IdaGriz01
Well-known member
I was going to post this on an old thread, but the results were interesting enough to start a new one.
The notion began when we watched our recording of the North Carolina Central–Southern game from last Saturday. The game was mediocre, but the halftime show was worth watching … as usual for HBCU games.
To keep it short, I’ll just say that the “expert” broadcaster, Jay Walker, finally annoyed me enough to revisit a topic I had addressed before. Walker knows HBCU football, but has delusions about its place in FCS football. He seems to really believe that the HBCU conferences – MEAC and SWAC – could be a power in FCS if they weren’t beating each other up. Sorry Jay, the numbers do not support that notion.
I did a small run a few years ago, but this time I went all the way back to 2015. Over that span of years, MEAC and SWAC teams went (42-194) against FCS opponents outside their two conferences … that is, they lost over 82% of those games. And those opponents were almost all weak sisters: Campbell, Abilene Christian, Hampton, and the like. Even with over 150 money games, they have never upset an FBS opponent.
All that got me to wondering how the Big Sky would compare. Took a lot of time and work, but the results are very interesting.
Again, I went back to 2015 … except for Idaho. since they were officially FBS up through 2017. Big Sky teams have won just under 61% of their games against out-of-conference FCS opponents (including playoff games). Since that includes the conference doormats, I’d call that pretty good. And that would look way better without losses to Missouri Valley teams. which do hold a decided edge (42-67). It doesn’t help that neither Northern Colorado nor Portland State won any games against MVFC opponents during that period. Luckily, most Big Sky programs don’t need to load up on money games to survive. They scheduled 115 during the period … and managed 14 upsets.
FYI: The Griz have won almost 80% (29-8) of their FCS games against non-BSC opponents, including playoff games. They are also (1-2) against FBS opponents. Also, except for Idaho with its shorter history, only the Griz and Weber State have winning records against the MVFC. (EWU is close at 5-6.)
Having gone to that much effort, I figured I might as well do the MVFC. Oddly enough, given their head-to-head edge over the BSC, their OOC record is not that different: Slightly over 64% wins against FCS opponents. They schedule fewer (92) games against FBS opponents and managed 13 upsets.
The notion began when we watched our recording of the North Carolina Central–Southern game from last Saturday. The game was mediocre, but the halftime show was worth watching … as usual for HBCU games.
To keep it short, I’ll just say that the “expert” broadcaster, Jay Walker, finally annoyed me enough to revisit a topic I had addressed before. Walker knows HBCU football, but has delusions about its place in FCS football. He seems to really believe that the HBCU conferences – MEAC and SWAC – could be a power in FCS if they weren’t beating each other up. Sorry Jay, the numbers do not support that notion.
I did a small run a few years ago, but this time I went all the way back to 2015. Over that span of years, MEAC and SWAC teams went (42-194) against FCS opponents outside their two conferences … that is, they lost over 82% of those games. And those opponents were almost all weak sisters: Campbell, Abilene Christian, Hampton, and the like. Even with over 150 money games, they have never upset an FBS opponent.
All that got me to wondering how the Big Sky would compare. Took a lot of time and work, but the results are very interesting.
Again, I went back to 2015 … except for Idaho. since they were officially FBS up through 2017. Big Sky teams have won just under 61% of their games against out-of-conference FCS opponents (including playoff games). Since that includes the conference doormats, I’d call that pretty good. And that would look way better without losses to Missouri Valley teams. which do hold a decided edge (42-67). It doesn’t help that neither Northern Colorado nor Portland State won any games against MVFC opponents during that period. Luckily, most Big Sky programs don’t need to load up on money games to survive. They scheduled 115 during the period … and managed 14 upsets.
FYI: The Griz have won almost 80% (29-8) of their FCS games against non-BSC opponents, including playoff games. They are also (1-2) against FBS opponents. Also, except for Idaho with its shorter history, only the Griz and Weber State have winning records against the MVFC. (EWU is close at 5-6.)
Having gone to that much effort, I figured I might as well do the MVFC. Oddly enough, given their head-to-head edge over the BSC, their OOC record is not that different: Slightly over 64% wins against FCS opponents. They schedule fewer (92) games against FBS opponents and managed 13 upsets.
