Quote Originally Posted by youngterrier View Post
My outlook is that Jacksonville State and Kennesaw play a very very weak schedule but they are still very good teams, on par with the top tier of the FCS except NDSU. I put JSU/KSU in the same sentence because they are unique in consistently being high quality in spite of their schedule.

I'll admit that my outlook on JSU is slipping because they appear to have reverted back to their old habits of dropping first round games, but I expect them to beat ETSU so that's a null point.

Kennesaw State gets some difference because of what they did in the playoffs last year and if we're honest they were better on the final scoreboard against mutual opponents than my point of reference (socon teams over big south teams). They even have a 2 game win streak against Samford and the top of the socon can't say that.

Yet still, there's just an overwhelming lack of accomplishment with Kennesaw where I can't feel confident in saying they are top tier. It's not a lack of respect thing, it's a limited sample thing. The two/four best wins Kennesaw has are against teams that have consistency problems, Samford and Jacksonville State. That's not to say those wins are bad, they aren't, but if you take a random sample of teams in the "power" conferences, the top 3 teams have beaten the same amount of teams of that quality (or more) on a yearly basis. That's not to say Kennesaw couldn't if given a similar schedule, but when KSU's only plays 4 teams this year ranked higher than 200 in Massey rankings, I'm withholding judgment (Wofford played 7 and our schedule is considered weak by playoff standards).

I will start giving KSU credit if they beat us or Elon in two weeks. Really, it would probably have to be Wofford, not because I'm a homer but because I think Elon has some question marks and if they beat us, Wofford isn't as good as I think they may be. Really, if Kennesaw beat anybody in the CAA, MVFC, Socon, and even Big Sky, I would start believing. But for now they're just the Boise State of the FCS.

What's unfortunate is that I don't think many of their fans understand that and because of the blowouts and the two playoff wins they think they're a little better than they are (top 5 when they're more likely top 10)

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Spot on - I think you and I are on the same page with everything except for maybe the last point. I admittedly don't spend a lot of time on forums, but from what I do see and the people I talk to at games, I'd say that most people are aware that our schedule isn't on par with others at the top of the FCS. It's not uncommon for the squeakiest of wheels to be the loudest online, but among both the casual and loyal KSU fans I've spoken to, everyone is excited for the team to enter the playoff gauntlet so we can see how we actually stack up - starting next week with either Wofford or Elon (and I completely agree with your assessment of how both potential match ups could impact KSU's credibility).

I've watched quite a few Wofford games over the past couple of years since they're the best team running a similar enough TO style as KSU. Was fascinated by the Furman and NDSU match ups in the playoffs last year, and as you mentioned, we have had quite a few common opponents. While both teams run the TO, the offensive styles are a bit different. Defensively, no team is more prepared for the TO than Wofford. Chuck South used to run a version of the option, and we always had trouble with them - albeit our talent level has improved significantly since then.