Ranking the FCS Conferences in 2020

[bonarae]

... surprised to see no one post this before me?

The PL just above the SWAC? I'm stunned but can they rebound?

http://www.fcs.football/cfb/story.as...62004647435204

[JSUSoutherner]

I did post it before you.

https://www.anygivensaturday.com/sho...ering-Material

[DFW HOYA]

... surprised to see no one post this before me?

The PL just above the SWAC? I'm stunned but can they rebound?

The SWAC passes the PL in 2020. Their top seven is better than the PL's seven.

Of more regional interest is that the NEC has pulled ahead of the PL.

[cx500d]

... surprised to see no one post this before me?

The PL just above the SWAC? I'm stunned but can they rebound?

http://www.fcs.football/cfb/story.as...62004647435204

The pioneer should be above the swac.

[NY Crusader 2010]

The SWAC passes the PL in 2020. Their top seven is better than the PL's seven.

Of more regional interest is that the NEC has pulled ahead of the PL.

Spot on, especially if we're basing 2020 pre-season rankings on last year's product. I've been saying for a couple years that the NEC has passed us, even though the computer rankings continue to show us slightly stronger. However, the PL as a whole was about as young as I've ever seen it in 2019. I think you're going to see multiple teams make marked improvement. Two teams I have my eye on are Lafayette (proven QB who started as a frosh LY -- only PL QB who could effectively throw the ball downfield) and Fordham. HC should remain a title contender -- a change at OC is a plus IMO. I don't know enough about what Georgetown returns. But they were definitely a disappointment in conference last year and it wouldn't surprise me to see them in the top 3.

Am I sleeping on Tom Gilmore?

[Herder]

Come on now, where’s Haley? We all know the CAA is the best conf.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Can the PL produce more than 1 team with a winning record for the for the first time since 2016? I'd like to think so but it's far from a slam dunk. Holy Cross should be able to keep their head above water thanks to a very good coach. Colgate has the QB and some good pieces but did lose quite a bit along the OL. Bucknell would be my wildcard. They were darn close to a winning record in Cecchini's first year. Lehigh needs to find an OL and QB. Lafayette had 2-3 games last year that turned some heads but overall they were not very good in year 3 of the Garrett era. Fordham has a boatload for talent (best LB duo on FCS) but can't put it all together. I've basically given up on Georgetown. I know they suffered injuries last year but a winless conference season after all the expectations was a failure for Sgarlata and the program. I don't think they bounce back from that.

I also believe the Ivy League will still be a Top 5 conference in 2020 despite the big 3 suffering significant losses. The talent level is soo deep and the staffs don't change much. The top teams simply reload this point....

[NY Crusader 2010]

Can the PL produce more than 1 team with a winning record for the for the first time since 2016? I'd like to think so but it's far from a slam dunk. Holy Cross should be able to keep their head above water thanks to a very good coach. Colgate has the QB and some good pieces but did lose quite a bit along the OL. Bucknell would be my wildcard. They were darn close to a winning record in Cecchini's first year. Lehigh needs to find an OL and QB. Lafayette had 2-3 games last year that turned some heads but overall they were not very good in year 3 of the Garrett era. Fordham has a boatload for talent (best LB duo on FCS) but can't put it all together. I've basically given up on Georgetown. I know they suffered injuries last year but a winless conference season after all the expectations was a failure for Sgarlata and the program. I don't think they bounce back from that.

I also believe the Ivy League will still be a Top 5 conference in 2020 despite the big 3 suffering significant losses. The talent level is soo deep and the staffs don't change much. The top teams simply reload this point....

I feel like I've said this about a half-dozen times about Bucknell since 2007 and every time they just end up being what we're used to seeing out of Lewisburg. They did have that one season where they had that OT loss to Fordham 5 or 6 years ago and finished 9-2.

As far as teams with winning records, I'm predicting 3 out of 7 will find a way to be +.500 this year. Since we started playing FBS guarantee games, the overall winning % of the conference has declined. That's what happens when you replace low-end Ivies and Marist with the likes of Syracuse, Navy and Air Force on the schedules. On top of that, for whatever reason, Sacred Heart and Monmouth can't lose against the PL. Probably 15-0 against our conference collectively since about 2015.

[caribbeanhen]

Come on now, where’s Haley? We all know the CAA is the best conf.

So where do the Conferences stand now?

The best conference is the MVFC, aka Paul McCartney and Wings but the decade of dominance is over and we have a new man

[Professor Chaos]

MVFC
Big Sky

CAA

AWC
Southland
SOCON
Big South
Ivy League
OVC

SWAC
NEC
Patriot League
MEAC
Pioneer League