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NEC Preview: There Can Be Only One

By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA — Some of the media couldn't believe it. Neither could Albany head football coach Bob Ford. Neither could Marty Fine, Bryant's head coach. How could Wagner be picked seventh out of nine teams in the NEC coaches' poll to begin the season? It's not.

MEAC Preview: Norfolk State Looks To Repeat

By Roscoe Nance Special to College Sports Journal Editor's note: This piece originally appeared on the website Boxtorow.com. The teams are placed in order of predicted finish. Norfolk State is predicted to finish first in the MEAC this year, followed by South Carolina State, Bethune Cookman, and North Carolina A&T.

Patriot League Preview: Loaded for Mountain Hawk

By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA — Winning one league championship is hard.  Winning two, exceptional.   But winning three in a row?  That's the very large task of the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, who were virtually a unanimous pick to win the Patriot League in 2012.   "Setting out to.

FCS Playoffs Expands to Field Of 24

Staff Report College Sports Journal   INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Women’s rowing is one of three Division I sports whose championship brackets will expand in 2013. In August, the NCAA Executive Committee approved a budget that included a recommendation from the Division I Championships/Sport Management Cabinet to expand championships in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision,.

CSJ Announces 2012 Preseason FCS All-America Team

College Sports Journal Special Report   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — Towson sophomore running back Terrance West, the freshman of the year on the 2011 All-America team, heads up a star-studded group named to the first 2012 College Sports Journal preseason Football Championship Subdivision All-America squad.   Other players who were honored on the 2011 All-America team.

Boxtorow Announces Preseason HBCU All-America Football Team

By Donal Ware HBCU Columnist College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — Howard linebacker Keith Pough, North Carolina A&T running back Mike Mayhew, Alabama State free safety Kejuan Riley, and Jackson State defensive end Joseph LeBeau are just four of the players who make up the 2012 Boxtorow Preseason HBCU All-America football team. The preseason team is.

The Looming Problem With CAA Football

By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — For Albany and Stony Brook, two prestigious universities in the SUNY system, it was supposed to be a banner day for their football programs.   The Great Danes and Seawolves were announced yesterday as the newest members of the CAA football conference —.

Missouri Valley Preview: MVFC Looks To Top Last Year

By Kyle Roth Columnist College Sports Journal   FARGO, ND. — After finishing atop most statistical rating services as the top FCS conference last year – not to mention the NCAA FCS National champions in North Dakota State – the Missouri Valley Football Conference enters the 2012-13 preseason expecting to once again contend as the.

NEC Coaches Place UAlbany Atop Preseason Football Poll

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   SOMERSET, NJ – UAlbany became quite familiar with first place in the Northeast Conference Football Preseason Coaches’ Poll during the previous decade, having resided there for four consecutive years from 2006 through 2009.  Now, after a two-year hiatus, Bob Ford’s Great Danes are once again the preseason favorite.

SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll Released

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Georgia Southern Eagles have been selected the preseason favorite in the Southern Conference for 2012 in balloting conducted by the league's head football coaches.  It is the first time the Eagles have been picked in the top spot of the coaches poll since 2003..

Missouri Valley Preseason All-Conference Team

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   ST. LOUIS, MO. (Courtesy of the Missouri Sports Magazine) – Missouri State senior tight end Matt Thayer (Bellevue, Neb.) and sophomore linebacker Andrew Beisel (Fenton, Mo.) were part of the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s preseason all-conference teams announced Thursday (Aug. 2) by the 10-member conference. Two of the.

North Dakota State Picked No. 1 In MVFC Preseason Poll

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   North Dakota State has been picked to win the Missouri Valley Football Conference crown in 2012.   NDSU is the defending national champion and shared the league title with UNI last year.   The Bison received the top spot, earning 37 of 38 first-place votes, in a poll.

SoCon Preseason All-Conference Team

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford senior running back Eric Breitenstein has been named the Southern Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while Georgia Southern senior defensive lineman Brent Russell has been named the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in voting conducted by the league's head coaches.  Breitenstein.

Lehigh Picked to Win 2012 Patriot League Football Title

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   BETHLEHEM, Pa. – On the heels of its second consecutive Patriot League championship and with a 14-game winning streak against League opponents, Lehigh has been selected as the preseason pick to win the title yet again, it was announced on Wednesday at Patriot League Football Media Day at.

Patriot Principals Predict Parity

  By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — The numbers on the Patriot League preseason poll were fairly resounding.   On paper, with Lehigh garnering 11 out of a possible 12 first-place votes and a statistically perfect score of 60, the Mountain Hawks were essentially the unanimous choice to win.

OVC Preseason All-Conference Team

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   NASHVILLE – Murray State senior quarterback Casey Brockman was named 2012 Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year while Southeast Missouri State senior linebacker Blake Peiffer was tabbed OVC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in a vote of by the league’s head football coaches and.

Eastern Kentucky Leads OVC Preseason Poll

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   NASHVILLE – For the first time since the 2009 season Eastern Kentucky has been picked the favorite in the Ohio Valley Conference football race.   The Colonels picked up 12 of the 18 first-place votes in the 2012 poll which is a vote of league head coaches and.

SWAC Media Day: AAMU Looks To Prove Media Wrong

  By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA – Most years at college football media days, past performance is almost always indicative of the results of the preseason polls.   So you might be forgiven if Alabama A&M linebacker Vernon Marshall was surprised when his Bulldogs, who made it all the.

Southland Preseason All-Conference Team

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   FRISCO, Texas – A total of 35 of the 52 Southland Conference football players who earned all-conference honors after the 2011 season return for the 2012 season and garner spots on the preseason all-conference teams, the league office announced Tuesday in advance of next week’s media day at.

SWAC Preseason All-Conference Team

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   BIRMINGHAM, AL – The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced the 2012 Preseason All-Conference football team on Monday at the annual Media Day event at the Birmingham  Marriott. Grambling State running back Dawarence Roberts was chosen as the preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while Jackson State defensive lineman Joseph.

MEAC Preseason All-Conference Team

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   NORFOLK, Va. -North Carolina A&T running back Mike Mayhew and linebacker Keith Pough received top honors as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced its 2012 preseason football team at the annual Football Press Luncheon Banquet on Friday afternoon at the Sheraton Waterside Hotel in Virginia. Mayhew was selected.

Spartans Picked to Repeat as MEAC Football Champions

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   NORFOLK, Va. – Last season, the Norfolk State football team had the element of surprise on its side. Picked to finish fifth in the preseason Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference poll, the Spartans proceeded to win their first-ever MEAC title. The Spartans won’t have the luxury of surprise this season..

Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   PARK CITY, UT (July 15, 2012) – Co-reigning Big Sky Conference champion Montana State placed six players on the preseason All-Conference Team. The squad was chosen by select media and sports information directors in the league, and released Sunday at the start of the Big Sky’s Summer Kickoff.

Montana State Tops Big Sky Preseason Poll

  Staff Report College Sports Journal   PARK CITY, UTAH (July 17, 2012) — Two-time defending Big Sky Conference football co-champion Montana State has been selected first by the media and the coaches in the 2012 preseason polls. The polls were released Tuesday at the Summer Kickoff in Park City, Utah. Rob Ash’s Montana State.

Portrait of Penn State Cover-Up Emerges from Freeh Report

  By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — With the release of the Freeh report, there's no longer any doubt as to what Joe Pa knew about sexual assault of boys in his facilities in his athletic department, and when he knew it.   A portrait emerges of four men.

College Football Hall Of Fame Misfires Again For FCS

  By David Coulson Executive Editor/Managing Partner College Sports Journal   Editor’s note: This the first of a two-part series on the College Football Hall of Fame, which inducts its 2012 class this month in South Bend, IN. Somehow, for the second time in four years, no Football Championship Subdivision candidates were selected.    In.

FBS Four-Team Playoff Won’t Stop Controversy

By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — At first, it was polls, and then it was bowls.  But in 2014, for the Football Bowl Subdivision, there will finally be a playoff.   Of sorts.   A host of coaches, fans and media members, predicatably, formed a throng of cheering supporters.

Get It Right, NCAA: UND Gets NDSU’s Championship Banner

By Kyle Roth Columnist College Sports Journal   FARGO, ND. — Here in North Dakota, folks learn to take pride in the simple things.   We’re a state whose economy is founded on the fiscally-conservative agricultural field, we vote in the “go with the flow” mentality that’s pervaded our state for generations, and we’re taught.

Why did Boston U. Leave America East?

By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. —I’ve had a weekend to think about the first addition to the Patriot League since American University joined in 2000.   And the thought I keep coming back to is the following:   With the momentous decision on football scholarships happening in February, would.

Erik Rockhold Retires On His Own Terms

By David Coulson Executive Editor College Sports Journal   READING, PA. — Erik Rockhold is one of those unforgettable personalities that make following football at any level extra fun.   Of course, one of the things that makes this Appalachian State alumnus a little more interesting is the fact he is a place kicker.  .

Boston U. Becomes Patriot League’s Newest Member

By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   Nobody outside of the inner circle saw this one coming.   With most dimestore pundits (including this one) thinking that Boston University might be a target of the CAA’s effort to solve their current woes, Boston University president Robert A. Brown and the eight presidents of the.

Three Ways Forward for the CAA

By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — Wouldn’t it be great if every time you needed to articulate something, you had a politician to call to say it? You have to wonder if Tom Yeager, commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association, is mulling that over in his head as he.

A Need For Revolutionary Thinking to Save the CAA

By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — In every place in America that I’ve lived, there’s been evidence of the times of the American revolutionary war.   Close by, in some form or another, I’ve been amongst 18th-century farmhouses and ancient taverns where George Washingon, Ben Franklin or John Adams.

Bill Stewart’s Coaching Success Was All About Relationships

By David Coulson Executive Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — Whenever I think about Bill Stewart, I remember back to one specific incident at a Southern Conference media day in the mid-1990s.   Stewart was trying to rebuild the long moribund football program at VMI, but had already won over realms of friends.

Old Dominion Departs CAA for Conference USA

By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — The Monarchs’ reign in FCS didn’t last very long.   Wood Selig, Old Dominion’s athletic director, called a 2:30 PM press conference today to announce that the Monarchs would be moving to Conference USA effective July 1st, 2013.   With Georgia State’s move.

BCS Politics Reach To NCAA Softball Tourney With Fresno State Snub

By David Coulson Executive Editor College Sporting News   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — Several years ago, I remember a conversation with an athletic director from an Football Championship Subdivision school on his role as a member of the NCAA Division I Baseball committee.   This AD, who was a veteran of the NCAA Division I Football.

CAA Schools, Guns At The Ready, Ready To Leave

By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — The movie “Face/Off”, starring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage, is the ultimate John Woo movie, filled with incredibly choreographed Hong Kong-style action but with top actors filling the starring roles.   Woo movies are also known for something that is called “Mexican Standoffs”,.

The College Football Realignment Maelstrom

By Chuck Burton Publisher/Managing Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — The first instinct many people have when a hurricane is headed their way is denial.   Though there were plenty of signs in retrospect that Hurricane Katrina in 2005 would hit landfall again and gain strength over the Gulf of Mexico, many, many.

Few FCS Surprises in 2012 NFL Draft

By Josh Buchanan NFL Columnist College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — There were not a lot surprises for me among Football Championship Subdivision players as the NFL draft unfolded last week.   Appalachian State wide receiver Brian Quick had long been expected to be the first pick among FCS players and his selection as.

SCSU’s Thompson Only HBCU Player Taken In NFL Draft

By Donal Ware HBCU Columnist College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — South Carolina State safety Christian Thompson was the only player from an HBCU taken in the 2012 NFL Draft. Thompson was taken in the fourth round — 130th overall — by the Baltimore Ravens. “This can’t be real,” said Thompson when asked about.

Crossing The Penn Relays Off My Personal Bucket List

By David Coulson Executive Editor College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — For many sports fans, the only time they pay attention to track and field is every four years, during the Summer Olympics.   If you live in the Philly area, like I do, that arc may be reduced to a yearly occurrence as.

FCS Looks To Have Impressive NFL Draft

By Josh Buchanan NFL Columnist College Sports Journal   PHILADELPHIA, PA. — The first night of the NFL Draft may have come and gone without a Football Championship Subdivision player being selected in the first round.   But the rest of the weekend should prove to be eventful for FCS performers.   This year as.