2016 Southland Conference football standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 5 Sam Houston State $^		9	–	0					12	–	1
No. 14 Central Arkansas ^		8	–	1					10	–	3
SE Louisiana		7	–	2					7	–	4
McNeese State		5	–	4					6	–	5
Nicholls State		5	–	4					5	–	6
Stephen F. Austin		4	–	5					5	–	6
Houston Baptist		3	–	5					4	–	7
Incarnate Word *		3	–	6					3	–	8
Lamar		3	–	6					3	–	8
Abilene Christian *		2	–	7					2	–	9
Northwestern State		0	–	9					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * – ineligible for FCS playoffs due to transition from NCAA Division II Rankings from STATS poll

The 2016 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by third-year head coach K. C. Keeler and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 12–1 overall and 9–0 in Southland play to win the Southland Conference title. They went undefeated during the regular season with a record of 11–0. They received the Southland's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Chattanooga the second round, only to lose in the quarterfinals to James Madison.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	6:00 pm	Oklahoma Panhandle State*	No. 2	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	W 59–21	8,609
September 17	7:00 pm	at Lamar	No. 3	Provost Umphrey Stadium Beaumont, TX	ESPN3	W 44–31	8,343
September 24	7:00 pm	at Houston Baptist	No. 2	Husky Stadium Houston, TX	FCS	W 52–16	3,134
October 1	3:00 pm	vs. Stephen F. Austin	No. 2	NRG Stadium Houston, TX (Battle of the Piney Woods)	ESPN3	W 63–28	27,411
October 8	6:00 pm	at Incarnate Word	No. 2	Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium San Antonio, TX	ESPN3/UIWtv	W 63–48	5,322
October 15	3:00 pm	Abilene Christian	No. 2	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	W 48–21	8,314
October 22	3:00 pm	at Nicholls State	No. 1	Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA	ASN	W 38–21	7,759
October 29	6:00 pm	Texas Southern*	No. 1	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	W 66–17	8,611
November 5	6:00 pm	McNeese State	No. 1	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	W 56–43	8,025
November 12	6:00 pm	at Northwestern State	No. 1	Harry Turpin Stadium Natchitoches, LA	ESPN3	W 48–16	6,421
November 19	2:30 pm	No. 11 Central Arkansas	No. 1	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	W 59–23	9,182
December 3	2:00 pm	No. 11 Chattanooga*	No. 1	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	W 41–36	4,897
December 9	6:00 pm	at No. 5 James Madison*	No. 1	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN2	L 7–65	15,646
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

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Oklahoma Panhandle State at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total Aggies 14 0 0 7 21 • #2 Bearkats 21 17 7 14 59 Date: September 3 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:30 Game attendance: 8,609 Game weather: 89 °F (32 °C) • Wind NE 4 mph (6.4 km/h) • Mostly cloudy, warm Referee: Ross Smith Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

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Sam Houston State at Lamar

1 2 3 4 Total • #3 Bearkats 14 16 7 7 44 Cardinals 3 0 14 14 31 Date: September 17 Location: Provost Umphrey Stadium Beaumont, TX Game start: 7:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:40 Game attendance: 8,343 Game weather: 92 °F (33 °C) • Hot and humid Referee: Marvel July Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

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Sam Houston State at Houston Baptist

1 2 3 4 Total • #2 Bearkats 21 10 7 14 52 Huskies 0 6 10 0 16 Date: September 24 Location: Husky Stadium Houston, TX Game start: 7:00 pm CDT Elapsed time: 3:26 Game attendance: 3,134 Game weather: 85 °F (29 °C) • Wind ESE 6 mph (9.7 km/h) • Mostly cloudy Referee: Ross Smith Television network: FCS Sources:[2]

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Battle of the Piney Woods

1 2 3 4 Total • #2 Bearkats 28 14 21 0 63 Lumberjacks 0 7 14 7 28 Date: October 1 Location: NRG Stadium Houston, TX Game start: 3:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:35 Game attendance: 27,411 Game weather: Indoors • 79 °F (26 °C) outside • Calm wind Referee: Michael VanderVelde Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

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Sam Houston State at Incarnate Word

1 2 3 4 Total • #2 Bearkats 21 14 21 7 63 Cardinals 7 14 14 13 48 Date: October 8 Location: Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium San Antonio, TX Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:30 Game attendance: 5,322 Game weather: 78 °F (26 °C) • Wind 9 mph (14 km/h) • Mostly Sunny Referee: Dan Lewis Television network: ESPN3, UIWtv Sources: Box Score

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Abilene Christian at Sam Houston State (homecoming)

1 2 3 4 Total Wildcats 0 0 7 14 21 • #2 Bearkats 7 20 21 0 48 Date: October 15 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 3:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:32 Game attendance: 8,319 Game weather: 88 °F (31 °C) • Wind S 9 mph (14 km/h) • Sunny Referee: Kevin Boutmann Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

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Sam Houston State at Nicholls

1 2 3 4 Total • #1 Bearkats 10 14 7 7 38 Colonels 0 0 14 7 21 Date: October 22 Location: John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA Game start: 3:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 2:09 Game attendance: 7,759 Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C) • Slight wind • Nice Referee: Michael VanderVelde Television network: ASN Sources:

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Texas Southern at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total Tigers 0 10 0 7 17 • #1 Bearkats 28 17 14 7 66 Date: October 29 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:27 Game attendance: 8,611 Game weather: 84 °F (29 °C) • Wind SSE 6 mph (9.7 km/h) • Clear Referee: Vidal Jones Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

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McNeese State at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 0 9 21 13 43 • #1 Bearkats 14 14 21 7 56 Date: November 5 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 6:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:28 Game attendance: 8,025 Game weather: 68 °F (20 °C) • Wind N 4 mph (6.4 km/h) • Overcast Referee: Marvel July Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

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Sam Houston State at Northwestern State

1 2 3 4 Total • #1 Bearkats 20 21 0 7 48 Demons 13 0 3 0 16 Date: November 12 Location: Harry Turpin Stadium Natchitoches, LA Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:16 Game attendance: 6,421 Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C) • Wind SSE 7 mph (11 km/h) • Calm and cool Referee: Ross Smith Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

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Central Arkansas at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total #11 Bears 0 10 6 7 23 • #1 Bearkats 17 21 14 7 59 Date: November 19 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 2:30 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:42 Game attendance: 9,182 Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C) • Wind N 7 mph (11 km/h) • Sunny and clear Referee: Brad Van Vark Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

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Chattanooga at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total #11 Mocs 0 14 10 12 36 • #1 Bearkats 14 7 14 6 41 Date: December 3 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 2:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:22 Game attendance: 4,897 Game weather: 49 °F (9 °C) • Wind NE 8 mph (13 km/h) • Overcast and drizzly Referee: Chris La Mange Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

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Sam Houston State at James Madison

1 2 3 4 Total #1 Bearkats 0 0 0 7 7 • #5 Dukes 21 21 23 0 65 Date: December 9 Location: Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA Game start: 6:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:25 Game attendance: 15,646 Game weather: 26 °F (−3 °C) • Wind 5 mph (8.0 km/h) • Clear and light wind Referee: Jim Crowley Television network: ESPN2 Sources:

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	2	4	3	2	2	2	2	1 (113)	1 (120)	1 (102)	1 (113)	1 (108)	1 (111)	5
Coaches	2	3–T	3	2	2	2	2	1 (21)	1 (23)	1 (22)	1 (22)	1 (21)	1 (22)	5
FCS Playoffs	Not released									2	5	5	Not released