SoCon Thoughts

[The Jackal]

Just read Brian McLaughlin's latest: https://gridironheroics.com/fcs-footbal ... chKy7oty4s

Came across this quote:

But the circular-firing squad thing in the SoCon — which seems to happen just about every year — could doom the league to its automatic berth and maybe only one at-large team.

The SoCon has been committed to a variation of a 9 football team "round robin" for a long while, even in light of the recent machinations in football. But is it costing us?

Every year, several of the premier teams from these other, larger, FCS conferences avoid playing one another. For instance:

• New Hampshire is a bubble team, and will avoid playing top 15 Delaware this season.

• Rhode Island is top 25 and will avoid top 20 Richmond.

• #3 Montana State doesn't play #2 Sacramento State.

• UNI, a bubble team in recent years that's gotten in with 4 losses, doesn't play North Dakota State.

With Jacksonville State moving to FBS and now Kennesaw State, is it time for the SoCon to try and pick off some of the south eastern FCS programs in the now-seemingly unstable ASUN, Big South, OVC, etc?

What happens if one of these lesser FBS conferences comes calling for SoCon Schools? If Kennesaw State gets an FBS bid after averaging close to 5,000 fans at home games, then it seems they'll take just about anyone.

Right now, the other major FCS conferences are playing this game. The SoCon isn't. This feels a bit like the Big 12's "one true champion" approach a number of years ago that seemed to go nowhere.

[Affirm]

Just read Brian McLaughlin's latest: https://gridironheroics.com/fcs-footbal ... chKy7oty4s

Came across this quote:

But the circular-firing squad thing in the SoCon — which seems to happen just about every year — could doom the league to its automatic berth and maybe only one at-large team.

The SoCon has been committed to a variation of a 9 football team "round robin" for a long while, even in light of the recent machinations in football. But is it costing us?

Every year, several of the premier teams from these other, larger, FCS conferences avoid playing one another. For instance:

• New Hampshire is a bubble team, and will avoid playing top 15 Delaware this season.

• Rhode Island is top 25 and will avoid top 20 Richmond.

• #3 Montana State doesn't play #2 Sacramento State.

• UNI, a bubble team in recent years that's gotten in with 4 losses, doesn't play North Dakota State.

With Jacksonville State moving to FBS and now Kennesaw State, is it time for the SoCon to try and pick off some of the south eastern FCS programs in the now-seemingly unstable ASUN, Big South, OVC, etc?

What happens if one of these lesser FBS conferences comes calling for SoCon Schools? If Kennesaw State gets an FBS bid after averaging close to 5,000 fans at home games, then it seems they'll take just about anyone.

Right now, the other major FCS conferences are playing this game. The SoCon isn't. This feels a bit like the Big 12's "one true champion" approach a number of years ago that seemed to go nowhere.

Are there really enough advantages to having more than 1 or 2 playoff teams to make it worthwhile to add teams?
If we have to add teams, these would appear to be perhaps the best choices, more or less in order of preference:
-Elon (probably not interested)
-Richmond (")
-W&M (")
-Campbell
-NCA&TSU
-Gardner-Webb
-NC Central
-Charleston Southern
-SCSU
-Tennessee Tech
-EKU
-Tennessee State
-North Alabama
-UT-Martin
-Murray State

[AstroDin]

Just saying CAA would take us in a heartbeat.

[FUBeAR]

Just saying CAA would take us in a heartbeat.

[HB88]

Expansion could bring an extra in-conference game. That would improve SOS and be preferable to our recent pattern of scheduling D2 opponents.

[Affirm]

Expansion could bring an extra in-conference game. That would improve SOS and be preferable to our recent pattern of scheduling D2 opponents.

If we keep scheduling D2 opponents, we need to expect to see Benedict College Tigers on our schedule before long, especially if they continue to have a highly ranked team as they do right now. Of course, also highly ranked D2 teams in our area also include Newberry, Lenoir-Rhyne, and Wingate.

[The Jackal]

Expansion could bring an extra in-conference game. That would improve SOS and be preferable to our recent pattern of scheduling D2 opponents.

I may be overlooking something, but we had NGU this year, but what other D2 have we scheduled?

[HB88]

Point University.

[The Jackal]

Point University.

Yeah, that was a one off, though. Furman needed a 12th game and wanted a home game to make up for losing the Colgate contest to a hurricane. I've heard several interviews that suggested that Point was about the only team they could find to play us in Greenville.

[apaladin]

Point University.

They were not d2, not even ncaa. That was during a 12 game season.

[apaladin]

Just saying CAA would take us in a heartbeat.

The CAA has become a dumpster fire. Taking non-compatitive and really any team just so they have a large conference. Why would we want to go Maine, New Hampshire, New York etc and be in a conference where you only play half the teams in a season. No thanks!

[gofurman]

Please no more D2. I know. I know. Sometimes it’s hard to get all FCS and an FBS but I sure hope we are trying all avenues. Tenn Tech. SC State. Whomever. Mercer got screwed last year. It’s a dangerous road when you schedule a D2

[apaladin]

GF-we have a full D1 schedule next year, need 2 games in ‘24 and one in ‘25. Both ‘24 and ‘25 are twelve game seasons. After that we have no games scheduled except for UT inn’26 and that one is iffy. We haven’t had a future D1 game announced in over 3 years while other teams are announcing games left and right. VMI has a full schedule thru 2027. Hopefully we want get caught with our pants down.

[Davemeister]

Point University.

Yeah, that was a one off, though. Furman needed a 12th game and wanted a home game to make up for losing the Colgate contest to a hurricane. I've heard several interviews that suggested that Point was about the only team they could find to play us in Greenville.

Two different seasons. We lost the Colgate game in 2018 and ended up with 10 games. The Point game was played in 2019 giving us a 12-game schedule. Never thought of Point as a make-up game, but maybe it was. All I remember about the game was the rain.

[The Jackal]

Point University.

Yeah, that was a one off, though. Furman needed a 12th game and wanted a home game to make up for losing the Colgate contest to a hurricane. I've heard several interviews that suggested that Point was about the only team they could find to play us in Greenville.

Two different seasons. We lost the Colgate game in 2018 and ended up with 10 games. The Point game was played in 2019 giving us a 12-game schedule. Never thought of Point as a make-up game, but maybe it was. All I remember about the game was the rain.

I know it's two different seasons.

Go listen to Clay Hendrix's comments on that game. We wanted a home game in the 12 game season to make up for the home game we lost the season before. We can't play an FBS money game at home, so it had to be someone willing to come to Paladin Stadium. Point was literally the only team available.

Anyone that thinks we routinely schedule sub-D1 programs is nuts. We have been one of the few SoCon programs that routinely doesn't schedule them. I think before Point (which, again, was an exception) the last D2 we played was West Georgia back in like 2009.