Around the SoCon

[Flagman]

Furman beats VMI!

Wofford is at the bottom of the barrel.

citadel is one step from the bottom.

The universe has returned to its correct orbit. The Paladins will return to glory. The money am on the dresser. You heard it on the bus ride over.

[The Jackal]

I'm just here for all the "SoCon's not good enough" content.

Been a huge decline for sure 100%, it was a good league once upon a time, not anymore

Back in ______, that's when men were men and football was the best ever played.

Back when the SoCon had multiple teams competing for a national title, not just hoping to squeak out a first round playoff win.
Its a shame to see what the league has come to, I really enjoyed it back during its peak, it was fun!

I get the angst, but you have to realize that the college football environment was completely different.

There are 24 playoff teams right now. There are now autobids going to conferences that previously didn't have one. There are more teams and more games to win.

The set up of the playoffs doesn't help SoCon teams. Frequently, as happened in 2016 and 2017, SoCon teams are meeting in the second round. In 2016, 10-2 Citadel got a seed and then got to play top 10 Wofford in the second round.

Either one of those teams would have buzzed through most of the rest of the nation, but eliminated one another. That Wofford team went on to the quarter finals and had YSU on the ropes for most of the game - a team that would eventually play in the finals that season.

The SoCon also lost two powerhouse programs in one season to the FBS. No other conference has had to deal with that at this level. One, yes. Two? No. They replaced those schools with new programs (ETSU and Mercer). We all knew it was going to take some time to adjust. 5 years in we had a pandemic. We are just now seeing what the SoCon looks like after an adjustment period.

I just don't think you can say, "we'll the SoCon sucks." This group has a team that blew out an SEC school. Another team had another SEC school on their heels for four quarters. We don't know what they'll look like in the post season.

Is the conference different? Sure. Is it 100% worse than it used to be? I'm not so sure.

To clarify the 100% is to say there has been a big decline with firm conviction, not to say a 100% overall decline.
Look, I am not here to tell anyone how they should feel, I just know that for many years I would get excited about football around here and unfortunately its just boring now to me, just seems small time. Fortunately basketball at FU which was living in the dark ages is fun again for me.

College football generally speaking isn't as interesting to me.

There's 1 elite team in the FBS. There's 1 team that could potentially beat that elite team. Everyone else is a balance between "pretender" and "bad."

The only difference this year from the past few years is Clemson isn't in the conversation.

[Furmanoid]

Wow, I don’t know. Is UGA the 1 elite team? They are really good but their only really impressive win was Arkansas, maybe Auburn. They haven’t faced a good qb. Alabama has a very good chance against them. Ohio State certainly does as well. UC very nearly beat them last year. I think Baylor and Oregon could beat them. An Ole Miss with a healthy Corrall could definitely get an early lead and hold them off. This seems like to me the most competitive season in many years.

[apaladin]

Georgia may get their biggest test of the year from Charleston Southern this week.

[Affirm]

Wow, I don’t know. Is UGA the 1 elite team? They are really good but their only really impressive win was Arkansas, maybe Auburn. They haven’t faced a good qb. Alabama has a very good chance against them. Ohio State certainly does as well. UC very nearly beat them last year. I think Baylor and Oregon could beat them. An Ole Miss with a healthy Corrall could definitely get an early lead and hold them off. This seems like to me the most competitive season in many years.

In hindsight, UGA’s win over Clemson this year is nothing for UGA to keep bragging about.

[The Jackal]

Here's a potential bracket that sort of proves the point.

SoCon gets three teams in. A very dangerous UTC gets a winnable game against UT-Martin, but then has to go to ETSU.

ETSU's reward for getting a seed is to play the only team that's beaten them.

So, the SoCon really doesn't get a chance to show how far it's teams can go because regionalization constantly forced them to play one another in the second round.

[The Jackal]

How did I miss this?

Why is Mercer playing only 10 games AND playing Point?

I thought Mercer is a shoo in for the playoffs, but if they lose to ETSU, they'll have 6 D1 wins and probably are firmly on the bubble.

[The Jackal]

Followed up a bit on this.

It appears Mercer scheduled just 10 games for reasons not really explained. At least when they unveiled their schedule in May, it had only 10 games. Maybe they had a team fall off somewhere along the line.

If that's true, it's probably athletic department malpractice. Not only because of the 10 games, but because one of the out of conference teams was an NAIA school (Point). You just give yourself almost no room for error with that schedule.

If Mercer wins Saturday, they are the auto and it doesn't matter. Probably both ETSU and Mercer make it in that scenario with VMI and UTC on the bubble.

If Mercer loses, I think they are out of the playoff picture even as the #2 SoCon team.

Even as the SoCon's #2, Mercer potentially even falls behind UTC and VMI in the playoff pecking order. Those two teams have winnable games Saturday (WCU and Citadel), played an 11 game all D1 schedule, and with wins would have more D1 wins than Mercer.

[FUBeAR]

It has to do with UConn, Yale, Charleston Southern (ever think you’d see those 2 schools next to each other in the same sentence?), and a SoCon schedule that didn’t have a Home game until October…when students return in mid-August…after no Football the prior Fall…so blame Covid (and perhaps others, depending on your political position) too…and probably a few more twists & turns that no one person knows.

Mercer’s schedule is what it was. Ain’t nuthin’ gonna change it now.

Most FCS prognosticators disagree with your conclusion. All are picking ETSU to win autobid (beating Mercer to do so) & most are still projecting Mercer as one of the last 4 in (anywhere from the last to the 4th to last). Some also have VMI in. Don’t think I’ve seen any with Chatt in (might exist though), but the Mocs & VMI are hardly ever predicted to be outside of the last 4 out.

SoCon needs as many of these as possible to happen to help VMI, Chatt, and, potentially, Mercer…

Kennesaw to win over Monmouth
Elon to beat Rhode Island
Richmond to beat William & Mary
Bethune-Cookman to beat FAMU (unlikely)
North Dakota to beat South Dakota State
Jacksonville State to beat Eastern Kentucky
Western Illinois to beat Northern Iowa (unlikely)
NDSU to beat South Dakota (although that probably won’t have much effect)
Lamar to beat Stephen F. Austin (doubtful…c’mon Patrick Covington, work your FU magic!)
Wouldn’t hurt for N. Colorado to stick a (grilling) fork in Weber…but doubtful
Charleston Southern to beat Georgia (just seein’ if you’re still paying attention)

Who knows what the Committee will do? Anyone checked New Hampshire’s record?

[The Jackal]

I think ETSU, Mercer, UTC, and VMI would give a good account of themselves in the post season. Three teams would be a great get, though.

[The Jackal]

Also interesting to see the coaching carousel this fall.

I'd have to think Josh Conklin's seat is on fire, having now gone 0-8 and losing the trust of the fanbase.

Brent Thompson at the Citadel seems precarious. You have to go back to his first season in 2016 to find the last time Citadel had a winning record. He seems like a "Citadel guy" and has tended to be pretty adept at beating their rivals (VMI and Furman), which he has going for him.

Chris Hatcher at Samford also is looking rough. He's in year 7 with no conference championships, two first round playoff exits, and only one finish higher than 3rd. No one can debate the offensive prowess, but there are real questions of whether Samford simply has just hit their ceiling on what he's able to do.

[gofurman]

Also interesting to see the coaching carousel this fall.

I'd have to think Josh Conklin's seat is on fire, having now gone 0-8 and losing the trust of the fanbase.

Brent Thompson at the Citadel seems precarious. You have to go back to his first season in 2016 to find the last time Citadel had a winning record. He seems like a "Citadel guy" and has tended to be pretty adept at beating their rivals (VMI and Furman), which he has going for him.

Chris Hatcher at Samford also is looking rough. He's in year 7 with no conference championships, two first round playoff exits, and only one finish higher than 3rd. No one can debate the offensive prowess, but there are real questions of whether Samford simply has just hit their ceiling on what he's able to do.

I hope Conklin and Thompson are both there in 22!!

[apaladin]

As strange as it may seem they all have a shot because in the stats poll, which the committee seems to go by 4 of the bottom 6 teams don’t participate, Opens up some slots. FU prolly could have made it with just one or 2 more wins. Hope ETSU wins so they could get a seed. IMHO no SoCon team wins more than one game, if that.

[FUBeAR]

As strange as it may seem they all have a shot because in the stats poll, which the committee seems to go by 4 of the bottom 6 teams don’t participate, Opens up some slots. FU prolly could have made it with just one or 2 more wins. Hope ETSU wins so they could get a seed. IMHO no SoCon team wins more than one game, if that.

If you go strictly by the current STATS poll, Mercer would get an At-Large as the 3rd to last Team in, but VMI & Chatt would be the 2nd & 3rd to last Teams out, respectively (assuming FUBeAR ciphered it all correctly).

If you go strictly by the current Coaches poll, which is the only poll the NCAA states that they use, Mercer would get an At-Large bid as the 2nd to last Team in, but Chatt would be the 3rd to last Team out and VMI would be 7th to last Team out (assuming FUBeAR ciphered it all correctly).

Even if Mercer loses to ETSU (8th in STATS, 10th in Coaches), don’t think they would fall much…but they don’t have to fall too far to be ‘out of it’ from a polls perspective. That said, FUBeAR doesn’t think polls are taken between the final game on Sat. and the time the selection Committee deliberates.

Again, just going by these polls…Mercer’s most ‘risk’ comes with Monmouth beating KSU, Rhode Island beating Elon, or W&M beating Richmond. By these polls, Chatt & VMI would need all of the above to ‘go right’ and FAMU to lose to Bethune-Cookman & Stephen F. Austin to lose to Lamar.

So…on Sat., in addition to cheering for FU, also cheer for…

Kennesaw
Elon
Richmond
Bethune-Cookman
Lamar

[cavedweller2]

How did I miss this?

Why is Mercer playing only 10 games AND playing Point?

I thought Mercer is a shoo in for the playoffs, but if they lose to ETSU, they'll have 6 D1 wins and probably are firmly on the bubble.

They did it to make a Point.