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UNT finished the season 9–4 (5–3 C-USA) play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the West Division and were invited to the New Mexico Bowl where they lost to Utah State.
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.
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 Blue Raiders won their first division title and came within a late score of the C-USA championship to UAB but were blown out by Appalachian State in the New Orleans Bowal to finish 8-6 overall, 7-1 C-USA.
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.
After a 2-6 start against a brutal schedule, the Cowboys made a quarterback change and found its identity, rallying for four straight wins to finish bowl eligle at 6-6 (though they were one of four elgible teams to not get a bid).
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.
The Eagles went 7-6 overall (5-3 MAC), good enough for a tie for second in the West Division and a berth in the Camelia Bowl where EMU ended up losing to Georgia Southern 23-21.
Chattanooga got off to a promising start in 2018 before losing their last three games to end the season.
The Golden Hurricane finished its season with its second straight losing record with a 3-9 mark (2-6 AAC) and the three wins were against lower teams (FCS Central Arkansas, UConn, and SMU).
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).
It was another disappointing year for the Midshipmen with a 3-10 record and their third consecutive loss to archrival Navy. It’s their worst record since 2002, and one of their wins came against an FCS team (Lehigh) that went 3-8.
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.
The Redhawks were again inconsistent–much like the full Coach Martin tenure. Miami finished 6-6 overall (6-2 MAC) but just missed out on a bowl game bid as one of the four teams that were bowl eligible but failed to get the call.
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.
After a 6-7 2017 season, WKU dropped to 3-9 in 2018, losing nine of its first 10 games of the season but closed out the year with two consecutive wins but those were not enough to save Coach Mike Sanford’s job. Sanford finished his two year tenure with a 9-16 overall mark and just 6-10 in C-USA play.
The bowl year of 2017 seemed like a distant memory as the Rams crashed to a 3-9 season. Losses to FCS Illinois State, Hawai’i and a 43-19 loss to in-state rival Colorado were some of the lowlights.
The Golden Flashes are one of four programs to have existed in the FBS prior to the 2010s and has not won a bowl game and last year Kent State finished just 2-10 (1-7 MAC) in Coach Sean Lewis’ first year at the helm.
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.
After an off-season suspension on allegations that he physically assaulted players last year, Coach Bob Davie remained on the job but finished with his second straight 3-9 season (1-7 MWC).
The Cardinals finished 4-8 overall (3-5 MAC) which doubled the win total over Coach Neu’s team in 2017.
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.
Most of the Beavers’ 2018 season was downright ugly, with a plethora of double digit blowout losses in a dismal 2-10 campaign. Their lone bright spot was a surprising 41-34 overtime win over Colorado in Boulder.
After three years of improvement in the win column, UNLV suffered a major QB injury and the Rebels dipped to just 4-8 overall (2-6 MWC).
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.
ULM was bowl-eligible (6-6 overall, 4-4 SBC) in 2018 but became one of four such teams to miss a bowl after a late rivalry loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in its season finale.
Charlotte finished 5-7 overall (4-4 C-USA) and was an improved football team in 2018 to set school records for wins at the FBS level and in C-USA play but did not improve enough to save coach Brad Lambert’s job. Lambert, the only coach the 49ers have had in their program’s six years of existence, ended his 49er run with a record of 22-48.
The Pirates finished just 3-9 overall (1-7 AAC) and finished with their third straight losing season. Coach Scottie Montgomery was fired and finished his ECU career 9-26 with a 4-20 AAC record.
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.
In Coach Turner Gill’s final year before retiring and in its first season as a full, yet transitional FBS squad, Liberty finished with a 6-6 overall record.
The Panthers dipped to just 2-10 overall (1-8 SBC) after going bowling following the 2017 season–and six of those losses were decided by three possessions or more.
The Monarchs started the season at just 1-6 (although the one win was over the ACC’s Virginia Tech) but rallied to a 3-2 end to finish the season at 4-8 overall (2-6 C-USA) and its second straight losing season.
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.
Coach Everett Withers finished his third and final season in San Marcos having never won more than three games per year–including finishing just 3-9 overall in 2018 and 7-28 in his full tenure.
Few teams have had as eventful twelve months as the hapless Jayhawks. Despite wins over Rutgers, Central Michigan and conference member TCU in 2018, a 3-9 record saw head coach David Beaty fired over the offseason -and Kansas getting served a lawsuit as a result.
Northern Arizona embodies the wildcard mentality of a fringe playoff team or a losing season in recent years.
The old joke “there’s nowhere, but up to go” is painfully true for the Spartans. Coach Brent Brennan is an accomplished coach who has helped produce many NFL names, but simply struggles to produce wins at SJSU.
UTSA finished dead last in the nation in total offense – averaging just 247 yards per game – and scoring a mere 14 points per outing–yet still finished with a 3-9 overall record (2-6 CUSA).
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.
Last season was incredibly disappointing for all associated with CMU as the Chippewas posted just a 1-win season (1-11 overll & 0-8 MAC) that cost Coach John Bonamego his job.
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.
After a 4-8 season in 2017, first year head coach Steve Campbell replaced the Jaguar program’s first head coach, Joey Jones and went down to 3-9 (2-6 Sun Belt) in his first season at South Alabama.
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.
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.
The Zips were bitten hard by the injury bug in 2018 to finish just 4-8 overall (2-6 MAC) and let long time Coach Terry Bowden go following the season.
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.
