Sam Houston State Takes Part in Inaugural FCS Kickoff
Southland Conference
Southland Football Weekly Release (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule:
Saturday, Aug. 23
No. 17/14 Sam Houston State at No. 1/2 Eastern Washington, 2:30 p.m.
(ESPN)
FRISCO, Texas – The Southland Conference will open up its 51st season of football Saturday as Sam Houston State travels to Eastern Washington for the inaugural FCS Kickoff. The Bearkats and Eagles, which kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT, will be the only college football game of the day and will be televised nationally on ESPN. This will be the fourth meeting between the two programs with Sam Houston State winning the previous three.
• Dec. 4, 2004 – Sam Houston State 35, Eastern Washington 34
(Cheney, Wash.)
• Dec. 15, 2012 – Sam Houston State 45, Eastern Washington 42
(Cheney, Wash.)
• Sept. 28, 2013 – Sam Houston State 49, Eastern Washington 34
(Huntsville, Texas)
Abilene Christian Returns to Southland Football: Abilene Christian will begin its first football season in the Southland since 1972 during a nationally televised game. The Wildcats travel to Georgia State for an ESPNU game, Aug. 27 at 6 p.m.
Other Southland Season Openers:
• Thurs., Aug. 28 – Missouri St. at Northwestern St., 6 p.m.
• Sat., Aug. 30 – Nicholls at Air Force, 1 p.m.
(ESPN3); Central Arkansas at Texas Tech, 6 p.m.
(FSN); Sacramento St. at UIW, 6 p.m.; Stephen F. Austin at Kansas St., 6:10 p.m.; Grambling at Lamar, 7 p.m.; Jacksonville at Southeastern Louisiana, 7 p.m.
• Sat., Sept. 6 – McNeese St. at Nebraska, 11 a.m.
(ESPNU); McMurry at Houston Baptist, 7 p.m.
Southland Pioneers Instant Replay for FCS Conferences: The Southland Conference and DVSport, Inc., the leader in collegiate football high-definition (HD) replay technology, have partnered to provide the league and its 11 football-playing institutions with the cutting-edge technology and efficient workflow of DVSport’s HD Replay™ system beginning with the 2014 season. The Southland Conference is the first NCAA Football Championship Subdivision league to implement a full-time instant replay solution for all home games, regardless of television coverage.
Coaches Conference Call Returns Aug. 26: The weekly football coaches conference call will begin Aug. 26 at 10:30 a.m., CT. All calls will be streamed live and archived at southland.org/watch. For the first week, the call will begin with some conference notes followed by a statement from Commissioner Tom Burnett. Abilene Christian and Central Arkansas have switch time slots for the opening week only and will return to their regularly-scheduled time for the rest of the season. Contact Calhoun Hipp at the conference office for call-in information.
• Southland Notes – Calhoun Hipp and Tom Burnett (Aug. 26 only), 10:30 a.m.
• Abilene Christian – Ken Collums, 10:35 a.m. (11:45 a.m. rest of season)
• Nicholls – Charlie Stubbs, 10:42 a.m.
• Southeastern Louisiana – Ron Roberts, 10:49 a.m.
• Northwestern State – Jay Thomas, 10:56 a.m.
• McNeese State – Matt Viator, 11:03 a.m.
• Lamar – Ray Woodard, 11:10 a.m.
• Houston Baptist – Vic Shealy, 11:17 a.m.
• Stephen F. Austin – Clint Conque, 11:24 a.m.
• Sam Houston State – K.C. Keeler, 11:31 a.m.
• UIW – Larry Kennan, 11:38 a.m.
• Central Arkansas – Steve Campbell, 11:45 a.m. (10:35 a.m. rest of season)
Southland Has Three Ranked Teams in Preseason Polls: The Southland Conference has three teams ranked in both major FCS Polls. Defending Southland Conference champion Southeastern Louisiana is the league’s top-ranked team, coming in at No. 3 in both the Sports Network poll and the FCS Coaches’ Poll.
• McNeese State is No. 8 in the Sports Network poll and No. 9 in the coaches’ poll
• Sam Houston State comes in at No. 17 in the Sports Network poll and No. 14 in the coaches’ poll
• Central Arkansas is the only other league team to receive votes in either poll
Southland TV Entering Seventh Season: The league’s award-winning syndicated network will broadcast 10 games in 2014, all set to air on over 25 affiliates. While most are in the Southland’s footprint of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, SLCTV is also carried by stations in Colorado, Florida, Kansas and Oklahoma, and available nationally via ESPN3 and ESPN GamePlan. In addition, ESPN3 will have exclusive coverage of several Southland match-ups. Southland teams are also set to appear on ESPN, ESPNU, SEC Network, Fox Sports Southwest and the American Sports Network this fall. Check southland.org/television for a full schedule and the SLCTV affiliate list.
Thirteen Southland Games Scheduled vs. FBS in 2014: In 2012, the Southland picked up two more wins against FBS opponents with McNeese State crushing South Florida, 53-21, and Nicholls defeating Western Michigan, 27-23. In 2014, the Southland faces 13 FBS opponents with Nicholls leading the way with three:
• Nicholls – at Air Force
(Aug. 30); at Arkansas
(Sept. 6); at North Texas
(Sept. 20)
• Abilene Christian – at Georgia State
(Aug. 27); at Troy
(Sept. 13)
• Northwestern State – at Baylor
(Sept. 6); at Louisiana Tech
(Sept. 20)
• Central Arkansas – at Texas Tech
(Aug. 30)
• Lamar – at Texas A&M
(Sept. 6)
• McNeese State – at Nebraska
(Sept. 6)
• Sam Houston State – at LSU
(Sept. 6)
• Southeastern Louisiana – at Tulane
(Sept. 6)
• Stephen F. Austin – at Kansas State
(Aug. 30)
Sam Houston Owns Division I-Best 22-Game Home Win Streak: With wins in each of its last 22 home games, Sam Houston State not only leads the FCS but it also has the longest home win streak in all of Division I. The Bearkats were 8-0 at home last season, including a postseason win against Southern Utah. The Bearkats streak dates back to a 33-28 loss to McNeese State on Nov. 13, 2010. The 22-game streak at Bowers Stadium is the 12th-longest streak in FCS history. The record is 39 set by Georgia Southern from 1997 to 2001. The Bearkats are 103-42-1 all-time at Bowers, which opened in 1986.
Lions Dominate Preseason All-League Teams: Southeastern Louisiana dominated the all-conference teams by placing 15 student-athletes among the two squads. McNeese State placed 10 on the preseason teams followed by Central Arkansas with nine and Northwestern State eight players. Sam Houston State has six players while Stephen F. Austin and Lamar have both have four. Nicholls completes the teams with two.
Three Award Winners Return: Three of the Southland Conference’s individual award winners from last year are back this season, including Southeastern Louisiana quarterback Bryan Bennett, the league’s player of the year, along with Northwestern State quarterback Zach Adkins, the conference’s newcomer of the year, and Lamar running back Kade Harrington, the freshman of the year a season ago.
Three Southland Schools Welcome New Coaches: Central Arkansas, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin will all be under new leadership this season. Two new faces will grace the Southland sidelines this season while the leader in Nacogdoches is very familiar with the league, having coached at UCA the previous 14 seasons.
New Southland Coaches in 2014:
• Central Arkansas – Steve Campbell
(126-38 overall)
• Sam Houston State – K.C. Keeler
(174-73-1 overall)
• Stephen F. Austin – Clint Conque
(105-59 overall)
Preseason Awards Watch Lists: The Southland Conference one candidate on the Walter Payton Award initial Watch List and two players named to the initial Buck Buchanan Award Watch list. The Payton Award, which is awarded to the outstanding player of the Football Championship Subdivision while the Buchanan honos the nation’s top defensive player in FCS.
Payton Award Candidates – Bryan Bennett, QB (Southeastern Louisiana)
Former Southland Winners: Jeremy Moses, QB, Stephen F. Austin (2010)
Buchanan Award Candidates – Jonathan Woodard, DE (Central Arkansas); Harlan Miller, DB (Southeastern Louisiana)
Football Grows to 11 Teams in 2014: With the additions of Abilene Christian, Houston Baptist and UIW, the Southland Conference will feature the same 11 football teams: ACU, Central Arkansas, HBU, UIW, Lamar, McNeese State, Nicholls, Northwestern State, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana and Stephen F. Austin. It marks the highest number of football-playing schools in the conference’s 51-year history. Abilene Christian and UIW will not be eligible to win a Southland Conference championship during their transition periods. Pending NCAA approval, they will become fully eligible for the 2017 football season.
Battle of Piney Woods Returns to Houston for Fifth Time: The Battle of the Piney Woods between Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin returns to NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, in 2014 for the fifth consecutive season. It will be the 89th football duel between the two rivals. The series is the second oldest FCS rivalry in Texas. The Battle of the Piney Woods dates back to 1923, with Sam Houston State holding a 51-35-2 edge in the series.
Battle of the Piney Woods at NRG Stadium:
2010 – No. 4 Stephen F. Austin 31, Sam Houston State 28 (24,685)
2011 – No. 11 Sam Houston State 45, Stephen F. Austin 10 (25,083)
2012 – No. 9 Sam Houston State 51, Stephen F. Austin 43 (26,185)
2013 – No. 8 Sam Houston State 56, Stephen F. Austin 49 (26,213)
Southeastern Louisiana Claimed First Southland Title in 2013: Southeastern Louisiana set a single-season school record for victories (10-2) to defeat Nicholls 52-27 in the River Bell Classic and claim its first-ever Southland Conference title.
• McNeese State has the most league titles with 13. The Cowboys last won a Southland crown in 2009.
• Of the current football members, Sam Houston State has won five, followed by Lamar, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin, all with four titles. Central Arkansas, Nicholls and Southeastern have won one.
Southland Sends Three Teams to FCS Postseason: The Southland Conference placed three teams in the 2013 playoffs for the fifth time with Southeastern Louisiana, McNeese State and Sam Houston State. It was the first time since 2001 when Sam Houston, McNeese and Northwestern State. The league also placed three teams in the playoffs in 1998 (Northwestern State, McNeese and Troy), 1993 (McNeese, Stephen F. Austin and Louisiana-Monroe) and 1988 (Northwestern State, Stephen F. Austin and North Texas). There has placed multiple Southland teams in the playoffs each of the last three seasons and four of the last five.
First Round –
Sam Houston State 51, Southern Utah 20
Second Round –
No. 4. Southeastern Louisiana 30, Sam Houston State 29
Second Round – Jacksonville State 31,
No. 6 McNeese State 10
Quarterfinals – New Hampshire 20,
No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana 17
Frisco Will Host FCS Title Game through 2015 Season: Prior to the 2013 Division I Football Championship Game, the NCAA agreed to a three-year extension with Frisco, Texas, for title game to be held at Toyota Stadium and hosted by the Southland Conference, the city of Frisco and the Hunt Sports Group. Frisco has hosted the last four FCS title games, the last three of which have been sellouts. The extension will keep the championship game in Frisco through the 2015 season.
About the Football Championship Subdivision: There are 124 teams within 13 conferences competing in the NCAA Division I FCS. The championship bracket consists of 24 teams, 11 of which are selected via automatic qualification. The remaining 13 at-large teams are selected by the Division I Football Championship Committee, assisted by four regional advisory committees that serve in an advisory capacity only. At-large selections are based on multiple factors including overall record and strength of schedule. The championship is conducted via single elimination format. All preliminary-round games (first round, second round, quarterfinals and semifinals) are hosted on campus sites. Sites are selected and announced during the selection show and as teams advance throughout the championship. The remaining teams will be selected on an at-large basis. The top eight teams in the bracket will be seeded and receive a first-round bye.