Lots of links to get to today. Let’s get to them:

BALL STATE LINKS

—Ball State linebacker Davyd Jones has high expectations for this season, the Ball State Daily News’ Teddy Cahill writes.

—Ball State coach Stan Parrish said the Cardinals must play better and faster against Liberty Saturday, Cahill writes.

—The Cardinals’ special teams units are special, the News-Sentinel’s Tom Davis writes.

—Ball State knows better than to overlook Liberty, the Muncie Star-Press’ Doug Zaleski writes.

AROUND THE BIG SOUTH

—Coastal Carolina’s Dominique Davenport is on pace to finish as one of the Chanticleers’ all-time leading tacklers, the Myrtle Beach Sun News’ Ryan Young writes. In the same notebook, Young notes that QB Zach MacDowall is dealing with a groin injury, and that Aramis Hillary has been working with the first team in practice this week. Also, fullback Racheed Gause has been cleared to play this season.

—Presbyterian’s trick play against Wake Forest has garnered national attention, Young writes.

—Coastal Carolina was encouraged by its defensive effort at West Virginia, Young writes.

—Gardner-Webb will face a much stiffer challenge this week when it heads to Akron, the Shelby Star’s Alan Ford writes.

NATIONAL/REGIONAL FCS NEWS

—A couple of FCS over FBS upsets don’t make the other games minor, The Sports Network’s Craig Haley writes.

—The end is near for the Great West Conference, Mick Garry of the Argus Leader writes.

—The Big Sky needed to make a statement during this time of realignment, Donovan Aird of the San Luis Obispo Tribune writes.

—Cal Poly has finally found a football home, Joshua D. Scroggin of the SLO Tribune wrote.

—North Dakota was left in limbo, Wayne Nelson of the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead wrote.

—Eastern Washington officials reacted favorably to the expansion move, The Spokesman Review’s Steve Bergum writes.

—The football-only members are a first for the Big Sky, the Missoulian’s Fritz Neighbor wrote.

—Quick take on the whole Big Sky situation. This is going to be interesting to watch going forward, especially to see what happens with the Summit and Missouri Valley Leagues. The Summit doesn’t sponsor football, and three Summit members are football-only members of the Missouri Valley (South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Western Illinois). What happens if the Summit does start football? That leaves those three, along with Southern Utah, as the only football members of that conference. North Dakota and South Dakota are kind of stuck in limbo, and I’m not sure the Big Sky wants to add one without the other. Is there a chance we could see some sort of Summit-Missouri Valley merger for football? That would give you a 12-team league with SDSU, NDSU, WIU, SUU, North Dakota, South Dakota, Northern Iowa, Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, Southern Illinois and Youngstown State.

YSU is the only other football-only MVC member, as it plays all sports in the Horizon League. There’s been a ton of talk in the past about Youngstown possibly going to the MAC, and the MAC is a 13-team league, so adding a 14th seemingly wouldn’t be an issue. But YSU would have to commit to moving to FBS first.

The Big Sky has nine full-sports members, but with the rampant talk of the WAC trying to add the Montana schools and/or Portland State and Sacramento State, this was a major offensive move for the Big Sky to at least keep it solid in football.

The other interesting league to watch, of course, is the CAA. Rhode Island is exploring the possibility of moving into the Northeast Conference starting in 2012, which would leave the CAA at 11 football members once Georgia State and Old Dominion move up. My gut feeling is that Georgia State won’t be in the FCS long. It’s a big school with big aspirations, and it certainly fits in the Sun Belt’s geographic footprint in the future.

More than half of the current CAA football membership is comprised of football-only members—Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Richmond (Atlantic 10), New Hampshire and Maine (America East) and Villanova (Big East). Could Villanova move up to FBS? There’s been some talk of that. Would UMass, UNH and Maine want to stick around in the CAA if URI bolts? Probably, seeing as America East football seems to not be an option at this point. Will the Big South add more football members? Kennesaw State and Charlotte are popular names in that regard.

Certainly, this situation across the country will be fascinating to watch in the next year or so.

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Moving on ...

—James Madison’s Justin Thorpe will be out for 6-8 weeks with a knee injury, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Also in this notebook, news on William & Mary, which hosts VMI this week.

—Arizona State is not overlooking its game against Northern Arizona, the Arizona Republic’s Doug Haller wrote. That seems to be a theme among the news feeds of FBS teams playing FCS teams last week. Jacksonville State’s comeback win at Mississippi has everyone in the Bowl Subdivision on high alert.

—It’s rarely been this good to be a Jacksonville State Gamecock, the Anniston Star opines.

—Pittsburgh is focused for its game against New Hampshire, the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat’s Dan Grdnic writes. Interesting matchup here. Pitt is 8-0 against FCS teams under Dave Wannstedt. UNH has won its last five games against FBS teams. Something’s gotta give, as they say.