As the FCS season hits its approximate midpoint, increasing attention is paid to teams jockeying for playoff seeding position, and for good reason. Quality resumes with compelling seed arguments have been built (and tarnished) across the country. That annual October chaos is setting in. Sam Herder’s FCS Football Talk podcast episode this week did a deep dive into seed possibilities and where top teams stand, now and with an eye to the future.
It’s a worthy discussion. But with that hoopla, some impactful games on this week’s slate might be flying under the radar. Before delving into those, a note that to stay “under-the-radar” for our purposes, a game must not be a “ranked vs. ranked” Top 25 matchup or involve a Top 20 team. A given game meeting this UTR criteria could still appear in our weekly Notable Games listing, however.
After all, these are relevant games, just perhaps not ranked ones or involving seed contenders.
With that disclaimer, a set of contests to be careful not to overlook in Week 7:
Yale at UConn (FBS), 12 PM ET, CBS Sports Network
FBS Connecticut is 0-1 vs. the FCS this season (Holy Cross). Yale played Holy Cross down to the wire just under a month ago and has been a strong program in the Ivy League for years. This in-state meeting has the makings of another #FearTheFCS upset as the Huskies try to avoid double-dipping on FCS losses in a great season for the subdivision taking down FBS schools of all sizes.
No, the Bulldogs cannot participate in the FCS playoffs out of the Ivy (a much-maligned policy fit for another article), yet they have a prime chance here to represent the FCS well at the home of the FBS’s worst squad.
Monmouth at Campbell, 1 PM ET, ESPN3
Monmouth fell narrowly to Princeton in the battle of New Jersey, continuing a rocky non-conference campaign for the Hawks and leading to a Top 25 spot for the Tigers, who figure to fight Yale, Harvard, and Dartmouth for Ivy supremacy.
As for Monmouth, despite said non-conference misgivings, the Hawks are 2-0 in the Big South entering Saturday’s excursion to Buies Creek, NC, where quietly, Campbell is also 2-0 in the Big South. The Fighting Camels have a one-point loss to the CAA’s Elon to complement their unbeaten conference record. If Monmouth is seeking to keep pace with Kennesaw State before its traditional late-season throwdown with the Owls, it must have this road game to get separation in the league standings.
On Campbell’s side, an upset would move the Humps into contention with Kennesaw for the Big South automatic bid, which is particularly treasured because the Big South needs help nationally to have multi-bid chances through an at-large.
RELATED: Week 7 Notable Games And How To Watch
Dartmouth at New Hampshire, 1 PM ET, FloSports
Another in-state rivalry featuring an Ivy Leaguer, and just as compelling: 4-0 Dartmouth heads to Durham to take on UNH, which redeemed itself in the wake of an embarrassing 77-7 loss at FBS Pitt by giving then-Top 5 James Madison a scare with formidable defense and special teams. Dartmouth doesn’t get the national exposure of Harvard-Yale, or of Princeton, for that matter, but the Big Green are some mean green. As the Wildcats’ only Division I football counterpart in the Granite State, they won’t be intimidated by “the Dungeon” at UNH.
No. 23 UNH could use a quality non-conference win here, both to remain ranked and to have a separator for the committee come November in the ever-jumbled CAA at-large picture. Top 15 (and previously Top 10) Delaware losing its starting quarterback to in-season surgery might pave the way some, but one-loss JMU, undefeated Rhode Island, undefeated against FCS opponents Villanova, and also Richmond and William & Mary, keep things interesting in the league race pending UD’s trajectory without Nolan Henderson.
Ironically, UNH itself is weathering the absence of injured starter Max Brosmer, but Bret Edwards has been quite effective behind center. Dartmouth would love nothing more than to stay perfect while setting the ‘Cats back in the CAA.
VMI at Mercer, 4 PM ET, ESPN+
This is my favorite UTR selection because it blends unranked teams with high playoff impact. VMI and Mercer are among the “others receiving votes” leaders in the Top 25 and they will decide midseason second place in the Southern Conference Saturday.
6-0 East Tennessee State, FBS win over Vanderbilt in tow, is atop the SoCon and has worked its way into some bracketologists’ seed ranges. VMI and Mercer go head-to-head to see who will get the inside track to chasing ETSU. Similar to the situation projected in the neighboring Big South, there might not be at-large bids galore for the conference, so the slot immediately behind surging ETSU is coveted.
VMI was the rightful heartstrings story of the spring, emerging from Cinderella status in the SoCon to make a historic playoff appearance, but Mercer has put together an attention-getting fall start, notching victories over annual preseason darling Furman and high-flying Samford. There are FCS viewing options aplenty on ESPN+ every week, but keep this title in your streaming queue.
It’ll be the subject of bracket talk next week, even if it flies under the radar this week.
NEXT: FCS Bracketology
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