FCS ALL-IN returned Friday, Aug. 25, on ESPN+ (at 11 a.m. CT). The show -- produced by Big Sky Conference staff in collaboration with communications directors and video managers at all FCS Conferences -- features Craig Haley (Stats Perform) and Sam Herder (HERO Sports) with host Alex Eschelman. It airs every Friday throughout the season.
A total of 23 games involving FCS programs took place last night (Thursday, Aug. 31). Two FCS vs. FBS games are scheduled for Friday, Sept. 1, as Missouri State takes on Kansas and Howard faces Eastern Michigan. Five games Thursday involved FCS vs. FBS matchups.
BIG SKY CONFERENCE
- Montana State Picked to Win the Big Sky: After winning a share of the Big Sky regular-season crown last season, the Montana State Bobcats were picked the conference by league media and head coaches. The preseason poll saw the Bobcats earning 26 (out of 39) first-place votes from the media and 10 (out of 12) from the head coaches. The media and head coaches differed on their second-place team, with the media placing Idaho behind the Bobcats and the head coaches slotting UC Davis after MSU.
- New Year, New Faces: The Big Sky features five new head football coaches in 2023, with all five having ties to the Big Sky before taking over their current positions. Two of the Big Sky's new head coaches in 2023 also had head coaching stops at previous teams in the league, with Cal Poly's Paul Wulff having coached at EWU from 2000-07 and Northern Colorado's Ed Lamb serving as head coach at former Big Sky member Southern Utah from 2008-15.
- New Big Sky Head Coaches in 2023: Paul Wulff, Cal Poly (previously Cal Poly OL coach; EWU head coach from 2000-07); Cody Hawkins, Idaho State (previously OC at UC Davis); Ed Lamb, Northern Colorado (Southern Utah head coach from 2008-15); Andy Thompson, Sacramento State (previously Sac State DC; played at Montana from 1999, 2001-03); Mickey Mental, Weber State (previously Weber State OC)
- Big Sky teams will face off against three FBS opponents to open the season this weekend, as league teams look to better last season's pair of upset victories. Portland State and Northern Arizona will travel to in-state foes Oregon and Arizona to open the year, while Idaho State heads west to San Diego State to close out Week 1 for the Big Sky.
BIG SOUTH-OVC FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
- The inaugural season of the Big South-OVC Football Association kicks off Thursday with four games, with the league’s remaining six season-opening contests scheduled for Saturday … 2022 OVC Co-Champion Southeast Missouri is the preseason favorite of the 10-member Association, followed by 2022 Big South Champion Gardner-Webb, and 2022 OVC Co-Champ UT Martin … The first conference game is slated for Week 2 (Lindenwood at Southeast Missouri), with the first cross-over contest in Week 3 (Gardner-Webb at Tennessee State).
- Big South-OVC Association members will play 10 FBS games this season, with six of the contests this Saturday – two of which are at Mountain West Conference foes (at Air Force, UNLV). Three FBS games are on the docket for Week 2.
- With Southeast Missouri (#11/12) and Gardner-Webb (#24/25) beginning the season nationally ranked, the Big South-OVC Association is one of six FCS Conferences with multiple Top 25 programs … GWU is nationally ranked for the first time since 2003, while SEMO is in the national Top 25 for the 11th-straight week … Five of the Association’s 2023 non-conference FCS opponents are ranked in the preseason Top 25 polls (William & Mary, Furman, Samford, Rhode Island and Eastern Kentucky).
CAA FOOTBALL
- CONFERENCE PLAY KICKS OFF ON THURSDAY: Conference play starts early in CAA Football with a pair of season-opening games on Thursday night. Preseason favorite William & Mary travels to Campbell for the Camels' inaugural contest as a member of the CAA. Stony Brook hosts Delaware as the Seawolves open with a league game for the fourth straight season and the Blue Hens start with a CAA contest for the third time in four years.
- SEVEN FBS MATCHUPS HIGHLIGHT WEEK 1 NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: In addition to Thursday's league matchups, there are 11 non-conference games in Week 1. Seven of them are against FBS opponents as CAA schools face foes from the ACC (Elon/Wake Forest), American (Monmouth/FAU and North Carolina A&T/UAB), Big Ten (Towson/Maryland), Conference USA (Maine/FIU) and the Sun Belt (Rhode Island/Georgia State and UAlbany/Marshall). Four squads take on FCS opponents as Villanova visits Lehigh, Richmond hosts Morgan State, New Hampshire travels to Stonehill and Hampton meets Grambling at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey in a game televised nationally on NFL Network.
- SUCCESS AGAINST THE FBS: CAA Football has posted 42 wins over FBS foes in its history and has won at least one game against an FBS team in 12 of the past 15 years. Since 2013, 10 different teams have recorded at least one FBS victory and the CAA has had multiple wins over FBS opponents five times since 2016, including the past two seasons.
IVY LEAGUE
- Reigning Ivy League Football champion Yale was voted the preseason favorite in the 2023 Ivy League Football Preseason Media Poll. The poll was voted on by 16 media members that cover the league. The Bulldogs earned 122 points in the poll and garnered 13 first-place votes. Yale finished last season with an Ivy record of 6-1 and went 8-2 overall. The Bulldogs ranked ninth in the FCS in rushing offense (232.8 yards per game) and fifth in scoring defense (19.5 points per game). Princeton and Penn, which finished tied for second in the league, were voted to finish second and third, respectively. The Tigers, which led the FCS in scoring defense last season, earned 103 points in the poll and one first-place vote. The Quakers, which had the No. 2 rushing defense in the nation, collected 90 points.
- The Ivy League had a total of nine players from five different schools named to initial 53-man rosters on Tuesday. The group includes Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Foye Oluokun, the NFL’s leading tackler each of the last two seasons, and Kyle Juszczyk (Harvard), a seven-time Pro Bowl selection at fullback for the San Francisco 49ers. A pair of Super Bowl champions in Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Justin Watson (Penn) and Los Angeles Rams outside linebacker Michael Hoecht (Brown) made 53-man rosters. Since 2008, the Ivy League has produced 15 Super Bowl champions.
- For the second consecutive year, the Ivy League will be participating in Japan’s National Football Association’s Dream Japan Bowl in Tokyo on Jan. 21, 2024. The league’s 52-person roster will be comprised of senior and graduate student-athletes from all eight Ivy League programs. The squad will be led by Brown head coach James Perry. The Japan All-Star team will be a combined team of X League (Japan’s top American football league) players, including nine Americans, college players and crossover sport athletes.
MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
- The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) has announced its football schedule for the 2023 season across ESPN platforms, including games on linear networks (ABC and ESPNU) and ESPN+, the leading sports streaming service. Of the conference’s 52 regular season games, MEAC teams are slated to make 45 appearances in televised/streamed games – 87 percent of the schedule. MEAC teams will be featured in seven nationally televised games on ESPNU. In addition, all conference matchups will be streamed live on ESPN+, along with 15 non-conference games hosted at MEAC member institutions.
- Nationally ranked NCCU opens its 2023 season on Saturday. NCCU is coming off a 10-win campaign that includes a MEAC championship and an HBCU national title. NCCU is ranked 19th in the Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25, while the Eagles are 13th in the HERO Sports FCS Preseason Top 25 and 24th in Athlon Sports' preseason poll.
- The 2024 Reese's Senior Bowl Watchlist has been announced and features North Carolina Central University's senior quarterback Davius Richard and junior offensive lineman Torricelli Simpkins III.
MISSOURI VALLEY FOOTBALL
- All 12 Missouri Valley Football Conference schools are in action the first weekend of the 2023 season, with four league teams playing their openers on Thursday, Aug. 31. Of the 12 contests this week, seven are at MVFC sites, one is at a neutral site (North Dakota State plays Eastern Washington at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis), and four others are on the road at FBS schools.
- NFL Teams were required to cut their active rosters to 53 players by the end of the day on Tuesday, Aug. 29. There are 30 former MVFC players who appear on NFL opening-day rosters for this season. North Dakota State leads the way with 10.
- The Missouri Valley Football Conference has announced a multimedia rights extension with ESPN. The agreement will feature national linear and digital exposure for the Conference, beginning with the 2024 football season and extending through the 2029 season. This fall, the Conference and ESPN are entering the final year of their existing multi-year agreement.
- The MVFC was 21-8 vs. FCS schools in 2022. Six of the eight losses were against ranked FCS teams. Remarkably, a league member has only lost two games to an unranked FCS foe since September 2019, going 37-2 against FCS unranked teams during that span, including a perfect 24-0 in 2021.
- Including Southern Illinois’ 31-24 win at Northwestern in 2022, Missouri Valley Football Conference schools have combined for 48 wins against FBS teams since 1985. A league member has picked up at least one FBS win for 12 of the last 13 seasons (only missing the 2020-21 COVID season in which only one FBS team was played).
NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
- Saint Francis University football dropped its season-opening game against FBS opponent Western Michigan 35-17. Cole Doyle went 14-of-24 with 230 yards and one touchdown. Dawson Snyder had two catches for 87 yards and a 77-yard touchdown.
- Donning one of the top-scoring offenses in the nation and a stout defense that conceded just 10 touchdowns to conference opponents, the Red Flash dominated the gridiron and posted the program's first-ever undefeated record in Northeast Conference (NEC) play a year ago. With the start of the new football campaign right around the corner, the team to beat in the NEC circuit in 2023 has not changed, as Saint Francis U has been tabbed the favorite to repeat as NEC champs at season's end.
- The Red Flash received five first-place votes to claim the top spot in this season's NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Coming off a runner-up finish in the league standings in 2022, Merrimack received one first-place tally to take the second spot in the preseason predicted order-of-finish. Five-time NEC champion Duquesne, which also nabbed one top vote, finished in a tie for third with Sacred Heart, which has claimed two of the last three league crowns.
- Northeast Conference (NEC) football is set to make history as it steps into the national spotlight this season.he 2023 conference football TV package will include the NEC's first-ever nationally televised linear games with a pair of Thursday night contests set to air on CBS Sports Network.
- Alongside the two games on CBS Sports Network, two matchups will exclusively air on ESPN+, while the NEC's annual wildcard game will flex onto ESPN3 or ESPN+ during the penultimate week or final week of the regular season.
PATRIOT LEAGUE
- Holy Cross finished atop the 2023 Patriot League Football Preseason Poll, voted on by League head coaches when released in July. The four-time defending champion Crusaders have won 16 consecutive League games dating back to the 2019 season, three shy of tying the Patriot League record set by Holy Cross between 1988 and 1992. The Crusaders were selected No. 5 in both the Stats Perform and FCS Coaches Polls after finishing the 2022 season ranked No. 6 in the FCS Coaches Poll and No. 7 in the Stats Perform Poll. It is the highest preseason ranking for a Patriot League team since Colgate checked in at No. 5 in The Sports Network’s 2004 preseason poll.
- Holy Cross swept the preseason major awards, with Sr. QB Matthew Sluka receiving preseason offensive player of the year and 5th LB Jacob Dobbs collecting preseason defensive player of the year. Sluka earned First Team All-Patriot League honors last season after passing for 2,489 yards and rushing for a League-high 1,234 yards. Dobbs, the 2021 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, returns after missing Holy Cross’s final nine games due to injury last season. In 2021, he led the League with 137 tackles.
- Holy Cross Sr. QB Matthew Sluka and Sr. WR Jalen Coker were selected to the Walter Payton Award Watch List presented by Stats Perform to the FCS Offensive Player of the Year. Sluka, a First Team All-Patriot League honoree, was a finalist for the 2022 Payton Award after rushing for a League-high 1,234 yards, the most by an FCS quarterback. He also passed for 2,489 yards and 26 TDs to lead the Crusaders to the FCS quarterfinals. Coker caught 50 passes for 912 yards and 11 TDs to earn first-team All-League honors in 2022. He finished among the FCS leaders in touchdown receptions.
- Holy Cross 5th-year LB Jacob Dobbs and DB Devin Haskins were named to the Buck Buchanan Award Watch List, given annually to the FCS defensive player of the year by Stats Perform. Dobbs was the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and an All-America selection by the AFCA, AP, Hero Sports and Stats Perform in 2021. Haskins earned Walter Camp FCS and AFCA All-America honors last season after finishing with four interceptions, 12 pass breakups and four blocked punts.
PIONEER FOOTBALL LEAGUE
- The 2023 season marks the 31st year for the Pioneer Football League – the nation’s only non-scholarship, football-only NCAA Football Championship Subdivision conference. The league will feature 11 teams – tied for most in league history – each playing an eight-game schedule to determine the league champion and recipient of the automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA FCS Championship.
- St. Thomas, the defending Pioneer Football League champion, was the choice to win the league’s 2023 title as selected in the league’s Preseason Coaches’ poll released Tuesday and voted upon by the league’s head coaches. St. Thomas received 98 of the maximum 100 points available, with coaches unable to vote for their teams. Davidson followed closely with 92 points – putting the Tommies and Wildcats as the league’s clear frontrunners entering the 2023 season. Dayton and San Diego, perennial league favorites, were picked to finish third and fourth, respectively.
- Eighty-six student-athletes recognized on the 2022 All-PFL Teams and honorable mention lists return for the 2023 season, including 12 returning First Team All-PFL selections and 15 returning Second Team All-PFL honorees.
- The Pioneer Football League’s Presidents Council named Greg Walter the league’s second commissioner, effective August 1. Walter, who served as the PFL’s associate commissioner since 2013, brings two decades of collegiate athletics experience, including an extensive background in leadership roles within the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), into his new role with the league. In addition, Patty Viverito will remain an advisor to the Pioneer Football League after serving as commissioner since the league’s founding in 1993.
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
- All nine Southern Conference football squads are in action this week, starting with two Thursday contests with preseason favorites Samford anf Furman. The other seven teams will play on Saturday.
- Defending SoCon champion Samford opens its season Thursday by hosting Shorter. The Bulldogs return 11 starters from their 2022 team that went undefeated in SoCon play.
- Furman, which was picked by the media to win the SoCon, hosts Tennessee Tech on Thursday to open its season. The Paladins are ranked sixth in the AFCA and Stats Perform Top 25 poll.
- Five SoCon players are on the preseason watch list for the Walter Payton Award and four are on the watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award. Furman running back Dominic Roberto, Mercer wide receivers Devron Harper and Ty James, Samford quarterback Michael Hiers, and Chattanooga running back Ailym Ford are on the initial watch list for the FCS Offensive Player of the Year award. Mercer linebacker Isaac Dowling, Chattanooga defensive back Kameron Brown, defensive lineman Jay Person, and Western Carolina Antoine Williams are in the running for the Defensive Player of the Year award. Harper, Hiers, Ford, Person, and Williams were all finalists for the respective awards last season.
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE
- The Southland Conference opens up its 60th season of football with all eight members in action including three games on Thursday night and five on Saturday.
- The Southland Conference has two teams ranked in the two major FCS Top 25 polls to start the season. Fresh off a semifinal appearance a season ago, UIW enters the fold as the No. 7 team in the nation in both the Stats Perform and AFCA polls. Meanwhile, Southeastern checks in at No. 15 in both major polls. McNeese was receiving votes in the preseason Stats Perform Poll. The Cardinals and Lions split the Southland Championship a season ago
- Thursday will prove to be a great opening test for Southland schools as all three teams in action will host nationally-ranked Big Sky opponents.
- Four new head coaches will make their debut on Thursday and Saturday and all come from the state of Texas. Pete Rossomando of Lamar and Clint Dolezel of A&M-Commerce begin their tenures on Thursday, while Braxton Harris of HCU and Clint Killough of UIW open up on Saturday
- The Southland Conference announced it has formed a football officiating alliance with the Big 12 (FBS) American Athletic (FBS), and Mountain West (FBS) earlier this summer. Over 300 officials will be under the alliance’s umbrella, ensuring consistent training, evaluation, and grading processes across the conferences. The alliance conferences will use this pipeline to develop a “bench” of officials who have been trained and evaluated under consistent philosophies and mechanics.
SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
- The T.C. Taylor era of Jackson State football debuted in impressive fashion on national television as the Tigers beat South Carolina State 37-7 in the Cricket MEAC-SWAC Challenge Kickoff.
- Florida A&M Football opens the season ranked No. 25 in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Preseason Coaches Poll after finishing 2022 ranked No. 23.
- Mississippi Valley State University Director of Athletics Hakim McClellan has been selected to serve on the NCAA Football Oversight Committee (FCS). Effective immediately, McClellan will start a four-year term on the committee and will ensure that appropriate oversight of football for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) is maintained; enhance the development of the sport; and make recommendations related to regular-season and postseason football.
UNITED ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
All nine member teams will be in action in Week 1 with four programs on the road against FBS foes (Southern Utah at Arizona State, EKU at Cincinnati, UCA at Oklahoma State and SFA at Troy)
Heading into their inaugural season of play as a conference, four squads from the UAC garnered votes in the preseason Top 25 polls led by EKU, ranked 22nd in the Stats Perform poll.
In the Week 0 opener for North Alabama against Mercer, Lions' defensive back Edwin White Schultz matched an FCS Kickoff game record with 14 tackles (9 solo, 5 assists) and currently leads the FCS in tackles. In addition, he also forced a fumble and had a TFL