I take back all my negative feelings on Western Carolina. They are definitely a contender for the bye in the North. That may or may not be a compliment, but the Catamounts are right in the picture, and deserve to be after beating Elon and Samford in back-to-back games.
Western Carolina jumped out to a double digits lead, but Samford faught and clawed back into the game. They showed plenty of heart and plenty of fight in getting back into it.
Western Carolina will get the bye if they beat Appalachian State on Saturday, Elon loses to UNCG, and Samford loses to Chattanooga. They will get it by virtue of eliminating Samford from the tie because both Elon and Western Carolina would have split with UNCG and Samford was swept by the Spartans. But Western Carolina swept Samford, and Elon was swept by them.
Samford on the other hand has one easy way to get the bye. That is to beat Chattanooga. If they beat Chattanooga, they absolutely get the bye. If they lose to Chattanooga, they absolutely do not get the bye. A loss to the Mocs and a win by Elon would push Samford all the way to the 4N. A loss to the Mocs and an Elon loss would push Samford down to the 3N, Western Carolina if they win. A win by Appy would give Samford back the 2N by virtue of their head-to-head performances.
The only way Elon gets the bye is with a win over UNCG and a Samford loss to Chattanooga.
Regardless the Appalachian State-Western Carolina loser will get College of Charleston in the first round in the first game of the SoCon Tournament and be 5N. Ouch. Big stakes in that one.
No matter what, though, both Samford and Western Carolina have proven to be scrappy, hard-fighting teams. Both teams will be tough in the SoCon Tournament. Both could really use the bye though. This is shaping up to be an interesting weekend in the SoCon North race.
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