S137 Conf Champ Predictions
With 10 games completed, we should have a good idea who is going to make it and who is out. Let's take a look back at how we got here and what's going on around the league...
Best Games of the Year
Ferris State at Northern Michigan (NMU 40-37 OT)
Winona St. at Hillsdale (Hillsdale 34-31 OT)
Virginia State at Humboldt State (Virginia St 38-31)
Ferris State at Cheyney (Ferris St. 13-10)
Pace at Humboldt St. (Humboldt St. 28-27)
Stonehill at Pace (Pace 24-17)
Presbyterian at Bloomsburg (Bloomsburg 56-49)
Midwestern St. at W. New Mexico (W. New Mexico 16-13)
In the CIAA, Catfish_jack has established his dominance with Virginia State. Currently ranked #2 with WIS, they had premium wins versus Midwestern St. 30-16 and North Carolina Central 73-24. He did take a very close loss to Jaylien1 at Humboldt State 38-31 (OT), who is easily a top 10 talent. Catfish_jack has been solid at game planning after a nice quarterfinals run last season, I can see them doing the same or better this year.
NC Central is led by newly hired head coach bucki22 and currently sits at 7-3. They had a tough loss to SE Oklahoma_Durant is not the only team to suffer that same fate. Lesson learned and the game plan is working with their only losses to Ferris St. (coachoatie) and Virginia St. (catfish_jack) who out talent them. I think they finish strong at 10-3 and likely will need a CC win in order to the make the playoffs.
VSU will win this conference out, NC Central doesn't have enough talent at the moment to pull off on a upset and with a high WIS ranking, this is a Quarterfinal + caliber team.
Prediction: Virginia State vs NC Central (Virginia St. wins)
Next, we move on to the MIAA who shows Missouri-Rolla (olrdneck) leading the conference at 10-0. He had a nice win over South Dakota (canesfan4369) 36-22, but is largely untested for the season.
Cheyney and waregl72 will generally control this conference and has a show down tonight versus Missouri-Rolla. Look for them to move to 10-1 and MRU will lose it's first game of the season. Cheyney did face a solid test this season versus Ferris State L13-10 and Edinboro W55.26. Edinboro is the team that pulled off that upset over W. Chester this season. The FSU game is very interesting as Cheyney was held to only 65 yards passing on 25 attempts. It will be difficult to win the big games completing 32% of your passes versus a young secondary. Waregl72 is going to have a find and answer before the playoffs, but he has shown to be an excellent game planner.
Prediction: Cheyney vs Missouri Western State (Cheyney Wins)
NE-10 is slowly growing into a power-house conference, with the addition of coaches such as Bigpoppa85, Frosty8311, Chetty1963, Bce98a, Jamieh2009 and Pg99.
Long Island and bigpoppa85 is the clear front runner and their convincing win over Southern Connecticut 34-7 made LI a lock for the conference championship.
Frosty8311 took over a solid Pace team and has been taking care of business. Impressive game versus jaylien1 with Humboldt St 28-27 loss. They should have no problem closing out the season with only 1 loss and will have a shot versus Long Island in the conference championship.
Southern Connecticut lost to Long Island but is playing really well and has a chance to make the 2nd round this season with good playoff seeding. While they are lacking some talent in the power positions, head coach bce98a is accustomed to winning and could game plan to over-come their weakness. He won 6 national championships at Trinity College before taking over at Southern Connecticut.
Chetty at Stonehill and Jamieh2009 at Fairmont St are going to be difficult as time moves on. Chetty's game against Pace losing 24-17 shows that he knows how to get the most out of his talent. Jamieh2009 lost 25-17 versus SCU and 23-20 versus Stonehill. When these teams grow, watchout for some real showdowns between the great coaches in this conference.
Predicition: Long Island vs Pace (Long Island wins)
In the Lone Star Conference, Texas A&M-Commerce (akua29) leads the field at 10-0 and has secured a spot in the conference championship. They will likely face Jawz at Central Oklahoma who secured their bid with a win over Tarleton State (Munchnugget) 35-14.
Jawz also picked up a nice win over Albany St. 34-21 in week 1 and a win over Miles (starfinder77) 57-31 in week 3. Still, they needed a win over a tough Tarleton St. (muchnugget) and found it in week 9 with a big win 35-14. This gave them a clear path to the CC in only Jawz third season of their rebuild.
Joeydefone at Angelo St. has only 1 loss to TAMC and still has TAM-Kingsville on the schedule. Currently ranked #32 by WIS, they are on the outside looking in and need some love from other teams to lose before the seasons end.
Pete_61 enters his second season at Kingsville (7-3) and will look to improve over their 8 win season last year with a hopeful 2 out of 3 in the last of their schedule. They do have a an outside shot at the playoffs with a #34 press ranking if they can come up big over Angelo State in week 11.
Prediction: Texas A&M-Comm vs Central Oklahoma (TAMC wins)
The Gulf South Conference is coming down to the same three teams as last season with North Alabama and Fazbear05 leading the way. Sitting at 10-0, their victory over Valdosta St. 37-22 was the clinch they needed to possibly pull out the conference.
Still, there is a major showdown in week 12 versus the up and coming Henderson State and Lsteenberg. HSU is currently 9-1 and ranked #19 with a showdown match-up versus Valdosta St. tonight. They need to split their last 2 human games to keep their ranking high.
Champ83 at Valdosta St. (9-1) will have to play uphill this season but is going to be a dangerous team with a lower playoff seed this year. They have a winnable game against lsteenberg so I think they go in as a #3 seed.
Prediction: N. Alabama vs Central Arkansas (N. Alabama wins)
Pennsylvania is the place where the next power conference is being formed, we head on out to check in on the PSAC.
Between the six coaches in this conference, they have amassed a combined 104 national championships! If they all stay, this could be the strongest conference in about 3-4 seasons. Right now, we have Bloomsburg 9-1 (jms245), East Stroudsburg 9-1 (darryljones2), West Chester 9-1 (2000champou), Edinboro 9-1 (vhoward415), Indiana (PA) 8-2 (albright73) and Slippery Rock 8-2 (mojolad) that are all competing for the chance at the CC.
Edinboro is the most impressive team this year out of the group. Vhoward415 took over 5 seasons ago in a full rebuild and is coming off a 11-4 season and 1st round playoff appearance. They lost to Cheyney (waregl72) 55-26, but beat Henderson State (lsteenberg) and upset West Chester (2000champou) 35-34 in one of the best games of the season. They still have Indiana (PA) left in their way to get a rematch versus W. Chester.
W. Chester (2000champou) has been a 15+ win team for the past 6 seasons but this is probably one of the youngest he has had in awhile. Close win versus Slippery Rock (mojolad) 37-26 and a loss to vhoward415 at Edinboro 35-34 is only a minor set back. Currently ranked #20 they have to face E. Stroudsburg and Bloomsburg still to get a shot at the CC.
Bloomsburg with jms245 is currently 9-1 and lost to Ferris St (coachoatie) 41-14 but beat Presbyterian (rposborne) 56-49 in a shootout! There is a huge game versus West Chester in 2 days that will decide who makes it to the CC. This game is going to be very close, the youth on W. Chester is going to give jms245 a shot.
I think 2000champou figures out how to keep his youth off the field and maximize his talent.
Prediction: W. Chester vs Edinboro
(W. Chester wins)
Heading down south, we make our way to the SIAC and a change in power. For years the SIAC has been lead by a dominant Saint Joseph's team but slowly on the horizon there was giant growing in Morehouse led by Sportsdouche.
This was the coach that landed two 11+ win seasons in his first 2 seasons and has made it to the playoffs 3 out of the 4 seasons since taking over. In only his 5th season, he put together an effort in game that went under the radar. Morehouse vs Saint Joseph's was a huge moral victory for this program, winning 14-6. The game was scoreless for the first half and looked like a grind throughout. Taking on 5 sacks and 1 turnover, Sportsdouche was able to over come and put together a couple nice drives to pull it out. Heck of a job by this coach to build this team and will likely win out and win their first conference championship!
Fla_Dave returns to his old stomping grounds of Saint Joseph's and had to perform using the previous regime's talent. His talents in coaching are unquestioned and we look for SJU to rebound as he recruits new blood into the program. With one game left versus Lane (bofreedom), they will have to hope their WIS ranking improves to reach the playoffs. Currently ranked #33 by the press, Saint Joseph's has not missed the playoffs since season 102.
Lane has been under the radar all season, but currently bofreedom is at 9-1 and ranked #24 in only his 3rd season of a complete rebuild. Steadily improving and a tough schedule ahead, there is a remote chance he could make the playoffs this season. Out of his last 3 games, he plays Morehouse and Saint Joseph's. Even if he loses both, this could be one of those 3 loss team that you see make it in as a low seed.
Predicition: Morehouse vs Albany St. (Morehouse wins)
It's always a dog fight when you visit the South Atlantic Conference and this season is no different. You have a great group of coaches here with Presbyterian 9-1 (rposborne), Tusculum 9-1 (clememp), Shepherd (dawgnuts), Glenville (dessasdad05) and W. Virginia Tech (bigpapamatt).
Presbyterian and rposborne leads the pack at 9-1 and won big on the road over Shepherd (dawgnuts) 41-35 but did lose in non-conference to Bloomsburg 56-49. With 2 sim opponents left, they will have to take on rival Tusculum (clememp) if they want a rematch versus Shepherd in the CC.
Shepherd (dawgnuts) went into conference play 5-0 but then slipped 41-35 to Presbyterian and 48-38 against Tusculum. With Glenville still on the radar, they should pull through and repeat as usually to make the CC.
With Tusculum (clememp) and Presbyterian, there is a real rivalry there on who will make it to the CC. The last time Tusculum won the CC was 4 seasons ago, so they are due for another one! They did lose to North Alabama 45-24 this season but they beat Shepherd 48-38 which was a larger margin of victory than Presbyterian. The could pull it off, but we will have to wait until week 13 to see.
Dessasdad05 enters his second season in the Glenville rebuild and they have played a pretty tough schedule this year. With losses against Fairmont St, W. New Mexico, Presbyterian and Tusculum, they have faced some good teams. They still have to get past Shepherd but will likely finish this season 8-5.
I think this is Clememp's year to bring the CC home.
Predicition: Tusculum vs Shepherd
(Tusculum wins)
This is the most dominating conference this season with potentially 5 playoff caliber teams but will likely only put 4 into the playoffs.
Northern Michigan returns as the defending champion and currently sits at 10-0. Spthibodeau has another well built roster and looks to repeat as the NC champion again. His RB Daniel Murphy may be one of his best yet with a 78.54 core rating and he has a pair of 70+ core wide receivers. They also have 5 offensive linemen rated at 70+ and their defense is just scary good. I don't see a team getting in their way, but Ferris St. may have something to say about it.
Ferris State is always surprising and coachoatie puts some incredible come backs into motion each season. This year was no different, trailing 20-6 at the half versus NMU, they ran the scoreboard 28-14 in the second half and pushed the game into overtime. Even though they lost 40-37, the only have Hillsdale (omcs1981) in the way to try and get some redemption. They had victories over Bloomsburg (jms245) 41-14, Cheyney (waregl72) 13-10, Tarleton (munchnugget) 9-6 and NC Central (bucki22) 57-16.
Saginaw Valley St. and Ojpick is a tough team to predict as his talent is very good every season but they tend to lose 1 or 2 games during the regular season and then put together a nice playoff run. The did lose to Ferris St. 49-6 but handled business against a solid Findlay (bobbybd) team 38-15. Their match with NMU is going to decide if they get a shot at the CC or not. We can expect to see SVSU in the second round again, but it will be interesting to see if they can push through to the deeper rounds this year.
Hillsdale is led by omcs1981 and while he doesn't like to write about his team, I will because everyone is on notice! Omcs1981 won 4 NC's during his time with Indianapolis and then decided to start over from scratch on the other side of the bracket from NMU. Now on his 6th season and two 12 win seasons, his vision has improved and the threat becomes more real. Hillsdale had a very nice win over Winona St. (Gabby123) 34-31 in overtime and Findlay 23-22. They face Ferris St. who omcs1981 is 0-5 verus coachoatie, but his team is much better than in the past contests. If they win, they will face probably NMU in the CC and if they lose it will be FSU.
Bobbybd has been putting in work over at Findlay and playing in a very competitive conference with stiff recruiting competition. He has proven he can build a good team but continues to lose games versus his conference rivals. This season, they lost to NMU 27-7, SVSU 38-15 and Hillsdale 23-22 but still have to face Ferris St. That's a tough conference schedule and I think he finishes 9-4 in a worst case scenario. Unfortunately, they are ranked too low to make the playoffs.
Prediction: Northern Michigan vs Ferris St.
(Northern Michigan wins)
I'm use to seeing only a few teams in the NCIC, this season there is 7 coaches! Quite a difference in game play and some solid performances.
Humboldt St. is the cream of the crop from this conference and is currently 9-1. Jaylien1 is a great coach and really doing well in improving their vision each season. Coming off two 15 win seasons, you saw humboldt st. all over the recruit field and they made sure to hold down the California pipeline. At 9-1 they have played 7 human opponents and won over W. New Mexico (tmelonhead) 38-27 and Pace (frosty8311) 28-27 but fell short versus (Catfish_Jack's) Virginia State team 38-31 in overtime. N. Dakota St. and coach Zharkins is the obvious CC opponent this year, but I don't see an upset here and expect that they win out.
North Dakota State was human coached for 2 seasons and Zharkin enters his first year with a few human coaches on his non-conference schedule. They lost handily to Long Island (Bigpoppa85) 82-3 and N. Dakota (Cole_lou) 29-3 but beat the other 3 human coached teams. Not a bad start and win a winnable game left on the schedule versus St. Cloud State and they could finish 11-2.
North Dakota has been vacant for quite some time and newly appointed coach Cole_lou is turning heads. In his first season, they are currently 9-1 and rnked just barely outside the top 34. They enter the meat of their schedule over the next 3 weeks, but could end up going 2 out of 3 and having a great first season!
Prediction: North Dakota St. vs Humboldt St.
(Humboldt St. wins)
Northern Sun conference (NSIC) has three coaches now and still remains like the MIAA with a very vacant pool of nice teams. This conference in general has a couple great rebuild locations if you are a coach reading this and thinking of joining next season.
Winona State (gabby123) continues to be the bread winner here and at 9-1, their only loss was to Omcs1981's Hillsdale team 34-31 in overtime. They beat several human coaches but mainly defeated their two conference rivals in W. Liberty State (Jibe) 30-6 and SW Minn St. (Calandrum04) 40-0. They are a lock for the CC and most likely will bring home another.
W. Liberty State is led by coach Jibe and also is 9-1 on the season. They had a nice win over E. Stroudsburg (darryljones2) 20-17 and Texas A&M-Kingsville 27-25 led by Pete_61. I say, get the wins while you can cause the going is going to get tough when those two teams are build up. The loss to Winona St. was a minor set back and they are in great position for a rematch and first round playoff appearance with a WIS ranking at 23.
I like Calandrum04 over at SW Minnesota St, this is an area that can be great to play from. After winning 5 games in year 1 of the rebuild, this season they are 8-2 could sweep their last 3 games giving them a nice 11-2 record. Due to the lack of human opponents though, they probably won't make the playoffs since they are currently ranked #47.
Prediction: Winona St. vs W. Liberty St.
(Winona St. wins)
Saving the best for last is the Rocky Mountain conference! Why do I like them best? Well, they largely go unnoticed throughout the season until playoff time. If you look under the hood though, there is a power conference in the making as long as the right coaches stay put and they keep building.
To start, tmelonhead, YES I do like your rebuild at W. New Mexico. I read on your board that you may of thought you were going to have a down year after week 1, but your squad is legit this year! Since S130 he has been trying to get past Midwestern State to have a shot at the CC title and guess what... 16-13 over Midwestern State in what should of a been a very highlighted game on our schedules. This is by no means a knock on MSU who has been strong each season, but a testament to tmelonhead's roster building skills from a tough recruit location. That RB you battled me for is almost a 70 core rating in his sophomore season! What's great about this team this year is they have 3 senior RB's and a healthy offensive line. They also have 2 senior LB and 3 senior DB's. Depth could be an issue on defense but they put up a good performance against a top team like Humboldt St in their week 1 loss 38-27.
Midwestern St. the old tried and true. Excellent team year and year out by Linux_Box who keeps building strong talent! Sitting at 8-2, they suffered a loss to a great Virginia St. 30-16 and to W. New Mexico 16-13, they handled business versus Mesa St (justp3ach3y) 25-12 and will finish out the season at 11-2. Folks, this is one dangerous team to go in as a low seed and one of the top teams could get knocked out in the first round if they have to square up against them. I've seen Linux_Box put together a nice run in S134 where they made it to the semi-finals. 65-70+ core starters across the board, he has the talent to make a few changes and make a deep run.
Fort Lewis was built up by justp3ach3y but then he left and jong44 took over. They went from a 13-14 win team to last season finishing 8-5. Under new leadership, coach laworog comes in trying to get this ship turned around and take over western bracket. Currently at 8-2, their loss to Southern Connecticut 35-27 was a great showing but their slip to a sim ran SE Oklahoma-Durant team 27-24 probably caught him off guard. Lesson learned and hopefully some adjustments have been made because their biggest contest is tonight versus Mesa State! New coach versus old coach but regardless of the outcome, Mesa State has 2 more loss in conference so Fort Lewis will likely make the CC.
Mesa State is in good hands with coach justp3ach3y, but this time making it back to 14 wins is not so easy. If he can get the talent to go to Mesa St, I think he is easily a quarterfinals + type of game planner based watching him over the seasons. They lost to N. Alabama 34-16, Midwestern St. 25-12 and W. New Mexico 33-6. He is right in another couple seasons when his recruit classes grow up. I think they have a good shot winning the rest of the games and if he does, they will finish 10-3 and miss the playoffs.
Prediction: W. New Mexico vs Mesa St.
(W. New Mexico wins)
Hopefully, I didn't miss any conferences and my apologies if I did not discuss your team directly. Good luck to the teams still in the hunt and hope all teams finish the year off strong!