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Since reinstating the football program in 2015, East Tennessee State has been slowly improving, culminating in an 8-4 season and FCS playoff berth under first year head coach Randy Sanders. The Buccaneers picked up big conference wins over Chattanooga and Furman on the way to the playoffs where they lost in the first round to Jacksonville State by a touchdown.
Last season, Alcorn State was oh-so-close to knocking off North Carolina A&T in the Celebration bowl. This season, who is likely to be competing for a Celebration Bowl bid, and who’s likely to be sitting at home?
The Griz still missed the playoffs, but made improvements on both sides of the ball. QB Dalton Sneed and the offense did well at moving the ball, but the turnovers were costly for them. Dante Olson made a huge splash in the Big Sky and the FCS as a defensive nightmare for opposing teams.
The Northeast Conference welcomes two new members in 2019 in LIU and Merrimack, two teams that should bring some juice to the league in future years. That newness extends to many of the existing teams of the NEC, many of whom are headed by first or second year head coaches. In such an environment, Duquesne’s returning talent and longtime head football coach really stand out.
The Sycamores were winless (0-11) in Curt Mallory’s first season as head coach in 2017 but improved to 7-4 (5-3 MVFC) in 2018. The turnaround was not quite enough to get Indiana State in the FCS playoffs, however – they were one of the last teams on the outside looking in.
Things looked grim after an early-season defeat to Bryant left the Dukes at 3-3. But Jerry Schmitt’s team would win their next five games to win the NEC title, earning a road game against Towson in the FCS playoffs and pulling off a stunning upset, 31-10, in a rainstorm.
Delaware used a strong defense to start the 2018 season 7-2 to put themselves in contention for the CAA title and potential playoff seed. However, the Blue Hens lost their final two regular season games before falling in the first round of the playoffs against fellow CAA member James Madison.
Chattanooga got off to a promising start in 2018 before losing their last three games to end the season.
These teams are high caliber teams who will be in contention for PFL crown and the league’s automatic playoff bid.
The Toreros finished 2018 with a 9-3 overall record and a 8-0 mark in the Pioneer Football League to win their third straight PFL title outright and fifth straight including ties but USD did bow out a round earlier than the prior two seasons in the playoffs (a 49-30 first round loss at Nicholls).
New Hampshire had high expectations for 2018 that came crashing down to Earth with an awful 1-6 start to the season. The Wildcats bounced back with a couple of nice wins over Villanova and James Madison, but the damage was done early.
If you are an FCS fan and you long to see excellent quarterback play, then have we got a deal for you! The Southland conference is full of excellent returning quarterbacks that should keep the scoreboard operators busy all season long.
2018 started with a bang for Villanova with a win over FBS Temple. The Wildcats looked like contenders in not only the CAA, but the entire FCS with a 3-1 start, but then the wheels fell off. Nova lost five of their next six games before winning the annual Battle of the Blue game against Delaware.
Bethune Cookman ended the season on a strong note, wrapping up their season at 8-4. Winning almost all the games they were supposed to, they’ll look back at an early season loss to Howard at home and wonder what might have been.
A season that seemed like it was going off the rails in October was righted in November, with a three game winning streak and a sweet 45-27 win over their hated Rival Yale at Fenway Park clinching a winning campaign. It was the 135th meeting between the two bitter rivals.
WIU ended last season with a 5-6 overall record (4-4 MVFC) and finished fifth in the MVFC but twice last season the Leathernecks beat a ranked opponent–against Montana and Northern Iowa.
The Citadel started 1-4 and finished 4-2 in an up and down season. The biggest highlight came in a loss to Alabama – the Bulldogs went to the half tied 10-10 with the perennial FBS National Title contender. In the FCS, The Citadel performed about to expectations. They will be looking to take a step forward in a crowded Southern Conference this year.
Big Sky Predicted Order of Finish, Big Conference Games To Watch, And Ten Players to watch.
The Quakers remained in the upper echelon of the Ivy League with a 6-4 record and a perfect 3-0 out-of-conference record. They couldn’t get over the hump, however, when it came to challenging the top teams for the title.
Eastern Kentucky had a good season in 2018 going 7-4 overall, but 7-2 versus FCS competition, losing games to two FBS teams. The Colonels probably felt like their resume was good enough for a playoff berth and were disappointed being left out of the bracket.
Northern Arizona embodies the wildcard mentality of a fringe playoff team or a losing season in recent years.
Incarnate Word went from a football program that few knew existed and put themselves on the map in 2018. The Cardinals finished the regular season at 6-4, although two of the losses came against FBS competition. UIW earned their first FCS playoff berth where they fell to Montana State in the first round.
A year after making its first FCS playoff appearance and getting a win in the opening round, South Dakota had a disappointing 2018 campaign that saw a 4-7 overall record and a 3-5 mark in MVFC play.
Some folks thought head coach Chris Ash might be let go after a painful 1-11 season, their lone win coming on opening weekend against Texas State. But he survived a scandal-ridden lost season and is back in 2019.
Idaho had high expectations for “dropping down a level” and coming back to the Big Sky Conference. The Vandals and analysts around the FCS quickly found out that the Big Sky is not a joke and can seriously compete at a high level.
Monmouth followed up a 9-3 playoff season in 2017 with an 8-3 record in 2018. Unfortunately for the Hawks and their fans, that record was not enough to garner them a playoff berth.
“Over 40% of our team are first-year players,” Gilmore said. “And we’re excited to see what some of these freshman can do to enhance our roster and push the upperclassmen to be the best version of themselves on the field.”
The College Sports Journal Staff have put their collective heads together to release our 2019 preseason Top 25 for the upcoming FCS season. CSJ’s voter rolls are comprised of our five FCS football writers that have been following and covering FCS football for years. North Dakota State Bison The defending champs were a unanimous selection.
It was an epic battle of unbeatens when Dartmouth headed to play longtime rival Princeton in late October. The Big Green’s 14-9 loss in that game would be Dartmouth’s only blemish on the year – a terrific 9-1 season that unfortunately didn’t result in an Ivy League title.
Austin Peay had an uneven 2018 after entering the season with high expectations following a 2017 season that saw them go 8-4. The Governors struggled in conference play, where they went 3-5.
Samford came into the 2018 with high expectations, and was the talk of the FCS after nearly beating Florida State. However, the wheels came off and the Bulldogs lost four straight games before finally getting back on track at the end of the season. The losing streak was too much to overcome for Samford to make the FCS Playoff field.
It may be hard to believe, but there are only 32 days left before the Lehigh Mountain Hawks take the field in their home opener versus St. Francis (PA).
UND moved from the Big Sky Conference to the Independent ranks starting last season and while still playing a predominant Big Sky schedule, the Fighting Hawks slipped to 6-5 after making the FCS playoffs in 2017.
McNeese State came out of the gates fast, starting the season 5-1 before losing 4 of their last 5 games to miss out on the playoffs.
Two years ago, the Penguins made it to the FCS Championship, where they would be runners-up losing to the James Madison Dukes 28-14. Since then, the Penguins have finished 6-5 and 4-7 the last two seasons, including last year just 3-5 in MVFC play.
Rhode Island was one of the early surprises of the FCS season 2018, starting 5-1 and taking FBS UConn to the limit before losing 56-49. The Rams offense fired on all cylinders, and even kept pace when quarterback JaJuan Lawson went down to injury.
Outside of an upset win over a struggling Samford team, Mercer won the games they were favored in and lost the games where they were an underdog. That added up to a 5-6 record with a 4-4 Southern Conference mark.
The Wildcats left a good taste in the mouths of their fan base winning 4 of their last 5 games including victories over top Southland teams Nicholls and Sam Houston State.
After a 2-3 start, the Jaguars would cut like a hot knife through SWAC butter, winning five straight and beating Rivals Grambling 38-28 in the 45th annual Bayou Classic.
Stony Brook had a solid season in 2018, although they took a step back from their excellent 2017 season. The Seawolves made the FCS playoff field, losing in the first round to Southeast Missouri State 28-14.
Southeastern Louisiana went 4-7 in 2018 and were competitive in a number of games, but had a hard time getting the defense off the field to hold leads or complete comebacks.
Western Carolina started the 2018 season with three straight wins, but it was all downhill from there as the Catamounts lost their last 8 games of the season.
Alcorn State’s consistency allowed Fred McNair’s squad to capture their third SWAC Championship in the last five years, capping off the SWAC season with a 37-28 win over Southern in the championship game.
After a 1-6 start with an absolutely brutal out-of-conference schedule and an unfortunate loss to Colgate to start the season, Holy Cross under new head coach Bob Chesney ended the season on a 4 game winning streak to close promisingly at 5-6.
2018 brought a 5-6 overall record, but a respectable 3-2 in conference play.
Missouri State started the season by beating Northern Arizona and Illinois State and also defeated Indiana State, but things went downhill fast from there with the season ending on a five-game losing streak to finish 4-7 overall (2-6 MVFC).
The good news was that head coach Al Bagnoli guided the Lions to their second consecutive winning season. The bad news is that they weren’t able to take that next step towards to becoming Ivy League title contenders, going 3-4 in league play and losing to Harvard and Yale by a combined score of 97-28.
ichmond came into the 2018 season hoping to make a run at a playoff spot. But a porous defense caused the Spiders to struggle the entire season allowing 27 or more points 8 times.
The Salukis are a program that hasn’t had a winning record in five years and last year’s 2-9 (1-7 MVFC) mark was the worst since 2001.
Eastern Illinois struggled to a 3-8 season in 2018, but their games were not without excitement. The lowest combined point total in any of the Panthers’ games in 2018 was 45 points, and that game went to overtime.
