEC 8th: Pennsylvania 103rd: FCS 233rd: Division I 2018 In a Sentence: Three heartbreaking, last-minute out-of-conference losses to Lehigh, Richmond, and Albany (NY) turned what could have realistically.
After a 1-9 season, longtime head football coach Phil Estes stepped down as Bears head football coach after an illustrious 21 year career.
The Bulldogs got off to a great start with a win at the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s Youngstown State, but could not use that momentum into PFL play to finish 4-7 overall and just 2-6 in PFL play.
SFA hired 2017 D-II national title winning Coach Colby Carthel away from Texas A&M-Commerce.
On Homecoming, head coach Dewayne Alexander and the Golden Eagles broke their 11 game losing streak, upsetting Murray State 27-24. It was the highlight of an otherwise tough 1-10 season.
The Hatters went 8-2 last season and were in contention for the Pioneer Football League title, had PFL winners San Diego slipped up along the way.
Assistant coach John Hendrick was thrust into the head coaching position on an interim basis after Tony Hughes was let go after a 41-7 drubbing by Southern.
Say what you want about the Wildcats and their feather-light schedule – Davidson was a mighty entertaining football team last year.
Going into November, hopes were high that the 3-5 Leopards would turn the corner and do enough to beat their archrival Lehigh in the final game of the season. Instead John Garrett’s team would lose to Holy Cross, Army and their Rivals to close out a disappointing 3-8 season.
The Red Foxes had a chance to end the year with a winning record, but a 31-14 loss to PFL champions San Diego doomed Marist to a 5-6 record. Marist went 5-3 in Pioneer League play, but went 0-3 outside their conference schedule.
The Bears had modest expectations under interim head coach Earnest T. Jones, and seemed to exceed those expectations greatly with their a 4-7 record, highlighted by perhaps the biggest win in FCS last season: Morgan State’s shocking 16-13 upset of North Carolina A&T 16-13 in Greensboro. The historic upset was not enough to have the “interim” label removed from Jones’ job description, however, and former Michigan running back Tyrone Wheatley was hired to become the Bears’ next head football coach.
The Eagles yielded a staggering 6 touchdowns a game en route to a 3-8 season, giving up 40 or more points in seven of eleven contests. In their two Pioneer Football Conference wins, the defense only yielded 28 and 24 points respectively against Davidson and Valparaiso.
College Sports Journal’s NCAA 2019 College Football FCS Team Previews are being released all summer, and we’re ranking every FCS school from Number 126 to Number 1. Check back to see where your favorite school is ranked!
After a brutal 0-7 start to the Rod Milstead era, the Hornets made a big turnaround by the end of the year, winning three of their final four games to salvage a 3-8 season. One of the wins, however, came against hapless USCAA school Virgina University of Lynchburg.
The Crusaders regressed to a 2-9 overall mark (2-6 PFL) after posting a 6-5 mark in 2017 and also lost its head coach Dave Cecchini in the offseason, who left to be the head man at Bucknell of the Patriot League.
A brutal 1-10 season saw the end of the Joe Susan era at Bucknell, with the Bison hiring former Valparaiso head coach and Patriot League assistant coach and player Dave Cecchini to take over the reins of the program.
In their final season in Division II, LIU-Post went out in style, beating perennial NE-10 power New Haven to win their conference championship and qualify for the playoffs with a 10-0 record.
Following a humiliating 60-14 loss to Prairie View A&M to close out a dismal 2-9 season, three year head coach Michael Haywood resigned and Clarence McKinney, who had served as Associate Head Coach and running backs Coach at Arizona, was hired to replace him.
On November 3rd, the Keydets downed D-II Tusculum 20-11, snapping a 25 game losing streak that dated from 2016. The 1-10 record obscures the fact that VMI gave some major scares to its SoCon opponents, including East Tennessee State, Western Carolina, and VMI’s historic rival The Citadel.
In its fifth season of existence, the Huskies (1-10, 0-9) had its lone win over DII Southwest Baptist and now have not won more than four games (2016) in its history.
Cedric Thomas, former Golden Lion player and defensive coordinator at Alcorn State, took as head coach of the UAPB program last year. The end results were similar as recent years – another 2-9 season – but there was some promise, as four of their losses were by a touchdown or less.
College Sports Journal’s NCAA 2019 College Football Team Previews are being released all summer, and we’re ranking every Division I school from Number 256 to Number 1. Check back to see where your favorite school is ranked! 256. Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (FCS) 255. Robert Morris Colonials (FCS) 254. Presbyterian Blue Hose (FCS).
A somewhat promising season crashed and burned to a disappointing 2-8 record. In eight games, including one of their victories, the Dolphin defense gave up more than thirty points.
Presbyterian Blue Hose Location: Clinton, SC Coach: Tommy Spangler (48-39), 8th Season Stadium: Bailey Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 6,500) CSJ Projections: 7th: Big South 9th: South Carolina 124th: FCS 254th: Division I 2018 In A Sentence: The Blue Hose limped to a 2-8 season, their only victories coming against a pair of NAIA schools, Bluefield College.
College Sports Journal’s NCAA 2019 College Football Team Previews are being released all summer, and we’re ranking all the Division I HBCUs from Number 20 to Number 1. Check back to see where your favorite HBCU is ranked!
In Week 3, the Colonials fell 73-7 to perennial FCS power James Madison, and things didn’t improve much from there, with Robert Morris losing eight other games to their FCS opponents.
At homecoming, the Delta Devils outlasted Arkansas-Pine Bluff in two overtimes, 48-47. It was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal inaugural season for new head coach Vincent Dancy, as MVSU went 1-10.
For the first time, the average FCS crowd size was below 8,000 per game, averaging 7,853 fans. Last year, the average 8,223 fans per contest, marking a 4.5% drop from year to year.
What’s wrong, and can anything be done to reverse the decline?
It’s May. Spring football is over, and the preseason camps don’t start for a couple months. We are in the doldrums of the FCS offseason. But at this point, everyone is 0-0 and hope springs eternal. 127 schools think they have a shot to make the playoffs and compete for an FCS Championship in Frisco..
Lehigh Athletics simply can’t ignore the outside forces of college football and televised sports forever. They need one renovation more than any other – lights in order to open up the possibility of hosting late afternoon or early evening games.
There was no official scoring, but plenty of physical play and competition that made it a fun morning for players and spectators.
The challenges of being a Division I football coach – the recruiting, the staff-building, even the organization of setting up the program the way Gilmore wants it – are clearly something that he relishes, perhaps even a bit more so now.
National championships are hard to come by at any level, particularly team titles. Stop and reflect for a few seconds that it has been nearly 12 years since any Appalachian squad has won a national crown in any sport.
An astounding eight schools in this year’s Unclean Sixteen – Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan State, LSU, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Virginia – have had their names involved in this corruption scandal that has dragged on for more than eighteen months.
The Cavaliers delivered a huge statement to the rest of the field in Sunday night’s second round with their 63-51 dismantling of No. 9 Oklahoma. This Virginia team is ready for the long haul.
The Blue Devils survived two tantalizing UCF shots at the end for their incredible 77-76 victory in one of the most memorable second-round contests in tournament history.
#13 UC Irvine vs. #12 Oregon (South Region) When: Sunday, March 23, 9:40 p.m. ET (approx) Where: SAP Arena, San Jose, California TV/Streaming: TBS, March Madness Live UC Irvine Anteaters (31-5, 15-1) Irvine, California Big West Conference Head Coach: Russell Turner (Ninth season, 188-125 @ UCI & overall) Enrollment: 29,307 Sagarin Rating: 76 Scouting Report: This year is the.
#6 Buffalo vs. #2 Texas Tech (West Region) When: Sunday, March 23, 6:10 p.m. ET Where: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma TV/Streaming: TNT, March Madness Live Buffalo Bulls (32-3, 16-2) Buffalo, New York Mid-America Conference Head Coach: Nate Oats (4th season, 96-42 @ Buffalo & overall) Enrollment: 20,071 Sagarin Rating: 21 Scouting Report: Buffalo enters this.
#7 Wofford vs. #2 Kentucky (Midwest Region) When: Saturday, March 22, 2:40 p.m. ET Where: Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida TV/Streaming: CBS, March Madness Live Wofford Terriers (30-4, 18-0) Spartanburg, South Carolina Southern Conference Head Coach: Mike Young (17th season, 299-243 @ Wofford & overall) Enrollment: 1,650 Sagarin Rating: 32 Scouting Report: Wofford won its first.
#13 UC Irvine vs. #4 Kansas State (South Region) When: Friday, March 21, 2:00 p.m. ET Where: SAP Arena, San Jose, California TV/Streaming: TBS, March Madness Live UC Irvine Anteaters (30-5, 15-1) Irvine, California Big West Conference Head Coach: Russell Turner (Ninth season, 187-125 @ UCI & overall) Enrollment: 29,307 Sagarin Rating: 87 Scouting Report:.
#10 Florida vs. #7 Nevada (West Region) When: Thursday, March 20, 6:50 p.m. ET Where: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa TV/Streaming: TNT, March Madness Live Florida Gators (19-15, 9-9) Gainesville, Florida Southeastern Conference Head Coach: Mike White (Fourth season, 69-37 @ UF, 170-77 overall) Enrollment: 35,247 Sagarin Rating: 28 Scouting Report: Florida is back.
The intrigue over this game is interesting. Oni for Yale is an NBA-caliber talent, but he can’t do it all alone.
This game features two of the best scorers that college basketball has to offer. This game could be the game of the day on Thursday with two teams who can get the score into the 80s or even the 90s.
#12 New Mexico State vs. #5 Auburn (Midwest Region) When: Thursday, March 20, 1:30 PM Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah TV/Streaming: TNT, March Madness Live New Mexico State Aggies (30-4, 15-1) Las Cruces, New Mexico Western Athletic Conference Head Coach: Chris Jans (Second season, 58-10 @ NMSU, 79-22 overall) Enrollment: 11,713 Sagarin.
Arizona State under head coach Bobby Hurley has been a rollercoaster ride, never quite getting over the top (losing to Pac 12 champs Oregon twice down the stretch) but still eking out a 20+ win season and doing just enough to get into the tourney despite the overall perceived weakness of the Pac 12 in general.
#16 North Carolina Central vs. #16 North Dakota State (South Region) When: Wednesday, March 19, 6:40 PM Where: UD Arena, Dayton, Ohio TV/Streaming: truTV, March Madness Live North Carolina Central Eagles (18-15, 10-6) Durham, North Carolina Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Head Coach: LeVelle Moton (Ninth season, 175–128 @ NCCU & overall) Enrollment: 6,355 Sagarin Rating: 296 Scouting Report: NCCU.
With the AAC down overall this season, the Owls had to sweat our selection Sunday. They 13-5 record was enough to get them in despite losing in the quarterfinal of the conference tournament.
#16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. #16 Prairie View A&M (West Region) When: Tuesday, March 19, 6:40 PM Where: UD Arena, Dayton, Ohio TV/Streaming: truTV, March Madness Live Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (20-13, 12-6 ) Hackensack, New Jersey Northeast Conference Head Coach: Greg Herenda (sixth season, 80-107 @ FDU, 205-188 overall) Enrollment: 6,464 Sagarin Rating: 217 Scouting Report: FDU won a share of.
