Socon Week 12 Power ranking and prediction

[Reign of Terrier]

It's week 10 in the Socon. Here are your power rankings:

1. Furman: Destroyed the Citadel. Playing their best ball. I bet they're fun to watch too (I haven't watch them play a full game in a while).
2. Wofford (autobid, Socon champs, etc). Finally put a game together where we led by two scores in the second half. The difference between this year and years prior is that we have a good passing game.
3. Samford. I think they have the best defense in the conference, even if they have trouble stopping the run at times. this is a huge game next week and I'm excited for it.
4(tie). Western. It looks like they're out of the playoffs unless they pull an upset against UNC next week. It's not crazy.
4(tie). Mercer. Yes, I'm aware Mercer beat Western this week, but it's all about averages with me. Once again, the Bears will have to wait until next year.
6. The Citadel. Not a good offense and their defense is exposed.
7. Chattanooga. Steadily improving
8. ETSU. Got knocked back to the ground against Samford this week.
9. VMI. Season over. That's all that can be said.

Games:
Furman @ Samford. I'm not picking this game because I'm too biased. I'm pulling for Samford (because I don't want Wofford to share the conference title) but Furman is just on fire right now. Samford's offense isn't as consistent as Furman's but their defense is consistently the best in the conference in terms of getting teams off the field. there's good reason to think either team should win this game, but if I had would have to say Furman's the favorite just because their defense is more consistent that Samford's offense. Samford does play an offense most optimal to exploit Furman's defense.

The Citadel @ Clemson. Clemson shut down Georgia Tech. Look for a repeat here.

ETSU @ Chattanooga. Chattanooga has better strength in the trenches and a better pass defense than most of the teams that ETSU's pass game has had success against. Copeland is steadily improving and I think there's a solid case that Chattanooga is a better team than they were a month to six weeks ago.

Wofford @ USC. I don't think we'll win. I think if we can make it to 14 points and hold them below 40 and no injuries, I will be content with the effort.

Western @ UNC. I think Western will give them a run for their money (UNC is really banged up), but ultimately superior athletcism prevails

Mercer @ Bama.

VMI loses to the offseason.

[wcugrad95]

You forgot to say WCU over UNC

[kdinva]

t1) Wofford
t1) Furman (too close)
3) Samford
4) WCU
5) Mercer (me, too....looking at all 11 weeks)
t6) The Citadel
t6) UTC
8) ETSU
9) Davidson
10) Savannah St.
11) VMI


Furman 28; Samford 24
UTC 24; ETSU 14
Clemson 48; Citadel 7
UNC 27; WCU 21
S. Carolina 35; Wofford 21
Alabama 51; Mercer 6

[SCPALADIN]

t1) Wofford
t1) Furman (too close)
3) Samford
4) WCU
5) Mercer (me, too....looking at all 11 weeks)
t6) The Citadel
t6) UTC
8) ETSU
9) Davidson
10) Savannah St.
11) VMI

...ouch

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

I was 2-2 today. Samford and Mercer gave ETSU and Western Carolina a massive gutpunch. Here is where I have it after today:

1) Wofford (AUTOBID) - Made it official against VMI
2) Furman (IN) - Crushed it at home
3) Samford (1 of 1) - Sets up a win or go home matchup next week
4) Western Carolina (IN) - Suffered a setback
5) Mercer (OUT) - Oh what could have been
6) The Citadel (OUT) - Finishes a rough season
7) Chattanooga (OUT) - Win over ranked team places them here
8) ETSU (OUT) - Got the wind knocked out of their sails
9) VMI (OUT) - Season mercifully comes to a close

Predictions
Mercer @ Alabama (Beatdown of the Week) - This will get ugly really fast
The Citadel @ Clemson (Beatdown of the Week #2) - Tigers uppercut the Bulldogs back to Charleston
ETSU @ Chattanooga - Bucs win in a barnburner
Western Carolina @ North Carolina - Tarheels lose a game nobody in the ACC is supposed to lose to
Furman @ Samford (Game of the Week) - Paladins take care of business on the road
Wofford @ South Carolina - Wofford may be good but this is not two years ago and this Gamecock team can beat The Citadel team from two years earlier

[Reign of Terrier]

I've been saying Furman's not necessarily in if they lose to Samford, but I'm not so sure about that to be honest. They are ranked pretty high. But so is everyone in the top 25 this time of year

[PaladinFan]

I've been saying Furman's not necessarily in if they lose to Samford, but I'm not so sure about that to be honest. They are ranked pretty high. But so is everyone in the top 25 this time of year

Hard to know. I expect Furman and Samford will both be ranked top 20. Even if Furman loses, I doubt they’ll drop too far.

Again, if you put bubble teams on the table and look at resumes, I think Furman will stack up well.

[Reign of Terrier]

Also I think it's worth pointing out because the FCS regular season is completed for Wofford:

Brandon Goodson did not throw an interception this year. that's pretty admirable, even if we're an option team

[bonarae]

Samford
Clemson
Chattanooga
WCU
Alabama
South Carolina

[walliver]

Power Rankings:
1.0) Furman - beatdown of the bellhops
1.1) Wofford - autobid in hand. Beat a team by much more than one score.
...
3) Samford - convincing win
4) Mercer - they've played hard all year
5) WCU - Is Whitmire built on an Indian burial ground? The Cants always seem to find a way to keep themselves from being successful.
6) Chattanooga - they didn't play this week, and therefore didn't have a bad loss
7) The Citadel - bad showing this week, but all this team needs is a QB who can run the option well and pass well. (Unfortunately those are hard to find)
8) ETSU - better than the old mini-dump teams, but the SoCon is a better top-to-bottom conference than it was.
9) UNC-G
10) VMI - a very disappointing season, but their players always play all 60 minutes.

This week:
Wofford at South Carolina - the chickens are improved from their Citadel loss and pull out a 27-24 win over the T-Dogs
WCU at UNC-Cheat - The Cants need to win this, but the team is in a downward spiral and the AA studies major pull out a 35-20 win
Furman at Samford - Winner goes to playoffs, Loser sweats bullets next Sunday. Although this game would appear to have a Big 12 shootout type score, I think it will be more of a defensive battle, and the pitiful purple puke pull out a 24-21 victory.
ETSU at Chatty - The trainbirds are on the way up, the mountain pirates are improving, but Chatty pulls out a 17-14 victory
Mercer at Alabama -The Best Team Money Can Buy rolls over the Georgia Baptists on their way to a Tigger rematch 35-10.
The Citadel at Clemson - The Tiggers shut down Georgia Tech. The bullpups can't hold on to the ball. This game gets out of hand early. Tigs win 53-10 ('cause Dabo likes running up the score).