Purple & Gold's SoCon Football Power Rankings

Welcome to this week's Purple & Gold's SoCon Power Rankings for the week beginning 10-6-14. The power ranking are published weekly on Tuesday.

The SoCon will feature only one conference encounter this week, when Wofford travels to Western Carolina.  There will be four out of conference games: Charlotte at The Citadel; VMI at Navy; Chattanooga at Tennessee; and Austin Peay at Mercer.  Two SoCon teams will have bye weekends, Furman and Samford.

1. (1)  Chattanooga 

Last Game: UTC 55 - VMI 7

Record: 3-2 (2-0 SoCon)  - Up next - at Tennessee (2-3)
The Mocs are coming off a another big win with their victory over VMI. While the Mocs are the class of the SoCon, they may have. a little more difficulty with this opponent, the Tennessee Volunteers.    

2. (2)  Samford 

Last Game: Safmord 21 - Mercer 18

Record: 3-2 (2-1 SoCon) - Up next - Bye
The Bulldogs win over Mercer keeps them in the hunt for the SoCon title, and this bye week will give the Bulldogs an opporutnity to rest, heal and prepare for The Citadel.  

3. (3)  Western Carolina 

Last Game: WCU 14 - Presbyterian 19

Record: 3-2 (1-0 SoCon)  - Up next - Wofford  (3-2)
The Cats dropped a very winnable game to the Blue Hose last week due to turnovers and have one of the most important games of the season facing them this Saturday against the Wofford Terriers.  A win confirms the loss against the Blue Hose was a fluke, a loss could be disheartening to this young team.  

4. (6)  Furman 

Last Game: Furman 31 - Coastal Carolina 37

Record: 2-4 (2-1 SoCon)  - Up next - Bye
The Paladins almost pulled off the upset of the season with their new freshman quarterback.  They get the week off to rest, heal and prepare for their trip to meet the South Carolina Gamecocks.

5. (5)  Wofford 
Last Game: Wofford 17 - The Citadel 13

Record: 3-2 (1-0 SoCon) - Up next - at Western Carolina (3-2)                                                                                                                       The Terriers held on to secure their 15 game winning streak over The Citadel last Saturday, and will face another tough battle this week in Cullowhee, where the same type game saving defensive effort by Wofford secured a win for the Terriers last season.  

6. (4)  The Citadel 

Last Game: The Citadel 13 - Wofford 17

Record: 1-4 (0-1 SoCon)  - Up next - Charlotte (3-3)
 The Bulldogs will face the Charlotte 49ers in Charleston after a heartbreaking loss to Wofford last Saturday.  The Bulldogs failed to convert for score in the controversial last play of the game in Spartanburg. Will the loss to their rival dishearten the Dogs, or has it made them mad as hell and want revenge on somebody? 

7. (7)  Mercer 

Last Game: Mercer 18 - Samford  21

Record: 4-2 (1-2 SoCon) - Up next - Austin Peay (0-5) 

                             The Bears continue to surprise skeptics, and really challenged the Samford Bulldogs in last Saturday's game.  The Bears return home this week to play Austin Peay of the Ohio Valley Conference.  

8. (8)  Virginia Military Institute 

Last Game: VMI 7 - Chattanooga 55

Record: 1-5 (0-3 SoCon) - Up next - at Navy (2-4)                                                                                                         The road ahead for the Keydets doesn't get any easier, as they will travel to Navy this week.