No playoffs in 2020?

[Sader87]

It seems like many schools, as of now anyway, are planning on earlier starts (mid August) and earlier finishes (Thanksgiving) for their Fall semester schedules.

Will this put a kibosh on the playoffs you think?

Very fluid situation, I know.

[Laker]

Unless there is a major uptick, I think that they can have playoffs. Maybe they will change the format- 16 teams, 8 teams, 4 teams- who knows? It depends on what part of the country you live in as to how much lockdown you feel is needed. The governor of Minnesota has just extended his emergency powers for another month. Amateur baseball teams are saying we are playing anyway. The longer this goes on the more people are going to say "enough".

[X-Factor]

I sure hope not! It would be a travesty if another trophy doesn’t end up in our display.

All kidding aside, I see no reason to forgo playoffs. Maybe without fans I’d understand, but to not play the game would be a mistake and do far more harm on psyche than otherwise. The intent of a Lockdown is to get the system caught up and people acclimated with a new “normal” of physical distancing. It was important to do in March, but now serves little purpose going forward and won’t be used as a virus mitigator as long as the healthcare system can handle the case load, which seems likely if people respect distancing suggestions.

[WestCoastAggie]

It’ll depend on how the second spike will be and whether or states allow their schools to play football past Thanksgiving weekend.

[Gil Dobie]

IIRC the semi-final round of the playoffs has often been graduation for NDSU. Players graduate and head to the football field. They will probably play, with fans, with a few fans or with no fans, I think they will have playoffs.

[Redbird 4th & short]

I 100% support the current playoff format with 24 teams .. to me it is perfect for FCS. But given circumstances, I would not be opposed to a Plan B modified playoff format being put in place in advance of this fall, just in case Covid-19 still threatening to escalate again.

Here are the most logical Plan B options .. all assume we can NOT change the Jan 9th, 2021 champonship date .. though maybe they could or perhaps would be forced to ??

Plan A:

- 24 teams .. 5 rounds, current format plan should be planned for, but with contingency planning for below optiions:

Plan B options:

- 16 teams .. 4 rounds, still seed top 8, skip the playin round on Thanksgiving weekend. I can see this possibly becoming Plan A sooner than later.

- 12 teams .. 8 teams playing into top 4 seeds, so still 4 rounds. May want to seed all 12, so 1 seed plays winner of 8 v 9, etc .. though finances would probably dictate regional pairings for playin games.

- 8 teams .. 3 rounds, whether to have 4 or 8 seeds would be debated; if just 4 seeds, then we get regional pairings in round of 8; this creates extra bye week between quarters and semis

- 4 teams .. worst case scenario before canceling playoffs; might have to reschedule championship to before Christmas.

Lack of fans might force Frisco game to be canceled .. so that is also major wild card. Tough decisions at this point in terms of where to play and if you let top seed host.

But Plan B contingencies should be put in place and announced prior to start of season or at least early into season .. whatever Plan B's they decide. Can't do this late in season, because you don't want any consideration for who might be seeded/hosting, etc to affect Plan B format and seeding decisions.

[SFA 93]

If your program has a post season ban, this is the season to have it.

[skinny_uncle]

I'm still not sure there will even be a season.

[Redbird 4th & short]

I 100% support the current playoff format with 24 teams .. to me it is perfect for FCS. But given circumstances, I would not be opposed to a Plan B modified playoff format being put in place in advance of this fall, just in case Covid-19 still threatening to escalate again.

Here are the most logical Plan B options .. all assume we can NOT change the Jan 9th, 2021 champonship date .. though maybe they could or perhaps would be forced to ??

Plan A:

- 24 teams .. 5 rounds, current format plan should be planned for, but with contingency planning for below optiions:

Plan B options:

- 16 teams .. 4 rounds, still seed top 8, skip the playin round on Thanksgiving weekend. I can see this possibly becoming Plan A sooner than later.

- 12 teams .. 8 teams playing into top 4 seeds, so still 4 rounds. May want to seed all 12, so 1 seed plays winner of 8 v 9, etc .. though finances would probably dictate regional pairings for playin games.

- 8 teams .. 3 rounds, whether to have 4 or 8 seeds would be debated; if just 4 seeds, then we get regional pairings in round of 8; this creates extra bye week between quarters and semis

- 4 teams .. worst case scenario before canceling playoffs; might have to reschedule championship to before Christmas.

Lack of fans might force Frisco game to be canceled .. so that is also major wild card. Tough decisions at this point in terms of where to play and if you let top seed host.

But Plan B contingencies should be put in place and announced prior to start of season or at least early into season .. whatever Plan B's they decide. Can't do this late in season, because you don't want any consideration for who might be seeded/hosting, etc to affect Plan B format and seeding decisions.

i forgot to address autobids .... because that gets very complicated. But at 16 teams, they might have to eliminate or reduce autobids. Anything below 16 teams, they better eliminate autobids or be prepared for onslaught of complaints.

[lionsrking2]

There will be 24 teams or zero.

[Anthony215]

I believe there will be a playoff this year and it'll be a standard 24 teams with emphasis being placed on keeping teams as close to home as possible. This will one of the rare years where it'll be as close to an even split of geographical matchups as it's ever been. We may see teams who have already played one another in conference play, matchup in the first round.

[Redbird 4th & short]

There will be 24 teams or zero.
You're probably right. I should have said, my options presume we complete the season with no escalation of cases heading into winter. And I'm not even betting on that happening as I think there is less than 50/50 chance of finishing regular season. But if we do, i can see a modified playoff being debated. I just think they should have that structure debated this summer before season starts.

So if we get thru regular season and case counts are not escalating heading into December, I can see things get nuanced into limiting the exposure during playoffs/winter ... less teams and more bye weeks during playoffs. We will also be contending with normal flu, but it will scare the sh-t out of people more than normal.

I would put better odds on FBS doing their BCS final 4 .. TV money is too great. Bowl Games ... who knows, I tend to think that will be complete clusterf--- debate ... just way to many variables. FCS would be easier on that point alone, since all games are hosted until Frisco. But there's a lot less revenue to support doing FCS playoffs, if there are any doubts. Schools will have to eat losses on their bids .. so bids will be lower.

Ok, I just talked myself out of it .... xrolleyesx xdrunkyx

[JayJ79]

i forgot to address autobids .... because that gets very complicated. But at 16 teams, they might have to eliminate or reduce autobids. Anything below 16 teams, they better eliminate autobids or be prepared for onslaught of complaints.

can't have a NCAA tournament without autobids.

[NY Crusader 2010]

Any NCAA-run postseason championship would:

1) Have auto-bids for all conferences that wish to participate and qualify for such
2) Have a number of at-large entrants = to or > than the number of auto-bids

[walliver]

Maybe the NCAA could jsut save time and schedule NDSU and JMU and call it a playoff.

The FCS playoffs lose money as it is and will likely lose a lot more this year than usual. Even before COVID, there was a lot of social distancing for first round games. With the cancellation of the NCAA's primary source of income, March Madness, cost cutting is at hand. There is also no guarantee of basketball season this year. If COVID behaves like other respiratory viruses packed arenas in cold weather may not be the place to be.

[WileECoyote06]

Fans should probably just enjoy their conference games and regular season. I can't imagine the NC-2-Ayee wants to send 2000+ vectors around the country, multiple times in 'flu' season.

But if they do allow the playoffs, then like mentioned earlier; expect the entire field to be completely regionalized. Maybe even a D2-style tournament.