The Big South football race looked relatively wide open coming into today's action. And now?
Excluding Liberty, which has backed up its status as preseason league favorite, the conference picture has only gotten more jumbled since the day began.
Presbyterian -- the same Presbyterian that had lost 20 straight games dating back to 2008 and lost by four touchdowns to Coastal Carolina at home last week -- snapped its losing streak Saturday with a 26-24 upset on the road at Gardner-Webb.
Meanwhile, VMI -- the same VMI that had lost handily in four of its last five games (sandwiched around a win over none other than Presbyterian) -- pulled off the upset on the road at Charleston Southern with a convincing 34-16 win.
What's that mean?
That means the winner of Coastal Carolina's Homecoming game with Stony Brook tonight will be tied atop the Big South standings with Liberty (on a bye this week) at 2-0 in league play.
After their 1-4 start to the season, the Chanticleer players and coach David Bennett seemed undeterred that the conference championship -- and corresponding automatic bid to the FCS playoffs -- was within their reach. And, well ...
They handled business last week at Presbyterian and if they can defeat Stony Brook (2-4, 1-0), the final four games would certainly become even more interesting. Let's leave it at that for now until the Chants show whether or not they can remain disciplined and effective for a second straight week.
But the opportunity is there for the Chants -- especially with Liberty and Charleston Southern coming to Brooks Stadium to close the season -- to assert themselves in that quest.
| Ryan Young, ryoung@thesunnews.com
Big South standings (as of 6:30 p.m. Saturday night)
Team ... Big South record ... Overall record ... This week
1. Liberty ... 2-0 ... 5-2 ... Idle
T2. Coastal Carolina ... 1-0 ... 2-4 ... vs. Stony Brook at 7:30 p.m.
T2. Stony Brook ... 1-0 ... 2-4 ... at Coastal Carolina at 7:30 p.m.
4. VMI ... 2-2 ... 3-4 ... W, 34-16 at Charleston Southern
5. Gardner-Webb ... 1-1 ... 3-4 ... L, 26-24 vs. Presbyterian
6. Presbyterian ... 1-2 ... 1-6 ... W, 26-24 at Gardner-Webb
7. Charleston Southern ... 0-3 ... 2-5 ... L, 34-16 vs. VMI
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