FCS Football Talk

South Dakota State All-American OL Mason McCormick joins the podcast for an interview, discussing SDSU’s season so far and his decision to return for a sixth year. Sam and Mason also talk about a couple of other standout SDSU offensive linemen, the Jackrabbits playing with a target on their backs, new head coach Jimmy Rogers, paying attention to other Top 25 teams, and the buzz around SDSU footbal...

Eight ranked FCS teams lost last weekend, and six of them lost to unranked opponents. Sam reacts to the crazy week of action and then looks ahead to the best Week 6 games. The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit https://herosports.com/ for FCS coverage and https://sports.betmgm.com/en/sports for online betting odds.

Sam is back from his Ireland trip to go through a long list of results from this last weekend. He touches on the impressive performances of Delaware, UT Martin, and Montana State. And a year after having Montana as high as No. 2, Sam questions why the Griz are still being ranked. Other performances talked about are Furman, Villanova, WCU, Chattanooga, Idaho, EKU, UCA, HCU, and EWU. The podcast end...

Sam gives his takeaways from Week 2 with the 3 Game Balls and a Flag segment, including looking at the three FCS over FBS wins and wondering why Samford is still ranked ahead of WCU. Other Week 2 thoughts include close FCS-FBS losses, Weber beating UNI, and SDSU beating Montana State. The episode ends with a look at some of the best Week 3 matchups. The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetM...

Sam gives his takeaways from Week 1 with the 3 Game Balls and a Flag segment. He then dives into false narratives about FCS-FBS games. Are FCS over FBS wins really getting less likely? The decade-to-decade numbers actually say otherwise. Although the year-to-year numbers show there are no trends. Is all the talent really trickling up in college football? Again, numbers say otherwise. The podcast e...

Sam briefly talks about the Week 0 results before discussing four under-the-radar teams who may end up being better than their preseason expectations. The show ends with a look at the most intriguing Week 1 games. The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit https://herosports.com/ for FCS coverage and https://sports.betmgm.com/en/sports for online betting odds.

Sam breaks down the best FCS non-conference games and also every week’s biggest game with playoff implications. The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit https://herosports.com/ for FCS coverage and https://sports.betmgm.com/en/sports for online betting odds.

Sam predicts the conference champion for all 13 FCS leagues. The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit https://herosports.com/ for FCS coverage and https://sports.betmgm.com/en/sports for online betting odds.

Sam breaks down his top storylines entering the 2023 FCS season. The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit https://herosports.com/ for FCS coverage and https://sports.betmgm.com/en/sports for online betting odds.

Kevin Marshall of FCS Nation Radio joins the podcast to discuss the upcoming FCS season. What's the most intriguing storyline heading into the 2023 fall? And what are some storylines surrounding a few intriguing games? Kevin and Sam discuss Montana State at SDSU, UIW at UTEP, William & Mary at Virginia, Furman at Samford, and Ferris State at Montana. They also talk about preseason rankings, wh...

NDSU TV play-by-play voice and FCS Top 25 voter Dom Izzo joins to discuss the upcoming MVFC season. Can anyone knock off SDSU? What do the 2023 Bison look like? Who's the No. 3 team? And how many playoff squads will the Valley have? The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit https://herosports.com/ for FCS coverage and https://sports.betmgm.com/en/sports for online betting odds.

Colter Nuanez of Skyline Sports and ESPN Montana joins the podcast to chat about Big Sky football. Sam and Colter discuss Montana State's FCS title hopes, how Montana can get back into that top-tier discussion, and also how both fan bases feel about the FBS and a potential move down the road. They also talk about how the Big Sky compares to the rest of the FCS talent-wise, Idaho's hype, new head c...

HERO Sports writer Daniel Steenkamer joins the podcast to discuss on-field and off-field storylines in the CAA. Off-the-field topics include the CAA's size at 15 members, the renewed media rights agreement with FloSports, and Delaware's FBS mindset. On-field topics include Campbell's potential, the CAA's national reputation, W&M's and UNH's season outlook, CAA sleepers, and the FCS national ti...

On this episode, Sam answers 26 questions from FCS fans on Twitter: How long before St. Thomas moves to a scholarship football conference? Which one is most likely to jump in and scoop them up? Can they have success at a scholarship level like they did jumping into PFL? How is it possible to make a champion and get an auto-bid when some teams in the same league go years without playing one another...

Keith Brake, the director of broadcasting at ETSU, joins the podcast to discuss several topics. What are the expectations for ETSU football after falling short of 2022 expectations? Who are the top teams in the SoCon, and what does the conference need to do to get more teams into the playoffs? Sam and Keith also discuss the 2023 FCS title picture before diving into realignment talk. Is more realig...

Sam breaks down his early 2023 FCS preseason Top 25, explaining his order and why teams are slotted where they are.

Zach McKinnell of The Bluebloods joins the pod to do some over/unders on FCS props. Sam and Zach discuss O/Us for regular-season team win totals, how many teams FCS conferences get into the playoffs, number of Big Sky/MVFC teams in the semifinals, number of FCS over FBS wins, statistical totals for Sean Chambers/Tommy Mellott, Jaden Shirden, and Parker McKinney, Holy Cross' playoff seed, UIW's PPG...

The Fargo Forum’s Mike McFeely joins the show to talk NDSU football. Sam and Mike discuss some uncertainties across NDSU's 2-deep and if this is really going to be a "down" year for the Bison. They also talk about the transfers leaving, SDSU jumping the Bison, FBS reality, the FCS landscape, and much more. The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit https://herosports.com/ for FCS co...

Eastern Kentucky director of athletics Matt Roan joins the podcast to discuss EKU football's momentum, the ASUN-WAC's short-term and long-term goals, and potential changes coming to the FCS playoff bracket structure.

FCS Nation Radio co-host Stone Labanowitz joins the show to chat about some FCS quarterbacks. Sam and Stone discuss the two QBs in the FCS title game (Mark Gronowski and Cam Miller) and their 2022 play. They also talk about Lindsey Scott Jr.’s NFL potential, Montana State's 2-QB system, and what returning QBs they like in 2023. The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit https://hero...

New South Dakota State head coach Jimmy Rogers joins the podcast to talk about his first few weeks on the job, adjusting to being a head coach, what it means to lead SDSU, navigating the transfer portal, 2023 pressure, and more.

FCS Fans Nation's Jamie Williams joins the show to talk about the 2023 outlooks for SDSU, NDSU, UIW, and Montana State. Jamie and Sam also discuss the new FCS head coaches, the CAA's reputation, and its renewed deal with FloSports. The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit https://herosports.com/ for FCS coverage and https://sports.betmgm.com/en/sports for online betting odds.

Sam recaps the weekend in Frisco and the FCS title game. He also looks ahead to what the result means for SDSU, NDSU, and the rest of the FCS moving forward. Is SDSU the clear favorite next season? Are the Bison regressing? And if they are, what does that say about the rest of the FCS if this NDSU squad still made it to Frisco? The podcast is presented by HERO Sports and BetMGM. Visit https://hero...

Sam brings on three guests to preview the FCS title game -- MVFC commissioner Patty Viverito, NDSU reporter Dom Izzo, and SDSU beat writer Matt Zimmer. Talking points include: Patty Viverito (02:30) -All-MVFC final -Bison/MVFC fatigue -Changes to the FCS playoff structure -New FCS playoff TV deal discussions -Frisco -Toyota Stadium playing surface -ASUN-WAC's FBS hopes Dom Izzo (24:00) -NDSU injur...

Sam is joined by Kevin Marshall of FCS Nation Radio to help break down the semifinal results and help set the stage for Frisco. The two discuss the UIW-NDSU and Montana State-SDSU games and what went down. They also talk about conference strength after these playoffs for leagues like the MVFC, Big Sky, CAA, and SoCon. Finally, they talk about NC Central’s win in the Celebration Bowl before discuss...