Big South Strength of Schedule Ratings

[Sly Fox]

I'm not quite sure I understand how they are tabulated, but here are some strength of schedule rankings for the Big South Conference:

petespoll.com/petes2005schedulebsouth.shtml

Here's how he ranks them:

1 VMI 42.94
2 Liberty 54.06
3 Gardner-Webb 54.49
4 Coastal Carolina 55.15
5 Charleston Southern 64.26

Here's what he has to same about the Flames:

Liberty: Many are saying this will be a "break-out" year for the Flames, and this schedule can really help. Coach Karcher's club will certain have some interesting games in 2005, with enough strength to see the post-season. After a DII opener, the Flames will face IA UConn, YSU, and William & Mary before beginning the conference slate. Other OOC games include Chattanooga, Towson, and Norfolk St..

"Breakout year?" I hadn't that mentioned but I'll claim it. There you go.

[Stevev]

I see some very low rankings in there. Not too surprised to see the Big South on the bottom of the conference rankings. LU and VMI are the only 2 teams with descent OOC schedules. Can't say too much about the rest of them.
Break-out year. I hope that they are right about that. I hope that he knows what he is talking about. We will see.

[PAmedic]

Does CCU's win over JMU give them, or the BSC, instant credibility?

their announcers, though maybe a wee biased, are calling for a number one ranking based on this win- did they earn it, or is our conf still too weak?

[Sly Fox]

They certainly gave themselves and the league as a whole a degree of credibility. I'm sure they will be listed in polls this next week after receiving votes coming in.

They have their work cut out for them even after knocking off the #1 team int he nation (and defending national champions to boot). They have a brutal non-conference schedule. But that victory alone sent shockwaves across I-AA football. And that's fantastic news for our league.

[rokamortis]

pamedic said:

Does CCU's win over JMU give them, or the BSC, instant credibility?

their announcers, though maybe a wee biased, are calling for a number one ranking based on this win- did they earn it, or is our conf still too weak?

Did they really say we should be number one??? That is just silly.

[ATrain]

This year Coastal is earning its ranking...go Chants (except when yall play us).

[PAmedic]

Rok- it was classic. The game WASN'T EVEN OVER and the announcers are yelling "who's number one NOW? who's number one NOW? Come to Conway (?)"

other quotes in the heat of the moment included something to the effect of, "this is for all those who said we didn't deserve to get an at large bid last year because of strength of schedule"

hey- its all good- they were fired up and had a right to be. What a game winning drive! but usually broadcasters temper the hype a bit! congrats again though.

[rokamortis]

yeah - I ended up hearing it this morning. I think it was just heat of the moment comments - I don't think they would reasonably suggest that.

As far as the Big South earning respect - we did our part yesterday. Now it is your turn to take down YSU and VMI to have a good showing against the Blue Devils - ok I'm not holding my breath on that last one

[bigsmooth]

sounds like the chants announcers have been drinking the same kool-aid notre dame fan has! seriously great job by beating the dukes!

[rokamortis]

bigsmooth said:

sounds like the chants announcers have been drinking the same kool-aid notre dame fan has! seriously great job by beating the dukes!

The Teal Coop Juice!!!

[PAmedic]

Rok- maybe you can confirm, I think I heard them mention about 8500 at the game? Sounds like the same problem LU has (poor attendance). It's frustrating enough when you have a perenially weak program like ours, let alone a contending team playing the nat'l champs.

I never did understand why our schools have such a hard time getting fans out (BBall is worse!) - but we bludgeoned that topic over here this summer as well and no one had an answer. It has to get better.

[PAmedic]

Sorry ROK- disregard that last post. Just saw the "Attendance" thread on AGS; hadn't realized what the capacity at your place was.

As it turns out, other guys were saying you were actually OVER capacity Sat nite, so congrats! thats what we need at LU!

[rokamortis]

Yeah - 8500 in a 6500 seat place. If we build more seats can we get more people? I don't know.

[PAmedic]

Keep winning!

[PAmedic]

ROK and others- take note of this nice article by Chris L in the fishwrap.

C.C.'s win over JMU big for the Big South

Lynchburg News & Advance
Wednesday, September 14, 2005

You've got to beat one of the big boys.
You've got to play a real schedule.

You've got to prove you belong.

Coastal Carolina's players and coaches heard it all last fall, when the Chanticleers went 10-1 against an unspectacular schedule and won the Big South title in the second year of the program's existence.

Last Saturday night, the Chanticleers sent a loud answer to all three criticisms by rallying to defeat defending I-AA champion James Madison 31-27 at Conway, S.C.

Big boys don't come any bigger than the No. 1 team in the country.

Coastal coach David Bennett spent much of the week sandbagging the press with the sort of hyperbole that would make Peter Pan blush, telling reporters there was a chance JMU could flat embarrass the Chanticleers unless CCU played a perfect game.

Bennett then got his team ready to battle the Dukes after an underwhelming season-opening win at Southern Conference bottom feeder Elon.

In the end, when the Chanticleers were pressed, they drove 93 yards in less than two minutes to steal the victory, going ahead on Tyler Thigpen's 8-yard touchdown strike to receiver Perry Parks.

The other four coaches in the Big South took notice of Coastal's victory, which gave the fourth-year league a much needed jolt of respect.

"More of our teams have got to do what they did," VMI coach Cal McCombs said on Tuesday's Big South conference call. "It gives our conference some clout."

Coastal Carolina jumped into the Top 20 of every major Division I-AA poll and is ranked No. 16 in the College Sport Report's poll. Now, the challenge will be for Coastal to stay there. The Chanticleers travel to Boone, N.C., to meet SoCon power Appalachian State, which hasn't lost at home since 2002.

"Now Coastal could probably lose two games and still get in the playoffs, which would have been impossible before," Gardner-Webb coach Steve Patton said.

Manny's back

Liberty middle linebacker Manny Rojas, who was on crutches after Saturday's game at Connecticut, was back at practice Tuesday competing in full-contact drills. His sprained ankle wasn't as serious as initially thought.

Kenneth Kemp, the starting weakside linebacker, didn't play at UConn due to an injured shoulder, is questionable for Saturday's game against Youngstown State. If he can't go, freshman Nick Hursky will move into the lineup.

Quarterback Brock Smith (stress fracture in leg) practiced Tuesday and is expected to be ready to go Saturday. Defensive end Steve Ackley, who played 10 snaps against UConn, is expected to start against YSU.

Extra points

Freshman Pat Calvary will start Saturday at cornerback opposite Josh Wallace after working his way past senior Jared Brogden. ? Liberty, 2-5 all-time against Youngstown State, last beat the Penguins 10-8 in 1991 in Ohio. ? While punter Noah Crouch got much of the credit for holding UConn's punt return game in check last week, Karcher praised Calvary and Dominic Bolden, the punt team gunners, for not allowing star UConn return man Larry Taylor any space to operate.

- Chris Lang

[rokamortis]

pamedic said:

ROK and others- take note of this nice article by Chris L in the fishwrap.

C.C.'s win over JMU big for the Big South

Lynchburg News & Advance
Wednesday, September 14, 2005

You've got to beat one of the big boys.
You've got to play a real schedule.

You've got to prove you belong.

Coastal Carolina's players and coaches heard it all last fall, when the Chanticleers went 10-1 against an unspectacular schedule and won the Big South title in the second year of the program's existence.

Last Saturday night, the Chanticleers sent a loud answer to all three criticisms by rallying to defeat defending I-AA champion James Madison 31-27 at Conway, S.C.

Big boys don't come any bigger than the No. 1 team in the country.

Coastal coach David Bennett spent much of the week sandbagging the press with the sort of hyperbole that would make Peter Pan blush, telling reporters there was a chance JMU could flat embarrass the Chanticleers unless CCU played a perfect game.

Bennett then got his team ready to battle the Dukes after an underwhelming season-opening win at Southern Conference bottom feeder Elon.

In the end, when the Chanticleers were pressed, they drove 93 yards in less than two minutes to steal the victory, going ahead on Tyler Thigpen's 8-yard touchdown strike to receiver Perry Parks.

The other four coaches in the Big South took notice of Coastal's victory, which gave the fourth-year league a much needed jolt of respect.

"More of our teams have got to do what they did," VMI coach Cal McCombs said on Tuesday's Big South conference call. "It gives our conference some clout."

Coastal Carolina jumped into the Top 20 of every major Division I-AA poll and is ranked No. 16 in the College Sport Report's poll. Now, the challenge will be for Coastal to stay there. The Chanticleers travel to Boone, N.C., to meet SoCon power Appalachian State, which hasn't lost at home since 2002.

"Now Coastal could probably lose two games and still get in the playoffs, which would have been impossible before," Gardner-Webb coach Steve Patton said.

Manny's back

Liberty middle linebacker Manny Rojas, who was on crutches after Saturday's game at Connecticut, was back at practice Tuesday competing in full-contact drills. His sprained ankle wasn't as serious as initially thought.

Kenneth Kemp, the starting weakside linebacker, didn't play at UConn due to an injured shoulder, is questionable for Saturday's game against Youngstown State. If he can't go, freshman Nick Hursky will move into the lineup.

Quarterback Brock Smith (stress fracture in leg) practiced Tuesday and is expected to be ready to go Saturday. Defensive end Steve Ackley, who played 10 snaps against UConn, is expected to start against YSU.

Extra points

Freshman Pat Calvary will start Saturday at cornerback opposite Josh Wallace after working his way past senior Jared Brogden. ? Liberty, 2-5 all-time against Youngstown State, last beat the Penguins 10-8 in 1991 in Ohio. ? While punter Noah Crouch got much of the credit for holding UConn's punt return game in check last week, Karcher praised Calvary and Dominic Bolden, the punt team gunners, for not allowing star UConn return man Larry Taylor any space to operate.

- Chris Lang

I saw it - it is a nice article, thanks Chris.

I listened to the BSC media conference call last night from the Big South Edge and all of this was pretty much covered. What got me was that after listening to it for an hour they said that they just found out that Bennett couldn't make it as he was practicing early due to Ophelia.