FCS Tournament enters 3rd Round

The FCS playoff is in full swing and the field, as we enter the 3rd weekend, has dropped from 20 to their version of the Elite Eight.

Last Saturday’s action saw the vaunted CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) take one on the chin, they entered the 2nd round with 5 teams dancing and exited with only one standing. The CAA’s champion, Towson was upset by Lehigh, 40-38, James Madison fell to North Dakota State, 26-14, New Hampshire lost to Montana State, 26-25, and Old Dominion lost to Georgia Southern, 55-48. The only Colonial team to emerge from “Black Saturday” was Maine, who found away against perennial power, Appalachian State, 34-12.

In other action, the Southern Conference, entered the weekend with three teams, Appalachian State, Wofford, & Georgia Southern. As mentioned, Appalachian State lost to Maine, while Wofford stumbled @ North Dakota State 28-21. The one team from the SoCon (Southern Conference), Georgia Southern, that advance, did so by outlasting the Colonial’s Old Dominion, 55-48!

The Big Sky and the Missouri valley had much better showings in week two, as both conferences advanced their respective teams. The Big Sky’s Montana beat Southland Conference (not to be confused with the Southern Conference… different leagues) entree, Central Arkansas, 41-14 and Montana State survived their battle with New Hampshire, 26-25! Meanwhile, Missouri Valley Champion, North Dakota State stopped James Madison, 26-14 and Northern Iowa beat Wofford, 28-21.

Lehigh, representing the Patriot League, pulled off the day’s biggest upset, a 40-38 shocker over Colonial champion, Towson and did so by scoring a safety late in the 4th quarter. Although, the Mountain Hawks, may not agree with the use of the word ‘upset;” as a year ago they traveled to Northern Iowa and beat the Missouri Valley Champion. This marks the second year in a row, that a Patriot League Champ (Lehigh) went on the road and beat a conference champion in a league that is supposed to be superior to their own. Maybe they are right about the use of the word upset, I am now thinking the Hawks would  prefer  smashed, crushed, whipped, or whatever… just not upset ( I read their local paper)! That said, in any language, they are moving on!

This week’s action finds Lehigh @ North Dakota State -10.5, Northern Iowa @ Montana -1.5, Montana State @ Sam Houston -8, & Maine visiting Georgia Southern -8. And as always… Enjoy the Games