Last Four In: Eastern Illinois, Fordham, New Hampshire, The Citadel
First Four Out: Eastern Washington, Towson, Southern Utah, Western Carolina
With Bryant losing to Sacred Heart, next Saturday’s St. Francis, Pa. at Duquesne winner-take-all contest will decide the NEC regular-season title as well as the conference’s automatic berth in the FCS playoffs. In the Patriot League, Colgate stopped Lehigh four times in the final minute to earn a 49-42 victory that gives the Raiders that league’s auto bid.
The ultra-competitive MVFC playoff picture cleared with Youngstown State losing to North Dakota State. That means the league will likely just get four bids: Illinois State, South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Northern Iowa. Everyone else in the league has at least five losses and are out of the picture.
Youngstown’s loss helped The Citadel, which lost to Chattanooga, but is still a playoff at-large possibility. Meanwhile, Eastern Illinois helped its cause with a 23-21 victory over Tennessee-Martin that likely eliminated it from playoff consideration. That means next week’s contest between Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois could decide an at-large berth for the OVC.
The Big Sky is as jumbled as ever with Montana walloping Eastern Washington. That win keeps the Grizzlies’ hopes alive while Portland State held on against Southern Utah for a huge victory.
The CAA is up in the air as far as the playoff teams go and the number. William & Mary and JMU likely punched their tickets with victories, but Richmond fell to Villanova and that was a big loss. Towson’s loss to the Tribe hurt, while New Hampshire beat Albany Saturday night. William & Mary meets Richmond next week while Villanova and JMU tangle. Both games are huge as the possibility exists that there could be a three-way tie for first place after next weekend.
See the FCS Football Projected Bracket
Big Sky: Northern Arizona, Montana, Portland State, North Dakota
Big South: Coastal Carolina, Charleston Southern*
CAA: James Madison, New Hampshire, William & Mary, Villanova
MVFC: Illinois State, South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa
NEC: Duquesne
OVC: Jacksonville State, Eastern Illinois
Patriot: Colgate*, Fordham
Pioneer: Dayton*
Southern: Chattanooga*, The Citadel
Southland: McNeese State*, Sam Houston State
See the FCS Football Projected Bracket
