Covering All College Sports Since 2012
The king of the new conference until further notice is Sam Houston (10-0, 6-0 in Southland), which became the first Division I football program in the state of Texas to win a national championship since Vince Young’s vaunted Texas squad.
The Gamecocks (10-3, 6-1 in Ohio Valley) flip-flopped quarterback injuries while playing the most games in the FCS over the fall/spring season.
Paul Petrino and company were eight points away from being 0-6 in the spring season. The Vandals out-schemed EWU in the first game of the season, but their only other win would be a one-point escape from the clutches of Southern Utah.
Abilene Christian (1-5) struggled during an abbreviated fall season, dropping a game to D-II Angelo State, and playing three FBS opponents.
Having played last fall, but not in the spring, the Bears return 20 starters, and they also get back some former starters from injuries.
Stephen F. Austin (6-4) had an encouraging fall season. SFA named itself Southland Conference Fall Champions after beating Abilene Christian – the only other SLC team to play in the fall.
Can the Eagles send Barriere onto his pro aspirations with a conference title or better this season?
Eastern Kentucky (3-6) played a fall season and beat Stephen F. Austin 24-6 in its lone matchup against a future WAC opponent.
Second-year head coach Blane Morgan has a difficult task ahead of him at Lamar (2-4, 2-4 in Southland), but the Cardinals showed some fight in the spring season.
The NDSU 2021 spring season was the worst team from the Fargo school in the last decade. The Bison still went to the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs but fell at eventual national champion Sam Houston in that round after NDSU defeated Eastern Washington in the first round.
South Dakota State finally got over the hump this past spring. The Jacks beat North Dakota State in the final regular season game to earn the top seed in the FCS playoffs where they would host all playoff games in Brookings. SDSU used that home field advantage to dispatch Holy Cross, Southern Illinois, and Delaware to reach their first ever national championship game in Frisco, Texas.
The newest MVFC member is North Dakota had a very successful first season in the MVFC this past spring in being a tri-champion. The Fighting Hawks won their first ever DI playoff game over MVFC mate Missouri State before falling to FCS power James Madison in the quarterfinals.
Northern Iowa was just not on its game this past spring in finishing with a losing record for the first time since the 2016 season. That next season of 2017, the Panthers bounced back to make the playoffs. UNI hopes to duplicate that in the 2021 season.
Southern Illinois got over the hump this past spring with its first playoff bid since 2009. SIU used the most of their appearance in getting an upset win at Weber State in the first round and the Salukis advanced to the quarterfinals but lost at 31-26 heartbreaker to MVFC mate South Dakota State.
MSU finished tied for the conference crown and also received the team’s first playoff bid since 1990. While the Bears would fall in the first round to MVFC foe North Dakota, the team exceeded expectations by a long shot in Perinto’s first campaign in Springfield.
Illinois State lost its first three contests before defeating Western Illinois in what would be their last game of the spring. Illinois State after that win then shut down their season due to safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
USD started Carson Camp as the first freshman quarterback to start a season opener in recorded history at USD. He was the Valley’s second-leading passer and ranked 16th nationally at 241 yards per game.
Coach Doug Phillips took over the Penguins this past spring season after most recently being on the staff of FBS Cincinnati. He was previously on the YSU staff as a graduate assistant in 1991 and 1992.
Western Illinois had no problems really on offense this past spring with QB Conner Sampson leading the team with two go-to receivers in Dennis Houston and Tony Tate being his prime targets.
Indiana State was the lone MVFC squad to decide to not play any game in the spring 2021 schedule. The Sycamores will be the first MVFC team to play this fall with a game at home in Week 0 versus the Ohio Valley’s Eastern Illinois.
Head coach Frank Scelfo has Southeastern Louisiana (4-3, 4-2) poised to make a run at the Southland title and an FCS playoff berth this year.
The preseason favorite to win the Southland in the spring, Nicholls (4-3, 3-3) struggled down the stretch – losing three of its final four games to finish third in the conference.
The UIW offense was spectacular, averaging 42 points per game due to the emergence of Jerry Rice Award winner – given to FCS’s top freshman – Cameron Ward (2,260 yards, 24 TDs).
No team in the country dealt with more hardship last year than McNeese (3-4, 2-4).
With the transfer of Bailey Zappe, Houston Baptist (1-3, 0-0) will have a new starting quarterback for the first time since 2017.
Northwestern State (1-5, 1-5) is poised for a breakout season this year despite a tough spring season.
The Govs look to challenge for the top spot in the league.
Returning all 22 starters from the previous season is something rarely seen in college football. Couple that with the fact a new coach got those 22 players to perform at a high level in their first season together only fuels the excitement in southern Kentucky this season.
In the boot hill of the Show-Me State, Southeast Missouri State has the potential to sweep through the OVC. Just ask SEMO coach Tom Matukewicz.
The Skyhawks find themselves sitting in the middle of the OVC preseason poll. And that’s a pretty good sport since there are some question marks surrounding UT as the start of fall camp looms on the horizon.
Three of Tech’s setbacks were by a combined 16 points. Now the Golden Eagles think they have something to prove to those naysayers.
While one NFL hall of famer continues to cherish the sound of his own voice on a daily basis as he looks to become known as a successful coach, another, even more successful collegiate player, begins his coaching career not far from where he earned his spot in Canton.
Eastern Illinois has every reason to believe things will return to normal in Charleston and that the Panthers will once again become a force in the FCS. But it’s going to take some baby steps and 2021 will likely not be the year it happens.
College football season is once again upon us! Fans can rejoice as the wait is over for college football in Colorado, but how will each team shake out? Below is a season preview for what we can expect from each team and ranked.
UCF picked up right where it left off in 2017 in Coach Heupel’s first year at the helm by storming through the regular season, extending its nation-leading win streak to 25 games. The streak included a pair of come-from-behind wins over Memphis (twice) and Temple, to claim the program’s second consecutive AAC championship
Cincinnati kicked off the season with a six-game win streak until an overtime loss to Temple snapped the hot start. But the Bearcats picked right back up by winning four of their final five games (with the other loss at UCF) and qualified for a first bowl game in three seasons.
The Bulldogs won their third MWC championship since joining the league in 2012. Fresno State lost 24-17 to Boise State on the road during the regular season but the Bulldogs avenged their loss to the Broncos in the conference title game, earning a 19-16 win in overtime.
The Tigers were 4-4 following back-to-back losses to UCF and Missouri. It was the worst start by a Memphis team since 2013. The team responded by winning its remaining four regular-season games, securing the Tigers’ second consecutive appearance in the AAC Championship Game against UCF.
The Broncos fell short of winning their second Mountain West title in three years when they lost 19-16 in overtime to Fresno State in the MW title game and was the last official game as Boise State’s trip to the First Responder Bowl against Boston College resulted in a game cancellation due to lightning in the first quarter with the Broncos trailing 7-0 for a 10-3 overall (7-1 MWC) finish.
FAU went just 5-7 (3-5 C-USA) that ended poorly with closed with painful losses to North Texas and Charlotte by three points apiece. This was a year after Coach Lane Kiffin led the Owls to a bowl victory during his debut campaign in Boca Raton in 2017.
Arizona Wildcats Location: Tuscon, AZ Coach: Kevin Sumlin (5-7@Ariz., 91-50 overall) 1st Season Stadium: Arizona Stadium (Capacity: 55,675) CSJ Projections: 9th: Pac 12 (5th: South) 2nd: Arizona 53rd: FBS 53rd: Division I 2018 In A Sentence: The first year of the Kevin Sumlin era was one of inconsistency. With some great wins (44-15 over Oregon).
NDSU won its seventh national title in the past eight years with its win over Eastern Washington in the National Title Game and did it with its second undefeated record team in that span (15-0, 8-0 MVFC). Coach Chris Klieman coached his last game with the Bison after being named the new head coach at the Big 12’s Kansas State.
The Mountaineers almost pulled off amajor upset in the opening week but lost 45-38 in overtime at Top 10 Penn State in the opening week and rode the momentum into a Sun Belt Conference championship by winning the inaugural Sun Belt title game over Louisiana. The Mountaineers then blew out Middle Tennessee 45-13 in the New Orleans Bowl to finish 11-2 overall (7-1 SBC) but one loss was Coach Scott Satterfield departing for the same job at Louisville.
The Red Wolves finished the second half of the schedule strongly, but a 47-43 midseason loss to Louisiana-Lafayette denied them a chance to play for the first-ever Sun Belt championship game and finished with a 16-13 loss to Nevada in the Arizona Bowl to go 8-5 overall (5-3 SBC).
The Aztecs were 6-1 through their first seven games, including wins over ranked Arizona State and Boise State but SDSU lost their final three Mountain West games before losing 27-0 to Ohio in the Frisco Bowl to finish 7-6 overall (4-4 MWC)
Army lost two of its first four games but the Black Knights rolled off eight straight wins, including the third straight in its long-standing rivalry with Navy. Army capped the season in style with a win in its school-record third consecutive bowl game–a blowout win over Houston in the Arm Forces Bowl.
EWU finished second in the nation just behind the perennial Bison champions. A fantastic season of 12-3 is something to celebrate, minus the title loss. The only other losses would be to Washington State and Weber State.
Houston opened last season by winning seven of its first eight games, the program’s best start since winning 10 straight to open the 2015 season. Injuries and miscues on the defensive side caught up with the Cougars after this and lost four of their final five games, including an embarrassing 70-14 setback to Army in the Armed Forces Bowl in what would be Major Applewhite’s last season as the head coach–finishing 8-5 overall (5-3 AAC).
James Madison fell short of expectations, missing out on the conference title and losing in the second round of the FCS playoffs to Colgate. The Dukes struggled in the red zone and with turnovers. A 9-4 season was certainly a disappointment in Harrisonburg.
BYU relied on a stingy defense and much-improved offense to win seven games last season, including a win over Western Michigan in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to finish 7-6 overall.
