Road to SoCon Championship & FCS Championship

[SmallTownTerrier]

They will have a shot... 50-50... IMO they should... The Elon game may come back to haunt them... Win that one, then YES, they would most definitely get in at 8-3 (assuming they drop another to WCU or Sammy)... If you follow McLaughlin or Haley on Twitter, they are giving Austin Peay a lot of creds... Mainly for the huge turn around from 30 something straight losses... Peay could finish 7-4... IMO Furman would get in over Peay, because of how strong the SO CON is compared to the OVC... I see possibly 12 schools getting in from SO CON, Valley and Colonial... Very good football in those leagues.

[WocoSix]

Another great week of SoCon Football.

Wofford (5-1)
Remaining Conference Schedule : UTC (2-4), and @VMI (0-6)
Prediction : Up next a revitalized UTC who is going to come into Gibbs Stadium on a high. We better find away to become more disciplined as a team by reducing the penalties. our Defense better find some way of getting a scheme to stop the pass. And our offensive clock management, player utilization, and play calling needs to improve if we want a SoCon Championship and to go deep in the playoffs.

Western Carolina (4-2)
Remaining Conference Schedule : @Citadel (3-3), and Mercer (3-3)
Prediction : I think WCU has reached its apex and on a decline. Due to injuries and lack of quality depth. I Expect 1 more loss.

Furman (5-1)
Remaining Conference Schedule : Citadel (3-3), and @Samford (3-2)
Prediction : Hate to say it again but this is probably the most complete team in the SoCon. They don't have the talent of Wofford, but their coaching staff has done an amazing job. Glad we faced them game 1. Don't want to be Co-Champions so Wofford is pulling for Cid or Sammy to upset. Wofford would get Auto bid if we win out though.

Samford (3-2)
Remaining Conference Schedule : @Mercer (3-3), ETSU (1-4), and Furman (5-1)
Prediction : I knew Samford was not that good of a team and would lose a game in the stretch run. But i didn't see UTC being the team to beat them. Depending on the injury front I could see them dropping 2 of the three.

[19TERRIER19]

Great breakdown. Only thing I disagree with is that Furman is the most complete team. NO

WOFFORD is the most complete and is the best team in the SoCon. Point blank period. Sure Furman has had a good season and coming from being bad the last few seasons makes it look even more impressive. But the facts of the matter are they didn’t beat us, and they haven’t played the schedule we have in conference yet. They got let off the hook against western with Tyree Adams gojng out in the first quarter against them. I think Furman will drop 1 of the citadel / Samford games.

This is Wofford’s championship to lose. All we have to do is keep handling our business and everything falls into place.

[boulder3m]

You are right on, Six. Other than us, Furman is the best team in the conference, and best coached. Barring something weird, like weather, or injuries, Furman is our conference rival. Samford has been exposed as a one trick pony, and other teams won't let them win with that pony. Mercer and Western still have fire power. And now Chatty has found their legs.

[youngterrier]

Furman has a really really good offense. They don't make many mistakes. PJ Blazejowski IMO is the biggest reason they are successful and I think they will see a sophomore slump next year when he graduates. Their defense is okay and definitely benefited from the weather and Adams injury yesterday.

But their defense reminds me a lot of the Wofford defenses when we were much more high scoring. They're opportunistic and make big plays (sacks, turnovers), but they get grinded for yardage regularly. They have the worst pass defense in the Socon right now, and they haven't played Samford yet. The one thing that Samford has proven to be able to do is beat teams that run wing-t style play this year (us, Kennesaw, Citadel) and the Citadel is still a quality team.

The key to beating Furman is playing good defense and above average offense, and to be honest I don't think anyone outside of Mercer and us was able to do that to the Dins, and even we are suspect. Western leaned heavily on their run defense but let up 4 yards a carry going into the Furman game. I don't think the Citadel has the offense to run with the paladins (and with Furman having a week to prepare for them I think it's less likely), but I would watch the Samford-Furman game closely.

The key to beating Samford is having an unintimidating offense and a run defense that's kind of weak, making Hatcher want to run the ball more. Furman is the opposite and they'll force Hatcher and Hodges to throw the ball 50 or 60 times against a vulnerable furman secondary.

[lawdog]

I think Furman will drop 1 of the citadel / Samford games. This is Wofford’s championship to lose. All we have to do is keep handling our business and everything falls into place.

+1. Chatt and VMI are both dangerous.

[Eyes of Old Main]

I think Wofford is a lock with one more FCS win, but winning both will make a huge impact on who and when the first game is. I believe a 7-4 Furman team gets in, but probably as the last team into the field (not that Furman fans would complain with that). I doubt Furman loses to El Cid, but I could see them having a problem with Samford. We shall see.

Western should be a playoff team, but I think the injury bug may have taken too much of a toll on them. At this point, Samford really needs to beat Furman to feel secure.

[WocoSix]

New projections has SoCon with only 2 teams in playoffs with Samford and WCU losing. I do think at the end of the day Samford gets an at large bid if they find a way to win out.

On the national front the MVC will have some high profile and playoff impact games. Western Illinois vs Illinois State and S. Dakota St vs N. Dakota State. If Illinois st wins could a 4 loss Western Illinois get in before a 3 loss SoCon team?
Or even a 3-4 loss S. Dakota who loss to Youngstown State

[SmallTownTerrier]

If u have Sammy in if they win out, then Western should get in if they win out, since they beat Sammy... Although, I think Western is spiraling and will lose another... I also think Sammy loses to Furman creating a two bid league... Terriers and Furple... Would like to see us with a 6 seed... Think that’s possible if a few of the right teams falter once down the stretch.

[youngterrier]

I think a 7-5 Western gets in but that last win will be hard to get between Mercer and the citadel.

[boulder3m]

As has happened previously, the SoCon suffers from parity. We essentially have at least five teams that can beat each other on any given Saturday, but they are so equal that the records don't look that good. The question is way too relevant to us because we haven't shown any real superiority over the league. We can win out in the league and not have any respect on the national stage, and that actually hurts the other good teams in the league as well.

[youngterrier]

I'd say it's closer to 6 or 7. ETSU is competitive with anyone at home as is any young program. Citadel will hang tough with anyone if they don't turn over the ball. Chatt may have finally found their rhythm after being lost in the wilderness.

[lawdog]

Sagarin has the Furples as the highest rated SoCon team, and 13th in FCS. It still has Samford a notch above us.

I think we no doubt become a top seed if we win out but think there is a possibility the SoCon gets only two in the playoffs, but more likely three. https://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/

To say we have no respect on the national stage is incorrect. We rose to number 5 and dropped only to 8 when we lost. Our national reputation this year has risen to be a very good one.

Parenthetically, undefeated NCA&T is still behind Mercer and WCU in the Sagarin. Their schedule is the problem, but they definitely will make the playoffs (and probably stay undefeated in the regular season) and then make a run, unless prohibited by some tie-in bowl.

[walliver]

Win the next two games and we're set. At this point, we don't need help from anybody else.
Since our bye week was so early, a seed would really help, and we may need a little help there.

[lawdog]

If Furman does not beat both Cid and Sammy, things will get interesting for them, especially if they lose to Sammy and Sammy wins out ... that may well keep Furman out.