Bracketology Breakdown
Last Four In: Virginia Military, Villanova, New Hampshire, Missouri State
First Four Out: Jacksonville State, Rhode Island, Eastern Kentucky, Weber State
No new FCS upsets over the FBS this week, though there were very few match-ups. There were a couple close calls, but nothing coming to fruition.
There also were no changes in the seeding lines. Everybody held serve or had a bye. The big movement happened lower on the bracket tree. San Diego has seemingly lost their near decade-long grip of the Pioneer League when they were beaten by Davidson. So we’re going to slot the Wildcats into that automatic bid for now. Tennessee-Martin or UTM, as they like to be called, had an impressive win over Jacksonville State. That’s going to temporarily, at least, knock the Gamecocks off the tree and we’re going to slot UTM into the OVC’s automatic bid. UTM is now 3-1, best record in the conference and their wins look the best at the moment.
Besides Jacksonville State falling off, so was normal mainstay Weber State. With JSU, WSU and Central Arkansas off the bracket, it seems a weird look. But those teams are short of accomplishment compared to others right now. And that’s even giving credit for JSU’s win over FBS Florida State. They’re just on the outside right now and could easily jump back in, but someone like Incarnate Word, could no longer be denied. The Cardinals are 3-1 and absolutely rolling right now. Virginia Military is the final newbie this week after a win brought them to 3-1. The Southern Conference is being run by VMI and East Tennessee State right now. Who would have said that five years ago?
Heads up, the first CSM FCS Power Ranking will be out on Monday. If you wanna see a “primitive” rating system, it’s back. But that disclosure will appear when it’s released.
Bids By Conference
AQ7 (1): *Sam Houston State
Big Sky (4): *Montana, Eastern Washington, UC-Davis, Montana State
Big South (1): *Monmouth
Colonial (4): *James Madison, Delaware, Villanova, New Hampshire
Missouri Valley (6): *South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa, North Dakota, Missouri State
Northeast (1): *Duquesne
Ohio Valley (1): *Tennessee-Martin
Patriot (1): *Holy Cross
Pioneer (1): *Davidson
Southern (2): *East Tennessee State, Virginia Military
Southland (2): *Southeastern Louisiana, Incarnate Word
* denotes projected conference’s automatic qualifier
