[Purple Haize]

Chuck South?
I feel another 3 way tie for the championship

[Chris Lang]

Chuck South finishes with six of their final eight games on the road, including trips to LU and Coastal. They belong nowhere near any rankings at this point, and they'll be lucky to finish third in the Big South. Nor does Delaware or Albany. I swear, half the TSN voters just look for a zero in the loss column and vote.

[Sly Fox]

1 North Dakota State Bison 1963 67
2 Villanova Wildcats 1854 11
3 Eastern Washington Eagles 1754 1
4 New Hampshire Wildcats 1733
5 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 1622
6 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 1527
7 Illinois State Redbirds 1481
8 Montana Grizzlies 1346
9 Eastern Kentucky Colonels 1167
10 Southeastern Louisiana Lions 1146
11 Southern Illinois Salukis 1029
12 Richmond Spiders 951
13 Montana State Bobcats 931
14 Fordham Rams 928
15 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 915
16 McNeese State Cowboys 845
17 Indiana State Sycamores 813
18 William & Mary Tribe 682
19 Northern Iowa Panthers 595
20 Youngstown State Penguins 499
21 Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 443
22 Chattanooga Mocs 341
23 Charleston Southern Buccaneers 244
24 Liberty Flames 136
25 Harvard Crimson 134

Most Significant Win:
New Hampshire Wildcats

Most Significant Loss:
McNeese State Cowboys

ORV:
26 Missouri State Bears 111
27 Bryant Bulldogs 73
28 Central Arkansas Bears 68
29 Sacred Heart Pioneers 67
30 Sam Houston State Bearkats 62
31 Western Illinois Leathernecks 61
32 Northwestern State Demons 28
33 Monmouth Hawks 27
34 James Madison Dukes 22
35 Albany Great Danes 19
36 North Carolina A&T Aggies 15
37 Bucknell Bison 12
38 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 9
39 Yale Bulldogs 6
40 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 4

Click Here for Source

[Chippy]

At this juncture our schedule is looking like the most difficult one we have ever had.

[flameshaw]

Not sure we deserve to be ranked, I am surprised quite frankly. Guess a win over ASU was helpful anyway.

[bluejacket]

At this juncture our schedule is looking like the most difficult one we have ever had.

Don't be silly.

[Sly Fox]

1. North Dakota State (26) 6-0 650 1 ... 11. Montana State 5-2 385 14 .......... 21. Northern Iowa 3-3 148 21
2. Eastern Washington 6-1 624 2 ......... 12. Eastern Kentucky 6-0 337 16 ...... 22. Charleston Southern 5-1 109 23
3. Coastal Carolina 7-0 583 3 .......... 13. Fordham 6-1 286 18 .................. 23. Indiana State 4-2 77 22
4. Villanova 5-1 566 5 ........................ 14. Bethune-Cookman 5-1 268 17 ..... 24. Harvard 4-0 59 NR
5. New Hampshire 5-1 549 6 ............... 15. Chattanooga 3-3 256 12 ............. 25. Sam Houston State 3-3 58 NR
6. Montana 4-2 516 7 ......................... 16. South Dakota State 4-2 246 19
7. Jacksonville State 5-1 498 8 ............. 17. Southern Illinois 5-2 245 13
8. Southeastern Louisiana 5-2 461 9 ..... 18. William & Mary 4-2 236 11
9. Illinois State 5-0 401 15 .................. 19. Youngstown State 4-2 216 10
10. McNeese State 3-2 388 4 ............... 20. Richmond 4-2 208 20

Others Receiving Votes: Sacred Heart 18, Delaware 12, Tennessee State 11, Alcorn State 5, Bryant 5, James Madison 5, Cal Poly 4, Central Arkansas 4, Southeast Missouri State 4, Bucknell 3, Missouri State 3, Samford 2, Stephen F. Austin 2, Dartmouth 1, Liberty 1

Click Here for Source

[Sly Fox]

1. North Dakota State Bison (156) 6-0 3996 1
2. Eastern Washington Eagles (4) 6-1 3817 2
3. New Hampshire Wildcats 5-1 3514 4
4. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 7-0 3510 3
5. Villanova Wildcats 5-1 3369 6
6. Jacksonville State Gamecocks 5-1 3077 8
7. Montana Grizzlies 4-2 3047 7
8. Southeastern Louisiana Lions 5-2 2710 9
9. Montana State Bobcats 5-2 2424 11
10. Illinois State Redbirds 5-0 2224 15
11. McNeese State Cowboys 3-2 2141 5
12. Fordham Rams 6-1 2106 14
13. Eastern Kentucky Colonels 6-0 1861 17
14. Southern Illinois Salukis 5-2 1749 12
15. William & Mary Tribe 4-2 1673 10
16. Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 5-1 1600 18
17. Chattanooga Mocs 3-3 1492 13
18. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 4-2 1457 19
19. Richmond Spiders 4-2 1279 22
20. Northern Iowa Panthers 3-3 1174 21
21. Youngstown State Penguins 4-2 796 16
22. Indiana State Sycamores 4-2 788 20
23. Charleston Southern Buccaneers 5-1 541 24
24. Sam Houston State Bearkats 3-3 444 NR
25. Harvard Crimson 4-0 315 NR

Others receiving votes: Sacred Heart 163, Delaware 138, Tennessee State 87, Southeast Missouri State 81, Liberty 54, Albany 35, Samford 33, Bryant 29, Missouri State 25, Central Arkansas 25, Western Carolina 21, Dartmouth 21, Northern Arizona 18, Jacksonville 18, Alcorn State 17, Bucknell 15, Grambling State 15, Western Illinois 13, Furman 12, James Madison 10, Presbyterian 9, Yale 7, South Carolina State 6, North Carolina A&T 6, Texas Southern 5, Wofford 5, Stephen F. Austin 4, Towson 3, Northwestern State 3, Alabama State 2, Stony Brook 1, Duquesne 1, Colgate 1, Cal Poly 1

Click Here for Source

[Purple Haize]

At this juncture our schedule is looking like the most difficult one we have ever had.

Don't be silly.

Overall I think he's pretty spot on. I would say at worst Most Competitive. Not playing 2 FBS / 1A schools may be a step down but makes it more competitive

[bluejacket]

North Carolina is the best single team that we have ever played. But 1992, 1993, 1998, and 1999 were more difficult schedules top to bottom, in my opinion.

[bluejacket]

I think that Marshall team with Pennington proved to be the best we have played. But I also understand UNC was the highest rated at the time.

My mistake. I should have said that UNC was the highest ranked team we've ever faced.

I don't think that 1999 Marshall would have played or finished nearly as well against 2014 UNC's schedule. UNC has that in their favor.

An argument could be made either way. Marshall had Pennington and couple other very good players. UNC had no one comparable to Pennington, but might be stronger top to bottom. Either way, I think that its a pretty close comparison.

[Chippy]

North Carolina is the best single team that we have ever played. But 1992, 1993, 1998, and 1999 were more difficult schedules top to bottom, in my opinion.

Don't know who we played back then but this year we will have played 5 FCS ranked teams and 2 FBS teams. I imagine those 90s teams must have had a hellacious schedule.

[SuperJon]

UNC is not a ranked team. They were at the time but have proven they shouldn't have been.

[Chippy]

UNC is not a ranked team. They were at the time but have proven they shouldn't have been.

I mentioned 5 FCS ranked teams -Bryant, ISU, CSU, CCU, and RU AND two FBS teams if this was a response to my post; otherwise, never mind

[bluejacket]

Because we were independent, the schedules were extremely tough. Take 1993 for example, which is probably the toughest:

vs. Concord W 37-3 (finished 4-6; tough D-II from WVIAC)
at Appalachian State W 20-14 (finished 4-7 in extremely tough SoCon; made playoffs two seasons prior and made the quarterfinals the two seasons after)
at S.W. Texas State (now Texas State; currently Sun Belt) W 17-14 (finished 2-9 in extremely tough Southland)
vs. Indiana (PA) L-7-23 (finished 13-1; lost D-II National Championship game 34-41 to North Alabama)
vs. #9 North Carolina A&T L 7-23 (finished 8-3 in tough MEAC)
at #3 Troy State (now Troy; currently Sun Belt) L 13-35 (finished 12-1-1; first season of D-I; lost in FCS semifinals against defending national champion and 1993 national runner-up Marshall 21-24)
vs. #4 Youngstown State L 0-42 (coached by Jim Tressel; finished 11-3-1; 1991, 1993, 1994 I-AA national champions; lost 1992 National Championship to Marshall, which was played at Marshall, 28-31; defeated Marshall 17-5 in 1993 National Championship game; Gateway Football Conference)
vs. Charleston Southern W 42-6 (finished 3-8; FCS independent)
at #13 Central Florida L 19-55 (announced move to I-A in 1992; currently in AAC; finished 9-3; lost 30-56 to Youngstown State in opening round of I-AA playoffs)
at Delaware State W 47-43 (finished 6-5 in tough MEAC)
vs Villanova W 27-13 (finished 3-8; Yankee Conference)

[bluejacket]

UNC is not a ranked team. They were at the time but have proven they shouldn't have been.

Starting with the game against Liberty.

We know that now, but its always going to go down in our record books as the first ranked FBS opponent.

[Purple Haize]

Because we were independent, the schedules were extremely tough. Take 1993 for example, which is probably the toughest:

vs. Concord W 37-3 (finished 4-6; tough D-II from WVIAC)
at Appalachian State W 20-14 (finished 4-7 in extremely tough SoCon; made playoffs two seasons prior and made the quarterfinals the two seasons after)
at S.W. Texas State (now Texas State; currently Sun Belt) W 17-14 (finished 2-9 in extremely tough Southland)
vs. Indiana (PA) L-7-23 (finished 13-1; lost D-II National Championship game 34-41 to North Alabama)
vs. #9 North Carolina A&T L 7-23 (finished 8-3 in tough MEAC)
at #3 Troy State (now Troy; currently Sun Belt) L 13-35 (finished 12-1-1; first season of D-I; lost in FCS semifinals against defending national champion and 1993 national runner-up Marshall 21-24)
vs. #4 Youngstown State L 0-42 (coached by Jim Tressel; finished 11-3-1; 1991, 1993, 1994 I-AA national champions; lost 1992 National Championship to Marshall, which was played at Marshall, 28-31; defeated Marshall 17-5 in 1993 National Championship game; Gateway Football Conference)
vs. Charleston Southern W 42-6 (finished 3-8; FCS independent)
at #13 Central Florida L 19-55 (announced move to I-A in 1992; currently in AAC; finished 9-3; lost 30-56 to Youngstown State in opening round of I-AA playoffs)
at Delaware State W 47-43 (finished 6-5 in tough MEAC)
vs Villanova W 27-13 (finished 3-8; Yankee Conference)

W - Concord - D2.
W - App St - Losing record
W - Tx St - Losing Record
L - IUP - D2
L - NC A/T - Winning record
L - Troy St - Winning Record
L - YSU - Winning Record (ugly)
W - Chuck South - Losing Record
L - Central Fl - Winning Record
W - Delaware St - smidge over .500
W - Nova - Losing Record

6- 5. Beat 1 team over .500. Got beat by a D2 regardless of how good. No 1A schools. Youngstown St was tough but better than UNC? Troy was pretty solid. I'm not sure this was tougher but it could be argued it's as tough

[Sly Fox]

For the record, Culpepper wasn't at UCF until '95. So we didn't face him in Orlando that season.

[flameshaw]

Because we were independent, the schedules were extremely tough. Take 1993 for example, which is probably the toughest:

vs. Concord W 37-3 (finished 4-6; tough D-II from WVIAC)
at Appalachian State W 20-14 (finished 4-7 in extremely tough SoCon; made playoffs two seasons prior and made the quarterfinals the two seasons after)
at S.W. Texas State (now Texas State; currently Sun Belt) W 17-14 (finished 2-9 in extremely tough Southland)
vs. Indiana (PA) L-7-23 (finished 13-1; lost D-II National Championship game 34-41 to North Alabama)
vs. #9 North Carolina A&T L 7-23 (finished 8-3 in tough MEAC)
at #3 Troy State (now Troy; currently Sun Belt) L 13-35 (finished 12-1-1; first season of D-I; lost in FCS semifinals against defending national champion and 1993 national runner-up Marshall 21-24)
vs. #4 Youngstown State L 0-42 (coached by Jim Tressel; finished 11-3-1; 1991, 1993, 1994 I-AA national champions; lost 1992 National Championship to Marshall, which was played at Marshall, 28-31; defeated Marshall 17-5 in 1993 National Championship game; Gateway Football Conference)
vs. Charleston Southern W 42-6 (finished 3-8; FCS independent)
at #13 Central Florida L 19-55 (announced move to I-A in 1992; currently in AAC; finished 9-3; lost 30-56 to Youngstown State in opening round of I-AA playoffs)
at Delaware State W 47-43 (finished 6-5 in tough MEAC)
vs Villanova W 27-13 (finished 3-8; Yankee Conference)

W - Concord - D2.
W - App St - Losing record
W - Tx St - Losing Record
L - IUP - D2
L - NC A/T - Winning record
L - Troy St - Winning Record
L - YSU - Winning Record (ugly)
W - Chuck South - Losing Record
L - Central Fl - Winning Record
W - Delaware St - smidge over .500
W - Nova - Losing Record

6- 5. Beat 1 team over .500. Got beat by a D2 regardless of how good. No 1A schools. Youngstown St was tough but better than UNC? Troy was pretty solid. I'm not sure this was tougher but it could be argued it's as tough

Thanks for the work PH. I was going to say that our current schedule is at least comparable, if not better. We laid a big egg in that IUP game, it was very hard to watch, they really weren't that good.

[Purple Haize]

Don't let it be said I don't carry my weight! Which, let's be honest, is substantial

[bluejacket]

6- 5. Beat 1 team over .500. Got beat by a D2 regardless of how good. No 1A schools. Youngstown St was tough but better than UNC? Troy was pretty solid. I'm not sure this was tougher but it could be argued it's as tough

We could go around and around on this and never reach any real conclusions. Certainly there is a talent gap that exists between 1993 and 2014; no one can compare teams/players from then with teams/players now. Also, there is no one comparable team to UNC on that 1993 schedule.

But to replicate the 1993 sequence of NC A&T, Youngstown St., and Troy in 2014, we would have to schedule along the lines of: vs. Coastal (replace NC A&T), at McNeese St. (replace Troy), vs. Eastern Washington (replace Youngstown St.) in three consecutive weeks. Several different teams could be interchanged for those, but it would have to be two preseason top 10 caliber FCS teams plus another preseason top 15 right in a row. Plus, you would have another preseason top 15 FCS team to replace 1993 UCF (maybe Richmond?). Take out Brevard and North Carolina and add one top 15 power conference D-II team (for IUP) and a below average D-II (for Concord) from a power conference. Take out Norfolk State and Bryant and add a midlevel CAA team (for 1993 Delaware State) and a midlevel SoCon team (for 1993 Villanova). Add a low-level NEC team instead of 1993 Charleston Southern (who I believe had only 35 scholarships) and add a below average Southland team for 1993 Texas State. Take out 2014 App. State and substitute an underachieving MVFC team for 1993 App. State. There's 11 games.

Ultimately, all of this is just meaningless message board speculation. Its very similar to FCS polls this year.

[From the class of 09]

CCU ranked #1 and #2.

I love it! Sets up perfectly for us.

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fcs
http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnf ... a-poll.htm

[R i]

We were ranked much higher in these polls when we were left out of the playoffs. Things would have to swing hugely in our favor to earn an at large bid this year.

[R i]

I do find the fact that Liberty seems to be getting lots of at-large love, but no poll love pretty interesting.

I dont get it , where is the at large love coming from ? Or is it the opposite, are the pollsters leaving us out when we shouldnt be left out ?

[Chris Lang]

Committee values strength of schedule. Liberty is strong in that area this year. The polls are trash and have no bearing whatsoever on the selection process.