by Cheval John
NCAA FCS playoff fever has spread throughout the nation.
It’s not more evident than in the city of Huntsville, TX.
Huntsville, home of Sam Houston State University with a population of about 39,000, have been in a frenzy since the Bearkat football team have made the FCS playoffs for the second consecutive year after finishing the season at 8-3 overall and claimed a share of the Southland Conference title.
Now, they are one game away from returning to the FCS national championship game after they slaughtered Montana State Bobcats 34-15 in Bozeman, Montana last Friday.
Bearkat fans gathered either in Huntsville area bars or across the country (in the case of SHSU’s alumni base) to watch the matchup between the Bearkats and Bobcats that was televised nationally on ESPN2.
Many people who have lived in Huntsville and have been around to see the Bearkat athletic teams have said that they have not seen anything like this.
They have good reason to say that because before, the Bearkat football team have made the playoffs a total of four times since becoming a member of the NCAA Division I in 1986.
Those four playoff appearances happened in 1986, 1991, 2001, and 2004 under Ron Randleman.
After Randleman’s retirement in 2004, Todd Whitten served as head coach from 2005-2009 without much success and was fired.
When SHSU’s athletic director, Bobby Williams hired Willie Fritz, many were hoping for a renaissance of the football program.
After a 6-5 campaign in 2010, people started to believe that great things was going to happen in his second year.
Before the 2011 season began, the SLC’s pre-season polls expected the Bearkats to finished fourth in the conference because they only had 12 seniors on the team.
The Bearkats did the opposite: finished the regular season at 11-0, won their fourth SLC title (first undisputed), were the No.1 seed in the FCS playoffs and brought the Bearkat nation together.
From there, they defeated No. 7 Stony Brook, Montana State and Montana to reach the title game in Frisco, TX where they fell short against North Dakota State.
With the playoff fever amidst in Huntsville, the Bearkats know that they have to play extremely well against No.2 seeded Eastern Washington on Saturday at 3 p.m. if they want to make it back to Frisco.
What they also know is that playoff fever is amdst in Huntsville with a loyal fan base with who will be watching them on ESPNU and cheering them on to victory.
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Playoff Fever Spreading In Huntsville, TX
by Cheval John
NCAA FCS playoff fever has spread throughout the nation.
It’s not more evident than in the city of Huntsville, TX.
Huntsville, home of Sam Houston State University with a population of about 39,000, have been in a frenzy since the Bearkat football team have made the FCS playoffs for the second consecutive year after finishing the season at 8-3 overall and claimed a share of the Southland Conference title.
Now, they are one game away from returning to the FCS national championship game after they slaughtered Montana State Bobcats 34-15 in Bozeman, Montana last Friday.
Bearkat fans gathered either in Huntsville area bars or across the country (in the case of SHSU’s alumni base) to watch the matchup between the Bearkats and Bobcats that was televised nationally on ESPN2.
Many people who have lived in Huntsville and have been around to see the Bearkat athletic teams have said that they have not seen anything like this.
They have good reason to say that because before, the Bearkat football team have made the playoffs a total of four times since becoming a member of the NCAA Division I in 1986.
Those four playoff appearances happened in 1986, 1991, 2001, and 2004 under Ron Randleman.
After Randleman’s retirement in 2004, Todd Whitten served as head coach from 2005-2009 without much success and was fired.
When SHSU’s athletic director, Bobby Williams hired Willie Fritz, many were hoping for a renaissance of the football program.
After a 6-5 campaign in 2010, people started to believe that great things was going to happen in his second year.
Before the 2011 season began, the SLC’s pre-season polls expected the Bearkats to finished fourth in the conference because they only had 12 seniors on the team.
The Bearkats did the opposite: finished the regular season at 11-0, won their fourth SLC title (first undisputed), were the No.1 seed in the FCS playoffs and brought the Bearkat nation together.
From there, they defeated No. 7 Stony Brook, Montana State and Montana to reach the title game in Frisco, TX where they fell short against North Dakota State.
With the playoff fever amidst in Huntsville, the Bearkats know that they have to play extremely well against No.2 seeded Eastern Washington on Saturday at 3 p.m. if they want to make it back to Frisco.
What they also know is that playoff fever is amdst in Huntsville with a loyal fan base with who will be watching them on ESPNU and cheering them on to victory.
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Tags: FCS, Huntsville, NCAA, Ron Randleman, SHSU, Southland Conference, TX, Willie Fritz
About Cheval John
Cheval John founded Vallano Media to close the gap between elite strategic thinking and the small businesses that need it most. Operating at the intersection of social media management and sports, he is building a dual-pillar brand that does two things: deliver real growth for businesses and translate the sports strategies into practical business lessons. Cheval hosted "What's The Word?" a podcast about finding out what inspires people to choose their respective careers and how social media impacted their lives and business from 2013 to 2017. He has spoken at Social Media Week Lima in Ohio and at Social Media Day Houston 2017. He was named a Houston Top 25 Social Media Power Influencer (2016 and 2017) and Twitter (Now X)Top 50 Influencer by Onalytica in 2018.