Discussing Our Preseason FCS Top 25 Ballots

On this episode, Sam and Zach discuss their Top 25 ballots for the Stats Perform FCS Preseason Media Poll.
Sam’s ballot can be found here. Zach’s can be found here.
They discuss:
-Why did they rank some teams where they are
-Top teams with new starting quarterbacks
-Teams returning strong experience
-Teams that didn’t make the 2024 playoffs that will in 2025
-And more
The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit HERO Sports for FCS coverage and BetMGM for online betting odds.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:16):
All right, Welcome in FCS Tackle football fans to another
episode of the FCS Football Talk podcast. We are presented
by Hero Sports and bet MGM. I'm your host, Sam
Herder of Hero Sports and very pumped to be joined
by my co host once again for the second football season,
that is Zach McKinnell of FCS Football Central and the

(00:38):
blue Bloods. Zach, great to have you back on. I
know we did an off season episode, but great to
have you back on weekly from from here through through
about January. So how is everything be going for you?
And welcome back to the show.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Man again, appreciate you having man. I fucked off lot
about that, so definitely appreciate it. Man busy all season,
but Man, we can both speak for everyone who listens
to the show and the two of us that it
is time for some football, man and it feels like
these last what is it, seventeen eighteen days are going
to drag bah compared to the last few months, so
we've had to wait.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
For this podcast. What we're going to do to kick
off kind of our twenty twenty five season episodes is
each of us have our ballots right. We voted in
the preseason top twenty five for the stats before a
media poll. So what Zach and I are going to
do is go through our ballots one through five and
six through ten, et cetera, et cetera. Break down our ballots.

(01:36):
Why we have teams ranked where they are some different
storylines within those group of teams. We won't be able
to do, you know, a deep dive in depth, you know,
breakdown of each team, just because we're going to try
to keep this certainly under an hour, but just kind
of give our listeners kind of our thought process behind

(01:57):
forming our top twenty five and what we think of
some of these teams. And so for me, we are
top five from what it looks like, looks pretty similar,
just maybe in different order. My top five in my
preseason ballots a number one at North Kota State, number
two Montana State, number three South Dakota, number four South
Dakota State, and number five UI W Zach, I'll let

(02:20):
you rattle off your top five as well before we
dive into these teams.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah, first two are the same. Number one North Dakota State.
I was a little bit shocked they weren't the consensus
pick for number one with everything they had coming back
Montana State at two, actually had Incarnate Word at three,
South Dakota State at four, in South Dakota at five.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
Okay, so let's start right there with UIW. Why ui
W at number three?

Speaker 2 (02:45):
I feel like I'm not I'm bullish all them this year,
Sam and I understand, like, do I get the people
who are skeptical about the pick? Absolutely, man, Because Sam,
there have been a team that I think we both
agree have been really good on paper the last few years. Right,
they probably been the most consistent team outside of the
Valley in Big Sky since what the year after COVID

(03:06):
probably I would say they've been They've been competing at
the top of the South Wind, making playoff runs. They
had that one semi final run behind Lindsay Scott. They
have seventeen significant contributors back. Sam and I thought they
signed I know, sack Stake. It's a lot of the
hype because they signed like what seventy new players. But
I would say in terms of impact and players have
proven experience and incardinate word was right there with them.

(03:29):
Love what they added along the line of scrimmage. I
thought they upgraded at linebacker. I thought they upgraded at
running back, and I just think they added to an
already pretty good wide receiving core. Now, the one question
would be quarterback losing Munos to Tennessee Tech in the spring,
but the way that transfer went down makes me think
that that quarterback battle was a lot close than the

(03:50):
people expect. And I'm actually pretty high on Richard Torres.
I think this is a this is kind of like
a proven year for Incarnate Words, So I'm not going
to be bullish. I'm not going to be shy about
where I'm placing the bar for them. Sim I think
this is a team that if they're not making a
at least a run to the quarters and at least
not in a competitive game against one of those top

(04:12):
four teams that they're in this top five with this season,
this season could be looked on as a failure for
Incarnate Word. They should be a team competing to get
to the semi finals. And that's why I had them
so high.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, I mean, you know, them being top five for
me was a pretty easy choice. I would say, I
think everyone for the most part, is going to have
the two South Dakota teams and then NBSU and Montana
State somewhere in their top five. Who that fifth team
was going to be maybe differentiates a little bit between voters,
but to me, ui W certainly was had the best

(04:46):
argument ahead of whether it be Illinois States or you know,
Tarleton State, Montana, Rhode Island teams like that. And I
really like the core that UIW has coming back. Certainly,
defensively they need to improve, but with you know, eleven
players coming back that have played nearly two hundred and
fifty or more snaps, I think his promising. Plus you
had you know, an all conference guy like David Powers,

(05:08):
you bringing in All American safety as well, and Tyler Morton,
you do have confidence that the defense can can improve,
you know, offensively, I do think offensive line is a
bit of a question mark. Not not in terms of
you know, is UIW gonna be good on the offensive line,
because I think I think they'll be good, you know,
on the offensive line, but as we know, being good
on the old line usually isn't good enough. You have

(05:30):
to be you know, great or even elite on the
O line. But I'm with you as well as far
as Richard Torres, you know, it seems like he's going
to be the guy. I mean, the UIW made a
bit of a splash with bringing in Richie Munilis from
Weber States who came in for spring ball, and he
then enters the transfer portal and ends up at Tennessee Tech.

(05:51):
You imagine he probably saw the writing on the wall
and and Torres had the leg up to earn that
starting job or else, you know, why, why else you
have entered the portal. And so Richard Torres looks like
he's going to take over that starting spots, and you
know the weapons around him will be will be great.
With Jalen Walthall coming back one of the top wide
receivers in the FCS. Then he also had cheat on

(06:13):
James as well, who was an FCS All American a
couple of years ago. I mean, even a guy like
Josh Lorc, you know, is back who can have an
even better season, and you know last year, it's funny
he was kind of he kind of hid behind the
two All Americans from last year. But you look at
his season a year ago and I mean close to
fifty catches, five hundred yards, you know, so he's coming

(06:33):
off of a strong season as well. So I like
UIW there in in that top five spots for what
seems like a lot of voters. You know, one another
interesting thing here is you have South Dakota State ahead
of South Dakota. I have South Dakota ahead of South
Dakota States. What's interesting is both of the national poll

(06:56):
and the the Missouri Valley Football conferen preseason poll, South
Dakota had more first place votes than South Dakota States,
but South Kota State was still one spot ahead of
South Dakota, you know, on both of those preseason polls.
And I kind of how I look at it, and
this is kind of a general viewpoint of both, is

(07:17):
I think the overall core of players that South Kota
State has back and kind of the misconception is, you know,
they got absolutely rated and it's an absolutely brand new
team for South Kota States. But you and I both
when we dive into these team previews and we look
at the amount of snaps coming back, or we look at,
you know, the backup linebackers who are coming up in
the program, like South got State still has a pretty

(07:38):
good chunk of guys coming back. And so for me,
I like South Kota State's core a little bit better
than South Dakota's. But South Dakota has a known commodity
with Ain Bowman at quarterback. Meanwhile, Chase Mason high high ceiling,
but still a question mark there. And the Oaks also,
you know, have maybe the best you know, certainly top two,

(07:59):
top three, but I think the best returning and running
back in the FCS Charles Pierre, what I think, is
just a phenomenal talent. So I think you can go
either way with how you want to order South Dakota
South Dakota State. You know, it's just interesting because those
two are rivals and there right next to each other
on all these different polls in ballots. So I'll let
you make your arguments on why you have South Kota

(08:19):
State one spy ahead of South Dakota.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
I think it was almost like the exact reason you
laid out. I like the core that's coming back for
South Dakota State more than South Dakota. Now do I
think South Dakota, you know, obviously has more stability at
quarterback with Adan Bowman, And I'm with you, I think
Charles Pierre is, if not one, maybe two in the
running back rankings. But I'm gonna say this, I think

(08:43):
South Dakota State has a guy who was producing at Fordham,
and I think he's going to be running behind a
significantly upgraded offensive line compared to what he had at Fordham.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
No disrespect to.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
That unit, right, but I mean, Sam, there's no way
he doesn't rush for a thousand yards, right. It just
almost feels like if there's a prop bet for the season,
I would put whatever you want that Julius Loridge is
going to run for a thousand dollars this year with
the lack of experience behind him at running back. And
I think as much has been made about the defensive
turnover for South Dakota State, they still have a really

(09:16):
strong core. Sim I think the front seven potentially could
be just as good as last year. I don't know
if you feel the same, but with Kobe Claiborne, Dawson Ripperda,
Chase fan Toll stepping again at linebacker, I really really
think the addition of Matthew Goring from Sue falls that
linebackers overlooked was an All American level player at that

(09:36):
level and then in the secondary. It is kind of
the concern, but I liked a zz that you've had
it from Georgetown, who was a starter there. Really I
would say he contributed a lot to that Georgetown secondary.
And then I really liked the addition of Jaden Oliver
from Buffalo as well. And I think the biggest thing
that separated too is when we voted for the Hero

(09:57):
Sports poul Sam. I had self to ahead, but then
with everything that they've lost in the spring portal, it
kind of made me worried, especially along the offensive line,
and I think South Dakota State has the pieces to
have arguably the best offensive line in the FCS, especially
when you look at the addition of someone like a
Nate Adams to what they already bring back. I am very,

(10:19):
very bullish that the weapons around Chase Mason are going
to be there to help him elevate his game as
a new starter. And on the flip side, I'm just
worried how hard is it going to be for Bowman
and Charles Pierre to elevate the talent around them. They
only have one returning significant contributor at wide receiver, zero
at tight end one on the offensive line. They only

(10:41):
return one guy at edge, zero at d tackle, and
zero at the starting corner spot. That worries me a
little bit. I really like you well at the linebacker spot.
Tim White could possibly step into.

Speaker 3 (10:54):
A bigger role.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
You add a guy like Dewan Lewis from Lamar Krim
from Chattanooga, you got Dallas Homes coming in from Lafayette.
But outside of that, they're going to have to hit
on a lot of their transfer portal additions in some
really really key spots, some spots that I think Bawman
and Pierre are going to rely on to be as
productive as we saw them be last year.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah, I think on that point you made about Southcota
States front seven, I think they're gonna be very good
once again. You know they're they're starting seven. You know,
could be potentially as good as ever. You know, my
concern would be the depth. You know, if a guy
goes down or once they rotate, you know how much
of a drop off is there. But you know, I

(11:35):
really like the defensive line overall, led by Kobe Claiborne.
And you know, it's it's tough and it's a balance
because you hear coaches or coordinators or whatever like hype
up their guys all the time, like all this guy's
gonna be said for us, this guy's gonna be suid
for for us, and you always kind of take it
with a grain of salt. But when a guy like
Jimmy Rodgers says, Chase van Tolls, give me the next

(11:56):
great South Gota State linebacker, like you kind of put
more weight in that's then maybe some other coaches that are,
you know, hyping up this guy, hyping up that guy,
hyping up this guy. Because you know, Rogers when he
was in Southcota State, you know, head coach, he didn't
you know, always dole out that type of praise. And
so with Chase van Tole at linebacker, and Joe Olman,
you know at Lionebacker, he's you know, I think he

(12:16):
was named team captain this year without playing, you know,
a whole lot of snaps. I think I think you
feel pretty comfortable with the linebacking corps there for for
Southaota State, in their front seven overall, and I think
their offensive line along with Montana States, you know, might
be the top two offensive lines in the FCS. And
what's interesting too is you know they did bring back

(12:39):
their two starting offensive tackles in Sam Hagan and Quintin Christensen,
and William Papke is coming back as well after starting
a few games. So that's a nice cores already when
you can bring back three guys with significant starting experience
or decent starting experience. But then you bring in Nate
Adams from Stephen F. Austin, who was a second team
All Southland Conference selection last year. But from a recent

(13:01):
report from from South Gota States practices, Adams isn't even
running with the ones, like maybe he's rotating in there
with the ones, but you know, it sounds like he's
still battling for to either be a rotational guy or
maybe maybe he can slip into the starting lineup. And
so if you have a guy already on your roster
who's potentially beating out an incoming FCSL Conference player, you

(13:25):
know for that starting spot, I believe it'd be right
guard what would likely be, you know, that starting spot
for Nate Adams and some of the other guys. You know,
I think that goes to show how good of depth
that South Gota State likes on its offensive line. You know,
what's what's interesting with all of these, all of these
top five teams except for one is the starting quarterback
spot right NDSU new starting quarterback we believe Cole Payton,

(13:49):
you know, is going to be the guy there. You know.
South Gota State we talked about Chase Mason, ui W,
we talked about Richard Torres. Montana State is a bit
more of a mystery. You know. They have a couple
of guys, younger guys on the roster from last year,
and they also brought in lamps in the transfer from Stanford.
So that is an interesting, you know, kind of criteria

(14:12):
or variable when it comes to this national title race.
In these top five teams, is four of them are
going to have new starting quarterbacks.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
I'm not his.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
I don't know about you. I don't know how you feel.
It's just well, okay, let's start here. North Dakota State
has proven Sam that they can replace guy after guys
so like and you look at a guy like Cole Peyton.
He was a guy when he signed was so highly touted.
I think people get lost in this, Sam. I don't
because I know you are up there in that region.
You really plugged into NDSU. If you remember two years ago,

(14:46):
it might have been a small contingent. There were some
North Dakota State fans that were calling for Cole Payton
to replace cam Miller. At one point, like the hype
was huge for Cole Peyton, so I think he's going
to be just fine. And also too, you have argued,
I think you've said it and I've said it both
on our appearances with Bison sixteen sixty, they probably had
the best wide receiving core in the SCS, as you

(15:08):
really really like his chances to be successful. I think
the quarterback question mark that I have the biggest concern
about is maybe Montana State. But the thing that helps
me with them is saim they're gonna be able to
run the football so well that it's just I feel
like the quarterback is not going to have as much
pressure to really have to go out there and throw
it twenty five thirty times a game and carry the

(15:28):
offense through the air. And outside of North Dakota State
SAM has there been a program since about twenty nineteen
COVID year that's replaced quarterback after quarterback as well as
we've seen in Cardinate word do it like Carnet Word
has consistently produced FBS NFL level quarterbacks Walter Payton winners.
So I just think a lot of these top teams

(15:49):
have proven that they can develop quarterbacks, which is why
you don't see a lot of the national media, like
US or anyone else in the in the FCS media,
really look at any of these teams just like, oh man,
we're really really worried about the quarterback spot because they've
all proven they can replace guy after guy and develop
younger guys to step into that big role and succeed.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, to me, Montana State is a lot like South
Dakota State, where, you know, maybe because Montana State had
such a good senior class last year and they did
lose you know, a handful of significant guys to the
transfer portal. But the more you dive into, you know,
Montana State, you really like the core of guys you
know coming back they have, especially on the offensive line.

(16:33):
You know, they have three full time starters coming back,
you know, plus plus another guy in Cedric Jefferson who
got a couple of games of starting experience. Two running
backs with all big sky accolades. You know. The defense,
you know, I think their defensive line is gonna be
really good. You know, they rotated quite a bit at
linebacker as well. In so while they don't return any

(16:54):
starting linebackers, you know, two of those guys rotated in
so much that they finished top five, you know in
team tackles, and so I think Montana State is so
similar to South Kota State in that you like, you know,
their ability to run the football, you like some of
the talent they have at wide receiver, you like their
front seven, but secondary for both Montana State and South

(17:17):
Kota State to me, are pretty big question marks. And
then you just have the unknown as well at quarterbacks.
So it's kind of interesting to see the parallels there
between Montana State and South Kota State. Before we move
on to the next batch of teams here, you should
talk a little bit more about you know, NDSU, a
team to me that I thought was the pretty obvious
choice for number one, But it isn't necessarily like a

(17:41):
twenty eighteen NDSU or a twenty twenty three South Dkota
State where this team is an easy number one because
they are far and away, you know, the favorite to
win the national title. Because NDSU has just as many
question marks as some of these other teams, whether it
be breaking in three three new start an offensive lineman.

(18:01):
You know, the quarterback spot is a bit of an
unknown as well, you know, breaking in some new linebackers,
defensive line. I think will be good. But but some
of the defensive line depth I think is a question
mark for NDSU. The secondary I thought played really really
well the last two games, but overall last year was
certainly up and down. So it's not like NDSU. It's

(18:22):
interesting because NDUCU to me is the clearing number one,
but it's not like they don't have question marks. Just
like all these other teams you know across they're too deep.

Speaker 2 (18:31):
You know it's so let me ask you and then
we'll keep pushing. What is surprise you if they wound
up making a type of run of some of those
teams you name, where they go undefeated and no one
really pushes them.

Speaker 1 (18:45):
Uh maybe just because while they have those question marks,
you know, like offensive line a bit of a question mark,
but you trust the Bison to kind of reload there. Yeah,
they're they're pretty they're pretty inexperienced add lionbacker, but they
have you know some guys that have really been you know,
heavily hyped as well. Donovan Rolle Wooln is one of

(19:07):
those guys that they really like at lionbacker. And so
if NDSU can get good quarterback play, which again you
kind of trust that they are going to get whether
it is you know, Cole Peyton or maybe Nathan Hayes,
you know, kind of steps in as well. If Peyton
is is a bit up and down, I could see
that scenario where kind of NDSU runs away with things.
But a lot of that has to do with the
quarterback variable of other teams, right Like if South Gota State,

(19:30):
if Chase Mason hits, South go To State is going
to be really really good. But if you know Chase
Mason plays like you know, like like twenty nineteen, you know,
South Gota State quarterback play was was, it was alright,
and they end up losing in the second round or
the quarterfinals, whatever it is. You know, same thing with
UIW or same thing with with Montana State. If their
quarterback play hits, they have the pieces in place to

(19:53):
be really good. But if they struggle with inconsistency, you know,
they drop down a little bit. And so it's all
about quarterback play, which which you can say is always
the case, but when you lose longtime starters like Tommy Malott,
Cam Miller, Mark Ronowski, you know, it does raise a
bigger question mark about the overall quarterback play when it

(20:14):
comes to these top five.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
Teams, Yeah, I'm with you one.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
I think offensive tackle is probably my biggest concern for them,
But like you said, it's like kind of like that
incardinate ward point. If there's a it's if I had
to tell you pick one team to develop offensive tackles,
you would probably pick North Dakota State. They always seem
to plug it. And I think their defensive line, I
think depth wise at edge is a little concerning because
when you get past Jack I believe it's a Louliano

(20:39):
from you Albany, you get past Toby, I don't know
what the depth behind them is, and maybe that's a
little bit concerning. But I think starting lineup wise, they're
gonna able to get after the passer. You get I
believe it's Dunton hyper back at defensive tackle. You get
Keenan Wilson, who I think could be a real breakout player.
Was a played I believe fifteen games is a true
as a rest freshman, and you got Logan Larson, who

(21:03):
was a rotational piece. I'll be very heres, but I
think the biggest thing that gives me confidence in North
Dakota State is their biggest weakness last year Sam was
secondary at times. That secondary you go from being one
of the younger units early in the year last year
in the FCS to probably I would have their secondary
unit SAM ranked top five in the FCS. I think

(21:23):
Darius Gibvents, Jalen Crumbie, Ryan Jones, you look at Duffy
at corner, you look at al Faro at corner, you
bring in Booth from James Madison. I think they have
a lot of pieces in that secondary that could be
really good. I'm really really high on Darius Given at
safety for them. So I think the secondary improving so

(21:44):
much could overall take this defensive unit potent and make
it potentially better than what we saw last year, especially
early in the season right because there was a lot
of growing pains early and they really found their rhythm
late in the season. I think the secondary really could
be the key to this defense being really, really good
good next year.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
Yeah, let's go to six through ten here, and for
me at six, I have Illinois State, seven, UC Davis eight,
Tarlton State nine, Montana, and then rounding out my top
ten is Sacramento State. What's your six through ten looking like?

Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah, So at six I have UC Davis seven. I
have Charlton State, eight, I have Rhode Island, nine I
have Southern Illinois, and ten I have Illinois State.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
Okay, we so we have It's kind of I guess
a bit similar to UIW when it comes to Illinois State.
Both have them in our top ten. But I have
them number six and you have them U number number ten.
I believe you said I maybe if I were to

(22:49):
were to redo this, and you know, this is the
thing with ranked with doing top twenty fives, whether it's
top twenty five team rankings or top twenty five, you know,
player rankings. If you you finish your ranking, you some
minute and then the next day, if you started from scratch,
your order would probably change, you know, just a little bit,
because you look at things a little bit differently. So
I if I were to change something, maybe I would

(23:12):
flip flop UC Davis in Illinois States because I think
you see Davis. I really like what they have coming back,
especially on the offensive line. I mean they're gonna have
one of the more experienced offensive lines in the FCS
and top wide receiver coming back, all conference tight end,
you know, coming back. They have a loaded quarterback battle

(23:33):
going on right now. They have like six or seven
three star recruits in their quarterback room, and you just
kind of trust their offensive staff, led by head coach
Plow that you know they're going to figure out the
quarterback situation there.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
I believe they'd named the starter if I could be wrong,
but I'm Caten Pinnick. Yes, I believe they say, Kayateen
Pinnock's at least going to be the guy that goes
out first in week zero, like he's gonna be the
guy that gets the first shot.

Speaker 1 (23:59):
Okay, Yeah, I wasn't sure if that was them definitively
saying he's our guy, or if they if we played
right now, he would be our guy. I can't remember
specifically how they how they phrased it, but it does
appear that he is the front runner and he's only
a red shirt freshman, so that would be interesting to
see playouts. You know, Illinois talking with about Illinois States,

(24:22):
you really like the core that they have coming back,
especially offensively. You know Tommy Rittenhouis can potentially take his
game to the next level at quarterback. You know, they
have their top returning running back from last year, plus
their top returning running back from two years ago. You know,
that pretty experience with their leading wide receiver coming back
as well, and they're coming off of a ten win season.

(24:44):
My hesitation with Illinois State is they haven't shown they
can really honestly compete with the top tier. You know,
They've gotten blown out by some top teams last year.
Even Missouri State kind of handled it or kind of
handed it to Illinois State. And so that's that is
my one pause with Illinois State is while I like
the core they have coming back, and you know, talking

(25:05):
with rocks Back, he believes this can be one of
their best teams in you know, quite a while, at
a certain point, you still they need to show not
only that they can beat you know, some of these
some of these you know, top contending FCS teams, but
you know, at the very least at least make it
a close game and pushed some of these top teams.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
That was that was one of my biggest concerns because
you mentioned like they got blown out by North Dakota State,
they got blown out by Missouri State, they got blown
out by UC Davis in the playoffs too. If I'm
not saying it was like what forty two to ten
or somewhere around there.

Speaker 3 (25:38):
And then also you had.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
A bunch of close wins too, if you remember them,
they only beat that they believe it was like Murray State,
they only escaped by a think like seven. They almost
lose to North Alabama as well early in the season,
like there were some games that could have flipped the
other way and we could be having a whole different conversation.

Speaker 3 (25:55):
I thought.

Speaker 2 (25:56):
Offensively, the reason that's kept on my top ten is
I thought they had enough talent offensively to be really good.
I'm a huge fan of Rittenhouse and quarterback. Their running
back room has probably three four guys that could start
at other schools, especially just due to some injuries to
force guys into certain roles last year. But my other,
my biggest concern stand was the defensive backfield. No significant

(26:20):
contributors coming back at safety or corner, so you're gonna
have to have a ton of young guys step up,
a ton of transfer step up, and they've added some
promising pieces. But I just had to see it come together,
especially because you have on the schedule a few teams
like I specifically looked at that North Dakota State game
was a terrible matchup because how quickly can that secondary

(26:42):
grow up? Because Sam, I don't think you want to
guy out there making his first or second career start
and you got to go one on one with Bryce
Lance on the outside like that just seems like a
terrible matchup. So I think I'm kind of in a
wait and see approach of Illinois State. I think offensively
they're good enough to get to eight nine wins make
the playoff, but I'm just not one hundred soul that
they're in that top tier of potential, like dark horses

(27:06):
who could make a push to get into that top five,
if that makes sense.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
Yeah, they lost a couple of starting defensive backs as
well in the spring portal period, so that that set
them back I think a little bit on that back end.
Another interesting team here, Tarleton States. You know, obviously a
fast rising Division one program. You know, they're pouring money
into athletics. You know, nice facilities going up, great great
home stadium. You know, obviously Tarleton has FBS interest and

(27:35):
you know Conference USA. Maybe they added a team or
two in a couple of years if they want to,
and it seems like Tarleton State would probably top that list,
but for now, you know, Tarleton. It'll be interesting to
see them this year if they continue to make the strides,
because they do lose some major pieces offensively, including their
All American running back, All American wide receiver. But what

(27:57):
they have is what not a lot of these top
ten teams to having that as their starting quarterback, coming
back Victor Gableiss. You know, if he can take care
of the ball a little bit more, be more consistent,
you know, I think he can be one of the
top quarterbacks in the FCS. And you know, Tarleton, they
lose Darius Cooper, which is which is going to hurt them,

(28:18):
But I think some of the talent they're bringing in,
plus you know Cody Jackson, you know, I think was
a really explosive guy and I think he can have
a breakout year even more this upcoming season. But you know,
wide receiver, it's kind of kind of the same thing
with Apline Christian like you kind of trust that they're
going to have. They're gonna find some guys to have

(28:39):
that explosiveness on the outside. And then defensively, really bringing
back most of their defense from last year. I believe
it's eleven of the top twelve tacklers from last year
are coming back. They allowed twenty four point six points
per game last year, which is decent, you know, hovered
around the top fifty, you know in the FCS. You know,

(28:59):
one thing I'll say about Tarleton and this is kind
of off the field is and I've almost tweeted this,
you know, a couple of times, but then I just
bit my tongue and didn't say anything. You play in
seventeen days. You're a preseason top ten team, and you
don't have a twenty twenty five online roster, not even
a spring twenty twenty five roster. And I ran into

(29:21):
this issue last year and I reach out to them
and say, hey, can you just give me a list
of your returning starters. Didn't hear anything back, and so
I don't know if this is a competitive edge sort
of thing. And I DM some people and they said, yeah,
they don't really like to get that information out there.
So that's probably why they didn't respond to you, or
why they don't have an online roster yet. But like,
I think they have eleven of their top twelve tacklers

(29:42):
coming back from last year, but there's some like seniors
who played Juco and so like, did these guys get
that waiver where they can come back. You had to
scout their instagrams and Twitter handles, which I hate doing,
but like I had to scout some of them. I
don't be like are they tweeting about springball? Are they
there like it? So that's one thing I got a
call out, like, come on, you're you. You don't have

(30:02):
FBS aspirations. You can't even get a twenty twenty five
roster online yet and it's August sixth.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
You know, it's funny, you know how we did their roster.
They had it hidden in like their spring game announcement.
They released a roster for the spring game like in
their news release, and it was just hidden like a.

Speaker 3 (30:21):
Link in there.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
So we like went and try to compare, and then
we had but we did, Like you, we had to
Me and Timothy had to sit down, and I mean
we scour social media because right now, I mean, based
on the data we have and guys who have are
almost confirmed.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
There.

Speaker 2 (30:35):
They have eighteen defensive players that played at least two
hundred snaps last year coming back, along with a transfer
class that includes guys like Davis Spirellis, who was a
breakout freshman star at Northern Arizona who spent one season
in North Texas. And I think at wide receiver, man,
I think they're going to be really good. I really
like the addition of Tier Young, who was a D

(30:56):
two guy from Locke Cave and as six two two
twenty five was a division to all American had eleven
touchdowns last year, like eleven hundred yards. Really big body
guy who I think could go out there and replace,
you know, like a Darius Cooper type of player. But
I just think when you look at all their returning
talent and as good as Keavon Britton was, Sam, I

(31:19):
think people have to get in the mindset of what
are the easiest positions to replace. As good as Britain was,
it is running back is probably the position on a
team that you're like, man, we can just replace that
by committee, right, Just get a bunch of guys who
can give us three four hundred five hundred yards in
a season. And I think Victor Gabalis for all of

(31:40):
his turnover issues, and I do think that's a valid concern,
he has continued to develop and get better year after
year with more experience. Like you said, if he can
put it all together. There's no reason he can't be
in the running for the Walter Payton There's no reason
he shouldn't be getting all the American looks, and I
think that's the next step for this team. And I
look at what they added in the portal. They added
a bunch of sub D one guys that were all

(32:02):
the American All Conference level. They got guys from the
FBS SAM that played or were rotational guys that are
going to come in and push for playing time. I
really like what Charlton has and that's why I had
them at seven. I'm just a little bit higher on
UC Davis because of the transfer portal class they brought in.
And on top of that too, I have a Tim
Plow has proven even as an OC and QB coach

(32:23):
now that he can develop quarterbacks. I'm not worried at all.
Whoever starts at UC Davis at quarterback, with the play
designs and the creativity you see from UC Davis is
going to be next level. And that's why I kind
of give them the edge of Tarlton as well as
that UC Davis has.

Speaker 3 (32:39):
They might not have as.

Speaker 2 (32:40):
Much for turning, but I do think their ceiling might
be a little bit higher right now, but that could
change by about week two three as we.

Speaker 3 (32:48):
Kind of see these teams get on the field.

Speaker 1 (32:51):
Yeah, tracking transfers, you know obviously, I think maybe more
so from a fan perspective, they you know, when you
see a guy coming in from you know, a tech
tech or Nebraska or whatever, like those kind of splashes
because you see the team names. Uh, you know, you
see the teams next to that person's name. But you know,
I think I don't have the data, you know, to

(33:14):
back this up, be way too much data to go through.
But uh, there's maybe just as many sub D one
guys that come to the FCS that play a significant role,
more so than some FBS you know transfers. And so
you know, some of those SUBD one guys that they
brought in I definitely think can can make a splash.
You mentioned some of those wide receivers coming in, but

(33:36):
even FCS to FCS transfers, guys that are known commodities
and no contributors at the FCS level, those are you know,
probably the easiest to project. Uh. And so like you know,
alec Ambrosia, he was a FCS All American offensive lineman.
He's coming into Tarleton State. And so that's kind of

(33:56):
a splash transfer edition right there. He did play at
CCSC and was an NEEC you know guy. So level
of competition will certainly go up going to Tarleton State.
But right yeah, another yeah FCS FCS guy, you know,
one FBS two FCS guy, Tyland Hines. You know, I
think that could turn out to be a dynamite transfer edition,

(34:16):
you know, coming in from Hawaii where he was you know,
a few years ago all Mountain West Arnoble Mention really
can be a really good all purpose level guy and
he can potentially step into that lead running back role.
And so really like the overall talent that Tarleton State
is is bringing in, plus just the core of guys
because they are one program that they don't usually get

(34:37):
hit too hard as far as FBS coming in and
plucking you know, some of their roster, they do a
pretty good job of retaining their talent there. Going to
teams eleven through fifteen, here I have Rhode Island number eleven,
Jackson State coming in at number twelve, Mercer number thirteen,

(34:57):
Abilene Christian fourteen, and then I to Hoe at number fifteen.
Who do you have for eleven through fifteen.

Speaker 2 (35:05):
Eleven I got Montana, twelve, I got Sex State, thirteen,
I got Jackson State, fourteen I have Northern Arizona, and
then fifteen I have Steven f Austen, Okay.

Speaker 1 (35:16):
So two teams that I have my top ten that
you have just outside of your top ten Montana and
Sack State. You know, the Grids are interesting, and you
know they lose most of their defense. You know, offensively,
will have a pretty experienced offensive line. You know, obviously
Eli Gilman coming back at running back one of the
top overall offensive players in the FCS, A lot of

(35:38):
production to replace at the wide receiver spots. But it's
interesting looking at Montana where a lot of question marks
just personnel wise, But then you look at their you
look at their schedule and you kind of start pencing
out wins and losses and you're like, this team could
I don't want to say easily, but there is a
pathway to get to at least ten wins. You're a

(36:00):
if you're ten and two, you're going to get a
high seed or a pretty decent seed, and who's going
to go into Missoula and win, you know, in the playoffs,
and so maybe Montana is a team that can sneak
into that top five, where whereas we have them outside
the top five. You know, sax State is another super
interesting one. I mean, they can be anywhere from the
best team in the country to the fortieth best team

(36:23):
you know in the country. We just don't know about
them as far as how things are going to play
out for Sacramento States. You know, one interesting team that
you have in your top ten that I have just
outside of my top ten is Rhode Island. I think
they have the potential to keep on rising up because

(36:45):
remember with Rhode Island, it seemed like for three four
straight years they were just on the playoff babble, Like
they ended with seven wins but wasn't good enough to
get in the playoffs, and then they broke through last year.
Has a really good record, gets into the playoffs, you know,
a bit of a disappointing overall playoff, you know, I
would say, but I think Rody at least has what

(37:06):
it takes to keep on rising up. Especially again, you know,
a team that brings a decent amount back on offense
defensively has much more question marks. Although getting an ag
opinion back at defensive end. I think is a huge
boost for Rody. But what do you think of Roady,
you know, as maybe being that top team out East.

Speaker 3 (37:27):
Yeah, I like them right now to win the CIA.

Speaker 2 (37:31):
I think, you know, we're gonna talk about another team
who I think kind of challenged them just due to schedule,
because like with my ballot right now, saying with preseason,
I'm with you, especially when you look at like the
Montana too, Like when you look at their schedule, like
are they going to finish ten to two, maybe even
eleven and one nine, and like, yeah, probably, But I'm
just ranking teams based on how good I think they

(37:51):
are talent wise, because there's a bunch of teams who
just have tough schedules, right that might be more talented
than the team who might have two or three more
wins than them, just schedule laid out terribly for him,
or you know, they drew a tough conference foe.

Speaker 3 (38:04):
So I'm with you on that.

Speaker 2 (38:06):
And I think Rhode Island has a really really generous
CIA schedule, and that's the key in projecting CIA right now.
I mean they're not with so many teams, the schedules
are definitely not even And Mom at then Rhode Island
kind of have those schedules. But I love Marku's Buchanan
at wide receiver. I really like Devin Farrell before he
got banged up. I think his first year in the
starter he showed some really really big flashes and I

(38:29):
think if he could just be a little bit more
consistent as a quarterback, he could really make a strong
push into like that top ten quarterback conversation range. Offensive line,
they returned five guys that played over tw hundred STAPs
last year. I love brock Betho at offensive line, only
one sack, one sackle out and over eight hundred snaps played.
You mentioned Aja, and I even think they got a

(38:50):
few pieces in the back end that could develop well.
At linebackers a bit of a question, but they do
add John Boyle's from Wafford who was a key piece.
You even got a hundre Robins coming in on the defense.
It's a line to further add some depth there. I
just think Rhode Island right now, man, there's going to
be a CAAA team that makes a push somewhere in
that top ten as we sit right now in early August,

(39:10):
Dave would be my pick to be that caa team
to make that push for the top eight seed, which
is why I have them place where they are.

Speaker 1 (39:17):
Another team here at Jackson States really has a good
nucleus of guys coming back a year after winning the
Celebration Bowl. You know Jacobean Morgan, you know, coming back
at quarterback I think is one of the better ones
in the FCS. You know, two of the top three
running backs, top wide receiver, plus you add an all
Swack first team wide receiver as well. You know, the
defense returns four of its top six tacklers. You know,

(39:40):
both units offensively and defensive defensively right around the top
five in the FCS as far as points scored and
points allowed. A few years ago with JSU, kind of
the conversation as they were rolling along was, you know,
how could this team compete at a national FCS level?
And that kind of fell off a little bit the

(40:01):
last couple of years. You know, Jackson State wasn't you know,
necessarily high, like in the top ten in rankings. They were,
you know somewhere in the teams. Do you think this
year's team could rise from being outside the top ten
into the top ten and then keep on rising where
all of a sudden, we do have that discussion of
you know, I know it's kind of a for both

(40:22):
of us. It's an annoying discussion in the sense that
it creates the celebration Bowl versus FCS playoffs debate, But
just generally speaking, do you think this Jackson State squad
will get into the conversation of, you know, how could
this team compete? You know, if hypothetically they were in
the FCS playoffs, could they compete you know, with some
of these top five FCS teams. Do you think this
squad has that capability to be in that discussion?

Speaker 3 (40:46):
Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
I'll say this, now, do they have the star power
of like a Shador Sanders or a Travis Hunter. No,
But I do think just overall depth WoT Sam, that
this team is probably a more complete team than that
Jackson team we saw in like twenty twenty two that
last year with Dion And I know that's maybe a
Bowl take to some, but like when you you know,

(41:09):
looking at the overall depth and how balanced they're going
to be. I got twenty players coming back to played
over two hundred snaps, thirteen players who started multiple games
last year, and they've won three out of the last
four SWAP championships. I just don't know how any I
understand that there's some voters that are gonna penalize the
or they were penalizing the IVY for not participating. Now

(41:31):
that's maybe changed a little bit, but they punished some
of these HPC programs in their poll just because of
strength of schedule, just because of not participating in the playoffs.
And I think it takes a really really good team
to kind of overcome that bias. And for me, Sam,
I think Jackson checks those boxes, and I'm with you.
I just think there's gonna be a debate late in
the season because you look at how their schedule lays
out outside of Southern Miss and maybe that road trip

(41:55):
to FAUM midyear, they're probably going to be heavy favorites
in all their other games. And say what happens if
they upset Southern Miss in Week two and they're sitting
there with a win over Hampton and the CIA, which
Hampton's not a great CIA team, but that's still a
big out of conference win for the SWACK. You get
the first FBS wins, it's like nineteen eighty five for

(42:16):
the SWACK and then they go on a run. Here,
let's just say they finish undefeated. Meant, what are the
voters going to do with them? Because I understand maybe
the strength to schedule won't compare to some of the
top teams, But Sam, how do you not have a
twelve and oh swack championship team with an FBS win
somewhere in the top ten, maybe even pushing into the
top five.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
Yeah, I like that FBS matchup there for Jackson States.
You know, I think that is that can be pretty
favorable there and we can see and we'll see if
they can you know, notch that FBS win sixteen through twenty.
Here I have at number sixteen Villanova, number seventeen, Northern Arizona,
eighteen is Lehigh, nineteen Western Carolina, and then number twenty

(43:04):
Tennessee Tech. How about you.

Speaker 2 (43:06):
Yeah, as sixteen, I have Leha, seventeen, I have Idaho eighteen, Mercer,
nineteen Tennessee Tech, and twenty Western Carolina.

Speaker 1 (43:16):
So a couple of teams out of this group I
want to touch on. Let's start with Lehigh because we
have seen some Patriot League teams make decent noise in
the FCS playoffs in recent years. You know Holy Cross
was that team you know a few years ago, you
know that twenty eighteen Colgate team, they also made a

(43:36):
run to the quarterfinals. I'm curious if this Lehigh team
has that capability because a year after making the playoffs
and they gave Idaho a pretty decent game for at
least a half there before depth took over. But from
that team, offensively for Lee High, starting quarterback coming back.
You know, their top running back duo, you know the

(43:57):
one two punch, both guys were freshman last year. They're
coming top two wide receivers are coming back, and three
starting offensive linemen are coming back as well. And then defensively,
seven of the top ten tacklers are coming back on
the defensive side for Lee High. And so what do
you make of this Lee High team? Man? Can they
beat that Patrio League squad that you know makes a

(44:17):
I don't think anyone's gonna project them to be a
semi finalist or anything, but could they maybe get into
the quarterfinal round?

Speaker 3 (44:24):
I think so.

Speaker 2 (44:25):
I mean, you look at last year, and I'll say this,
there was a lot of people when Richmond made the
announcement that they were moving, and obviously William and Mayory
Villanova came after that. They were just like, oh man,
Richmond's gonna walk to the walk through the Patriot League
every year and just seem to forget that Leha beat
Richmond last year in the playoffs and.

Speaker 1 (44:44):
Turns more players, I believe than Richmond does.

Speaker 3 (44:47):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (44:48):
I mean, Sam, this defense ranked top ten nationally and
yards per play allowed and has fifteen players coming back
that played over two hundred snaps. That's insane, and you
got to and people forget their starting quarterback was a
red shirt freshman last year and battled injuries.

Speaker 1 (45:04):
Yeah, they're pretty year. They were pretty young at that
at those skill positions last year. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (45:09):
I think this team could be really good because I
had them at sixteen and I even put because you
know me and you've released our rankings on each of
our websites, I was like, the casual fan will just
read Lehigh and scoff at it, right, and it's like,
lehah at sixteen.

Speaker 3 (45:22):
I think this team could be really, really good.

Speaker 2 (45:24):
And it's insane that they played Richmond week one, right,
I mean the fact that that game is week one
is it could determine who comes out of this conference.
But I think Lehi checks all the boxes for a
team outside of the major power conferences that we usually
see in FCS. That could make things interesting because I
look at I think the biggest thing for them is them.
They need to try to find a way to slip

(45:45):
into like that eight seed if they can. Yeah, because
the first round by will be so big for this
quarterfinal talk, because at the end of the day, it
is very, very hard to go win multiple games in
the playoffs, especially if you have to start doing it
on the road past pass the first round. And I
think that long trip to Idaho, you saw that they
were already kind of banged up going into that game.

(46:06):
They were competitive early, and like you said, the depth
just took over. They didn't have enough, They didn't have
enough guys healthy. I think they have. They added some
depth this all season along with a bunch of guys
who grew up as redshirt freshman, rece shirt sophomore, and
I think this team this year should be better than
last year. I don't see why that next step couldn't
be a potential quarterfinal appearance. And then we say it
on the show all the time, say, once you make

(46:27):
it to the quarterfinals, anything can happen. It's one game
at a time from there, and who says they couldn't
pull off an upset and make things interesting depending on
the draw, right, Yeah, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:36):
Nick at safety there I think is a really special player.
Then Matne Yeah, preseason defensive player of the year in
that conference. So I definitely think they have that core
there to take the take the next step this upcoming season.
Another team in this batch I want to touch on
is Tennessee Tech because UIW. Sachs stayed I would say

(47:00):
probably highlighted or it probably drew the most attention as
far as their portal additions, but Tennessee Tech certainly, you know,
has an argument as well as far as when it
comes to those top transfer classes and a year after
going seven and five, just missing out on the FCS playoffs,
Tennessee Tech is maybe another team that as casual fans

(47:24):
are scrolling through the top twenty five ballots, they're gonna
see Tennessee Tech and just bit that's you know, that
one seems a little bit strange, but they bring their
top two wide receivers back this year, three starting offensive
linemen and bringing several FCS transfers with starting experience and
including three quarterbacks who have started experience. Richie Munios from

(47:44):
Weaver State, who I mentioned earlier, to Covi s Faris
from Eastern Washington who was an all Big Sky guy
you know, a couple of years ago. And then Chase
Wilson has had, you know, some starts scattered over the
course of his career, whether it be at Texas Southern
or he started at Furman, like in twenty twenty one
games as a freshman. Yeah, and so that's a really

(48:05):
really healthy quarterback battle right there. And then defensively, you know,
eleven of its top sixteen tacklers are coming back. And
then you know, I was tallying this up as well.
They bring in five FCS transfers with one thousand or
over one thousand career snaps, and so it just seems
like they had a I don't know if you want

(48:25):
to call last year a breakout year because they did
not make the playoffs, but they still elevate elevated to
seven wins, and it seems like with this transfer class
coming in, coupled with the nucleus of guys they have
coming back. To me, you know, Tennessee Tech was I
don't even think that's like a lukewarm take to put
them into your top twenty five, because it seems like

(48:46):
a lot of US voters did so.

Speaker 2 (48:48):
Yeah, I'll look at the OVC Big Sealth, which I
hate the fact that they flipped the name on it
as as soon as we got comfortable with Big Self VC.

Speaker 3 (48:55):
But OVC Big South.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
I think they are going to be the surprise at
the FCS, and I think with all the questions surrounding
U T. Martin and CIMO, who both lost a lot
this all season, they should be the heavy favorite out
of come out of that conference because I think you
look at their defense last year, Sam, it was really
really good. Their defense has been really good in the past,

(49:19):
really two years, even before Wilder got there, but it
was it called him up with quarterback play and quarterback injuries.
And I think when you just I don't care who starts,
it should be a significant upgrade from whoever they had
last year, right, And I think we had Wilder on
the show earlier this all season, he said visperus obviously
because he was there during the spring. Right now is

(49:40):
QB one, But I gotta imagine Richie's going to make
a push there, and I think at running back. They
have four or five different guys that could start. You've
returned Lincoln to Tremelle Jones at wide receiver while adding
Noah Robinson who was the first team all the EC
transfer from Robert Morris, and you mentioned all the talent
they have defensively, and they added some sub D one
guy that I think also could go along with the

(50:02):
FCS to FCS transfers that are really good. They have
the number three transfer portal class in our rankings when
we raked all the transfer portal classes out. I think
this team's gonna be really good, and people forget Bobby
Wilder has won at this level before, and I think
he is building a true contender at Tennessee Tech.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
And I don't know.

Speaker 2 (50:19):
I don't think the obvcly Big sal is gonna get
three bids again, but I'd be very surprised if Tennessee
Tech is not in the postseason this year.

Speaker 1 (50:27):
All right, to wrap this up, twenty one through twenty five.
Number twenty one, I have SFA, twenty two Harvard, twenty
three Southern Illinois, twenty four North Dakota and twenty five Mamouth.
Who do you have rounding out your top twenty five.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
Yeah, twenty one I have Monmouth, twenty two I have Etsu,
twenty three I have Abilene Christian, twenty four I have Villanova,
and twenty five I have North Dakota.

Speaker 1 (50:52):
Yeah. Out of this group, you know, SFA really intrigues me.
Another team where the more you dive into them, you
go just because again it goes to the you know,
when the Top twenty five came out, you know, just
listening to some some different shows and they they say,
you know, it's got to be so difficult to put

(51:13):
put together a top twenty five, just because all these
rosters are going to be brand new. And I was
kind of sitting there going, well, a lot of these
top twenty five team previews, there's a lot more guys
coming back than you know, rosters that are completely depleted,
and that that's you know, go that also ties into SFA.
That brings back a good chunk of last year's team.

(51:34):
I mean all conference quarterback coming back in Sam Midlack,
who is likely a preseason All American, number two and
three running backs, top six wide receivers, you know, four
starting offensive linemen. You know, defensively, maybe one of the
more underrated defenses last year just because SFA was not
the playoff team, but they ranked in the top ten

(51:54):
n FCS scoring defense. They bring back seven of their
top thirteen tacklers, you know, ten guys who played close
to three hundred STAPs or more. So I look at
SFA as another quote unquote breakout team as far as
a team that did not make the playoffs this year
that I think has a good chance to make the
postseason this upcoming year.

Speaker 3 (52:14):
Yeah, I had them at fifteen, so I'm with you.

Speaker 2 (52:17):
I'm super high on Stephen Fallston and as much hype
as Incarnate Words getting. I'll look at the schedules right because,
like the preseason rankings are based on team talent, Steven
Falson's schedule is significantly easier and there's a real path
to like ten tennis wins for them, and people forget
they were tracking to make the playoffs till vidl Like

(52:38):
got hurt last year, and they still almost beat Incarnate Word,
And if I'm not mistaken, they upset Abolene Christian without
vid Like to end the season, who went to the
playoffs and dominated Northern Arizona. So they have twenty five
significant contributors coming back, like you said multiple all the Americans,
and kolbe Carful has been a guy who was facing
a little bit of pressure coming into life last year,

(53:00):
especially after the debacle what was it now two years
ago where they were a preseason top ten and just
fell flat won three games a few years ago. This
is a team that is ProMED to make a jump
and I think could be a sneaky pick to win
the South Land to potentially make a push for a
top eight seed.

Speaker 1 (53:16):
Yeah, another team here. Want to touchd on really quick
at Southern Illinois because I have them twenty three, you
have them all the way up in your top ten,
number nine. My hesitation with SIU is, you know, obviously
they were snaked bit by injuries last year and a
lot of those guys are coming back, but there still
are a decent amount of holes to fill, you know, defensively,

(53:39):
and then at the quarterback spot. I think DJ Williams
has a chance to be really good, but I'm still
hesitant in the sense of I don't know if the
sample size is big enough just yet, because at Murray
State he was, you know, okay, and then last year
the first four games for SIU, first three four games,
I thought he was really good, but we don't know

(54:00):
for sure if that would you know, carry over to
Missouri Value Football Conference play. So that's why I still
definitely thought it was pretty easy to put Southern Illinois
in my top twenty five. So I do think they
are set for a bounce back year. But I think
maybe initially in my rough draft, I had them in
my top fifteen, and then I dropped them back a

(54:20):
little bit, and then I dropped them back, you know,
a couple more spots, just because while they do bring
back a decent chunk, especially for some of the guys
that were injured last year, just overall, it still felt like,
you know, they have some holes to fill, especially on
the on the defensive side of the football. Although I
do think that linebacker they'll be really good with seug
Walker Chris Presto. Then Columbahannock is one of my more

(54:44):
favorite linebackers. You know, he doesn't have necessarily dominant numbers,
but when I watch him play out, I think he's
a really special player. So pieces are there for SIU.
I'm just you know, maybe not in that top ten
to top fifteen mindset for me.

Speaker 2 (54:57):
When it comes to the Slookies, yeah, I just had
less questions about them than I even I did Illinois State,
and I think you kind of saw that them flash
what their ceiling could be in that Incarnate Word game
where the final score doesn't represent what that game was
going to be. Before DJ gets hurt, they were blowing
out Incarnate Word early, if I'm not mistaken.

Speaker 3 (55:19):
And then you look at everything that they added.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
I mean jack Or Williams from Utah Tech at defensive back,
Fabian McCrae from Jackson, who led Jackson two years ago
and receiving yards was hurt last year. Matthew McClelland for
Moore had stated defensive back Donnie Wingate from Lyndon Wood.
I thought they had some really solid pieces, and in
the front seven, I think they could be really good.

Speaker 3 (55:39):
Man.

Speaker 2 (55:39):
They returned seven significant contributors at defensive tackle, edge of linebacker,
two corners that play significant snaps, one being Jeremim McClinton,
and like you said, I think their lineback and core
could be one of the better ones in the country.
I think wide receivers should be improved. Vincent Davis obviously
probably leading that group again, but I'm a little bit

(55:59):
high on DJ I just I think in this system
it kind of it fit his skill set a little
bit better.

Speaker 3 (56:06):
Sam.

Speaker 2 (56:06):
He played a lot looser in the system. And I
also think contributing factor could be he's playing surrounded by
a lot better talent than he wasn't Murray. No offense
to Murray State, but the talent's not the same there.
Plus he grew up a little bit. I think DJ,
if he's fully healthy, could be an absolute game changer
for them and really change a pace from what they've
seen at the quarterback spot. I'm really really high on

(56:28):
the Suluki, so I took a risk here, put them high,
and I think they're going to deliver. And I really
do think they could be that team right there behind
those Dakota schools in the Missouri Valley at the end
of the year.

Speaker 1 (56:40):
Yeah, we can wrap up here. You know. I think
MAMAFA is certainly, you know, an interesting team. They're absolutely
loaded offensively. The question mark with them is, you know,
can they stop anyone? It looks like we have mostly
the same twenty five teams except for I had, you know,
Harvard in my top twenty five. You had Etsu in

(57:01):
your top twenty five. I think those are the only
differences between us obviously order you know is different, but
it'll be interesting to see, you know, who comes out
of the IVY League and how far they can compete
in the FCS playoffs. You know, Etsu was right on
the cusp for me, along with ut Martin, you know,
Stony Brook. I did a deeper dive into Youngstown State

(57:24):
and kind of like within and kind of liked enough
what they had coming back to consider them for my
Top twenty five. But you know, pretty much just just
ran out of room, and so just just any final
thoughts on overall top twenty five honorable mentions or just
kind of any closing thoughts to close us out here.

Speaker 2 (57:41):
Yeah, I had Harvard. I believe they were my first
team just out and I'll be honest with you. I
went back and forth from like twenty three to like
thirty five because I'll rank them out to about forty.
And I mean it's sam you could flip it anyway,
like if you wanted to take North Dakota Nova or
Ablen Christian down and put Harvard, and I'm completely fine
with it, Like I just think. And also Ivy's are
so tough because they start so late. So what do

(58:03):
you do with Harvard at twenty four. If there's some
teams that get big victories early in the season right
and they just still aren't playing, how do you view
It's hard to compare them. So if Harvard starts roeling
off some wins, that will change quickly. I also had
North Carolina Central just on the outside.

Speaker 3 (58:17):
Sam.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
I think they're going to be really, really good, and
they're my pick to win the MIAC this year. They
wore turn a ton of contributors. They were really one
game away. If they would have had twelve games last
year and won it, they could have made the bubble
even tighter with none wins last year. And then I
got Stony Brook in Southeast in Louisiana's the other two
I'm really strongly considered. I think if Southeast and Louisiana
can find a quarterback, Sam, they could be that team

(58:39):
that makes it very interesting in the south Land because
they don't have that gauntlet of an out of conference
schedule with like South Dakota State and everything that they
did about a year ago, and I think they've shown
that they can win in conference. They were one game
away from winning the conference last year, so I think
Southeast and Louisiana is extremely interesting and stony Brook has
to follow up that breakout year. I'm a big fan
of Billy Cosh, but I've kind of been a wait

(59:02):
and see approach with quarterback there, just because of the
up and down play we've seen from both guys and
Casey case and also zealous to transfer from Hampton. They've
they've shown some flashes, but I have not seen the
full consistency for them, which is what kept Stoning from
breaking into that top twenty five for now.

Speaker 1 (59:18):
Yeah, for me, filling out or finding top twenty five
teams to fill out this top twenty five was was
really easy. The challenge was fitting in, you know, twenty
five teams because you know, again maybe the misconception is
all of these teams get rated, but that's really not
the case. You know, a lot of these teams, you know,
it's not like these teams have you know, cheer returning

(59:41):
defensive starters and you know, three returning offensive starters and
no returning starting offensive lineman. You know, in the game
of football where there's a lot of depth, you know,
a lot of these teams have a good core of
their guys coming back. You know, obviously when there's a
coaching change that's going to hit you hard, and obviously
that the top tier, elite level talent that continues to
get harder to hang on to. But overall, filling out

(01:00:02):
these Top twenty five's and these team previews, you kind
of like the overall core of FCS contributors and stand
outside are coming back. So we will wrap it up there.
We'll be back next week with another episode. Not sure
what we'll talk about, but we'll get some maybe some
hard hitting questions or maybe off the wall questions about
the upcoming season. But until then, thank you Zach, thank

(01:00:25):
you everyone for listening, and we'll catch you guys on
flistening me