UPDATE: FCS College Football Spring Week 4 Features 130th Capital Cup On Saturday

March 4, 2021 by Staff

Four games have been wiped from this week's slate, but it's still the most complete schedule of the spring football season, thus far. It all kicks off with a single contest on Thursday and continues with another on Friday, 23 on Saturday and 6 more on Sunday for a total of 31 games.

Last week saw 25 games completed, more than double the previous week's dozen.

Last week also saw a slew of upsets with 11 underdogs taking down their opponent, including the first loss by North Dakota State since November 4, 2017. The Bison went on to win the national championship this year. They remain No. 1 after the loss this year in the Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com.

Games Canceled or Postponed:
- Weber State at Cal Poly. Cal Poly has had to push its opener twice due to Covid - first vs. UC Davis and now vs. Weber. The Davis game was pushed to April 10 and the Weber contest to April 17.

- ETSU at Wofford. The first miss for either team. This one due to covid issues in combination with injuries at a certain position group for the Terriers. There is currently no makeup date available.

- Wagner at Merrimack. The opener for both schools has been postponed due to covid issues with the Seahawks. The NEC is playing a 4-team conference-only slate so rescheduling should be simple, but the conference website only says that "makeup information will be available at a later date".

- Alabama A&M at Mississippi Valley State. The second miss for the Devils. Last week's game vs. Deion Sanders-coached Jackson State was moved to March 14. This week's game has been rescheduled for April 24 which is the weekend that the NCAA playoffs are supposed to begin. The SWAC does not participate, but does hold its own championship game. Thus, it's possible for this game to still be canceled completely if either is in the conference title game.

- South Carolina State at Howard. Howard was forced to drop both games with South Carolina State due to covid travel restrictions affecting Howard.

Game Added:

- Alabama A&M at South Carolina State. With A&M's game vs. MVSU moved, and South Carolina State's game with Howard canceled, the Hornets and Bison agreed to meet in Orangeburg this Saturday.

The computer says North Dakota State should rebound with ease this week, favoring the Bison by 47.43 at Missouri State. The Bears ended a 7-game losing streak on Saturday with a 30-24 win at home over a Western Illinois team that has now lost 14 of its last 15 games.

Second-ranked James Madison draws a seemingly easy task with a visit to Elon. The Dukes handled Robert Morris 36-16 this past Saturday while the Phoenix lost as a double-digit favorite at Gardner-Webb, 42-20. The computer likes JMU by 17.79.

Third-ranked Monmouth is still a week away from opening its season, while No. 4 Kennesaw State gets a week off after handling D-2 Shorter 35-3 on Saturday.

No. 5 Villanova and its opponent, No. 26 Stony Brook, open play on Saturday. The Wildcats are a 6.88-point computer choice over the homestanding Seawolves in the CAA North division matchup on central Long Island. Stony Brook is 3-1 all-time in the series with the lone loss occurring in 2013.

Another CAA North matchup sees 6th-ranked Albany visiting No. 18 New Hampshire in the season-opener for both schools. The Great Dames are favored by just 2.11 points to knock off the Wildcats for the fourth time in the last five meetings.

Northern Iowa hosts Illinois State in a Missouri Valley clash of top ten teams. The 7th-ranked Panthers are a 3.50-point home pick by the computer over the 8th-ranked Redbirds. Neither team can afford another loss after Northern Iowa fell in its opener two weeks go to South Dakota State, and Illinois State was upset at home by South Dakota this past weekend.

No. 9 Weber State (1-0) travels to Cal Poly (0-0) with a 12.41-point computer advantage. The Wildcats have taken 4 straight in the series after dropping the previous 3 to the Mustangs. (This game has been moved to April 17).

10th-ranked Southeast Missouri (1-0) plays its home opener as an 18.07-point computer pick over Murray State (1-0). SEMO routed Eastern Illinois 47-7 on Saturday while the Racers upset UT-Martin 14-10 in a lightning-delayed match on Sunday.

12th-ranked North Dakota hosts 16th-ranked South Dakota on Thursday. The computer likes the Fighting Hawks by 5.94 points over the Coyotes. South Dakota won the last meeting 45-7 in 2017 and the teams have split the last 4.

Neighboring schools William & Mary and Richmond open against each other on Saturday to renew the longest rivalry in the south.  The computer likes the Spiders by 2.75 points over the Tribe in the 130th meeting of these CAA South foes whose campuses are a mere 60 miles apart down I-64. William & Mary leads the highly competitive Capital Cup series 63-62-5 and took the last meeting, 21-15 in overtime, in 2019. However, Richmond has won 7 of the last 9 and 12 of the last 16.

SEE: Complete Schedule and Picks