SwampSwamiSports.com

I have been providing a weekly ranking of my Top 25 NCAA Division I FCS small college football teams every week since early October.  Below are the SwampSwamiSports.com rankings (expanded to show some additional teams this week) through the week ending November 15, 2025:

This is my first season covering the FCS group.  I am using the same guidelines which have served me well in determining a weekly Top 25 ranking list for the major college FBS football teams over the past seven years.

There are only a few major media services which provide significant weekly coverage of the FCS smaller college football teams.  My weekly rankings (click here for my FCS methodology) give you the chance to compare my top teams  vs. the long-time American Football Coaches Association FCS Poll.  

The website for the Coaches Poll indicated that 26 FCS Board of Coaches determine their weekly Top 25 rankings for the smaller division teams.

This week, we agree on 17 teams in our Top 25 rankings

Below are the eight teams in my latest poll which were left out of the Coaches’ Top 25:

#8 – 9-2 Presbyterian College (Pioneer Football League)

#14 – 8-2 Alabama State (SWAC)*

#16 – 7-2 Dartmouth (Ivy League)

#18 – 8-3 Sacred Heart (Independent)

#21 – 8-3 UT-Rio Grande Valley (Southland)

#23 – 8-3 Delaware State (MEAC)*

#24 – 8-3 South Carolina State (MEAC)*

#25 – 8-3 Prairie View A&M (SWAC)*

Here are the eight teams in the Coaches’ Top 25 which differ from my rankings:

#14 – 7-4 UC-Davis (Big Sky)

#16 – 7-4 North Dakota (Missouri Valley)

#17 – 7-4 Youngstown State (Missouri Valley)

#18 – 7-4 Abilene Christian (United Athletic Conference)

#21 – 8-4 South Dakota Coyotes (Missouri Valley)

#23 – 8-3 West Georgia Wolves (United Athletic Conference)

#24 – 8-3 Lafayette Leopards (Coastal Athletics Association)

*Denotes teams/conferences which will not compete in the FCS playoffs.  Instead, the MEAC and SWAC winners will play each other in the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta.

Who should be included in the 24-team FCS Playoff field?

There is (of course) a national committee which will determine the 24 teams to be included in this year’s FCS playoffs.  The 2025 FCS Playoff Committee is comprised of one athletic director from each of the 11 FCS conferences which are participating in the playoff field.  This will be the first year for the Ivy League to send one or more representatives into the field.

As previously noted, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) send their conference champions to compete in the Celebration Bowl for the HBCU title on December 13. 

The MEAC and SWAC do not have a voting representative determining the 24 teams heading into the FCS playoffs beginning on November 29.   

Each of this year’s 11 participating conferences will send their league champion team to the FCS playoffs.  The other 13 teams are considered “At-large” and will be determined by the selection committee on Sunday, November 23.

First, let’s predict the 11 Conference Champions.  “Come on down!”

All rankings shown are from the SwampSwamiSports.com FCS Top 25 published on Monday, November 17, 2025:

Missouri Valley – #2 North Dakota State Bison (11-0) – clinched last week

Southern (So-Con) – #7 Mercer Bears (10-1) – clinched last week

Southland – #11 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (9-2) – clinched last week

Here are my predictions for the other eight conference champions receiving automatic bids:

Big Sky Conference – #3 Montana Grizzlies (11-0)

Coastal Athletic Association – #10 Rhode Island Rams (9-2)

Ivy League – #4 Harvard (9-0)

Northeast Conference– #36 Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (7-4)

Ohio Valley/Big South Alliance – #6 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (10-1)

Patriot League – #1 Lehigh Mountain Hawks (11-0)

Pioneer Football League – #28 Drake Bulldogs (7-3)

United Athletic Conference – #31 Abilene Christian (7-4)

Who should receive the other 13 “at-large” bids? 

My personal belief is that the remaining 13 teams should be determined based on their performance on the field this season.  Wins and losses matter.  For example, a 9-2 team from Conference A has clearly sustained more on-field success than a 7-4 squad from Conference B.

Determining the relative strength of schedule between teams at this level is even harder than evaluating the major college FBS teams.  Most fans are able to see the top major college teams on television several times during the football season.

Let’s stick with my ranking system to select the following 13 teams to receive an At-Large invitation into Sunday’s FCS selection show (11AM CST on ESPNU):

Tarleton State Texans (UAC – #5 ranking) – The 10-1 Texans won their first nine games of the year before losing 27-24 at Abilene Christian. 

The Texans opened the season with an impressive 30-27 road win against 5-4 FBS member Army.

Presbyterian Blue Hose (Pioneer and #8 ranking) – Presbyterian (9-2) plays in what is considered to be a relatively weak football conference. 

However, the Blue Hose went to Macon, Georgia and gave the 10-1 Mercer Bears (champions of the So-Con) their only loss in 2025.  That’s good enough to justify a spot in my playoff field!

Monmouth Hawks (CAA and #9 ranking) – The 9-2 Hawks lost one of their two games on the road at FBS member UNC-Charlotte 26-20. 

When compared against fellow CAA member 8-2 Villanova, Monmouth wins my tiebreaker by virtue of their 51-33 drubbing of Villanova on September 20.

Montana State Bobcats (Big Sky and #12 ranking) – Montana State is 9-2 heading into this weekend’s game with unbeaten Montana (11-0). 

The Bobcats blew-out 7-3 UC-Davis 38-17 two weeks ago and receive my vote.

Villanova Wildcats (CAA and #15 ranking) – Villanova (8-2) is red hot right now. 

The Wildcats have won seven straight games heading into this weekend’s season finale against a very tough 8-3 Sacred Heart team.  Villanova’s only losses are to FBS member Penn State and at 9-2 Monmouth earlier this season.

Dartmouth Big Green (Ivy League and #16 ranking) – Dartmouth is 7-2 with its only losses coming at 9-0 Harvard and 5-4 Penn. 

If the FCS committee needs to be reminded, Dartmouth beat 7-2 Yale 17-16 earlier this season.  I expect Yale to lose at Harvard on Saturday.  If I’m wrong (it happens), then Yale should make the field, too.

Sacred Heart Pioneers (Independent and #18 ranking) – The 8-3 Pioneers have played a fairly tough schedule. 

Their three losses have come at 11-0 Lehigh (28-10), at 7-4 Central Connecticut State (42-35) and at 11-0 Montana (43-21).  Saturday’s season finale is at 8-2 Villanova. Another loss could knock Sacred Heart out of the playoffs, but their losses have come against likely FCS Playoff teams.

Lamar Cardinals (Southland and #19 ranking) – Lamar (8-3) ran off seven straight wins earlier this season. 

The Cardinals from Beaumont lost on Saturday at Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin 26-15 but hold my tiebreaker with wins over 8-3 Southeastern Louisiana and 8-3 UT- Rio Grande Valley.

Southeastern Louisiana Lions (Southland and #20 ranking) – The 8-3 Lions lost two of their games on the road at FBS members Louisiana Tech and LSU. 

The other loss came in a 14-12 thriller at 8-3 Lamar.  Southeastern has one of the top defenses in the FCS this year and has allowed less than 12 points per game to non-FBS opponents.  They are definitely in my 2025 playoff field!

UT – Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros (Southland and #21 ranking) – In case you are counting, this would be the fourth Southland Conference team in the FCS playoffs. 

This is UTRGV’s first full season in the FCS, so I fully expect the playoff committee to shun them.  Not me.  The Vaqueros’ only three losses came on the road against playoff-bound Stephen F. Austin, Lamar, and Southeastern Louisiana.

Illinois State Redbirds (Missouri Valley and #22 ranking) – Illinois State (8-3) lost its opener at FBS #8 ranked Oklahoma. 

The Redbirds’ other two losses came – at home – to 11-0 North Dakota State (33-16) and 7-4 Youngstown State (40-35).  Illinois State is on a four game winning streak heading into Saturday’s home finale against 6-5 rival Southern Illinois.  They must beat the Salukis to get into the playoffs.

Lafayette Leopards (Patriot and #26 ranking) – The 8-3 Leopards are playing at home Saturday in “The Rivalry” game against the 11-0 Lehigh Mountain Hawks. 

If Lafayette wins, they’re in the playoffs as Patriot League champs and Lehigh will still receive an at-large bid. Should Lafayette lose on Saturday, they are at risk of being left out of the playoff field.  The Leopards’ “best win” came over 6-5 Richmond 35-28.  Another four-loss team with a better resume is likely receive this spot.

West Georgia Wolves (UAC and #27 ranking) – West Georgia (8-3) has been omitted from my FCS Top 25 most of this season for good reason.

The Wolves have swept teams with lousy records but lost all three games to tougher competition.  West Georgia (located in Carrollton or about 45 miles west of Atlanta) lost games at 7-4 Austin Peay, at home to 7-4 Abilene Christian, and at 10-1 Tarleton State. The Wolves’ weak non-conference schedule may be a hard sell to the FCS playoff committee.

Let’s include two “stand-by” teams with the best chance to shout “Pick me!” to the FCS playoff committee:

UC Davis Aggies (Big Sky and #29 ranking) – UC-Davis (7-3) had its season opener at So-Con champion Mercer canceled due to possible tropical storm conditions in Georgia. 

The Aggies have one less victory than other competitors affected my rankings (eight wins beats seven in the SwampSwamiSports.com rankings).  Having only three losses, though, helped to elevate UC-Davis over the 18 FCS teams which have four defeats through last weekend’s games.  The UC Davis Aggies must beat conference rival Sacramento State (7-4) on Saturday to have a chance at securing a playoff spot.

South Dakota Coyotes (Missouri Valley and #30 ranking) – The 8-4 Coyotes concluded their season last week on November 15. 

South Dakota lost a “money game” at FBS opponent Iowa State to start the season.  They dropped to 0-2 after losing another road game at 8-3 Lamar (20-13).  The Coyotes can point to a win over likely Pioneer Conference champ 7-3 Drake (42-21) and a pair of 7-4 MVC foes in South Dakota State and North Dakota.

Best of luck to all of the FCS teams this weekend! 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

The post Predicting all 24 FCS Playoff Teams! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Do you remember the half-hour cartoon show called “The Jetsons”?

The futuristic 1962 prime-time half-hour cartoon became ABC’s very first color television program shown by the network.  After a one-year run in the evenings, reruns of “The Jetsons” remained on Saturday mornings for decades.

The show’s premise involved a space-aged middle-class office worker named George Jetson and his family (including the family dog, Astro) as they dealt with issues of the day (which were remarkably like today’s).

One particular episode introduced an extremely smart and sophisticated computerized robot “genius” named UniBlab. 

The president of George Jetson’s company president bought UniBlab to improve efficiency and reduce the number of workers (including, of course, George Jetson).

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now doing the same thing to many jobs today.  Let’s return to that subject a bit later.

All Hail to “King” Kiffin and his SEC Court

This week’s college football coaching carousel has one particular man being flown around and treated like a king in both Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Gainesville, Florida.

Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin already makes $9 million per year.  His 10-1 Rebels are a virtual lock to play in their first College Football Playoff game in December.

The Ole Miss Rebels have this week off as they prepare for a regular season finale against intrastate rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl game a week from Friday in Starkville.

Coach Lane Kiffin was already the toast of Oxford, Mississippi.  The school’s athletics director has offered the football coach a very generous contract extension which currently is awaiting Kiffin’s signature – if he wants to remain the football coach at Ole Miss.

November is a big season for hunters.

Two of the SEC’s “Big Name” hunters are trying to bag a very expensive trophy named Lane Kiffin during this week’s open season on football coaches.

LSU (which fired Brian Kelly) and Florida (ditto for Billy Napier) are openly courting Lane Kiffin to leave northern Mississippi and lead their SEC football programs next season.

Both schools are expected to dangle upwards of $12 million per season to lure “King” Kiffin away from multitudes of his loyal subjects in Oxford, Mississippi.

A fool and his money…???

At what point will major college football programs learn their lesson about signing coaches to long-term multi-million dollar contracts which require the payment of tens of millions of dollars if the deal doesn’t work out?

There are plenty of wealthy benefactors at the University of Florida and LSU.  Ole Miss has its share of big money supporters, too.

Most every major college football program today has wealthy alumni and fans who will gladly fork-over the money with one string attached.

The new coaching hire must bring about the required return on investment made by the big rollers.

It’s called, “Our team must make it into the College Football Playoffs and compete for a national championship nearly every year!”

But what if it doesn’t?

A little over a year ago, Penn State won its first game in the first 12-team College Football Playoffs.  The Nittany Lions clobbered SMU 38-10 in Round 1.  They beat Boise State 31-14 in Round 2.  PSU then lost a squeaker to Notre Dame 27-24 in the national semifinals.

By any measure, Penn State had a fantastic season in 2024.

Did the team’s success in 2024 help Coach James Franklin keep his job this fall?

Penn State fired its 12th year head football coach in October after the Nittany Lions lost three straight games following a 3-0 start.  During his tenure with Penn State, Coach James Franklin’s teams won 70% of their games in what has become known recently as “Unhappy” Valley.

James Franklin wasn’t unemployed for very long.

Earlier this week, Coach Franklin found a new coaching home as he will lead Virginia Tech’s football program in 2026.

Yes, it is true that Coach James Franklin still hasn’t won a national championship.

Then again, neither has Virginia Tech.

Neither had coach Brian Kelly (Western Michigan, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, and LSU).

Ditto for coach Billy Napier (UL-Lafayette and Florida).

This week’s rock star head coach (Lane Kiffin) hasn’t come close to winning a national championship, either

Lane Kiffin is the well-traveled 50-year old son of legendary NFL defensive guru Monte Kiffin.

The younger Kiffin played quarterback at Fresno State.  He quickly became a top college football assistant coach.  Kiffin worked his way up into the offensive coordinator position at the University of Southern California beginning in 2005.

In 2007, the NFL’s Oakland Raiders hired 31-year old Lane Kiffin to become the youngest head football coach in franchise history.  After going 4-12 in his first NFL season, Kiffin was fired by Oakland the following season after a 1-3 start.

Lane Kiffin returned to college football in 2009 as the head coach at the University of Tennessee. 

After posting a 7-6 record during his first season in Knoxville, Lane Kiffin shocked Vol Nation by leaving to take the top job at USC in January, 2010.

Coach Kiffin had three seasons of mild success with the Trojans before he was fired in late September, 2013 after losing two straight conference games early in his fourth season at USC.  Ironically, future LSU head coach Ed Orgeron replaced Kiffin as the interim head coach for the USC Trojans for the remainder of that regular season.

Coach Nick Saban hired Lane Kiffin to become Alabama’s offensive coordinator a few months later in January, 2014.

Kiffin performed well enough to be offered the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton (Fort Lauderdale area) beginning in 2017.

The FAU Owls went 11-3, 5-7, and 10-3 before Lane Kiffin was hired by Ole Miss beginning with the 2020 football season.

Lane Kiffin is now in his sixth year with the Rebels.  His Ole Miss football teams have produced a 74% winning percentage with four ten-win seasons in six years.

Despite that success, Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels have not played in either the SEC Championship game or the College Football Playoffs. At least not yet.

So, why does everyone want Lane Kiffin?

This is purely a supply vs. demand problem.

There are ten FBS college football teams searching for a new head coach.  The now 50-year old Lane Kiffin has acquired a great deal of experience and (perhaps) a bit of humility in his coaching journeys.

Kiffin has also admitted that he is a recovering alcoholic for nearly five years.  He has become closer than ever to his family since taking the job at Ole Miss in 2020.

Lane Kiffin is what I would call an “old soul” to be such a relatively young major college football coach.  His ability to recruit top players and assistant coaches for his staff have helped to make him the nation’s biggest coaching “get” on the market.

However, Lane Kiffin will become the most hated man in the state of Mississippi for at least the next decade if should accept the top job at either Florida or LSU soon.

Which brings us back to The Jetsons

Why pay tens of millions of dollars to the next football coach (and an expensive assistant coaching staff) at Florida, LSU, Penn State, etc. if the new coach has such a small chance of succeeding?

Remember 2022, Gator Nation?  Fans were giddy about their SEC title possibilities after they hired a former Nick Saban assistant coach named Billy Napier to become Florida’s newest head football coach.

Ditto for LSU after they wrangled Coach Brian Kelly away from Notre Dame to coach for the Tigers starting in 2022.

How did those deals work out for you?

Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) could mean that (let’s say) Grok from Twitter might have a high statistical chance of replicating the success of most major college football coaches in game planning and play-calling.

We already know that most major college football teams (especially Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels) lean heavily on advanced analytics and statistical models to make key decisions – especially on certain “down and distance” play calls.

What if a college football team which rarely posts winning seasons (such as the UL-Monroe Warhawks) was to hire a cheaper and smaller group of under-30 coaches and fully utilize AI to find and sign key players, develop weekly game plans, and recommend play calls during the game?

The money saved on the team’s coaching staff could be rolled into paying for better players.

What would a struggling college football team have to lose by trying such an approach?

The continued bidding war for both football coaches and players may put the proverbial nail in the coffin for a number of current FBS programs – even with the increased revenue from television and media deals.

Perhaps hiring Coach AI UniBlab to run your favorite team may be coming sooner than you think!

The post Ready for an AI College Football Coach yet? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The NCAA Division I FCS (smaller college) football teams have just one week remaining in the regular season.

This Sunday at 11AM CST, the FCS Playoff Committee will announce the 24 teams which will participate in this year’s playoffs beginning on Friday, November 28.

There are three FCS teams which have already locked-up a place in the playoff field by virtue of clinching their conference races last weekend.  The remaining 21 places in the field will be determined after this Saturday’s games conclude.

Three down and 21 more to go!

Congratulations to North Dakota State, Mercer, and Stephen F. Austin for securing the first three invitations to late November’s FCS playoffs.

Defending FCS champion North Dakota State is now 11-0 and has a two-game lead in the Big Sky Conference with only one game remaining.  Bison head coach Tim Polasek is likely hearing overtures from some of the 11 major colleges seeking a new football coach.  Can Coach Polasek and his very talented herd of Bison remain focused, run the table, and close out a perfect season with yet another FCS title?

The red-hot 9-1 Mercer Bears of the Southern Conference own a two-game lead over their closest competitor, Western Carolina.  Mercer clobbered UT-Chattanooga 63-17 Saturday to wrap-up a spot in the FCS playoffs for the third straight season.  The Mercer Bears from Macon, Georgia have won nine games in a row and have tallied 38 or more points in their last eight contests.  The coachless Auburn Tigers of the SEC will try to end the Bears’ winning streak this Saturday (1PM on the SEC+ Network) at Jordan-Hare Stadium in eastern Alabama.

Surprising Stephen F. Austin disposed of Texas rival Lamar University 26-15 Saturday night to claim its first Southland Conference football title since 2010.  The Lumberjacks have sawed through nine straight opponents to move to 9-2 and grab their spot in the upcoming FCS playoffs.  SFA finishes on the road Thursday night (6:30PM on ESPN+) to play the struggling 1-10 Northwestern State Demons with the rivalry’s 7-foot wooden trophy called “The Chief” going home with the victor.

Let’s review some of the “Win and you’re in” games coming on Saturday

Coastal Athletic Association – The 9-2 Rhode Island Rams have never won the regular season title in the CAA.

They have a chance to finish with a perfect 8-0 conference record at home this Saturday (11AM CST on ESPN+) with a victory over the struggling 2-9 Hampton Pirates.  A win gives the Rams a ticket into the FCS playoffs.  An upset loss by Rhode Island would open the door for 9-2 Monmouth and/or 8-2 Villanova to become involved in a complicated tiebreaker to determine the CAA champion.

Ivy League – It’s hard to believe, but this is the first season in which the Ivy League champion will be participating in the FCS playoffs.  Historically, the Ivy League wanted its student/athletes to concentrate on academics (gasp!) as final exams occur during the FCS playoff season.

Boston’s famed Fenway Park baseball stadium will host “The Game” this Saturday (11AM CST on ESPNU) between 9-0 Harvard and 7-2 Yale.  This annual football contest was first played in 1875. Saturday’s winner also claims the Ivy League’s first guaranteed spot in the FCS playoffs.  Pressure, anyone?

Northeast Conference – The Central Connecticut State Blue Devils are 7-4 coming off Saturday’s 38-33 loss to Duquesne in Pittsburgh.

The Blue Devils are 5-1 in conference action and control their chances to reach the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2019.  A home win on Saturday (11AM CST on ESPN+) against the 5-6 Mercyhurst Lakers will give the NEC title to Central Connecticut.  If the Blue Devils lose, a tiebreaker may be needed with Duquesne.

Ohio Valley/Big South Alliance – Tennessee Tech’s perfect 10-0 start ended last Saturday after the fast-improving SEC Kentucky Wildcats prevailed 42-10 in Lexington.

The Golden Eagles return home to Cookeville on Saturday to face rival UT-Martin (6-5 overall but 6-1 in conference).

Saturday’s winner receives an automatic bid into the FCS playoffs.  The game also marks Tennessee Tech’s final Ohio Valley Conference football game as the Golden Eagles fly into the Southern Conference next season in 2026.

Patriot League – This weekend of big games wouldn’t be complete without the annual game pitting Lehigh (11-0) against Lafayette (8-3).  The game called “the Rivalry” has been played since 1884.  This year’s “Rivalry #161” takes place on Saturday at 11:30 AM CST (on ESPN+) in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Lafayette’s Leopards are at home and will try to ruin the season for the unbeaten Mountain Hawks from nearby Bethlehem.  The winner takes home the Patriot League title and its automatic bid into the FCS playoffs.

Pioneer Football League – The 7-3 Drake Bulldogs have surrendered only 10 points per game over its last seven games.  They are playing exceptional defense!  

Drake controls its own fate to receive an automatic FCS playoff bid if the Bulldogs are able to take down Morehead State (6-5 overall and 4-3 in conference) on Saturday at 12Noon CST (ESPN+).

Presbyterian College is 9-2 and still has a chance to take the top spot if (a) Drake loses and (b) the Blue Hose de-“feet” (ha ha!) Marist (5-6) on Saturday.

United Athletic Conference – Abilene Christian’s upset of formerly unbeaten Tarleton State a few weeks ago has provided the Wildcats a one-game lead in the UAC.

A win this Saturday by Abilene Christian (now 7-4) at Central Arkansas (3-8) would give ACU the UAC automatic playoff bid.  If da’ Bears are able to spring an upset in Conway, Arkansas, Tarleton State (currently 10-1) would win the league title with a home victory over 7-4 Austin Peay.

The MEAC and SWAC have their own title on the line in December

Winners of two FCS conferences featuring historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) will face-off in Atlanta on December 13 for the annual Celebration Bowl.

The victor in this Saturday’s MEAC final regular season game between 8-3 South Carolina State at 8-3 Delaware State will receive an invitation to Atlanta to play in the Celebration Bowl.

The SWAC holds its title game between the East Division winner vs. Prairie View A&M (the newly-crowned West Division champ) on Saturday, December 6.  That winner receives the other invitation to play in December’s Celebration Bowl.

Alabama State’s Hornets (Montgomery, AL) and Jackson State’s Tigers share the SWAC’s East Division lead.  Both teams have identical 8-2 overall and 6-1 conference records.  Jackson State defeated Alabama State 38-34 earlier this season and may prevail in a tiebreaker.  

Let’s reveal the latest SwampSwamiSports.com FCS Top 25 rankings for the week ending Saturday, November 15, 2025:

The post Drama Galore as FCS Regular Season ends Saturday appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Unbeaten Texas A&M is really, really looking forward to this Saturday’s “cupcake” college football game against struggling 1-10 FCS member Samford. 

The Southern Conference Bulldogs from Birmingham, Alabama should be a much tastier morsel than last week’s early delivery from the SEC bakery in Columbia, South Carolina.

The 3-6 South Carolina Cream Puffs (I mean, Gamecocks) were supposed to show-up in College Station on Saturday and bow down to the mighty 10-0 Aggies.  The folks in Las Vegas established the Aggies as a 17 ½ point home favorite and expected Texas A&M to cruise an 11th straight victory in 2025.

I noticed that Coach Mike Elko’s name was scrolling along the bottom of ABC’s television coverage during the game on Saturday. 

The A&M football coach had just signed a six-year contract extension worth more than $11 million per season after guiding the Ags to a sterling 10-0 start in 2025.

Ever heard of the term “Battered Aggie Syndrome”?

Texas A&M fans have a tendency to become overly excited about their football team.  Sadly, the past few decades have seen the fast-starting Aggies fade coming down the home stretch of nearly every football season.

The Aggies have never won the SEC title since joining the league in 2012.  They have never appeared in the BCS nor College Football Playoffs. Texas A&M’s last national championship came in 1939.

After years of football disappointment, a significant portion of the Texas A&M football fan base coined the phrase “Battered Aggie Syndrome”.

They get excited early in the season and become depressed as the team falters late.

It’s much the same as Peanuts character Charlie Brown after Lucy pulls the football away from him just before he gets to kick it.

You know what’s going to happen to good ol’ Chuck every time.

This year’s Texas A&M football team came into Saturday’s game 10-0.  The coach had just received a very expensive six-year contract extension (another story for another day).

What could possibly go wrong?

Plenty.

South Carolina showed-up and played their finest first half of the football season.

Texas A&M served the visiting team a first half assortment of tasty football-flavored turnovers such as two interceptions and a timely fumble recovery.  South Carolina played nearly flawlessly during the opening first two quarters and took full advantage of A&M’s generous Texas-sized home field hospitality.

The gracious Aggies allowed their Carolina visitors to jump to a shocking 30-3 halftime lead.  Many in the Texas A&M’s crowd of more than 100,000 suddenly wondered why they didn’t wear their sad “Battered Aggie Syndrome” T-shirts to this football game.

Texas A&M’s now wealthier football coach Mike Elko looked in shock as he departed Kyle Field for the locker room after the first half ended.

Meanwhile, Coach Shane Beamer may have dropped a few hints at halftime that his South Carolina Gamecocks team should reciprocate some of that generous Texas hospitality during the second half of play.

The Gamecocks listened and switched places with the Aggies in the second half.

Texas A&M rolled-off 28 straight points to beat South Carolina 31-30 to complete the biggest comeback in school history.

Carolina coach Shane Beamer is still employed as I write this on Monday, November 17.  The coach would be due nearly $28 million if South Carolina’s athletics boosters felt the desire to make Coach Beamer the 12th FBS coach fired this football season.

The SEC Bakery offers a variety of pastries available this Saturday

Check out this list of “Who made this schedule?” for some SEC teams this weekend:

Texas A&M (11-0) hosts FCS Samford (1-10)

Georgia (9-1) tackles American Athletic Conference member UNC-Charlotte (1-9)

Alabama (8-2) is at home for FCS Eastern Illinois (4-7)

LSU (6-4) plays host to Sunbelt Conference Western Kentucky (8-2)*

South Carolina (3-7) is home for the Sunbelt’s Coastal Carolina (6-4)*

*This game was EXPECTED to be an easy home contest but may not turn out to be

The 11th game of the season has become “cupcake” week in the SEC after the league started playing a 12-game schedule.  Many teams want their final game of season to end with a historic rivalry contest.

Next week’s final week of the SEC regular season features grudge matches such as Alabama vs. Auburn, Georgia taking on Georgia Tech, Ole Miss at Mississippi State, and Texas hosting Texas A&M.

That leaves lonely Week #11 available for non-conference action.

The reason Samford, Eastern Illinois, and the others accept invitations to play in in such games is to collect +/- $1 million in financial guarantees just for showing up.

There were a few other close calls last weekend involving some top teams

In addition to Texas A&M’s good fortune in the second half against South Carolina, a few other top-rated teams were fortunate to come out on top.

Ole Miss (now 10-1) trailed “coachless” Florida 24-20 heading into the fourth quarter in Oxford Saturday night.  The Rebels scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to escape with a 34-24 win over a tough group of 3-7 Florida Gators.

Georgia Tech (now 10-1) was on the verge of losing to 1-10 Boston College last Saturday in Beantown.  A short field goal with 11 seconds remaining lifted the Yellow Jackets to a 34-32 win over BC and kept Georgia Tech’s College Football Playoff hopes alive.

Meanwhile, the 8-2 Michigan Wolverines nearly became an upset victim on Saturday, too.  Big Blue turned the ball over three times to the Northwestern Wildcats (now 5-5), but a field goal on the game’s final play lifted Michigan to a 24-22 win.  Michigan visits 4-7 Maryland this week before hosting archrival 10-0 Ohio State on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

It’s time to check out the brand new SwampSwamiSports.com College Football Top 25 rankings for the week ending Saturday, November 15, 2025:

The post FBS Top 25 + The SEC Bakery Reopens this Saturday! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The state of Louisiana remains the only US state utilizing the Napoleonic code civil legal system.

Louisiana was a former French colony prior to being sold (along with several future first-round US statehood draft picks west of the Mississippi River!) to the United States for a measly $15 million back in 1803.  When adjusted for inflation, the Louisiana Purchase territories would cost a measly $370 million today.

Hindsight indicates that, yes, French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte was fleeced in that deal.

In recent sports terms, it was almost the equivalent of the Jimmy Johnson-era Dallas Cowboys hoodwinking the Minnesota Vikings in that blockbuster Herschel Walker trade in October, 1989.

What does this have to do with sports in Louisiana?

As today’s two stories begin to play out over the coming months, remember that it will be Louisiana’s legal system which may be rendering some important rulings soon.  

Former LSU football coach Brian Kelly has filed suit against the school

Reports recently surfaced that the school has yet to officially fire Coach Brian Kelly – despite the entire world knowing that he was sent packing more than two weeks ago in Baton Rouge.

Lawyers for Coach Kelly claim that he simply wants the school to perform under the terms of his employment contract.  That means that LSU must pay Brian Kelly 90% of his former contract pay (or about $700,000 per month) through December 31, 2031.  It totals to nearly $54 million by the time the final payment is made in six years.

LSU may (or may not) be trying to legally posture itself to show that the school had “just cause” to fire Brian Kelly.

Yes, I’m snickering about that, too.  Going 5-3 doesn’t prove anything other than the LSU Tigers have a lousy offense this season with a woeful offensive line.

The school also may try to claim that former Director of Athletics, Scott Woodward, did not have the authority to dismiss the school’s football coach nor to offer him an alternative contract buyout proposal.

Yes, this is the same Scott Woodward who was also shown the door in Baton Rouge four days after he announced Coach Kelly’s dismissal. 

Confused yet?

Coach Brian Kelly’s long-term contract with LSU reportedly included a provision where his remaining contract buyout payments would be reduced should he accept another major college coaching position prior to December 31, 2031.

Since we’re talking about lawsuits filed in the state of Louisiana and its unique legal procedures, a negotiated settlement agreement (which happens in many court cases) seems to be a distinct possibility.

Speaking of settlement offers, did LSU’s former AD Scott Woodward make a one-time $25-to-$30 million cash offer to Coach Kelly to leave if he would terminate his employment contract?

The media has reported that a negotiation was underway with Coach Brian Kelly (or his attorney) for a one-time payment of $25 million in cash if he would agree to terminate his existing employment agreement.

That lump sum payment would be Coach Kelly’s to keep – even if he landed another coaching job within weeks or months.

The cash offer was (reportedly) boosted to $30 million (two payments of $15 million apiece) with no strings attached in hopes that Coach Kelly would agree to terminate his employment contract with LSU.  

Coach Kelly’s attorney(s) rejected these alternative offers.  Monday’s lawsuit filed on behalf of Brian Kelly simply wants LSU to honor the terms of the original contract and pay up to $54 million in monthly installments through 12/31/31.

Would that $30 million one-time cash offer be a better deal for Coach Kelly?

No.  At least, not right now.

Using a 4% annual interest rate, a one-time $30 million payment made on January 1, 2026 would be worth about $38 million on December 31, 2031 (the end of Coach Kelly’s contract).

This financial evaluation gets trickier if Brian Kelly were to land another head coaching job at some point during that six year period.  If he accepted this one-time $30 million cash payment, the coach would be permitted to keep the loot and find another job right away (if he chooses to coach again).

Coach Kelly’s current contract at LSU will pay him least $8.1 million per year (90% of his annual pay) for a total of nearly $54 million by December 31, 2031.  However, that current employment contract with LSU apparently had some type of mechanism which would reduce the amount of Brian Kelly’s buyout should he accept another head coaching position prior to 12/31/31.

Brian Kelly is 64 years old.  There are ten other major college football coaching positions (other than LSU) which are open today.

The real question should be, “Does he really want to coach again?”

Personally, I would take LSU’s one-time offer and try my hand at television like former Alabama coach Nick Saban has been doing.  Brian Kelly is very smart, an exceptional communicator, and would make a terrific television analyst covering college football.

Meanwhile, Conference USA accuses Louisiana Tech of trying to run a trick (exit) play

There is another sports-related courtroom drama unfolding in the northern portion of the Bayou State after Conference USA recently filed suit against Louisiana Tech University.

You might remember that Louisiana Tech advised Conference USA in July that the Bulldogs were leaving C-USA for the Sunbelt Conference.  The Bulldogs’ new conference is willing to take them effective with the 2026 football season, but Conference USA sees things differently.   

Louisiana Tech’s exit provisions with Conference USA are a bit messy. 

Media reports indicate that C-USA requires 14 months prior notice before allowing the Bulldogs to gain their freedom and join the Sunbelt Conference.  That means that Louisiana Tech may be forced to remain in Conference USA through the early summer of 2027.  

Some Bulldogs fans (like me) had been hoping that C-USA was willing to negotiate a reasonable exit arrangement for Louisiana Tech to become effective next summer in 2026.

A type of “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine” deal might even involve Louisiana Tech offering additional compensation in trade for C-USA allowing the Bulldogs to skedaddle as early as next summer.

Keep dreaming, SwampSwami!  

Conference USA filed suit on November 5 in a Louisiana state court (home “court” advantage goes to Louisiana Tech) alleging that the Bulldogs have attempted to hoodwink C-USA as part of the school’s planned move to the Sunbelt Conference.

Dallas-based Conference USA negotiates the national media contracts on behalf of its member schools.  The conference then acts as a funnel to collect the revenues and eventually sends a share back to each member school on an annual basis.

Louisiana Tech’s most recent share of Conference USA’s revenues amounted to a little more than $5 million and was paid by C-USA in late June this year.    

Conference USA believes that Louisiana Tech intentionally delayed its exit announcement until mid-July in order to pocket last season’s $5+ million payment first.

The lawsuit alleges that Louisiana Tech improperly received this summer’s payment after the school had already determined that it was leaving Conference USA.

According to media reports, the league’s by-laws call for an exiting school to provide 14 months of prior notice and to forfeit its annual share of conference revenues for two years after providing notice of its intention to leave.

This is the athletics conference which has become known as “See ya”-USA

The initial concept behind 1995’s founding of Conference USA appears to have been to provide a group of mid-major college athletic programs located in larger metropolitan areas with good competition and greater national media exposure.

The 1995 founding members of Conference USA were:  UAB, Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis, UNC-Charlotte, St. Louis University, South Florida, Southern Miss, and Tulane.  All member institutions except Southern Miss were located in US cities with metropolitan populations greater than 500,000.

None of those original members remain.

Since its founding thirty years ago, Conference USA has seen a significant number of members leave and be replaced by schools in (generally) smaller television markets.

The last three years have seen an acceleration of notable C-USA members exiting the league.

The year 2022 featured a large group including UNC-Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, University of Alabama-Birmingham, and UT-San Antonio leaving C-USA to join the American Athletic Conference.

One year later, Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss left Conference USA for the Sunbelt Conference.

The University of Texas-El Paso is now playing in its final year in C-USA.  The Miners are leaving for the Mountain West Conference next summer.

Louisiana Tech should quickly settle this suit with Conference USA and exit in 2026

The lawsuit brought by Conference USA against the University of Louisiana system (of which Louisiana Tech is a part of) has a show-cause hearing scheduled for November 19.

It’s going to be hard to prove intent in court – especially in a Louisiana state court.

What isn’t hard to do is to prove that Conference USA is not a place where Louisiana Tech needs to stay beyond the current 2025/2026 school year.

If Conference USA is trying to make an “example” out of Louisiana Tech, then it’s time to sit down soon and work out a mutually agreeable exit agreement.

The Bulldogs should come up with enough cash to soothe C-USA’s dwindling bank account.  Perhaps the north Louisiana school might consider offering a portion of one or more years of its future Sunbelt Conference revenues to give Conference USA something of value in return for an early exit.

The only thing certain about Louisiana’s two upcoming legal cases of “Brian Kelly vs. LSU” and “Conference USA vs. Louisiana Tech” will be the significant fees being paid to the attorneys involved on behalf of each party.

Here’s hoping that both cases are settled quickly so everyone can move ahead.

The post LSU and Louisiana Tech are having to Lawyer-up appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

There are only two weeks of college football remaining in the regular season in the FCS small college division.  The FCS playoffs begin the day after Thanksgiving.

There are four teams remaining with a chance of finishing with a perfect 12-0 regular season record. Harvard (which plays in the late-starting Ivy League) is a perfect 8-0 this week but can only finish 10-0 if the Crimson wins both remaining regular season games (vs. 5-3 Penn and at 6-2 Yale).

How many of these four teams will run the table to reach 12-0?

Montana Grizzlies – Big Sky Conference

The Griz are 10-0 and are accustomed to playing in the FCS playoffs in the past dozen years.  Montana has made the post-season eight times in 12 years and is certain to make the field in 2025.

The Montana Grizzlies hope to run their record to 11-0 on Saturday at 4PM CST as they visit the 1-9 Portland State Vikings.

Montana’s final game on Saturday, November 22 will be played at home in Missoula against their long-time intrastate rival Montana State Bobcats (8-2).  Both teams are currently 6-0 in the Big Sky Conference.  A first round FCS playoff bye may be at stake in that game.

North Dakota State Bison – Missouri Valley Football Conference

The unbeaten Bison are the defending FCS champions.  They have won an amazing ten national titles in the past 14 seasons.

Take THAT, Alabama!

NDSU has already locked-up the Missouri Valley title as they are two games ahead of three teams which the Bison have already defeated (South Dakota, Illinois State, and North Dakota).  This Saturday’s Senior Day final home game is against struggling 3-7 Northern Iowa.

The Bison finish the regular season on Saturday, November 22 with a non-conference road game at St. Thomas (MN) to play the fast-improving 7-3 Tommies of the Pioneer League.

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles – Ohio Valley/Big South Association

The Golden Eagles have soared to their first 10-0 start in school history.  This only the second time which Tennessee Tech has reached ten wins in a season (the other coming in 1972).

Tennessee Tech will have a great opportunity to showcase their team’s talent on Saturday in a tough road game at the SEC’s University of Kentucky (12:30PM on ESPN+).  A very important final home game looms on November 22 against conference foe UT-Martin (5-5 overall but 5-1 in the OVC/Big South).

The Golden Eagles are leaving the Ohio Valley/Big South after this season to join the Southern Conference in 2026.  They really want to take home the championship trophy in their final conference game one week from this Saturday.

Lehigh Mountain Hawks – Patriot League

The Mountain Hawks are likely to secure their second consecutive berth in the FCS playoffs.  Lehigh made it into the second round in 2024 – losing to the Idaho Vandals.

This is a football program which is still seeking its first FCS title, though.  Lehigh travels this Saturday to central New York for a game against the 4-6 Colgate Raiders.

The Mountain Hawks’ finale on Saturday, November 22 is the annual renewal of “The Rivalry” with nearby Lafayette University.  The Leopards are 7-3 overall but have a 5-0 record in the Patriot League.  The two schools are located just 20 miles from each other.  They have played this annual football game since 1884 in what is considered the nation’s longest rivalry.

What’s wrong with the SDSU Jackrabbits?

South Dakota State was 7-0 less than one month ago.  The Jackrabbits have been a participant in the FCS playoffs in every season since 2012.

In a matter of three weeks, the Jackrabbits’ post-season streak is very much in jeopardy.

On October 25, defending FCS champion North Dakota State came to SDSU for their annual battle.  The visiting Bison trampled the Jackrabbits 38-7 and, perhaps, may have damaged the psyche of the entire South Dakota State football team.

The following week, it was the underdog 2-6 Indiana Sycamores coming to Brookings to play the homestanding Jackrabbits.  South Dakota State lost its second straight game in a shocking 24-12 home loss to Indiana State.

Last Saturday, the Jackrabbits traveled north to Vermilion and its played intrastate rival, the University of South Dakota.  This time, the SDSU Jackrabbits went scoreless for the entire second half and committed a season-high ten penalties in losing a third straight game 24-17.

The last time SDSU lost three straight games was the year 2013.

Coach Dan Jackson’s South Dakota State football team is now 7-3 and faces another difficult opponent on Saturday.  The 7-3 Illinois State Redbirds fly into town on the wings of a three game winning streak – including recent wins against Indiana State and the University of South Dakota.

Will South Dakota State break this losing streak on Saturday to maintain a slim chance of reaching the FCS playoffs?  Stay tuned!  

“Fight for dear old Grambling!”

The fight song for North Louisiana’s legendary Grambling State University starts with the phrase, “Fight…for dear old Grambling!”

The G-men have won four straight games and are positioned just one game behind Prairie View A&M in the SWAC West standings.

That’s the good news.

Last weekend’s opponent was Bethune-Cookman University from Daytona Beach, Florida.  The 5-5 Wildcats and Grambling’s 7-3 Tigers got into a very nasty (get ready) cat fight as both teams returned to the field just prior to Saturday’s second half kick-off in Grambling.

Several Bethune-Cookman football players decided they wanted to walk right through the oncoming Grambling football team as the Tigers were trotting back onto the field after halftime.

A massive brawl broke out on the field.

This melee delayed the start of the game’s second half.  Referees, coaches, and even local and state police were needed around the field to separate some of the players from both teams.

Grambling went on to win the game 31-23, but the post-halftime pugilistics may come back to haunt the Tigers.  

On Monday, the Southwestern Athletic Conference advised Grambling that 18 of its football players were suspended for this week’s road game at 4-6 Alcorn State.

The school was also hit with a $40,000 fine by the conference.

For their part in Saturday’s rumble, Bethune-Cookman had nine players suspended for this week’s football game at 7-2 Jackson State.

Let’s calm things down a bit and reveal this week’s SwampSwamiSports.com FCS Top 25 teams for the week ending Saturday, November 8, 2025!

The post Meet the FCS’ Final Four 10-0 teams! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

With one minute and 51 seconds to go on Saturday at Penn State, the SwampSwamiSports.com #1 Indiana Hoosiers were in deep trouble.

The 9-0 Hoosiers were on the ropes on the road as the home team Nittany Lions had just rallied from 13 points down to take a 24-20 lead.

Happy Valley (which hasn’t been happy at all this year with the team’s 3-5 record) was literally rocking the stadium.

IU quarterback Fernando Mendoza needed to guide his team 87 yards with no timeouts remaining to keep the Hoosiers unbeaten.  The Penn State crowd of 107,000 created a wall of noise cascading onto the football field urging the home team to rise up and make a final defensive stand.

Indiana was having none of it.

Fernando Mendoza completed one pinpoint pass after another to move the chains and quickly put the Hoosiers within striking distance of the Penn State end zone.

On the tenth play of this crucial last-minute drive, the Indiana quarterback lobbed the football toward the back of the end zone.

Wide receiver Omar Cooper, Jr. leaped into the air, caught the ball, and tap-danced to get both of his feet down inbounds as the Penn State crowd sat in stunned silence.  

TV’s “Dancing with the Stars” judges would have awarded Omar Cooper, Jr. with “10’s” for that incredible dance.

Indiana’s improbable 27-24 win at Penn State moved the Hoosiers to a perfect 10-0 on the year.  IU is the only FBS football team with a 10-0 record. 

They remain the SwampSwamiSports #1 FBS team for a fourth straight week.

But what about…???

Defending national champion Ohio State is 9-0, but the Buckeyes’ cupcake-laden schedule has kept them at #3 for yet another week.

Ohio State will play at home (doesn’t it seem like they play every game at home?) again on Saturday against 3-6 UCLA. The Buckeyes remain in Columbus the following weekend of November 22 to play 5-5 Rutgers.

A road game (gasp!) finds the Buckeyes playing arch-rival Michigan (7-2) on November 29 to close the regular season.

Texas A&M improved to 9-0 and claimed second place this week after its third consecutive SEC road win (at Arkansas, at LSU, and Saturday’s 38-17 drubbing at 6-3 Missouri).

A return to AggieLand awaits A&M this Saturday against struggling South Carolina (3-6).  Texas A&M feasts on a pre-Thanksgiving cupcake on November 22 as 1-9 FCS member Samford comes to College Station.  The Aggies’ final game is a road trip to Austin to play arch-rival Texas on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

What?  No football coaches were fired this weekend!

Auburn’s former head coach Hugh Freeze remains the most recent FBS-level head football coach fired this fall.  Auburn’s interim coach D.J. Durkin made a solid debut as the 4-6 Tigers forced 8-2 Vanderbilt into overtime before falling 45-38.

Some believed that the loser of Saturday’s game between floundering Florida State at clumsy Clemson would become the next high profile coach being sent to the unemployment office.

Clemson’s long-time head coach Dabo Swinney was thrilled as his under-achieving Tigers won this game 24-10. The Tigers improved to 4-5 in a season where Clemson received a #4 preseason ranking by the Associated Press (another good reason not to do preseason rankings)

Florida State coach Mike Norvell is now clinging to his job after the Seminoles dropped to 4-5 as well.

A season-opening victory over Alabama (now 8-1) launched FSU to a comfortable 3-0 start.  Since then, the Seminoles lost four straight ACC games.  They rebounded for a 42-7 victory over 6-3 Wake Forest on November 1 to provide a brief glimmer of hope to FSU fans.

Coach Norvell’s only chance to keep his job (if it’s not already too late) is for the Seminoles to win their three remaining games – at home against Virginia Tech and then on the road at NC State and in-state rival Florida.

Impressed this weekend by:

Texas Tech – The nation’s leader in NIL spending ran its record to 9-1 by thrashing formerly unbeaten Brigham Young 29-7 in Lubbock on Saturday.

The “Permian Shale” Red Raiders have legally purchased one of the nation’s finest football teams this season.

Viva Diego Pavia!

Vanderbilt’s Swiss Army knife quarterback found his mojo again in the second half to rally the Commodores over Auburn.  Pavia passed for a career high 377 yards and ran for another 112 as Vandy took a 45-38 overtime win to move its record to 8-2.

Tulane – Former BYU quarterback Jake Ratzlaff was on fire!  He finished 16-23 for 332 yards and three touchdowns as Tulane took a road win over 8-2 Memphis.

The Greenies are now 7-2 and kept their hopes alive for a College Football Playoff spot.

Sam Houston finally wins!

The winless Bearkats ran the second half kick-off at Oregon State for a 98-yard touchdown.  Sam Houston’s special teams unit would block a fourth quarter punt by the 2-8 Beavers and run it in for a 32-yard score as well. 

The Bearkats (now 1-8) were outgained in this game 474 yards to just 157.  However, the final score still reflected a Sam Houston 21-17 victory over a stunned colony of Oregon State Beavers!  

That leaves 0-9 U-Mass as the only remaining FBS team without a win this season.

Let’s review this week’s SwampSwamiSports.com College Football Top 25 rankings for the week ending November 8, 2025:

The post It’s Best to be Good AND Lucky for #1 Indiana! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Congratulations, sports fans!  It is a wonderful time to consider leaving your cable television provider AND the rising cost of internet-based streaming services to watch sports.

What?

That’s right!  Those who live within 40 to 50 miles of traditional over-the-air local television network affiliates are quietly being lured to “Come back home!”

Last week, Google-owned YouTubeTV and Disney’s assortment of sports outlets (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, SEC Network, etc.) got into the latest tiff where paying customers at home were cut-off from television stations they pay to receive.

Nearly ten million YouTubeTV customers learned that their usual assortment of Saturday college football games had vanished due to this spat between corporate giants.

Before we delve into those details, here is a partial solution which sports television consumers might wish to consider ASAP

For a one-time $20-$40 investment at your local big box retailer, you can plug in a small antenna into the back of your television.  That’s my little $25 antenna shown in the feature picture for this post.

An antenna like mine may be all you need to watch all or some of these exceptional college football games on television Saturday, November 8 – for free:

ABC (all kick-off times are CST):

11AM – 8-0 BYU at 8-1 Texas Tech

2:30PM – 8-0 Texas A&M at 6-2 Missouri

6:30PM – 5-3 LSU at 7-1 Alabama

FOX:

11AM – 9-0 Indiana at 3-5 Penn State

2:30PM – 5-4 Iowa State at 6-2 TCU

8:00PM – 6-3 Nebraska at 3-5 UCLA

CBS:

2:30PM – 7-1 Oregon at 6-2 Iowa

NBC:

6:30PM – 7-1 Navy at 6-2 Notre Dame

Sure, you are going to miss most of the ACC football games (ESPN) and several other top college football games this week.

Can you survive with a single (but quality) college football game on your television beginning Saturday at 11AM (CST) through the late evening hours every week – all at no charge?

The NFL has always been seen via over-the-air television every Sunday!

The very smart and wealthy folks who run the NFL have wisely spread their product across a large array of television platforms.  The league’s TV partners are willing to shell-out billions to carry the NFL’s weekly football games.

FOX primarily covers the NFC’s early and late Sunday afternoon slate of games.  CBS is the primary outlet for AFC games during Sunday’s early and late time slots.

NBC’s Sunday Night Football finishes the day with one more free over-the-air game – usually involving a couple of top NFL teams.

You don’t even need YouTubeTV, ESPN or your local cable television company to watch NFL games on Sunday!

Only ESPN’s Monday Night Football and Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night games require your monetary investment in cable television or a streaming service to watch their weekly NFL offerings.

Did I mention NBA basketball is now available via both NBC and ABC – for free!

After more than two decades on cable television’s TNT, the NBA just returned to over-the-air “free” television on NBC beginning last month.

The network will televise one game every Tuesday night and another on Sunday night on its local over-the-air NBC affiliates for the entire regular season.

Meanwhile, ABC will carry a Saturday evening “prime time” NBA game once again this season (beginning in late January).  They will also show several Sunday afternoon NBA games on your local over-the-air affiliate during the season, too.

The lengthy NBA playoffs (April through late June) will primarily be shown by the pirates of cable TV and paid streaming services.  However, June’s NBA Finals will be carried by your “free” local ABC affiliate.

What are YouTubeTV and Di$ney fighting about (as if we didn’t already know)?

On Thursday October 30, YouTubeTV (which has nearly ten million subscribers paying more than $80 per month) posted a short note on Twitter (X.com):

“Members, when we renew our contracts with network partners, we advocate for fair pricing to offer you the best TV experience.  Our contract with Disney has reached its renewal date, and we’ll not agree to terms that disadvantage our members while benefiting Disney’s TV products.”

Last weekend’s November 1 slate of college football games on ABC and the ESPN family of networks vanished for YouTubeTV subscribers.  More than 20 channels owned by Disney disappeared from YouTubeTV as this latest “war” began.

YouTubeTV is now dangling a possible $20 credit (it’s OK to laugh here) to customers if the outage continues for several weeks.

If there was only a practical solution…? (Didn’t we already cover that?)

Meanwhile, the geniuses at Disney launched their own counter-offensive at YouTubeTV.

“Google’s YouTubeTV has chosen to deny their subscribers the content they value most by refusing to pay fair rates for our channels, including ESPN and ABC.  YouTubeTV and its owner, Google, are not interested in achieving a fair deal with us.  Instead, they want to use their power and extraordinary resources to eliminate competition and devalue the very content that helped them build their service.”

These two gigantic multi-billion dollar conglomerates want their customers to believe that they (YouTubeTV and Disney) are actually looking out for the little guys.  R-i-g-h-t!

Is Disney trying to drive YouTubeTV customers to subscribe to its $30/month ESPN App?

That’s a tricky question.

ESPN has gobbled-up much of the most prestigious major sports events (college football/basketball/baseball, NFL, NBA, NHL, and many others).  They have paid billions for the right to succeed or fail in that effort.

ESPN (Disney) depends on being able to extract what is called a “carriage fee” from cable television and streaming operators for the right to carry their high-demand line-up.  Disney realizes that sports television consumers want ESPN as their primary channel at most cable TV and online TV steaming services.

ESPN’s “take-it-or-leave-it” carriage fee is (generally) about $20 per customer – per month!

That cash goes right into the coffers of ESPN/Disney so that they can overpay for the rights to carry premier sports programming.

ESPN’s advertisers pay a premium, too.  The company gives advertisers a way to reach a large audience of the primarily male buying segment (ages 25-49).

That is why you see so many ads on football games for automobiles, beverages, insurance/financial services, furniture, fast food, and a host of other products frequently purchased by men.

If sports consumers switch to the $30/month (at least for now) ESPN app and ditch their cable television or streaming services entirely, Disney may gain a paying customer for their app but lose that lucrative monthly carriage fee from cable and streamers.

The amount of the monthly carriage fee is primarily what YouTubeTV and Disney are squawking about.

If YouTubeTV agrees to pay the increased fee demanded by Disney/ESPN, then customers can expect to pay all or most of that increase in their future monthly bills.

The nifty economic concept known as the elasticity of demand is very much at play.  At some price point, the exiting customers will outnumber new subscribers.

The truth is:  Both parties are greedy!

YOU are the customer, and the customer is king!

It’s time to do a little homework, YouTubeTV customers.

Visit a few websites for some large retailers in your area to determine the prices and specs for an over-the-air television plug-in antenna.  You might even be able to watch college football on ABC, FOX, CBS, and NBC this Saturday!

Take time to understand the following information prior to buying your new plug-in antenna for home TV viewing!

The majority of local television stations converted to a digital format (leaving the VHF dial position and taking a UHF location) around June, 2009.  Those TV stations can be picked-up on your home television set with a decent (fairly cheap) digital antenna like the one that I am using.

Before you buy any antenna, first go to the FCC’s website and check out the number of your local television stations (click here).

Type in your zip code and review your area’s local television stations – especially their “band” designation.  Here’s what it looked like for Monroe, Louisiana.

Any station listed as “UHF” (above) is a digital signal.  A moderately priced digital antenna will work great as long as you live within 30 miles of the TV station’s transmitter.

HOWEVER, you might notice that some TV stations did not convert to a digital signal in 2009.

They remained in what is called the “Hi-V” band (as in “VHF” – just like the station was in the 1960’s and 1970’s).  Some of us oldsters used “rabbit ear” antennas on home television sets back then to receive VHF television signals.

Those few TV stations which decided to remain in the “Hi-V” band had their own reasons for not switching to digital.

They believed that changing their signals from VHF to the digital UHF band might result in a smaller coverage area and a less reliable signal to viewers.  Another reason some didn’t make the switch was purely economic.  It cost money to purchase the technology required to make those changes.

In cities like Shreveport, all of the primary network affiliate stations which provide college football (ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX) have converted to digital.  Below is the FCC’s television coverage information for Shreveport.

Your new digital antenna should work like a charm in northwest Louisiana.

For Monroe, Louisiana sports fans, the ABC affiliate (Channel 11 – KMLU) and CBS affiliate (Channel 8 – KNOE) remained “Hi-V”.  That means that you will probably not be able to receive those two TV station’s offerings with a digital antenna like mine.  Don’t give up!  Read on.

Baton Rouge has similar issues. The local ABC affiliate (Channel 2- WBRZ) and CBS station (Channel 9 – WAFB) did not convert to digital.  They remained “Hi-V”, so your new digital antenna is unlikely to pick-up their signal within Louisiana’s capitol city.  

Houston – you also have the same problem!   Both the ABC (KTRK-Channel 13) and CBS (KHOU-Channel 11) television stations remained on the “Hi-V” end of the spectrum.  You’re likely out of luck trying to get their signals using most digital TV antennas in the H-town area, too.

To resolve a “Hi-V” issue – you may need to purchase (one time!) a more expensive antenna which is equipped to receive both Hi-V and digital signals.  Those antennas typically cost more than $100 and work best when located in a high spot inside your house such as the attic or attached on the side of your house near the roof.  (Be careful when roaming around in your attic.  An A/C service technician nearly fell through mine recently!)

Those living in remote areas (50+ miles from the TV station’s transmitter) will likely need an outdoor “aerial” antenna.  You may wish get a professional to handle that installation.  If you do it yourself, please be careful!

Double check – Did you check your zip code on the FCC site before spending any money to purchase even a cheap digital antenna?  Please do this first! 

After a few weeks, you may be ready to ditch cable TV and streaming services for good.

In the process, you will save hundreds of dollars every year to (perhaps) finally go on that special golf vacation you’ve always dreamed about!

The post Consider Watching Sports on TV – for FREE – once again! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

For anyone under the age of 50, that phrase was made famous by The Three Stooges in their 1934 Academy Award-nominated short entitled “Men in Black.”

Louisiana’s football fans are starting to feel like they are under the care of those three lovable-but-inept doctors in the past two weeks.

We have covered LSU’s recent firing of the $54 million man, Brian Kelly.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry took to the media’s microphones last week to add his thoughts on the LSU coaching conundrum.  The Governor vocalized his displeasure about Coach Kelly’s generous exit provisions as part of an employment agreement made with LSU (under a previous governor’s administration, of course).

Indeed, LSU’s football coach will be walking out the door with a wheelbarrow full of Jed Clampett-sized cash.  

Whale doggies, indeed!

Last week also brought the firing of LSU’s Director of Athletics, Scott Woodward.  You might remember that Woodward was hailed as the person able to hire Coach Brian Kelly away from Notre Dame.  The new coach was rewarded for moving to Baton Rouge with that very lucrative 10-year contract worth nearly $100 million.

Coach Kelly’s contract buyout is going to cost $54 million.  Don’t forget that former AD Scott Woodward’s contract buyout adds another $6 million to the exit fee tab.

By the end of last week, Louisiana State University was operating with an interim President, an interim Athletics Director (Verge Ausberry), and an interim head football coach (running backs coach Frank Wilson).

Did someone say “operating”?  “Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard!”

On Tuesday, LSU announced the hiring of a new university president.

Former McNeese State University president Wade Rousse (pronounced “Roos”) was announced as the new CEO at a press conference.  Rousse was considered by many to be the favorite choice of Louisiana governor Jeff “I’m not Huey Long II” Landry.

Within hours, the internet rumor mill circulated that LSU’s brand new President was planning to quickly remove the “interim” title from the school’s current Director of Athletics, Verge Ausberry.

That made two solid moves by LSU in a matter of one week.

LSU’s coaching hire is going to be a lot trickier and will receive a lot more scrutiny

Dr. Rousse (whose PhD was earned in Economics) and LSU’s new AD Verge Ausberry must now collaborate to find and select a critical hire to direct LSU’s football program.  They will be closely watched by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and media pundits willing to pounce on any missteps by the new Dynamic Duo at LSU.

The Governor expects (a) a winner who will (b) do a better job at recruiting and (c) coach football better than Brian Kelly for (d) a lot less money and (e) for a shorter contract term.

The new football coach must fit this rather precise “needle-in-a-haystack” wish list by LSU.

I actually believe it is possible for LSU to find and sign such a person. 

The school’s new management tandem (trio – if you include the Governor) must do a lot of research and stick with their game plan.

It would be wise to stay away from the greedy agents who push the latest and greatest (translated: most expensive for the longest term) currently successful football coach.

Someone like – perhaps – Ole Miss coach Lane “Please beg me to come to LSU” Kiffin

I think Lane Kiffin has been a perfect fit at Ole Miss.

Those with 20/20 hindsight believe that LSU would have fared better had the Tigers hired Kiffin instead of a well-intended Midwesterner named Brian Kelly in 2022.

Pursuing Lane “Did you know I make $9 million per season?” Kiffin will cost LSU even more money than Brian Kelly’s $10 million per year.

Coach Kiffin (or any other college football coach not named Nick Saban) cannot guarantee any more wins than Brian Kelly was able to deliver annually to Bayou Bengal fans.  Kelly’s dour personality didn’t help him build a bond with the massive base of loyal LSU fans.

The next LSU coach needs to be much more like affable former LSU coach Ed Orgeron and more down-to-earth than the attorney-like Brian Kelly.  The success of LSU’s next coach will be defined by winning but also his ability to connect with athletes and fans in this football-crazy state.

The selection of Dr. Rousse (a Louisiana native who grew up in Golden Meadow) and Verge Ausberry (who hails from New Iberia and was a former linebacker on the LSU football team) seems like a good pairing as they try to jump-start LSU’s football rehabilitation process.

In soap opera style, these questions remain:

Can these two gentlemen find the right person to become the newest head coach of LSU – and keep the state’s meddling Governor happy?

Will they find someone who has a love for the state and can (figuratively) put a fence around Louisiana’s talented high school football prospects?

Can the newest football coach quickly return LSU into contention for the College Football Playoffs in the next year or two?

Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, in New Orleans (well, Metairie to be exact)…

The NFL’s New Orleans Saints were humiliated 34-10 on the road by the Los Angeles Rams Sunday afternoon.

This newest incarnation of the Aints (remember to decorate your paper bag to wear while watching the next game!) collected only ten first downs Sunday compared to 30 for the Rams.  Los Angeles ran 77 plays for 438 yards of offense compared to just 40 plays and a miserable 224 yards in total offense for New Orleans.

Time of possession?  Los Angeles had the ball for nearly 44 minutes to just 16 minutes for the Saints.

Sunday’s loss was a complete and utter disaster for New Orleans.

“Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard!!!”

The 1-8 Saints are tied for last place in the NFL with the terrible Tennessee Titans and are just ½ game worse than the woebegone 1-7 New York Jets.

Unlike the LSU Tigers, Louisiana’s flagship NFL franchise has yet to indicate that much needed changes are on the way at the top of the Saints organization.

Current Saints owner Gayle Benson (who seems well intended) has not made any moves to shake-up the management team of the New Orleans Saints. 

The 78-year old widow has been in charge of running the Saints since her husband (Tom Benson) passed away in 2018.

Tom Benson boogied as the Saints claimed their one and only Super Bowl trophy on February 7, 2010.

After Mr. Benson’s passing in 2018, quarterback Drew Brees retired following the 2020 season as the Saints finished 12-4.  Long-time Saints head coach Sean Payton retired (cough) the next season after posting a 9-8 record in 2021.

Following Coach Payton’s departure, the New Orleans Saints have lost ten or more games two times in the past three years.

This year’s squad is well on its way to matching the 3-13 mark of the 2005 “Hurricane Katrina” team.  That 2005 Saints team was forced to play home games at LSU and in San Antonio as a result of massive wind and flood damage to the Superdome and much of the Crescent City.

Meanwhile, Sean Payton decided to “unretire” in 2023.  He became coach of the AFC’s Denver Broncos.  His new team is currently 7-2 and in first place in the AFC West.

Saints fans are painfully aware of Denver’s ascension under the guidance of their former coach’s leadership.

There is a common denominator as to why Sean Payton left and the Saints stink today

General Manager Mickey Loomis has held that job in New Orleans since 2002.

The 68-year old Loomis deserves credit for the hiring of Coach Sean Payton and helping to make a deal to acquire quarterback Drew Brees in 2006.  The Saints rapid rise to the Super Bowl was a magical ride which fans still fondly remember.

The disintegration of the New Orleans Saints over the past four years is also owed to General Manager Mickey Loomis.  He has been in charge of drafting the players and signing (and often overpaying) free agents.

This year’s version of the New Orleans Saints is 1-8 for good reason.  They have very little top-level NFL talent in 2025.

Yesterday, the Saints dealt starting 27-year old wide receiver and kick return specialist Rashid Shaheed to the Seattle Seahawks.

Shaheed was an All-American at small college (FCS) Weber State and went undrafted by all 32 NFL teams. 

He signed a free agent contract with the Saints in 2022 (a good move!) and played for the NFL’s minimum salary.  His speed made him a valuable contributor to the Saints’ offense and special teams.

The Saints have traded Rashid Shaheed to a playoff contender in Seattle.  In return, New Orleans receives Seattle’s fourth and fifth round draft picks in the 2026 NFL draft.

Does anyone believe that the Saints will find a more productive player in the fourth and fifth rounds in the next draft than their now-departed starting wide receiver?

I certainly don’t have any confidence.  Not with the same group in charge of making draft selections for the New Orleans Saints.

Who can you trust making decisions for the New Orleans Saints?

The Saints’ first-year head coach Kellen Moore has been successful as an offensive coach in both Dallas and Philadelphia. 

Moore was a talented college quarterback at Boise State and played for a handful of seasons in the NFL as a back-up signal caller.

Kellen Moore was already on-board as the new head coach when the Saints passed on drafting Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart with the tenth pick in the first round of this spring’s NFL draft.

The Saints filled a need and selected offensive lineman Kelvin Banks, Jr. from the University of Texas.  Banks is now in the starting line-up for New Orleans.

The New York Giants were more than happy to select Jaxson Dart with the 25th selection in the first round.

Dart has now taken over the starting quarterback position for the Giants over NFL veteran Russell Wilson.  He has connected for ten touchdowns and just three interceptions in the past eight games in New York.

Meanwhile, New Orleans waited until the draft’s second round to select relatively untested Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough (pronounced “Shuck”).

After being injured in the preseason, Shough finally received his first start in the NFL on Sunday in a game at the Los Angeles Rams.

He completed 15 of 24 passes for 176 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the Saints woeful 34-10 loss.

Tyler Shough may turn out to be a terrific NFL quarterback in a few years – assuming he isn’t injured frequently playing behind by the porous offensive line of the Saints.

Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis makes decisions with little oversight from team owner Gayle Benson.  Loomis has assembled such a weak roster that most NFL teams cannot find a Saints player worth making a trade to acquire.

Steady fourth-year wide receiver Chris Olave may (perhaps) be one of the few marketable commodities.

Star running back Alvin Kamara is now 30 years of age, but he has taken a beating in recent years during the Saints decline.  A $12.5 million annual paycheck through the 2026 season makes Kamara an unlikely trade option.

Even if the Saints were to acquire any number of future NFL draft picks, the same people who have cratered the WhoDatNation’s favorite football team will get to another opportunity to mess it up again in the future.

That’s what scares Saints fans all across the Gulf South region.

A brief letter to Saints owner Gayle Benson

Dear Mrs. Benson:

Please clean house in your Saints management suite soon or sell our beloved football team before you lose more value with this declining NFL franchise.  Your wonderful husband Tom would certainly agree that it is time to take decisive action.  We all love our Saints!

Sincerely,

SwampSwami

A loyal New Orleans Saints fan since Game #1 on September 17, 1967

The post LSU and Saints star in, “Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard!” appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

First place in the United Athletic Conference was on the line Saturday night as SwampSwamiSports.com’s #1 (and 9-0) Tarleton State visited 4-4 Abilene Christian.

The Wildcats watched the Texans battle back from a 28-10 fourth quarter deficit to tie the game at 28 points apiece on a touchdown with only 56 seconds remaining in regulation.  Abilene Christian’s Wildcats then quickly completed a long pass downfield and converted a 47-yard field goal on the game’s final play to win 31-28.

With the victory, Abilene Christian (now 5-4) owns the tie-breaker with Tarleton State and controls its own destiny heading into the FCS playoffs after Thanksgiving.  The Wildcats have three games remaining – home for Utah Tech and on the road at Eastern Kentucky and at Central Arkansas.

Tarleton State tumbled from #1 to #6 this week as the Texans dropped to 9-1.

The NDSU Bison seized the moment to assume the top ranking this week

North Dakota State survived an early surge by the Youngstown State Penguins to take a 38-30 victory at home in the FargoDome.

Those pesky Penguins from northeastern Ohio led twice during the first half of this game.  A 100-yard kickoff return by the NDSU Bison with a little more than a minute to go before halftime provided them with a lead which they never relinquished.

North Dakota State (9-0) is the FCS defending champion and has now won 13 straight games going back to the 2024 season.

Indiana State (without Larry Bird!) upsets South Dakota State

Yes, Indiana State does, indeed, play football, too.

The unheralded Sycamores traveled to Brookings, South Dakota one week after South Dakota State dropped its first game of the year in a 38-7 blowout loss at the hands of archrival North Dakota State.

The Sycamores (now 3-6) shocked the Jackrabbits 24-12 Saturday to win their first game against South Dakota State since 2011.  Stunned fans of South Dakota State (now 7-2) have watched their beloved football team lose two consecutive home games after the Jackrabbits’ 33-game home unbeaten streak ended one week ago.

It won’t get any easier for South Dakota State this week.

The Jackrabbits hop into Vermillion, South Dakota (north of Sioux Falls) to face the 6-4 University of South Dakota Coyotes this Saturday at 3PM.  This intrastate rivalry game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.

Lamar University stumbles as SE Louisiana and Stephen F. Austin share first place in a tight Southland Conference race

The Cardinals were sure to win last week’s battle between 7-1 Lamar and struggling 2-6 Incarnate Word.  Both teams share the same nickname, but the home team from San Antonio prevailed 24-17 on Saturday afternoon.

The loss by Lamar (now 7-2) dropped the Beaumont-based Cardinals out of a three-way tie for first place in the Southland Conference.  Southeastern Louisiana and Stephen F. Austin (both 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the conference) share the lead.

Lamar still controls its own destiny.  They will host the Lions from SE Louisiana this Saturday at 3PM on ESPN+ and then travel to Nacogdoches to play the SFA Lumberjacks on November 18.

Tennessee Tech is now 9-0 for the first time since 1952!

The Runnin’ Bulldogs from Gardner-Webb (NC) took an early 14-3 lead and looked ready to spring a huge upset at Cookeville, Tennessee against the unbeaten Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.

That’s when the home team rallied to score 24 straight points to secure a 27-21 win against Gardner-Webb (now 5-4).  The Golden Eagles have soared to a 9-0 record for the first time since 1952.

This is Tennessee Tech’s final season playing in the Ohio Valley Conference where they have been members since 1949.

The Golden Eagles are joining the Southern Conference (SoCon) on July 1, 2026 to become the 11th team in that league.

Alabama State beats Prairie View to further tighten the SWAC

The Alabama State Hornets stung Prairie View A&M 31-28 in Texas to claim a share of first place in the SWAC Eastern Division.  Jackson State (a 41-16 winner over Florida A&M) and Bethune-Cookman (which beat Mississippi Valley State 42-34) are also 4-1 in the SWAC’s East with three games remaining in the season.

Prairie View A&M still leads the SWAC Western Division (6-3 overall and 4-1 conference).  The Panthers are one game ahead of West rivals Grambling State (6-3 overall and 3-2 in conference) and Texas Southern (4-4 overall and 3-2 in the SWAC).

The East and West winners will vie for the SWAC title on Saturday, December 6 at the home field of the higher-ranked team.  One additional game awaits.  The SWAC winner will face the MEAC league champion for the HBCU national title at the annual Celebration Bowl in Atlanta on December 13.

Let’s check out the SwampSwamiSports.com FBS Top 25 teams for the week ending Saturday, November 1, 2025:

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