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ursus arctos horribilis
April 2nd, 2021, 10:22 AM
FCS FOOTBALL – KEY LINKS
NCAA Statistics -- Click Here (https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fcs) | NCAA Scoreboard / Schedule -- Click Here (https://www.ncaa.com/scoreboard/football/fcs)
Standings -- Click Here (https://www.ncaa.com/standings/football/fcs) | Rankings / Polls -- Click Here (https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fcs/fcs-coaches-poll)
FCS Insider -- Click Here (https://fcsinsider.com/) | Stats Perform – Click Here (http://www.fcs.football/fcsfront.asp) | HERO Sports -- Click Here (https://herosports.com/college-football/fcs/)


HEADLINES


Key Matchups – Including one contest last night (Sam Houston State beat Northwestern State), 14 of the Top 25 teams are in action this week. Only one game features two top-25 teams playing one another (two other matchups featuring two top-25 teams were either canceled or postponed):

Saturday – No. 9 Eastern Washington at No. 11 UC Davis (CW 31 / Pluto TV Channel 1063)


Committee Top-10 Reveal – The FCS Committee revealed its Top 10 on ESPNU on Thursday night. It’s attached. James Madison is No. 1, followed by North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Sam Houston and North Dakota. The MVFC has three teams in the Top 10; the Big Sky has two; and the CAA has two.
What’s Left – There are 90 FCS games on the schedule prior to the FCS playoffs (which begin the weekend of April 24). To date, 149 games have been played, and a total of 25 games have been canceled. If 70 or more of the remaining 90 games are played, FCS teams will have successfully played more than 80 percent of total spring games scheduled (see chart below).
Stats Perform National Players of the Week – Click Here (http://www.fcs.football/cfb/story.asp?i=20210330110147486052804&ref=hea&tm=&src=FCS)
Craig’s Take (Must See Games This Week) -- Story (http://www.fcs.football/cfb/story.asp?i=20210401085047363352204)


BIG SKY -- Link to Football Home Page (https://bigskyconf.com/index.aspx?path=football)


Three out of the four games last weekend were all last second wins. Weber State’s Hail Mary win over Northern Arizona was the Must See play on SportsCenter and No. 1 on the top-10 countdown.
Weber State is the lone undefeated team left in the Big Sky with a 3-0 record.
Cal Poly announced on Monday, March 29 that it would opt out of the rest of the spring season.

BIG SOUTH FOOTBALL -- Link to Football Home Page (https://bigsouthsports.com/index.aspx?path=football&)


Defending Big South Champion Monmouth opened its 2021 spring season last week with a 35-17 win over Charleston Southern, its eighth consecutive Big South victory dating back to the 2018 season. During that streak, the Hawks have scored at least 35 points in each game.
Kennesaw State has scored a point in 66 consecutive games, one away from tying the second-longest streak in Big South history. The Owls have scored in double-figures in their last 28 consecutive contests. Meanwhile, KSU has scored a rushing touchdown in 54-straight games.
Robert Morris is scheduled to play its first official Big South conference game this Saturday when the Colonials visit Kennesaw State. RMU’s original Big South opener was set for March 13 against Monmouth, but was postponed due to COVID related issues.

CAA FOOTBALL -- Link to CAA Football Home Page (https://caasports.com/index.aspx?path=football&)


CAA Football has announced the postponement of two upcoming football games. The James Madison/Richmond game scheduled for Saturday, April 3 has been postponed due to COVID protocols at Richmond. The James Madison/Elon game scheduled for Saturday, April 10 has been postponed due to COVID protocols at Elon. A decision on rescheduling the two contests will be made at a future date.
Five CAA Football teams are ranked in both the STATS Perform and AFCA Coaches Top 25 polls that were released this week. James Madison solidified its hold on No. 1 in both polls following a 38-10 victory at William & Mary last week in its first action since March 6.
A pair of CAA Football squads are among the top 10 in rankings released by the selection committee for the Division I Football Championship on Thursday night. James Madison is ranked No. 1 by the committee and Delaware is ranked No. 7. CAA Football was one of three conferences with multiple teams in the Top 10. The Missouri Valley Football Conference had three teams in the poll and the Big Sky Conference had two.

IVY LEAGUE -- Link to Football Home Page (https://ivyleague.com/index.aspx?path=football)
MEAC FOOTBALL -- Link to Football Home Page (https://meacsports.com/index.aspx?path=football)


South Carolina State will travel to Montgomery, Ala., to take on Alabama State on Saturday, April 3 at 3 p.m. EST. This will be the first meeting between the two schools since 2005 when SC State and Alabama State faced off in the Inaugural MEAC/SWAC Challenge, which SC State won that match up 27-14
Howard will host Delaware State on Saturday at 2 p.m. EST at Greene Stadium in the second meeting this season. In the first match-up between the two teams, the first three quarters looked more like a baseball game than a football game. Still, Delaware State would get a strong performance from its backup QB, and the defense would save the Hornets as they would go on to claim a 17-10 win over Howard in Dover, Del., back on February 27.

MISSOURI VALLEY – Link to Football Home Page (https://valley-football.org/)


The Missouri Valley Football Conference has canceled the UNI-South Dakota football game (Friday, April 2) at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, S.D., due to a positive COVID-19 test result and subsequent contact tracing in USD’s Tier 1 personnel, which consists of student-athletes, coaches, managers and staff.
After three-straight wins against Top-25 teams, Missouri State joins five other league schools in the Top 25 of the Stats Perform poll this week. It marks the first time since Oct. 1, 2018 (24th) that Missouri State has been ranked, and also represents the team’s highest ranking since Nov. 4, 1996 (14th).
Omar Brown capped the first half with a blocked field goal which he returned for a touchdown to lead UNI to a 34-20 road win over Western Illinois last Saturday. The blocked field was the first since Elerson Smith blocked a kick against South Dakota State in the playoffs in 2019.

NEC FOOTBALL -- Link to Football Home Page (https://northeastconference.org/index.aspx?path=fball&)


With Rooney Field as the battleground, the combatants in the first-ever Northeast Conference (NEC) football championship game have been solidified. Unbeaten NEC regular season champion Duquesne (4-0) will host Sacred Heart (2-1) on April 11 with an automatic berth to the FCS Playoffs at stake. Kickoff time is still to be determined. The game will air live on ESPN3.
The matchup was formalized after the application of NEC postseason qualification and tiebreaker procedures once the regular season came to a close with the announcement that Wagner's games against Sacred Heart and Merrimack would not be made up.

OHIO VALLEY – Click for More Info (http://ovcsports.com/index.aspx?path=football)


Murray State is the lone undefeated team, moving to 5-0 after a win over Eastern Illinois; the Racers are one of two FCS teams to be 5-0 this spring (VMI is the other)...It is the best start for MSU since the 1995 season; that year Houston Nutt was the team's coach and led MSU to the OVC Championship and a FCS Playoff berth.
Jacksonville State is ranked No. 12 in both the Stats Perform and FCS Coaches Top 25 polls while Murray State No. 12 in the Coaches poll and No. 13 in the Stats Perform poll...Every OVC team has been ranked at least one week over the past five years.
OVC kickers have seven field goals of 50-plus yards this season, including the two longest in the FCS (62, 58)

PATRIOT LEAGUE -- Link to Football Home Page (https://patriotleague.org/index.aspx?path=football&)


The Patriot League has announced football schedule adjustments for Saturday, April 3, and Saturday, April 10 to prioritize divisional games and determine North and South Division champions. All five football games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
On Saturday, April 3, Lehigh will host Bucknell at Goodman Stadium in a South Division game, with the opening kickoff time to be determined. Bucknell’s previously scheduled game at Holy Cross is cancelled. Fordham will welcome Colgate, as previously scheduled, in a North Division game at Jack Coffey Field at 4 p.m. Holy Cross will have a bye. Lafayette will be out of action due to a positive COVID-19 test within the program’s Tier 1.
Three games are scheduled for the Patriot League football makeup weekend on Saturday, April 10. Colgate will host Holy Cross at Andy Kerr Stadium in a North Division game beginning at 5 p.m. Lafayette will host Lehigh at Fisher Stadium in the 156th meeting in “The Rivalry,” with the game time still to be determined. Fordham travels to Bucknell with the game time to be announced at a later time.
The first Patriot League Football Championship Game is scheduled for Saturday, April 17. The championship game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network at 2 p.m. ET.

PIONEER FOOTBALL LEAGUE -- Link to Football Home Page (http://www.pioneer-football.org/)


With its win against Butler two weeks ago, San Diego’s extended its PFL win streak to 39 games – tying the FCS record held by Duquesne in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Association (1999-06). San Diego’s chance to break the record arrives this Saturday when it hosts Davidson in a battle between PFL unbeaten teams.
San Diego entered the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll Top 25 for the first time this season, earning the No. 25 spot. The Toreros last were a Top 25 team at the end of the 2018 season when they were ranked No. 18 in the coaches poll and No. 19 in the STATS Perform FCS Poll.

SoCON FOOTBALL -- Link to Football Home Page (https://soconsports.com/index.aspx?path=football)


Tenth-ranked VMI can clinch its first Southern Conference title since 1977 and its first-ever FCS playoff berth with a win over ETSU on Saturday, while No. 17/21 Furman visits Mercer and Wofford hosts The Citadel in the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week.
Chattanooga announced Monday that it had opted out of the remainder of the season. The Mocs’ final three games will be considered no-contests.
Off to its best start since 1960 at 5-0, VMI has clinched its first winning season since 1981, achieved its highest-ever national ranking and is vying for its eighth SoCon title. A win Saturday would secure the Keydets’ first outright title since 1974.

SOUTHLAND -- Link to Football Home Page (https://www.southland.org/index.aspx?path=football)


The Southland Conference accounts for three of the top-five scoring offenses at the FCS level, led by Sam Houston (58.7) and followed by Nicholls (53.0) in second and UIW (47.8) at fourth.
Nicholls QB Lindsey Scott Jr., this week’s Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week, tied a program record with five passing touchdowns in a 75-45 rout of then-No. 13 UIW. Scott led the Colonels to eight touchdowns on their first eight offensive drives in a 75-point showing, the most points in a league game in program history.
Sam Houston is one of 12 FCS programs with a perfect red-zone conversion percentage and has the most attempts (17) among schools at 1.000. The Bearkats have eight touchdowns and three

field goals in their 11 trips to the red-zone.
SWAC – Link to Football Home Page (https://swac.org/index.aspx?path=football)


Three SWAC football games are on the slate for Saturday: South Carolina State at Alabama State– 2:00 pm (Live Stats I CW Montgomery); Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Mississippi Valley State– 3:00 pm (Live Stats I ESPN3); Southern at Jackson State– 4:00 pm (Live Stats I ESPN)
The Spring 2021 Cricket Wireless SWAC Football Championship game will be carried live on ESPN2 on Saturday, May 1 at 2:00 pm CST. The game was initially scheduled to be carried live on ESPNU. This marks a total of five SWAC football games that have been moved to ESPN or ESPN2 platforms during the spring season.
The football games scheduled between Prairie View A&M and Alabama A&M, along with Prairie View A&M and Southern, slated to be played on Saturday, April 3, and Saturday, April 10, respectively have been postponed due to a COVID-19 related issues and subsequent quarantining of student-athletes among the PVAMU program.


Through April 1 (Below)



League~
Total Teams
Spring Teams
Conf. Games Scheduled
Games Played
Games Postponed
Games Rescheduled
Games Remaining
Games Canceled









Big Sky+
13
7
24
14
3
1
7
3




Big South
8
5
10
2
4
2
5
0




CAA`
12
10
33
16
7
0
10
2




MEAC
9
3
4
2
1
1
2
0




MVFC^
11
9
40
25
3
3
8
7




NEC#
8
6
13
10
1
1
2
1




OVC
9
8
28
20
0
0
8
0




Patriot#
7
6
12
4
9
6
6
3




PFL%
9
8
24
11
0
0
12
1




SoCon&
9
8
36
22
1
0
9
4




Southland*
11
7
21
14
2
2
7
0




SWAC
10
9
27
9
5
3
14
4




TOTALS
116
86
272
149
36
19
90
25

















*two games were rescheduled for weather (not COVID)









^MVFC started with 10 spring teams; Illinois State opted out after its 4th game, resulting in 4 cancelations







`CAA started with 11 spring teams; UAlbany opted out after its 4th game, resulting in 2 cancelations







&SoCon started with nine spring teams; Chattanooga opted out after its 4th game, resulting in 4 cancelations (three remaining scheduled games and a postponed game from earlier in the season)








~Ivy League not playing a spring schedule and is not listed in the grid









#NEC and Patriot League will also play a championship game (indicated on 'games remaining')







%Presbyterian is playing as part of the PFL spring schedule as part of a scheduling agreement, PC games are not conference games, but are included in the schedule.








+Big Sky started with 8 spring teams; Cal Poly opted out after its 3rd game, resulting in 3 cancelations



https://twitter.com/NCAA_FCS/status/1377801335207251981