The FCS giveth, and the FCS taketh away. Everything that went right for Liberty last week went wrong on Saturday. The playoff picture is still pretty foggy across the nation. However, a few teams punched their tickets, while others saw their seasons slip away.
Notable Results:
Albany beat #21 New Hampshire 36-25
#6 JMU beat #9 Villanova 20-7
#12 North Dakota beat Northern Arizona 38-31
Northern Colorado beat #18 Montana 28-25
Weber State beat #16 Cal Poly 22-15
Northern Iowa beat #19 Western Illinois 30-23
Wofford beat #7 Chattanooga 36-28
Maine beat Stony Brook 27-21
#11 South Dakota State beat South Dakota 28-21
#14 Charleston Southern beat #25 Liberty 48-26
National Seeds:
1 Sam Houston State* (Southland) – SH wins again. But Central Arkansas is waiting. Great match up to finish the season.
2 Jacksonville State* (OVC) – The Gamecocks can wrap up the OVC this week against UT-Martin. No reason to believe they won’t.
3 North Dakota State – Solid win against Indiana State. This team looks to be building some momentum heading towards the playoffs.
4 Eastern Washington* (Big Sky) – Eastern may have to share the Big Sky title with North Dakota, but they look like a team on a mission.
5 James Madison* (CAA) – The Dukes clinched the CAA title against Villanova. JMU has to be a trendy pick to make it to the FCS Championship game.
6 The Citadel* (SoCon) – The Bulldogs clinched the SoCon with a win over VMI and a Chattanooga loss. Citadel completes a perfect FCS season, as they finish the year against UNC.
7 North Dakota – Winning 9 in a row is tough. Doing it in the Big Sky is very tough. This has been a great run by North Dakota, and they deserve the first round bye.
8 Central Arkansas – at 9-1, Central has surged in recent weeks. They have a chance for the biggest win of the year against #1 Sam Houston this week.
* Projected Conference Auto-bid
Conference Projections
Big Sky
Auto-Bid:
Eastern Washington (7-0, 9-1)^
At-Large:
North Dakota (8-0, 9-2)^
Weber State (5-2, 6-4)
Cal Poly (4-3, 6-4)
Bubble:
Montana (3-4, 6-4)
^ Denotes 7 Division 1 win mark achieved
Big South
Auto-Bid:
Charleston Southern (3-1, 6-3)
Bubble:
Liberty (4-1, 6-4)
Colonial
Auto-Bid:
James Madison (6-0, 8-1)^ *Clinched CAA Title
At-Large:
Richmond (5-2, 8-2)^
Villanova (5-2, 7-3)^
Maine (5-2, 6-4)
New Hampshire (5-2, 6-4)
Bubble:
Albany (3-4, 6-4)
^ Denotes 7 Division 1 win mark achieved
Missouri Valley
Auto-Bid:
South Dakota State (6-1, 7-3)^
At-Large:
North Dakota State (6-1, 9-1)^
Youngstown State (5-2, 7-3)^
Western Illinois (3-4, 6-4)
Bubble:
Northern Iowa (4-3, 5-5)
Illinois State (4-4, 6-5)
^ Denotes 7 Division 1 win mark achieved
Northeast
Auto-Bid:
St. Francis (PA) (5-0, 7-3) *Clinched NEC Title
Ohio Valley
Auto-Bid:
Jacksonville State (6-0, 9-1)^
Bubble:
Tennessee State (3-3, 6-4)
UT Martin (6-1, 7-4)
^ Denotes 7 Division 1 win mark achieved
Patriot
Auto-Bid:
Lehigh (5-0, 8-2)^* Clinched Patriot Auto-Bid
^ Denotes 7 Division 1 win mark achieved
Pioneer
Auto-Bid:
San Diego (7-0, 8-1)^ *Clinched Pioneer Title
Bubble:
Dayton (7-1, 9-2)^
^ Denotes 7 Division 1 win mark achieved
Southern
Auto-Bid:
Citadel (8-0, 10-0)^ * Clinched SoCon Auto-Bid
At-Large:
Chattanooga (6-2, 8-2)^
Samford (5-2, 7-3)
Wofford (5-2, 7-3)
Southland
Auto-Bid:
Sam Houston State (6-0, 8-0)^
At-Large:
Central Arkansas (6-0, 7-1)^
^ Denotes 7 Division 1 win mark achieved
Where is Liberty?
A close loss to Charleston Southern and a convincing win against Coastal MAY have been enough to convince the committee, but the Turner Gill and the Flames flushed that down the toilet at home on Saturday. Liberty was dominated on both sides of the ball, and looked like a pretender in the FCS playoff race. Wofford’s huge win over Chattanooga was also bad for the Flames. Even with a win over Coastal on Thursday, there are a few 6 win teams that will have better resumes than LU. Also hurting Liberty’s chances, the prospect of a second place MEAC team (either NC A&T or NC Central) taking a playoff invitation. Regardless, Liberty will be hoping for a Charleston Southern slip up against Kennesaw State to back their way into the playoffs.
