UCAFANS.COM | GO UCA BEARS!

About that time.....aticle below from NCAA recaps FCS and conference changes for 2022 season...

https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2022-07-11/making-sense-fcs-conference-realignment?utm_campaign=inline-article


Making sense of FCS conference realignment
STAN BECTON | NCAA.COM | AUGUST 3, 2022

It's been a wild offseason in FCS football, with teams and conferences changing more than ever. There are 130 total FCS teams and a handful will be playing in a new conference in 2022 and beyond, but what does it all mean?

Here's a breakdown of the many changes to the FCS football landscape in the upcoming seasons amid major conference realignment.

All realignment news is updated as of August 3, 2022.

Moving from the FCS
The following teams are moving from the FCS to the FBS level:

SCHOOL FCS CONFERENCE FBS CONFERENCE
James Madison CAA to Sun Belt
Jacksonville State ASUN to Conference USA
Sam Houston WAC to Conference USA

In 2022, James Madison will officially leave for the FBS, playing as an independent. It will join the Sun Belt in 2023.

In 2023, both Sam Houston and Jacksonville State will be FBS programs. In 2022, Sam Houston and Jacksonville State will begin their FBS transition and are ineligible for postseason play, but will remain in the WAC and ASUN conferences, respectively.

Among the teams transitioning to FBS are three championships and eight championship appearances, including 54 percent of all championship appearances from teams not named North Dakota State since 2011.

New to FCS
So we know who's out, but here's who's joining the FCS. Here are the programs making the jump to the Championship Subdivision:

SCHOOL DII CONFERENCE FCS CONFERENCE
Texas A&M-Commerce LSC to Southland
Lindenwood GLVC to OVC {Bears opponent}
Stonehill NE10 to NEC

Texas A&M-Commerce moves up from Division II to the Southland. The former DII power won the DII title in 2017. Lindenwood joined the NCAA in 2012 at the Division II level and makes the move to the FCS a decade later. Stonehill was a charter member of the NE10.

Conference outlook
Before we get into the shifts within the conferences, let's first look at what the FCS conferences are. Here are all of the FCS conferences

ASUN
Big Sky
Big South
CAA
Ivy
MEAC
MVFC
NEC
OVC
Patriot
Pioneer
SoCon
Southland
SWAC
WAC

The importance of conferences
Conferences are important at the FCS level because conference winners* receive automatic bids to the 24-team FCS playoffs. However, for a conference to be eligible for an automatic bid, it needs to have a minimum of six eligible teams.

*The SWAC, MEAC and Ivy League do not send their conference champions to the FCS playoffs.

LOOKING AHEAD: 16 FCS transfers who could have the biggest potential impact in 2022

Changes within the FCS in 2022
Kennesaw State and North Alabama leave Big South, join ASUN
Entering the 2021 season, we knew that Kennesaw State and North Alabama would be playing their final seasons in the conference. They'll head to the ASUN in 2022, with Kennesaw State taking the 2021 Big South title with it.

Austin Peay leaves OVC, joins ASUN
Austin Peay leaves the OVC for a revamped ASUN in 2022.

UIW spurns WAC, stays in Southland
In November of 2021, UIW accepted a July 1, 2022 invitation to join the WAC. However, UIW reversed that decision June 24, 2022 — exactly one week before the conference switch — instead deciding to remain in the Southland.

Lamar leaves WAC, joins Southland... earlier than expected
Lamar will be rejoining the Southland in 2022, a move coming a year earlier than previously announced. The decision to join in 2022 came on July 11, 2022, about a month and a half before the 2022 FCS season is set to begin.

Lamar, a founding member of the Southland, originally announced its decision to rejoin the conference in 2023 on April 8, 2022. Regardless, the move comes after Lamar left the Southland for the WAC in 2021.

Southern Utah leaves Big Sky, joins WAC
The WAC is revitalized and Southern Utah will join the conference in 2022. Southern Utah joins Utah Tech as the northernmost programs in the conference.

Monmouth leaves Big South, joins CAA
After missing out on another Big South football title, Monmouth departs the conference for the CAA in 2022.

Hampton leaves Big South, joins CAA
Four years after Hampton made its oft-debated move to leave the MEAC and join the Big South, the Pirates are making another switch. Hampton departs its former conference for the CAA in 2022. The Virginia-based HBCU now has a regional conference rival, with William & Mary only minutes away in the 757.

Stony Brook joins the CAA full time
Yes, Stony Brook was already a member of the CAA for football. But its decision to join the conference in every sport cannot be ignored.

Bryant leaves NEC, joins Big South
Bryant leaves the NEC to join the Big South as an associate football member. The comes after Big South lost multiple members. Bryant gives the Big South six football teams in 2022.

Changes within the FCS in 2023 and beyond
Murray State leaves OVC, joins MVFC
Murray State has announced it's leaving the OVC for the Missouri Valley in all sports. However, the Missouri Valley doesn't sponsor football. Instead many Missouri Valley programs compete in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, a separate entity.

In 2023, Murray State will join the MVFC after playing one final season in the OVC in 2022.

North Carolina A&T leaves Big South, joins CAA
For the second time in two seasons, North Carolina A&T has changed conferences. After joining the Big South in 2021, the Aggies are leaving for the CAA. North Carolina A&T was a power in the all-HBCU conference MEAC before struggling in a 5-6 2021 season. The Aggies will try and regain their success in the CAA, officially joining the conference in football in 2023.

Campbell leaves Big South, joins CAA
Campbell announced on August 3, 2022 that it would be leaving the Big South to join the CAA in 2023. The move becomes official July 1, 2023 and will bring the CAA to 14 member schools and 15 football schools. Campbell becomes the latest charter member to leave the Big South.

Texas-Rio Grande Valley joins WAC
Come 2025, UTRGV will introduce its football program, joining the WAC at the FCS level.

Conferences on the edge

Given the NCAA rule requiring six eligible teams to qualify for an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, a few conferences are teetering the line. While the NCAA does grant a two-year grace period for conferences to raise membership numbers back to minimum requirements, here are the conferences with six or fewer FCS teams in the future.

ASUN
Once Jacksonville State officially goes to the FBS, the ASUN will be left with five teams in 2023 — Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay, Kennesaw State and North Alabama remain.

Big South
The Big South has gone through a gauntlet of departures recently, with seven schools departing in the last two years. In 2022, the Big South will have six teams thanks to Bryant's addition, just enough for an auto-bid. However, that number drops to four teams in 2023 when North Carolina A&T and Campbell depart — only Bryant, Robert Morris, Charleston Southern, and Gardner-Webb remain.

MEAC
As mentioned before, the MEAC doesn't send its conference champion to the FCS playoffs — instead playing in the Celebration Bowl — so it doesn't have to worry about falling below the auto-bid mark. However, the conference did see Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M leave in 2021, leaving the conference with six teams.

OVC
The loss of Austin Peay and Murray State will drop the OVC to six teams in the future — ​​UT Martin, Southeast Missouri State, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and Eastern Illinois are the holdovers, while FCS newcomer Lindenwood joins. However, the conference will have five playoff-eligible teams during the 2023-2025 seasons since Lindenwood won't be postseason eligible until 2026.

WAC
In 2022, the WAC will be down to three playoff-eligible teams since Sam Houston is transitioning to the FBS and Utah Tech and Tarleton are still in the FCS transition process.

However, Utah Tech and Tarleton's transition status will eventually end, giving the conference five playoff-eligible teams in 2024. In 2025, UTRGV will have joined the conference, bringing the total number of football-playing schools to six.

Conference associations
To maintain automatic-qualifying bids, conferences have initiated associations between each other to remain eligible. We saw the ASUN and WAC merge to form the AQ7 in 2021, but that was only a one-year partnership at the time. Here's some of the recent moves announced:

Southland-OVC
The Southland and OVC announced a scheduling alliance for non-conference games in 2022 and 2023, but that alliance does not have playoff implications.

Big South-OVC
The Big South and OVC have an association set for 2023. The two conferences will share one bid among the two conferences. The association between the two conference has an initial term of at least four years, going through the 2026 season. Together, the conferences will have 9 playoff-eligible teams from 2023-2025 and 10 playoff-eligible teams in 2026.

ASUN-WAC
The ASUN and WAC renewed their football alliance for the 2022 season. The two conferences will play schedules and championships among their own members. The ASUN and WAC will share one automatic qualifying bid, going to one of the two conference champions. The policy to govern who receives the automatic playoff bid has yet to be decided.

Together, the conferences will have eight playoff-eligible teams in 2022 and 2023 and 10 playoff-eligible teams in 2024.

More
Outside of the mergers, another notable happening during the most recent wave of conference realignment occurred when the SoCon doubled its exit fee for members to $2 million.

The FCS is ever-changing as more teams are making moves in the wave of conference realignment. It all makes for an exciting future in the sport.

https://youtu.be/ZDUrZN2Wkzs

Idaho State team preview for anyone interested

Got to watch a lot of football on Saturday.....started with Georgia at South Carolina....the suspense lasted about 2 minutes....UGA, like Bama, has running backs and receivers who just run over defenders.....many times USC had a play well defended and the ball carrier just ran thru the tackle or bowled over the would be tackler.....Carolina scored 30 at Fayetteville.....they scored ZERO at home vs Dawgs....Brock Bowers had an exceptional game for UGA....big lanky guy lining up in many different places....as a TE that bleeds out for a 3 yard pass he takes for 20....as slot receiver that take the ball on a speed sweep ... wide out that takes a slant for 20+ yards.....catches a ball over the middle i traffic then just out runs all the DBs to the endzone....

Ended with North Dakota State at Arizona...now the Wildcats are not top tier SEC caliber but still a P-5 team with 85 scholarships....Bisons may be the hardest hitting team I have seen this year....of course, that is not new for them...like UGA they just run over you....only team I have seen in a very long time who uses FBs as RBs, blockers, quasi-TEs and even downfield receivers...one TD reception on a long pass to the flag was as good of a catch as a top WR would make....much less a FB.....NDSU really whipped Cats until the last 4 minutes....leading 28-24 they moved down the field like "crap thru a goose" (as General Patton might say)...it was 7 yards here...10 yards there...another 6 then another 15..all smash mouth run....more than once in the game the Bison left side of the O-line just blocked like a swinging gate and brushed every defender to the outside....I suspect most of us could pick up 5 with that blocking...when the ball got about the AZ 30 it seemed that NDSU just wanted to show everyone they could pound it in with the run...even with 10 and even 11 in the box....it's like at that moment fatigue caught up with the Bisons..they simply could get no push...not even the FB who had a terrific game....all they had to do was fake a run inside and throw downfield and any receiver would be uncovered....on 4th and 2 from the 22 they went for it rather than a short FG to make it a 7 point game...again, ran inside vs 11 in the box and was short... AZ then marched down the field with the pass and NDSU defenders looked a bit tired but AZ got a big PI call to shorten the field....after AZ scored to take the lead, Bisons could do nothing after the KO and looked tired.....

Still they are pretty awesome to watch.....like to see Bears play with that toughness and control LOS so well.... give Hale, James and Smith those type holes and each will have 100+ yards each game....

Interesting stats so far…

Offense is averaging 15 points per game
Including the Ole miss game. Throw it
out and its 19.33.

No 1st qtr. points scored thru 4 games.
4 rushing TD
3 passing TD…1 by running back
4 FG

For whatever reason this team is slow to get started
in every game so far. Reminds me of last years team
and the year before that also. Always playing from
behind is becoming a habit. Habits are sometimes
hard to break.

Not going to be any easier this week with Peay coming
to town…

FOOT84 said:

"Always playing from behind is becoming a habit. Habits are sometimes
hard to break."

Amen...we have for several years seems to be slow to start and it appears to have worsened...I used to think we wanted to come out and be very conservative to see the speed of the opponents and how they will defend us...then since we had such an ability to score quickly the game plan almost became start slow, lead the defense to get lax then bombs away.....Foot may be right we got into a bad habit and sort of took it for granted we can come from behind every game.....we still cannot score much in H1 but now without the explosive power to rely on...

My family has some connections to Mizzou and I have seen a fair number of MU games....their fans complained about slow starts but while they had a reputation for a pass heavy offense they really won games with a run attack.....I think their theory was to use Q1 to use their O-line to literally beat up the D-line.....when they had a great defense that worked a lot as they rarely got very far behind.....not so much now as their defense is not at that level...

If we are going to be a run heavy team then we have to wear the other guys down and have the D keep it close.....acutally D is doing pretty well so far (leave out Oxford) but offense has been sluggish too long..some signs last week vs a pretty good SEMO team that offense is coming around...we will need every cylinder hitting top speed to beat APU this Saturday....

Like many Bear fans I was counting on being 2-2 at this point.....now at 1-3 we have a big task to get to 7 wins to have a decent chance at the playoffs....Go Bears!!

Just finished watching the USC @ Utah game....Utes came from behind to beat unbeaten USC by 43-42 on a 2-point conversion from a QB run off tackle....a couple observations other than each team can move the ball and score...

1. Utah had 15 completions by its TE.....let that sink in...he had 23 coming into the game....he is 6'4 240 and plays like a traditional TE as a blocker but in motion a lot and runs routes from the slot or split out some...needless to say USC really had to account for him taking pressure off others....similar to the Brock Bowers fellow from Georgia.....very solid athlete who can really run but still block well...I guess those extra 22 FBS scholarships lets you have some elite TEs if you want to use them in a big way....note that Riyahd Ananda is 6'3 230...about the same as Bowers....I have not seen enough of him to assess how well he runs....maybe something we will see later...

2. Utah took the lead with about 50 seconds left and USC had 3 TOs....the stadium was packed and very loud...if anyone thinks crowd noise is not a factor, USC had two false starts on this drive that was a factor in that those ten yards certainly affected play calls ....

Then something I never recall seeing happened....with about 20-23 seconds left USC QB had to scramble to avoid a loss and finally threw the ball up...the on-screen clock said 12-13 seconds when the ball got to the receiver and the ball was tipped and intercepted by Utah who then ran 40+ yards across the field and angled out of bounds with the clock showing 8 seconds....but a PI penalty had been called on Utah during the play.....the on-screen clock actually stopped on the INT at 12 for 2-3 seconds then restarted..I think the clock operator thought the ball was incomplete and stopped the clock....possibly an official signaled incomplete but the replay did not show....the PI reversed the change of possession and negated the INT...then the official added 5 seconds to the clock ..apparently the official did so because someone called a time out during the play...huh???