Covering All College Sports Since 2012
Alabama State’s shock 28-25 win over Alcorn State seemed to put Alabama State in a good position going into the second half of the year, even after a brutal schedule put the Hornets at 2-4.
A tough 1-4 start for “Buddy” Pough’s Bulldogs gave way to a great 4-1 stretch with a home win over Howard and a big road win vs. Florida A&M.
A disappointing 3-8 was salvaged somewhat with a 34-3 win against their long-time Rivals Lafayette. With the win, head coach Andy Coen retired as the winningest head coach in program history.
The Great Danes struggled through a tough CAA schedule, but shocked the league by defeating in-state ranked rival Stony Brook on the last weekend of the season to go out on a high note.
After a trip to Brown and securing a 3-3 record, things were looking bright for the Big Red to finally get back to .500 on the season. Then Cornell fell 66-0 to Princeton, and David Archer’s team would then drop their next three games to fall into the cellar of the Ivy League.
Another year, another 4-7 year for the Spartans.
Campbell used a modest non-conference schedule to achieve a winning season in 2018, finishing 6-5.
A tough, brutal early stretch of the schedule saw the Seahawks limp to a 1-5 record, though they would win their final two games against Bryant and Robert Morris to achieve a 4-7 record.
A 70 yard interception return for touchdown allowed the Rams to finish the year on a high note beating Bucknell 17-14, putting the Rams at 2-9 on head coach Joe Conlin’s first year as Fordham’s head football coach.
CCSU scored 48 straight points in a 34 point loss, and the Bulldogs never seemed to fully recover, dropping three of their last five games and squeaking by both Fordham (42-41) and Howard (56-55) by a single point each.
Alabama A&M, while posting a winning record, showed sparks of brilliance on the field, playing very good teams close but inevitably not making that next jump to the top of the SWAC.
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.
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.
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.
USC Trojans Location: Los Angeles, CA Coach: Clay Helton (27-10) 5th Season Stadium: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Capacity: 77,500) CSJ Projections: 2nd: Pac-12 (1st in South Division) 1st: California 13th: FBS 13th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: The Trojans won the Pac-12 title after defeating Stanford in the conference’s championship game but losses to Washington.
Washington Huskies Location: Seattle, WA Coach: Chris Petersen (37-17 @UW, 129-29 overall) 5th Season Stadium: Husky Stadium (Capacity: 70,083) CSJ Projections: 1st: Pac-12 (1st in North Division) 1st: Washington 5th: FBS 5th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: The Huskies lost a bad game at Arizona State, along with another one at Stanford to miss out.
Iowa Hawkeyes Location: Iowa City, IA Coach: Kirk Ferentz (143-97@Iowa, 155-118 overall) 19th Season Stadium: Kinnick Stadium (Capacity: 69,250) CSJ Projections: 3rd: Big Ten (2nd West Division) 1st: Iowa 11th: FBS 11th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: The Hawkeyes finished 2017 just 8-5 overall but four of its five losses were by eight points or less.
Penn State Nittany Lions Location: State College, PA Coach: James Franklin (34-7) 4th Season Stadium: Camp Randall Stadium (Capacity: 80,321) CSJ Projections: 4th: Big Ten (2nd East Division) 1st: Pennsylvania 15th: FBS 15th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: A great season, but most Penn State fans are wondering what might have been had they managed.
Wisconsin Badgers Location: Madison, WI Coach: Paul Chryst (34-7) 4th Season Stadium: Camp Randall Stadium (Capacity: 80,321) CSJ Projections: 1st: Big Ten (1st West Division) 1st: Wisconsin 4th: FBS 4th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: Another great season for the Badgers, where they won a school-record 14 games including the Orange Bowl, where they beat.
UCF Knights Location: Orlando, FL Coach: Josh Heupel (0-0) 1st Season Stadium:Spectrum Stadium (Capacity: 45,301) CSJ Projections: 1st: AAC (1st East Division) 2nd: Florida 22nd: FBS 22nd: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: UCF finished as the only undefeated team (13-0) in all of Division I football last year and while it did not get invited.
Florida State Seminoles Location: Tallahassee, Florida Coach: Willie Taggart (0-0) 1st Season at Florida State Stadium: Doak Campbell Stadium (Capacity 79,560) CSJ Projections 6th ACC (4th Atlantic Division) 3rd: Florida 26th: FBS 26th: Division I 2017 In a Sentence: Florida State was beset by injuries in 2017 and it started early. Quarterback Deondre Francois was.
Michigan Wolverines Location: Ann Arbor, MI Coach: Jim Harbaugh (28-11 @UM, 85-38 overall) 4th Season Stadium: Michigan Stadium (Capacity: 107,601) CSJ Projections: 7th: Big Ten (4th East Division) 2nd: Michigan 27th: FBS 27th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: The Wolverines basically beat who they were supposed to beat but could not win against heavyweights of.
College Sports Journal announces their 2018 Fearless Prediction for the Order of finish of the MVFC. North Dakota State won its unprecedented sixth national title in seven years last year. The Bison again look stacked to win its eighth straight conference title and are the odds on favorites to again win its seventh national title .
College Sports Journal announces their 2018 Fearless Prediction for the Order of finish of the Mountain West Conference, the fourth of our Group of Five Conference previews. The Mountain West Conference heads into 2018 with familiar faces projected to be at the top of the league. Boise State won the league last year and won its.
College Sports Journal announces their 2018 Fearless Prediction for the Order of finish of Conference USA, the third of our Group of Five Conference previews. C-USA had a landmark season by sending a league record nine teams to bowl games. Florida Atlantic won the league last year and also won the Boca Raton Bowl. Florida.
North Dakota State Bison Location: Fargo, ND Coach: Chris Kileman (54-6 @NDSU, 57-13 overall) 5th Season Stadium: Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (Capacity: 18,700) CSJ Projections: 1st: Missouri Valley Football Conference 1st: North Dakota 1st: FCS 31st: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: After a one-year title game hiatus in 2016 after James Madison defeated.
