The MVFC is a Tough Mother...

[penguinpower]

SIU is a good team that doesn't have as great a record as they could if they were in a different conference.

With the assbeating that UNI put on McNeese I think that UNI has a chance against NDSU. Clearly they are both the best of the best in the MVFC, but the lower tier of the MVFC is still better than many other conference's top teams yet the MVFC will only get 2-3 teams in again this year due to East coast bias.

I'm sure I will take a lot of criticism for this post but wait and see what happens. The out of conference record will be the proof.

[marenlee]

xpopcornxxpopcornxxpopcornx

[mmiller_34]

It's going to be a fun rest of the season. I just hope SDSU can find a way to get to 8 or 9 wins

[taper]

I'm glad we get UNI in Fargo. I'll take any advantage we can get for this one.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

SIU is a good team that doesn't have as great a record as they could if they were in a different conference.

With the assbeating that UNI put on McNeese I think that UNI has a chance against NDSU. Clearly they are both the best of the best in the MVFC, but the lower tier of the MVFC is still better than many other conference's top teams yet the MVFC will only get 2-3 teams in again this year due to East coast bias.

I'm sure I will take a lot of criticism for this post but wait and see what happens. The out of conference record will be the proof.

Oh come off it. Every MVFC with 7 DI wins got into the playoffs (unlike the CAA) and Montana State got a seed they arguably didn't deserve because of how they lucked out with their Big Sky schedule.

And last year after we heard how awesome the MVFC was because Youngstown State beat Pitt and failed to make the playoffs the SoCon was basically the only conference to give any real resistance to NDSU. The MVFC is arguably the best conference so far, but don't get carried away.

[ValleyTalk]

Oh come off it. Every MVFC with 7 DI wins got into the playoffs (unlike the CAA) and Montana State got a seed they arguably didn't deserve because of how they lucked out with their Big Sky schedule.

And last year after we heard how awesome the MVFC was because Youngstown State beat Pitt and failed to make the playoffs the SoCon was basically the only conference to give any real resistance to NDSU. The MVFC is arguably the best conference so far, but don't get carried away.
FALSE. Youngstown State went 7-4, with 7 Division 1 wins, and did not make the playoffs last year.

MVFC is clearly the #1 conference this year.

[Skyhawk71]

If by "lower tier" you mean YSU and SIU, I'll buy they could compete in several conferences for a championship- but they are middle tier, the lower tier is obviously right there with most everybody else;
MVFC is currently 1-4 vs. OVC in OOC- 1 win SIU over 0-4 SEMO; other than the two EIU games, the games where lower tier vs. lower tier-

[taper]

SIU is a good team that doesn't have as great a record as they could if they were in a different conference.

With the assbeating that UNI put on McNeese I think that UNI has a chance against NDSU. Clearly they are both the best of the best in the MVFC, but the lower tier of the MVFC is still better than many other conference's top teams yet the MVFC will only get 2-3 teams in again this year due to East coast bias.

I'm sure I will take a lot of criticism for this post but wait and see what happens. The out of conference record will be the proof.

I don't think this is true anymore. We're getting in every team that should be there. But then, I think the field is too big and 24 lets in too many teams that don't belong.

[Reign of Terrier]

East Coast bias is something hard to pitch nowadays, at least in FCS football. You could definitely make the case that it's prevalent in FBS football but part of that has to do with media exposure.

With that said, I don't think anyone is going to argue that the MVFC isn't the best conference right now.

The only biases the committee seems to have is a money bias and a 7 D1 win bias.

[buffalobill]

I don't think this is true anymore. We're getting in every team that should be there. But then, I think the field is too big and 24 lets in too many teams that don't belong.
24 isn't really any difference than 20 as the top 8 get the bye and no matter the amount there will always be teams that can be argued that they do or do not belong. Usually the more the merrier. A big concern in terms of publicity(even though it is minimal for the FCS playoffs) will be when the FBS begins their system. That may provide some incentive to move up to FBS if it becomes inclusive enough. The next 5 years will bring some clarity and many additional changes on the landscape of college football on the D-1 level.

[NoDak 4 Ever]

FALSE. Youngstown State went 7-4, with 7 Division 1 wins, and did not make the playoffs last year.

MVFC is clearly the #1 conference this year.

Probably but that has as much to do with the other conferences being down than the MVFC being vastly superior.

I don't buy into that SEC bull****.

[LehighU11]

FALSE. Youngstown State went 7-4, with 7 Division 1 wins, and did not make the playoffs last year.

MVFC is clearly the #1 conference this year.

I'm sorry, but if you go 4-4 in your conference and lose to all three playoff teams (NDSU, SDSU, ISU-r) from your conference, you really don't deserve to be there.

[semobison]

I'm sorry, but if you go 4-4 in your conference and lose to all three playoff teams (NDSU, SDSU, ISU-r) from your conference, you really don't deserve to be there.

NDSU went 4-4 in conference games in 2010, made the playoffs where they won 2 games and took the eventual nat. champs to OT in the quarters. Did they deserve to be a playoff team that year?

[ValleyTalk]

Yes we went 0-3 against 3 playoff teams, but we also beat a BCS (conference team. Better change this before Clenz blows a gasket) team by 14. We also won 3 straight to end the season. Of course none of that matters because we went 4-4 in our conference. OK.

[clenz]

You didn't beat a BCS team...

You beat a team that happened to be in a BCS conference...that finished below .500

[taper]

NDSU went 4-4 in conference games in 2010, made the playoffs where they won 2 games and took the eventual nat. champs to OT in the quarters. Did they deserve to be a playoff team that year?

Nope, we didn't. Got hot at the end of year, but looking at the season as a whole we were not a playoff caliber team. I know this isn't going to be a popular post among other Bison fans, but it goes back to what I said earlier about there being too many teams in the playoffs.

[FargoBison]

Nope, we didn't. Got hot at the end of year, but looking at the season as a whole we were not a playoff caliber team. I know this isn't going to be a popular post among other Bison fans, but it goes back to what I said earlier about there being too many teams in the playoffs.

I disagree, 20 is the right number of teams. Now with 24 there are too many.

[semobison]

Nope, we didn't. Got hot at the end of year, but looking at the season as a whole we were not a playoff caliber team. I know this isn't going to be a popular post among other Bison fans, but it goes back to what I said earlier about there being too many teams in the playoffs.

I disagree too. If you win in the playoffs it proves you belong. Says a lot about the strength of the of our conference!

[Twentysix]

I disagree too. If you win in the playoffs it proves you belong. Says a lot about the strength of the of our conference!

Wagner surely proved they belonged last year, also. For every team in there is something like 5 teams left out. It may be a little diluted but that's still pretty fair.

[Lehigh'98]

While I think YSU has improved this year, there seems to be very little separation in MVFC and CAA this yr top to bottom. OVC is vastly improved as well.

[Ronin]

I don't think this is true anymore. We're getting in every team that should be there. But then, I think the field is too big and 24 lets in too many teams that don't belong.

I agree the field for the playoffs is too big. IMO the Pioneer conference s/ move to DIII.

[Ronin]

I'm glad we get UNI in Fargo. I'll take any advantage we can get for this one.

We might have a chance at home, but NDSU on the road... can't think of any way to take those fans out of the game. I suspect if we were up by 23 at half the NDSU fans will still be loud and have an effect on the game.

[LehighU11]

My point was that if you are unable to have a winning conference record, and go 0-3 against the top three teams in your conference, you've already been given enough opportunities to show your worth and failed to do so.

I think the field has now gotten too large with 24 and hope that doesn't result in situations where 6 teams from the same conference (such as the CAA) make it in.

[NoDak 4 Ever]

We might have a chance at home, but NDSU on the road... can't think of any way to take those fans out of the game. I suspect if we were up by 23 at half the NDSU fans will still be loud and have an effect on the game.

I'll tell you what. I'm pretty sure the home fans were trying to be pretty loud yesterday at SDSU but I didn't hear it at all.

[penguinpower]

TSN seems to think that the MVFC is not that strong. They are squeaking the wheel early so that they can influence some of the less informed voters. The people on this board collectively know a far more that the Dilberts writing for TSN.

Why do they also refer to the CAA as CAA football? Why don't they write MVFC football?

[Houndawg]

I disagree too. If you win in the playoffs it proves you belong. Says a lot about the strength of the of our conference!

And a lot about attendance and bids too.

[ValleyTalk]

TSN seems to think that the MVFC is not that strong. They are squeaking the wheel early so that they can influence some of the less informed voters. The people on this board collectively know a far more that the Dilberts writing for TSN.

Why do they also refer to the CAA as CAA football? Why don't they write MVFC football?
Best way to shut them up... Win. Two straight titles is nice, but clearly it is not enough. Got to load up the top 25 poll with 4-5 teams and have some nice playoff wins. Until then, it's all about the CAA.

[penguinpower]

NdSU and UNI are probably the best 2 teams in the country PERIOD.

[penguinpower]

SDSU ISN'T as bad as what happened to them in comparison to other conferences. They are still very good and belong in th top 10 but they just played a team in ndsu that is in their own class with UNI.

[Lehigh'98]

NdSU and UNI are probably the best 2 teams in the country PERIOD.

I would say Towson, EIU & SHSU have a legitimate claim to #2 ranking at this point along with UNI. Last year is out the window at this point and all 4 of these teams look pretty damn good right now. I know Towson had a tough game against Stony Brook, but I think that is a quality win.

[NoDak 4 Ever]

I would say Towson, EIU & SHSU have a legitimate claim to #2 ranking at this point along with UNI. Last year is out the window at this point and all 4 of these teams look pretty damn good right now. I know Towson had a tough game against Stony Brook, but I think that is a quality win.

Too bad you picked the worst of the 3 examples. Stony Brook not in the top 25 and 14 pt win is not better than the curbstomping UNI put on #10 McNeese.

[penguinpower]

Too bad you picked the worst of the 3 examples. Stony Brook not in the top 25 and 14 pt win is not better than the curbstomping UNI put on #10 McNeese.

Curbstomping lol! That made me laugh out loud. Where the he'll did you come up with that? Funny.

[sgt smash]

American History X

[frozennorth]

Oh come off it. Every MVFC with 7 DI wins got into the playoffs (unlike the CAA) and Montana State got a seed they arguably didn't deserve because of how they lucked out with their Big Sky schedule.

And last year after we heard how awesome the MVFC was because Youngstown State beat Pitt and failed to make the playoffs the SoCon was basically the only conference to give any real resistance to NDSU. The MVFC is arguably the best conference so far, but don't get carried away.
note that GSU and wofford played NDSU to the say type of scores that basically every conference team except USD and YSU did.


33-21
14-17
23-17
21-17
20-17
14-7
23-20


those all look like pretty comparable scores.

[NoDak 4 Ever]

American History X

Yep. It's about the most violent thing I could ever think of.

[penguinpower]

American History X

The use of words to compare. I got it

[Lehigh'98]

Too bad you picked the worst of the 3 examples. Stony Brook not in the top 25 and 14 pt win is not better than the curbstomping UNI put on #10 McNeese.

The only reason I picked them is because EiU and SHSU looked like curbstompers themselves. Towson's body of work is comparable to UNI. IMO, there is very little separation btw the 4 of them.

[clenz]

Too bad you picked the worst of the 3 examples. Stony Brook not in the top 25 and 14 pt win is not better than the curbstomping UNI put on #10 McNeese.

Towson was only up 7 with about 2 minutes left and SBU was at mid field driving, but Towson returned a fumble for a td....

Towson also trailed in the 4th. Needed a furious comeback

Sent from a, likely, NSA tracked device

[Nova09]

TSN seems to think that the MVFC is not that strong. They are squeaking the wheel early so that they can influence some of the less informed voters. The people on this board collectively know a far more that the Dilberts writing for TSN.

Why do they also refer to the CAA as CAA football? Why don't they write MVFC football?

I don't know anything about TSN so I don't know what you're referencing and I'm not defending them, but my guess is they don't specify football after MVFC because it would be redundant--that's what the F already stands for. In contrast, CAA and CAA Football are 2 different conferences, so they are specifying that they are referring to the football conference.

[Texas]

Too bad you picked the worst of the 3 examples. Stony Brook not in the top 25 and 14 pt win is not better than the curbstomping UNI put on #10 McNeese.

Let's get real here. McNeese should not have been #10. They have one "decent" win against a terrible FBS team who still hasn't won a game. They struggle with a DII team to the wire.

Sent from my Nexus 4

[penguinpower]

I don't know anything about TSN so I don't know what you're referencing and I'm not defending them, but my guess is they don't specify football after MVFC because it would be redundant--that's what the F already stands for. In contrast, CAA and CAA Football are 2 different conferences, so they are specifying that they are referring to the football conference.

TSN actually refers to it as the Missouri Valley, which is also two different conferences. They don't differentiate like they do the CAA.

[Nova09]

TSN actually refers to it as the Missouri Valley, which is also two different conferences. They don't differentiate like they do the CAA.

Gotchya, thought from your first post (and not reading TSN) that they just use the acronym "MVFC" and you wanted football added to the end of it.

[Twentysix]

FCS Sagarin
---------------
1 29 North Dakota State AA = 78.71 4 0
2 51 Northern Iowa AA = 74.87 4 0
13 107 Youngstown State AA = 61.34 4 1
14 111 Southern Illinois AA = 60.38 2 3
20 127 South Dakota State AA = 59.00 3 2
35 149 Missouri State AA = 54.20 1 4
38 155 Indiana State AA = 53.01 1 3
40 159 Western Illinois AA = 52.14 3 2
56 181 South Dakota AA = 48.13 1 3
62 188 Illinois State AA = 46.35 1 3

[IBleedYellow]

Holy...

That's all I have to say about that!

[DoubleH]

Best way to shut them up... Win. Two straight titles is nice, but clearly it is not enough. Got to load up the top 25 poll with 4-5 teams and have some nice playoff wins. Until then, it's all about the CAA.

I don't get this supposed CAA bias. Last year the CAA only got 3 teams in, same # as MVFC. Your issue with YSU not getting a bid could easily be applied to Towson.

[DoubleH]

Too bad you picked the worst of the 3 examples. Stony Brook not in the top 25 and 14 pt win is not better than the curbstomping UNI put on #10 McNeese.

Stony Brook is much better than their record indicates; I say that as someone who watches them quite a bit. Plus, we've played 4 of 5 on the road, and were down 14-0 about 6 minutes into the game (SB scored on opening drive, and then Towson's first pass attempt was tipped at the line and intercepted at our own 5, and they punched it in from there). Outscoring a quality opponent on the road 35-7 the rest of the way, and holding them scoreless in the second half, gives a little more insight into what might look like a closer win that it maybe should have been.

Not downplaying UNI's win, which was very impressive. Just sayin'.

[NoDak 4 Ever]

Stony Brook is much better than their record indicates; I say that as someone who watches them quite a bit. Plus, we've played 4 of 5 on the road, and were down 14-0 about 6 minutes into the game (SB scored on opening drive, and then Towson's first pass attempt was tipped at the line and intercepted at our own 5, and they punched it in from there). Outscoring a quality opponent on the road 35-7 the rest of the way, and holding them scoreless in the second half, gives a little more insight into what might look like a closer win that it maybe should have been.

Not downplaying UNI's win, which was very impressive. Just sayin'.

I personally don't really see any league going more than 2 or 3 deep. I'm unconvinced of Youngstown and SIU. Unfortunately all we'll see now is conference games so it's impossible to compare especially with the cupcake schedules most teams try to get in OOC.

[Bisonwinagn]

I think the MVFC is down from last year as a whole. NDSU and UNI are better but the rest are the same or not as good. Most of this is due to teams losing some quality players to graduation last year. Although this may be a good thing for playoff selection as top heavy conferences will get more teams in.

[ST_Lawson]

I think the MVFC is down from last year as a whole. NDSU and UNI are better but the rest are the same or not as good. Most of this is due to teams losing some quality players to graduation last year. Although this may be a good thing for playoff selection as top heavy conferences will get more teams in.

Western is definitely better as well. It doesn't take much to improve from the worst offense in the FCS.
We're not great...not by a long shot...but we're a solid step up from last year.

[Bisonator]

I think the MVFC is down from last year as a whole. NDSU and UNI are better but the rest are the same or not as good. Most of this is due to teams losing some quality players to graduation last year. Although this may be a good thing for playoff selection as top heavy conferences will get more teams in.

I don't know about this. Sure ISUr and ISUb seem down from last year but WIU, MSU, YSU, SIU seem somewhat improved. The records may not show it. SDSU seems about the same to me. USD the same as well, bad!

[KUlawJack]

I don't know about this. Sure ISUr and ISUb seem down from last year but WIU, MSU, YSU, SIU seem somewhat improved. The records may not show it. SDSU seems about the same to me. USD the same as well, bad!

USD's defense is light years better than last year. But again, they were awful last year and couldn't have been worse.

[Bisonator]

USD's defense is light years better than last year. But again, they were awful last year and couldn't have been worse.

I haven't watched any of their games. But yeah it wouldn't take much to be better I guess, it's all relative! xlolx