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A 56-game schedule gets underway tonight (Thursday), with a pair of games that are sadly connected to recent shootings. On Saturday, each of the top 3 teams in the Coaches' Poll and the Congrove Computer Rankings will visit a team ranked in the Top 14 or higher.
Northwestern State hosts SE Louisiana in a game that was moved up from Saturday to allow players, coaches and friends to attend the funeral of Ronnie Caldwell.
Caldwell, 21, was found dead a week ago from multiple gunshot wounds. between two buildings of a University Parkway apartment complex late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning. appeared in all 11 games in 2022, starting 10, and finished seventh on the team in tackles. He had yet to play in a game this fall because of a preseason injury.
As for the game, it feature a Lions team that the conference coaches and Sports Information Directors tabbed Southeastern as the preseason favorite, as did the Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com. Incarnate Word was largely the No.2 pick. HeroSports had these schools flipped. Instead, SE Louisiana comes in at 0-7 with a pair of losses to FBS schools, and an 0-3 mark in conference games.
As for the Demons, the computer had them finishing 6th while the coaches and S-I-D's placed them 5th. Instead, they are also winless at 0-5 over-all, and 0-1 in conference play.
In a second Thursday night game, Morgan State will return to the field for the first time since September 30. An on-campus shooter injured 5 people the following Tuesday during the homecoming crowning of the king and queen. All other homecoming activities were canceled, including the home game vs. Stony Brook.
A 17-year-old was arrested in connection with the case and an 18-year-old is being sought. The shooters were reportedly targeting a specific victim who was not struck by the gunfire. It was the third consecutive year of a shooting incident during Morgan State homecoming festivities.
Tonight, the Bears (1-4) will host North Carolina Central at 7:30 PM eastern on ESPNU. NC Central is the only MEAC team with an over-all winning record (5-1). The Eagles are ranked 10th in the AFCA Coaches' Poll and 16th by the computer as they enter this contest after a bye week.
Speaking of bye weeks, there are 17 teams on break this week, and 1 school will be playing a team from outside the FCS as Tennessee State hosts D-2 member Lincoln (C).
Four teams in the Coaches' Poll are among those taking the week off - (6) Montana, (8) Idaho, (21) Central Arkansas, and (23) UC Davis.
(1) South Dakota State at (12) Southern Illinois - ESPN+, 3:00 PM Eastern -
South Dakota State (6-0, 3-0) goes on the road to face fellow MVFC member Southern Illinois (5-1, 2-1) in Carbondale. The 12th-ranked Salukis took a 31-3 loss at Youngstown State two weeks ago. The Jackrabbits have taken 6 of the last 7, but the most recent meeting (10/9/21) saw the Salukis rally from a 20-point deficit to a 42-41 overtime win in Brookings.
Computer Favorite: South Dakota State by 15.85
(2) Montana State at (4) Sacramento State - ESPN2, 10:30 PM Eastern -
Montana State (5-1, 3-0) heads to Sacramento State (5-1, 2-1) for a Big Sky showdown of heavyweight programs. Montana State is 24-3 in conference play since 2019 while Sac State is 25-2 in that period. The lone loss for the Bobcats this year was a 29-16 setback at current No. 1 South Dakota State on September 9 in a non-conference game. The lone defeat for the Hornets was a 36-27 decision at fellow Big Sky member and 8th-ranked Idaho on September 23. Montana State has won 12 straight conference games. These combatants both went 8-0 in conference play in 2022 and haven't met since 2019, when Sac State became the most recent visiting team to win in Bobcat Stadium. The Hornets also won the prior meeting at home in 2016 to end an 8-game series losing streak that dated back to 2005.
Computer Favorite: Montana State by 10.46
(3) Furman at (14) Western Carolina - ESPN+, 2:30 PM Eastern -
Furman (5-1, 3-0) visits Western Carolina (5-1, 3-0) in a SoCon battle. At the start of the season, Furman was ranked 4th by the computer while Western Carolina was ranked 39th by the computer and was nowhere among the 50 teams receiving votes in the Coaches' Poll. In 2-1/2 seasons as head coach, Kerwin Bell has a 15-13 record at a school that had gone 7-25 in the three years before his arrival. The Catamounts are looking to make just their second-ever FCS playoff appearance, and their first since 1983 when they lost 43-7 to Southern Illinois in the championship game in Charleston, South Carolina on The Citadel campus.
Furman has made the FCS playoffs 19 times and is 20-18 in those games. The Paladins won the 1988 championship with a 17-12 victory over the legendary Erk Russell who went 16-2 in the playoffs with Georgia Southern. That title game was played in Pocatello, Idaho on the campus of Idaho State. Furman had lost in the '85 game to Georgia Southern, and later fell to Montana in the 2001 title match. Just last season, Furman was eliminated in a second round game, 41-38, at a 7-seed Incarnate Word team that made it to the semifinals.
Computer Favorite: Furman by 0.02
This season has 117 of the 133 FBS schools facing one FCS opponent, and Army playing two such games for a total of 118 FBS-FCS matchups.
Of the 16 FBS schools that do NOT play a FCS program, 7 are in the B1G (Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Wisconsin). 6 more are evenly split between the Big 12 (Houston, Oklahoma, Texas) and Pac-12 (Colorado, USC, Washington). The other three are Liberty (CUSA) , UTSA (American), and Virginia Tech (ACC).
There are no such matchups this week.
The FBS programs are 106-4 this year against the FCS schools. Over-all, the FBS is a collective 1,792-152 (.922) since we began tracking this in 2003.
Here are the FCS wins in 2023, so far:
September 9: Idaho 33, Nevada 6
September 9: Southern Illinois 14, Northern Illinois 12
September 9: Fordham 40, Buffalo 37
September 16: Sacramento State 30, Stanford 23
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE - Won 20 straight over-all
Last: 41-6 home win over Northern Iowa on Saturday, October 14.
Next: at Southern Illinois on Saturday, October 21.
MONTANA STATE - Won 24 straight home games.
Last: 59-19 home win over Cal Poly on Saturday, October 14.
Next: at Sacramento State on Saturday, October 21 on ESPN-2 at 7:30 pacific time/10:30 eastern time.
HOLY CROSS - Won 19 straight conference games.
Last: 55-27 win at Bucknell on Saturday, October 7.
Next: Hosts Lafayette on Saturday, October 21.
HARVARD - Won 8 straight road games.
Last: 48-7 home win over Howard on Saturday, October 14.
Next: at Princeton on Saturday, October 21.
WESTERN ILLINOIS - Lost 19 straight over-all, 13 straight conference games, and 9 straight home games.
Last: 48-7 home loss to Missouri State on Saturday, October 14.
Next: Visits North Dakota State on Saturday, October 21.
NORFOLK STATE - Lost 8 straight home games (1 behind Western Illinois).
Last: 24-17 loss at Tennessee State on Saturday, October 14.
Next: at Howard on Saturday, October 21.
ROBERT MORRIS - Lost 19 straight road games.
Last: 43-24 loss at Bryant on Saturday, October 14.
Next: After idle week, hosts Tennessee Tech on Saturday, October 28.
PRESBYTERIAN - Had lost 18 straight conference games, but won on Saturday..
Last: 20-17 overtime win at Dayton on Saturday, October 14.
Next: Hosts Marist on Saturday, October 21.