Southern Conference (FCS)
Overview: The Southern Conference held its own in 2023, with three of its nine teams advancing to the FCS playoffs, while two others finished last season with winning records.
The three teams that advanced to postseason play all won at least one playoff game, with SoCon champion Furman finishing 10-3 overall after eliminating fellow league foe Chattanooga 26-7 in the second round, only to lose an overtime heartbreaker to Montana in the quarterfinals. The Paladins finished the regular season at 9-2 overall and 7-1 in SoCon action to earn their conference's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.
As for the other two postseason participants, Chattanooga advanced to the second round after the Mocs stunned Austin Peay on a last-second field goal, before succumbing to Furman to finish their season at 8-5 overall and 6-2 in the SoCon.
Meanwhile, the Mercer University Bears made the most of their first-ever FCS playoff appearance, outlasting Gardner-Webb 17-7 for its first-ever playoff win, before eventual national champion South Dakota State stomped its' way to a 41-0 victory in the second round. The Bears also finished their season at 6-2 in the Southern Conference, and 9-4 overall.
Although they fell well short of advancing to postseason play, two other SoCon squads showed that they could compete at a high level during the 2023 season. Western Carolina finished 7-4 overall and 5-3 in the SoCon, while Samford ended its season at 6-5 and 4-4.
The upcoming 2024 season promises to produce more thrills for the Southern Conference, with three of its teams-Chattanooga at #10, Furman at #14, and Western Carolina at #16-all ranked in the Hero Sports FCS Preseason Poll.
Any of those teams could take home the SoCon crown this fall. However, don't count out sleeper teams like Mercer or Samford.
2024 Schedules (Teams are listed in alphabetical order, click the links below to access the schedules)
NOTE: If the link to the team's schedule is unavailable, the team still needs to submit its schedule for the 2024 season. The link (s) will appear in each blog post when the team's schedule is submitted. Also, please visit the RFC blog at realfootballcentral.blogspot.com for schedules, schedule updates, preseason previews, and more.
Final 2023 Southern Conference Football Standings
Chattanooga
East Tennessee State
Furman
Mercer
Samford
The Citadel
VMI
Western Carolina
Wofford
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