http://www.espn.com/college-football/rec...=401001214

By beating N. Arizona 41 - 10 the Pioneer League is making waves in the FCS ranks.

If Azusa Pacific can get into a D1 conference, they could help diversity the League and may change some schools idea that they can't compete without scholarships.

Misleading title and leading sentence in the article. USD has been solid since Harbaugh (sp?) got them on the map...but the rest of the PL? Big reach there. PLs next best team (per the standings) is Drake...who lost 77-7 in week 1 to South Dakota, and 51-10 a few weeks later to South Dakota State (both quality teams).

Title should be: "USD still the dominant team in the Pioneer"

I don't think there is any doubt that the pool of talented scholastically superior players is much deeper in California then let's say Iowa. If your not a full blown DI athlete you have limited option in California due to the lack of D2 schools. Now, couple that with a kid who has borderline DI talent and is an excellent student you have two options. Go out of State and get a full athletic ride at a lower level Southland school or upper level Lonestar conference state school with average academics at best....OR....stay in state, get a a upper tier private college degree and still play "DI" ball on an Academic scholarship. Pretty easy decision for a smart kid who likely has a bright future. I could see AP Football having similar success.

If the Big Sky offered USD associate membership in football, with no stipulations as to whether they offer scholarships, should USD take the offer? I imagine flying the team to Lexington (and busing them to Morehead), Jacksonville, and Indianapolis would be more expensive then sending them to Sacramento, Portland, and Flagstaff.

(11-26-2017 08:26 PM)SDHornet Wrote:  Misleading title and leading sentence in the article. USD has been solid since Harbaugh (sp?) got them on the map...but the rest of the PL? Big reach there. PLs next best team (per the standings) is Drake...who lost 77-7 in week 1 to South Dakota, and 51-10 a few weeks later to South Dakota State (both quality teams).

Title should be: "USD still the dominant team in the Pioneer"

True, San Diego is probably the only non-scholarship program that could have done what they've done, i.e., win a game in the FCS playoffs two years in a row.

But, you gotta admit the article's spin is consistent with so many ESPN personalities (and so many of the posters on this message board) who seemingly think that just because a conference has one very good football team, every other team in the conference is automatically awesome.

Just to be a little fair here. While Drake did lose big, here are PFL schools that were competitive with other FCS schools.
Robert Morris 13 - Dayton 10
Dayton 25 - SE MO 23
Duqensne 45, Valparaiso 40
Georgetown 16, Campbell 10
Duqensne 28, Dayton 23

Other OOC games are against the Ivy League which doesn't have schollies either. Granted they don't play many OOC games vs other schollie FCS schools.

However, the past 3 years the PFL schools haven't been blown out like before. Dayton in 2015 only lost 24-7 and the past 2 years SD has won the games. Previous years, SD and others have been blown out since 2013 when the PFL first got an invite for an auto-bid to the FCS playoff. I think getting the FCS auto-bid has change the recruiting for the schools in the PFL and thus also the top teams in the PFL that they can now win FCS playoff games and also have the chance to play for a national title.

(11-27-2017 01:51 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  Just to be a little fair here. While Drake did lose big, here are PFL schools that were competitive with other FCS schools.
Robert Morris 13 - Dayton 10
Dayton 25 - SE MO 23
Duqensne 45, Valparaiso 40
Georgetown 16, Campbell 10
Duqensne 28, Dayton 23

I don't see how that helps the argument. Georgetown, for example, is usually one of the weakest FCS programs (and doesn't offer a full compliment of football scholarships). Duquesne is also not competitive with playoff-calibre FCS teams; they were blown out this season by South Dakota State.

(11-27-2017 02:14 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(11-27-2017 01:51 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  Just to be a little fair here. While Drake did lose big, here are PFL schools that were competitive with other FCS schools.
Robert Morris 13 - Dayton 10
Dayton 25 - SE MO 23
Duqensne 45, Valparaiso 40
Georgetown 16, Campbell 10
Duqensne 28, Dayton 23

I don't see how that helps the argument. Georgetown, for example, is usually one of the weakest FCS programs (and doesn't offer a full compliment of football scholarships). Duquesne is also not competitive with playoff-calibre FCS teams; they were blown out this season by South Dakota State.

Just saying that there are other games that were competitive regardless if they don't offer full-scholarships (but they have schollie players). Cherry picking Drake's losses against the strongest FCS conference doesn't show the whole picture. I'm not saying, the Pioneer League is strong but saying that I agree with the article that the perception is changing in regards to the PFL.

(11-27-2017 02:14 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(11-27-2017 01:51 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  Just to be a little fair here. While Drake did lose big, here are PFL schools that were competitive with other FCS schools.
Robert Morris 13 - Dayton 10
Dayton 25 - SE MO 23
Duqensne 45, Valparaiso 40
Georgetown 16, Campbell 10
Duqensne 28, Dayton 23

I don't see how that helps the argument. Georgetown, for example, is usually one of the weakest FCS programs (and doesn't offer a full compliment of football scholarships). Duquesne is also not competitive with playoff-calibre FCS teams; they were blown out this season by South Dakota State.

I may be wrong and this may have changed, but Georgetown doesn't offer any scholarships in football. The Patriot isn't pushing the issue but they were the only school not to add scholarships when the conference began allowing them.