BUBBLE TEAMS "RESUMES"

[MUHAWKS]

In no order whatsoever- Just a list of general consensus bubble teams WITH RECORD, FCS WINS AND SAGARIN AND MASSEY

BUT FIRST- Below list assumes the 11 AQ plus the following teams are 100% in:

1. MONTANA
2. MONTANA STATE
3. JMU
4. EWU
5. UC DAVIS
6. SOUTH DAKOTA
7. SDSU
8. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
9. MISSOURI STATE

which leaves the following 8 TEAMS for 4 spots (SR= SAGARIN, MSY= MASSEY)- All ratings not including today's games

1. MERCER --- 7-3 WITH 6 FCS WINS SR= 145, MSY= 28 (LOST LAST GAME)
2. SE LOUISIANA -- 8-3 WITH 8 FCS WINS SR= 121, MSY = 17 (LOST LAST GAME)
3. URI --- 7-4 WITH 7 FCS WINS SR= 178, MSY = 43 (LOST LAST GAME)
4. MONMOUTH -- 7-4 WITH 7 FCS WINS SR= 142, MSY = 33 (LOST LAST GAME)
5. SFA --- 8-3 WITH 7 FCS WINS SR = 132, MSY= 27 (WON LAST GAME)
6. NORTHERN IOWA -- 6-5 WITH 6 FCS WINS SR= 101, MSY = 8 (WON LAST GAME)
7. EKU-- 7-4 WITH 7 FCS WINS SR= 152, MSY = 38 (WON LAST GAME)
8. FLORIDA A&M-- 9-2 WITH 8 FCS WINS SR= 175, MSY = 65 (WON LAST GAME)

IN ORDER OF LOWEST (BEST) SAGARIN:

1. NORTHERN IOWA (101)
2. SE LOUISIANA (121)
3. SFA (132)
4. MONMOUTH (142)
5. MERCER (145)
6. EKU (152)
7. FLORIDA A&M (175)
8. URI (178)

-------------------------------------------

IN ORDER OF LOWEST (BEST) MASSEY

1. NORTHERN IOWA (8)
2. SE LOUISIANA (17)
3. SFA (27)
4. MERCER (28)
5. MONMOUTH (33)
6. EKU (38)
7. URI (43)
8. FLORIDA A&M (65)

SOS (USING MASSEY- IN ORDER OF HARDEST TO EASIEST)

1. NORTHEN IOWA (3)
2. EKU (33)
3. SE LOUISIANA (51)
4 URI (58)
5. MERCER (63)
6. MONMOUTH (66)
7. SFA (80)
8 FLORIDA A&M (111)


Obviously the committee has other stuff to look at and their own opinions, plus "good wins" "bad losses" all that stuff. With that said I think for 4 spots it is clear that even @ 6-5 Northern Iowa should be in.


After that I am thinking SE Lousiana.

The next 2 become hard so I will eliminate Florida A&M b/c they have no right based on anything above, leaving 5 teams for 2 spots. I think URI has a weak argument. I think Mercer and Monmouth are very similar. Not sure about EKU- I am thinking SFA gets the 3rd spot which leaves 1.

Bubble teams in- Northern Iowa, SE Louisiana and SFA.

One spot remains for- URI, Monmouth, Mercer, EKU- It is VERY close and with EKU being the only team of this bunch to win the last game, their "stats" may rise a bit. It seems Mercer is a buzzword as well. Total crapshoot for the last spot but Mercer only had 6 FCS wins, none of them really being very good although one could say Chattanooga was decent. They got rolled by VMI and the rest of their wins were pedestrian against average to below average comp. Good shwoing against ETSU. Monmouth had no good wins but has some blowouts of teams and won in similar or better fashion than Kennesaw did against them. They had 2 blowout losses but both to playoff teams and their other FCS loss was by 3 pts to a ranked team. All D-1 schedule. URI I just cannot see with ratings so low and some pretty big losses and wins over Bryant, Albany and Brown. Eastern Kentucky barely beat some pretty bad teams but is right there as well. Man I really do not see a hell of a lot of difference here. My heart says Monmouth, but my head says Mercer.

[katss07]

Thanks for putting this together, really nice work. I too would imagine SFA, Southeastern and UNI are near locks to be in. Funny how before today two of those three needed serious help to have a shot (big wins, Mercer, URI, Monmouth losses) and everything fell their way.

My guess for last 4 would be SFA/SLU/UNI/EKU

[Professor Chaos]

Great breakdown! Give me SLU, SFA, Mercer, and UNI in that order for the last 4 spots. I'm more than likely wrong vs what the committee will do but I feel like I could make a pretty good argument for any of them vs a team that's left out. FWIW FAMU would be my first team out.

[Chalupa Batman]

Yes, excellent breakdown! As the other two said, I think SLU, SFA, & UNI are pretty solidly in at this point. Unfortunately for you I think Monmouth is behind both EKU & Mercer for the final spot. I went with EKU but could easily see Mercer in that spot instead.

[TSUsupporter]

Interesting that you've broken all of this down by rating, when you know those ratings will dramatically change with all of the outcomes of yesterday's games. But I'll play


Mercer had a "very good loss" vs ETSU, and is definitely deserving of a spot. But that HORRIBLE loss to VMI sticks out like a sore thumb. They don't have a good win to cancel out that bad loss. But I think the "competitive loss" today vs ETSU came at the right time. - IN

SE Louisiana faltered today vs a decent Nicholls team, but only has 2 FCS losses by a total of 6 points - IN

Rhode Island, in my opinion, played themselves OUT of the conversation yesterday. Their best win of the year is against UMass, who, despite being a FBS school, would be at the bottom of just about FCS conference. Beating a decent Elon team would've been their best win of the year, and they didn't even come close. They're OUT

Monmouth also had a chance to play themselves in. Win and they're in. Their 3 losses are against very good FCS teams. But they got blasted in 2 of them. - OUT
Stephen F Austin is more than solid. A 1 pt loss to the current national champs. A 4 pt loss at Jax State, even though they're down this season. And only lost by 6 to Texas Tech - IN

Should Northern Iowa be rewarded for being mediocre in the best FCS conference. That's the question the committee has to ask themselves. Yes, they have the "great loss" vs Iowa St, and the huge win vs Sac State. But they went 4 - 4 in the MVFC and have a bad loss vs Illinois St. They would be the 6th team from the MVC to get in. It would be like rewarding Tennessee with a New Year's Six bowl game . . at 6 -5, just because they played in the tough SEC. - OUT

Eastern Kentucky, due to their loss to SFA, pretty much knocks them out. The ASUN/WAC isn't getting 3 teams in. - OUT

FAMU boasts the most FCS wins of the group ( 9 ). They play in the weakest conference ( SWAC ). Only FCS loss was a 1 pt loss vs Jackson State, the best defensive team in FCS. They have no great wins, but also no bad losses. This may be a situation in which the committee looks at the attractiveness of FAMU's fan base as the tiebreaker of those last bubble teams. If I'm Kennesaw State, I would probably rather play FAMU from a football AND financial standpoint. The FAMU fan base is HEAVY in the Atlanta area, and would come out to support the Rattlers in Kennesaw. - IN



So your final 4 At-Large teams are:



SELA
Mercer
SF Austin
FAMU

[lionsrking2]

I don't think it's clear that UNI should be in. If we're placing bets on matchups involving UNI and other bubble teams, I'm sure the majority of money would flow towards UNI, but they are 6-5 and 4-4, in a league that has 5 teams already penciled in ahead of them. No question they have some good wins, but they have four FCS losses, including a bad one, and had a chance to separate themselves but lost to South Dakota and Illinois State. At some point we have to reward winning, not just the fact you play in a tough league. They got in at 6-5 in 2018 but they were 5-3 in their league and commenced to almost losing in the first round at home to a very average Lamar team making their first ever playoff appearance. They got bumped the next week by UC-Davis. I just don't think 6-5 cuts it unless a team had injuries early, but got healthy and challenged for a top two or three spot in their league. UNI is squarely 6th in the Valley. This is the NCAA playoffs, not the Valley Invitational.

[MVFCBeat]

You give UNI's schedule (which includes Iowa State, five playoff teams in their league (3 on the road), and another seeded playoff team on the road in the noncon) to Mercer, FAMU, Monmouth, Eastern Kentucky, SFA or Rhode Island and I highly doubt any of them go 6-5. Maybe Southeastern.

You say "at some point we should reward winning". UNI has 6 FCS wins. Rhode Island has 6. Mercer has 6. EKU has 7. Monmouth has 7. SFA has 7. The only two who have significantly more in quantity are FAMU and Southeastern who have 8, and FAMU has the worst SOS of the bunch. All played substantially weaker schedules. Conferences don't get bids, teams do. It shouldn't matter how many teams in their league have already made it.

UNI played six playoff teams (and a a Big 12 team) and beat three of them. Southeastern played one and lost. FAMU played none, one if you consider Jackson State a playoff team for the sake of argument, and lost. SFA, 0 for 1 (1-1 if you count EKU). Monmouth was 0 for 2. EKU was 0-1, 0-2 if you count SFA. Rhode Island 0-1. Mercer 0-1. So that's UNI 3-3, everyone else on this list combined 0-8. And you can say that most the teams the other teams had to play were conference champions, but UNI went on the road and beat the Big Sky champs who were undefeated in their league, and most agree that is the #2 league in the land.

I can't complain if UNI doesn't make it because they lost five times. Shoulda beat Illinois State and this would be a moot point. But to say you have to finish in the top 2-3 in your league to get consideration at 6-5 is an easy thing to say for fans of teams who are in leagues with only 2 or 3 good teams IMO.

I would add that you could make an argument that UNI should be in over Southern Illinois. Yes, the Panthers finished a game behind SIU both overall and in the league standings. But UNI beat SIU head-to-head, and while the Panthers played all five of the league's playoff teams, SIU missed North Dakota State and South Dakota. UNI also has a noncon win over the Big Sky champs that SIU cannot match. Very similar logic was used to keep UNI off the seed line in favor of SDSU in 2019.

[lionsrking2]

You give UNI's schedule (which includes Iowa State, five playoff teams in their league (3 on the road), and another seeded playoff team on the road in the noncon) to Mercer, FAMU, Monmouth, Eastern Kentucky, SFA or Rhode Island and I highly doubt any of them go 6-5. Maybe Southeastern.

You say "at some point we should reward winning". UNI has 6 FCS wins. Rhode Island has 6. Mercer has 6. EKU has 7. Monmouth has 7. SFA has 7. The only two who have significantly more in quantity are FAMU and Southeastern who have 8, and FAMU has the worst SOS of the bunch. All played substantially weaker schedules. Conferences don't get bids, teams do. It shouldn't matter how many teams in their league have already made it.

UNI played six playoff teams (and a a Big 12 team) and beat three of them. Southeastern played one and lost. FAMU played none, one if you consider Jackson State a playoff team for the sake of argument, and lost. SFA, 0 for 1 (1-1 if you count EKU). Monmouth was 0 for 2. EKU was 0-1, 0-2 if you count SFA. Rhode Island 0-1. Mercer 0-1. So that's UNI 3-3, everyone else on this list combined 0-8. And you can say that most the teams the other teams had to play were conference champions, but UNI went on the road and beat the Big Sky champs who were undefeated in their league, and most agree that is the #2 league in the land.

I can't complain if UNI doesn't make it because they lost five times. Shoulda beat Illinois State and this would be a moot point. But to say you have to finish in the top 2-3 in your league to get consideration at 6-5 is an easy thing to say for fans of teams who are in leagues with only 2 or 3 good teams IMO.

I would add that you could make an argument that UNI should be in over Southern Illinois. Yes, the Panthers finished a game behind SIU both overall and in the league standings. But UNI beat SIU head-to-head, and while the Panthers played all five of the league's playoff teams, SIU missed North Dakota State and South Dakota. UNI also has a noncon win over the Big Sky champs that SIU cannot match. Very similar logic was used to keep UNI off the seed line in favor of SDSU in 2019.

You have the schedule you have and you play in the league you play in. Your job is to win and perform well enough in your league to earn a bid. Northern Iowa didn't do that in my opinion, while five others in the MVFC did. You can argue SIU didn't, but they at least went 7-4 and finished with a winning record in the league. Or perhaps the better argument is the Valley should only get four?

Is UNI better than Mercer, FAMU, Rhode Island if playing head-to-head? I would certainly bet on the Panthers, but that's not the point. Mercer and FAMU won football games and finished high in their league. Rhode Island at least won 7, have an FBS win and finished 3rd in the CAA. I think Nicholls State and McNeese are better than all three of those teams but they didn't do enough in our league to get in. McNeese had a bad year but they'll get after your ass and I hate playing them. And I'd bet on Nicholls over a lot of teams in the field if they were playing head to head — they're better than the SIU team we played in the spring. Had they pulled out the UL-Lafayette game (lost by 3 to the 10-1 Cajuns), they would likely be in. But they have two FBS losses, two tough losses to UIW, and one to us and just didn't do quite enough on the whole.

Bottom line is the Missouri Valley will be more than well represented in the FCS playoffs, and so will the Big Sky. I don't think we have to worry about missing either conference's best teams. If we want to grow the subdivision and expand interest nationally, we need to make sure there's a good cross section of the country represented in the playoffs, not just the midwest and west coast. If that means leaving behind No. 6 in a great league to take No. 2 or 3 from another, I think that's a good thing. Especially if those teams have had a good season and played well in their league. I'm not overly enthused with Rhode Island's resume either but the northeast could use another representive and they at least are three games above .500 and have an FBS win, albeit an FBS in name only.

[Houndawg]

You give UNI's schedule (which includes Iowa State, five playoff teams in their league (3 on the road), and another seeded playoff team on the road in the noncon) to Mercer, FAMU, Monmouth, Eastern Kentucky, SFA or Rhode Island and I highly doubt any of them go 6-5. Maybe Southeastern.

You say "at some point we should reward winning". UNI has 6 FCS wins. Rhode Island has 6. Mercer has 6. EKU has 7. Monmouth has 7. SFA has 7. The only two who have significantly more in quantity are FAMU and Southeastern who have 8, and FAMU has the worst SOS of the bunch. All played substantially weaker schedules. Conferences don't get bids, teams do. It shouldn't matter how many teams in their league have already made it.

UNI played six playoff teams (and a a Big 12 team) and beat three of them. Southeastern played one and lost. FAMU played none, one if you consider Jackson State a playoff team for the sake of argument, and lost. SFA, 0 for 1 (1-1 if you count EKU). Monmouth was 0 for 2. EKU was 0-1, 0-2 if you count SFA. Rhode Island 0-1. Mercer 0-1. So that's UNI 3-3, everyone else on this list combined 0-8. And you can say that most the teams the other teams had to play were conference champions, but UNI went on the road and beat the Big Sky champs who were undefeated in their league, and most agree that is the #2 league in the land.

I can't complain if UNI doesn't make it because they lost five times. Shoulda beat Illinois State and this would be a moot point. But to say you have to finish in the top 2-3 in your league to get consideration at 6-5 is an easy thing to say for fans of teams who are in leagues with only 2 or 3 good teams IMO.

I would add that you could make an argument that UNI should be in over Southern Illinois. Yes, the Panthers finished a game behind SIU both overall and in the league standings. But UNI beat SIU head-to-head, and while the Panthers played all five of the league's playoff teams, SIU missed North Dakota State and South Dakota. UNI also has a noncon win over the Big Sky champs that SIU cannot match. Very similar logic was used to keep UNI off the seed line in favor of SDSU in 2019.

SIU also had a bad loss today vs YSU and has been trending down since after their bye week. The unbalanced schedule and high cost of travel, for an institution circling the drain, are just the way it is. I don't think SIU would be in if the bubble had broken differently, but it didn't and they probably get to limp into the playoffs ahead of a UNI team that appears to be on a rising trend and that nobody wants to play. So, sorry bro, 7 D1 wins is 7D1 wins - and UNI is the only team I can think of that has ever been given serious consideration, and they should be this year, as an exception to that rule?

Edit- and "off the seed line" is different from "out of the playoff"

[GoBlueHens83]

Didn't Illinois State get in the playoffs with only 6 D1 wins in 2016?

[caribbeanhen]

Didn't Illinois State get in the playoffs with only 6 D1 wins in 2016?

They did and were beat by Central Arkansas in the first round

[Professor Chaos]

Didn't Illinois State get in the playoffs with only 6 D1 wins in 2016?
Three 6-5 MVFC teams have made the playoffs. WIU in 2015 (beat Dayton then lost to #2 Illinois St), Illinois St in 2016 (lost to UCA), and UNI in 2018 (beat Lamar then lost to #6 UC Davis).

[MR. CHICKEN]

You have the schedule you have and you play in the league you play in. Your job is to win and perform well enough in your league to earn a bid. Northern Iowa didn't do that in my opinion, while five others in the MVFC did. You can argue SIU didn't, but they at least went 7-4 and finished with a winning record in the league. Or perhaps the better argument is the Valley should only get four?

Is UNI better than Mercer, FAMU, Rhode Island if playing head-to-head? I would certainly bet on the Panthers, but that's not the point. Mercer and FAMU won football games and finished high in their league. Rhode Island at least won 7, have an FBS win and finished 3rd in the CAA. I think Nicholls State and McNeese are better than all three of those teams but they didn't do enough in our league to get in. McNeese had a bad year but they'll get after your ass and I hate playing them. And I'd bet on Nicholls over a lot of teams in the field if they were playing head to head — they're better than the SIU team we played in the spring. Had they pulled out the UL-Lafayette game (lost by 3 to the 10-1 Cajuns), they would likely be in. But they have two FBS losses, two tough losses to UIW, and one to us and just didn't do quite enough on the whole.

Bottom line is the Missouri Valley will be more than well represented in the FCS playoffs, and so will the Big Sky. I don't think we have to worry about missing either conference's best teams. If we want to grow the subdivision and expand interest nationally, we need to make sure there's a good cross section of the country represented in the playoffs, not just the midwest and west coast. If that means leaving behind No. 6 in a great league to take No. 2 or 3 from another, I think that's a good thing. Especially if those teams have had a good season and played well in their league. I'm not overly enthused with Rhode Island's resume either but the northeast could use another representive and they at least are three games above .500 and have an FBS win, albeit an FBS in name only.



....THIS.....xsmileyclapx.........REPPIES SIR..........BRAWK!

[POD Knows]

In no order whatsoever- Just a list of general consensus bubble teams WITH RECORD, FCS WINS AND SAGARIN AND MASSEY

BUT FIRST- Below list assumes the 11 AQ plus the following teams are 100% in:

1. MONTANA
2. MONTANA STATE
3. JMU
4. EWU
5. UC DAVIS
6. SOUTH DAKOTA
7. SDSU
8. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
9. MISSOURI STATE

which leaves the following 8 TEAMS for 4 spots (SR= SAGARIN, MSY= MASSEY)- All ratings not including today's games

1. MERCER --- 7-3 WITH 6 FCS WINS SR= 145, MSY= 28 (LOST LAST GAME)
2. SE LOUISIANA -- 8-3 WITH 8 FCS WINS SR= 121, MSY = 17 (LOST LAST GAME)
3. URI --- 7-4 WITH 7 FCS WINS SR= 178, MSY = 43 (LOST LAST GAME)
4. MONMOUTH -- 7-4 WITH 7 FCS WINS SR= 142, MSY = 33 (LOST LAST GAME)
5. SFA --- 8-3 WITH 7 FCS WINS SR = 132, MSY= 27 (WON LAST GAME)
6. NORTHERN IOWA -- 6-5 WITH 6 FCS WINS SR= 101, MSY = 8 (WON LAST GAME)
7. EKU-- 7-4 WITH 7 FCS WINS SR= 152, MSY = 38 (WON LAST GAME)
8. FLORIDA A&M-- 9-2 WITH 8 FCS WINS SR= 175, MSY = 65 (WON LAST GAME)

IN ORDER OF LOWEST (BEST) SAGARIN:

1. NORTHERN IOWA (101)
2. SE LOUISIANA (121)
3. SFA (132)
4. MONMOUTH (142)
5. MERCER (145)
6. EKU (152)
7. FLORIDA A&M (175)
8. URI (178)

-------------------------------------------

IN ORDER OF LOWEST (BEST) MASSEY

1. NORTHERN IOWA (8)
2. SE LOUISIANA (17)
3. SFA (27)
4. MERCER (28)
5. MONMOUTH (33)
6. EKU (38)
7. URI (43)
8. FLORIDA A&M (65)

SOS (USING MASSEY- IN ORDER OF HARDEST TO EASIEST)

1. NORTHEN IOWA (3)
2. EKU (33)
3. SE LOUISIANA (51)
4 URI (58)
5. MERCER (63)
6. MONMOUTH (66)
7. SFA (80)
8 FLORIDA A&M (111)


Obviously the committee has other stuff to look at and their own opinions, plus "good wins" "bad losses" all that stuff. With that said I think for 4 spots it is clear that even @ 6-5 Northern Iowa should be in.


After that I am thinking SE Lousiana.

The next 2 become hard so I will eliminate Florida A&M b/c they have no right based on anything above, leaving 5 teams for 2 spots. I think URI has a weak argument. I think Mercer and Monmouth are very similar. Not sure about EKU- I am thinking SFA gets the 3rd spot which leaves 1.

Bubble teams in- Northern Iowa, SE Louisiana and SFA.

One spot remains for- URI, Monmouth, Mercer, EKU- It is VERY close and with EKU being the only team of this bunch to win the last game, their "stats" may rise a bit. It seems Mercer is a buzzword as well. Total crapshoot for the last spot but Mercer only had 6 FCS wins, none of them really being very good although one could say Chattanooga was decent. They got rolled by VMI and the rest of their wins were pedestrian against average to below average comp. Good shwoing against ETSU. Monmouth had no good wins but has some blowouts of teams and won in similar or better fashion than Kennesaw did against them. They had 2 blowout losses but both to playoff teams and their other FCS loss was by 3 pts to a ranked team. All D-1 schedule. URI I just cannot see with ratings so low and some pretty big losses and wins over Bryant, Albany and Brown. Eastern Kentucky barely beat some pretty bad teams but is right there as well. Man I really do not see a hell of a lot of difference here. My heart says Monmouth, but my head says Mercer.
Great stuff. Thanks

[EU2000]

Al this talk about URI and others…1st round matchup will be Elon/Davidson :)

[MR. CHICKEN]

Al this talk about URI and others…1st round matchup will be Elon/Davidson :)

....NOT @ 6-5....ANNAH LOSS TA WOFFY......NOPE.......BRAWK!

[NY Crusader 2010]

Northern Iowa should be in. And it shouldn't be up for debate. Letting in a 7-4 Monmouth, 7-4 URI or any 6-5 CAA team in over them would be a total joke.

URI will probably get some "clout tokens" with the committee for beating an FBS team, even though it's UMASS.

[EU2000]

Ok….Apparently people take things a little too seriously. Lol :)

[MR. CHICKEN]

Northern Iowa should be in. And it shouldn't be up for debate. Letting in a 7-4 Monmouth, 7-4 URI or any 6-5 CAA team in over them would be a total joke.

URI will probably get some "clout tokens" with the committee for beating an FBS team, even though it's UMASS.

...EGG-ZAKLY.......AGAIN......N. HAMPSHIRE/DELAWARE 2017....7-4.......UD STRENGTH UH SKED.....OVER 'CATS........BUT MARTY'S PALS....PLAYED...DUH FBS DUBBYA...OVERAH 2 WIN FBS GA. SO..........DERE'S UH PRECEDENT.....COMMITTEE....WILL GO TA GREAT LENGTHS...SPIN DECISIONS

[caribbeanhen]

Northern Iowa should be in. And it shouldn't be up for debate. Letting in a 7-4 Monmouth, 7-4 URI or any 6-5 CAA team in over them would be a total joke.

URI will probably get some "clout tokens" with the committee for beating an FBS team, even though it's UMASS.

if the committee members had Flo sports and watched a Rhode game the would be out, but none of them probably had it so Rhode might have a chance as sad as that is

[WileECoyote06]

...EGG-ZAKLY.......AGAIN......N. HAMPSHIRE/DELAWARE 2017....7-4.......UD STRENGTH UH SKED.....OVER 'CATS........BUT MARTY'S PALS....PLAYED...DUH FBS DUBBYA...OVERAH 2 WIN FBS GA. SO..........DERE'S UH PRECEDENT.....COMMITTEE....WILL GO TA GREAT LENGTHS...SPIN DECISIONS

A&T is 2016 as well. FBS wins are golden.

[TSUsupporter]

You have the schedule you have and you play in the league you play in. Your job is to win and perform well enough in your league to earn a bid. Northern Iowa didn't do that in my opinion, while five others in the MVFC did. You can argue SIU didn't, but they at least went 7-4 and finished with a winning record in the league. Or perhaps the better argument is the Valley should only get four?

Is UNI better than Mercer, FAMU, Rhode Island if playing head-to-head? I would certainly bet on the Panthers, but that's not the point. Mercer and FAMU won football games and finished high in their league. Rhode Island at least won 7, have an FBS win and finished 3rd in the CAA. I think Nicholls State and McNeese are better than all three of those teams but they didn't do enough in our league to get in. McNeese had a bad year but they'll get after your ass and I hate playing them. And I'd bet on Nicholls over a lot of teams in the field if they were playing head to head — they're better than the SIU team we played in the spring. Had they pulled out the UL-Lafayette game (lost by 3 to the 10-1 Cajuns), they would likely be in. But they have two FBS losses, two tough losses to UIW, and one to us and just didn't do quite enough on the whole.

Bottom line is the Missouri Valley will be more than well represented in the FCS playoffs, and so will the Big Sky. I don't think we have to worry about missing either conference's best teams. If we want to grow the subdivision and expand interest nationally, we need to make sure there's a good cross section of the country represented in the playoffs, not just the midwest and west coast. If that means leaving behind No. 6 in a great league to take No. 2 or 3 from another, I think that's a good thing. Especially if those teams have had a good season and played well in their league. I'm not overly enthused with Rhode Island's resume either but the northeast could use another representive and they at least are three games above .500 and have an FBS win, albeit an FBS in name only.



....THIS.....xsmileyclapx.........REPPIES SIR..........BRAWK!



100% co-sign this post. Like I said on Page 1, this would like giving Tennessee a New Year's Six bowl game, because they play in the SEC.

[MUHAWKS]

[QUOTE=MR. CHICKEN;3017127]



100% co-sign this post. Like I said on Page 1, this would like giving Tennessee a New Year's Six bowl game, because they play in the SEC.

So much hypocrisy here! Not necessarily but the actual poster(s) but by anyone who agrees with it yet spends time over the years ridiculing 7 and 8 win teams from The Big South or patriot Leauge or even the NEC etc. UNI is CLEARLY a better team than Florida A&M and any other 7 win bubble team- They 100% deserve to get in if we are basing at larges on the best remaining teams. To think Florida A&M should get in but not Northern Iowa is one thing, albeit absurd, but the same people who are essentially saying sos and various ratings do not matter in this case use it AGAINST teams like Monmouth, URI, or a 6-5 CAA or 7-8 win patriot league team. You are admitting N Iowa is better but saying "6 wins sorry"-- Yet when it comes time for a 7-8 win team from a non power conference all I hear is "no good wins"--- I guess teams should just schedule the worst opponents possible.. So are you guys telling me had Monmouth played and beat Bucnell instead of HC and played and beat Cornell instead of Princeton and we were 9-2 that WE would and should be in too? I very highly doubt it - Not sure other than optics and politics why F A&M is in the convo and why Northern Iowa would not def be in..

[MR. CHICKEN]

JES' THROW........ILLINOIS STATE/YOUNGSTOWN/INDIANA ST...IN DUH DANCE AS...WELL AS N. IOWA......DEY'D.......BEAT DUH TEAMS FROM ALL DOSE CONFERENCES TOO.......BUT RHODEY.....WOOD BEAT ALOT O' 'EM TOO!....AWK!AWK!

[aceinthehole]

What could have been interesting for the NEC is if Duquesne didn't lose at home to Saint Francis. I would have loved to see how their resume would have been considered for an at large.

Duquense (8-2; 6-1 NEC) Co-NEC Champs

Pros: Would have been 8-2 overall; 7 D-I wins, including FBS win at Ohio. Only losses to P5 team TCU and NEC AQ Sacred Heart.

Cons: 10 game schedule, includes non-conference game vs Virginia-Lynchburg.

History: Dukes have 2 Playoff appearances (2015 and 2018), including a First Round Win at Towson.

Certainly wouldn't have bump Northern Iowa or FAMU; but would have made a better case than URI and Monmouth.