2016 college football postseason: Lower Divisions

[4_tattoos]

20 minutes ago, Seadragon76 said:

1st Round

-San Diego at Cal Poly (Winner plays at (1) North Dakota State)

-St. Francis (PA) at Villanova (Winner plays at (8) South Dakota State)

-Weber State at Chattanooga (Winner plays at (5) Sam Houston State)

-Lehigh at New Hampshire (Winner plays at (4) James Madison)

-Samford at Youngstown State (Winner plays at (3) Jacksonville State)

-Charleston Southern at Wofford (Winner plays at (6) The Citadel)

-North Carolina A&T at Richmond (Winner plays at (7) North Dakota)

-Illinois State at Central Arkansas (Winner plays at (2) Eastern Washington)

Richmond hasn't looked all that impressive in their last few games. I can see A&T beating them.

[Seadragon76]

It's possible, especially if Cohen can get rolling like he does.

 

I do question them putting Illinois State in over, say, Fordham or Kennesaw State (both 8-3) or UT Martin (7-5), SE Louisiana or Albany (both 7-4) or even teams from the NEC and Pioneer like Duquesne (8-3) and Dayton (9-2)

[4_tattoos]

Updated Divison 2 bracket from D2football.com

 

[dfwabel]

On 11/20/2016 at 8:44 AM, 4_tattoos said:

Richmond hasn't looked all that impressive in their last few games. I can see A&T beating them.

NC A&T is down to the 3rd string QB, while Richmond lost their starter (ACL) on Saturday and his backup didn't play due a "Coach's Decision". If the coach is going to play his #2 or #3 is anybody's guess.

[stumpygremlin]

On 11/22/2016 at 1:11 AM, dfwabel said:

NC A&T is down to the 3rd string QB, while Richmond lost their starter (ACL) on Saturday and his backup didn't play due a "Coach's Decision". If the coach is going to play his #2 or #3 is anybody's guess.

I get why the Ivy abstains, because of "academics," but why do the MEAC and SWAC champions abstain? (I don't like it, and I think they should compete in the tournament, just like the other sports.)

[dfwabel]

29 minutes ago, stumpygremlin said:

I get why the Ivy abstains, because of "academics," but why do the MEAC and SWAC champions abstain? (I don't like it, and I think they should compete in the tournament, just like the other sports.)

The SWAC/MEAC have academic issues on the other side of the coin as their lack of resources and player drop out gives them low APR scores thus postseason ineligibility.

 

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/division-i-student-athletes-still-making-gains-apr

 

The Ivy League also partly abstains for the same reason the HBCUs do...$$$.

If you host a FCS playoff game, you must bid for it and typically lose money.  If you are the visiting team, you get reimbursed by the NCAA for most of your travel expenses, but not all.

 

The SWAC has the Bayou Classic after Thanksgiving and it's a greater money maker for Grambling and Southern. They won't move from that date and the city and fans want to keep the date. The SWAC ends up with three national TV appearances in four weeks.

 

Now, the MEAC and SWAC champions have their own ESPN bowl game which the participating teams get $600K each plus travel/lodging/meals for their bands.

 

[Discrim]

On Saturday, November 26, 2016 at 3:50 PM, dfwabel said:

If you host a FCS playoff game, you must bid for it and typically lose money.

WTF?  I'd like to say that's idiotic...but then I remember this is the NCAA.

[dfwabel]

43 minutes ago, Discrimihater said:

WTF?  I'd like to say that's idiotic...but then I remember this is the NCAA.

All Division 1 championships are bid for. The ticket revenues go to the NCAA and they return the host a portion of those revenues to cover (some, but not all) game expenses, like security and/or snow removal.

 

James Madison is an example of bidding way too high to host.

https://jamesmadison.rivals.com/news/final-tally-dukes-lose-126k-on-playoff-game

[Discrim]

In any event...the Division III scores, first round first (home team in bold):

Mary Hardin-Baylor 50, Redlands 28

Linfield 24, Hardin-Simmons 10

Wheaton 45, Huntingdon 10

North Central 41, Rose-Hulman 0

Alfred 33, Bridgewater State 27 (OT)

Western New England 10, Husson 0

Mount Union 38, Hobart 21

Johns Hopkins 42, Randolph-Macon 21

St. Thomas 43, Northwestern (Minn) 0

Coe 21, Monmouth 14

St. John's 32, Platteville 31

Oshkosh 49, Washington U 13

John Carroll 37, Olivet 12

Wesley 38, Stevenson 17

Wittenberg 33, Thomas More 30 (4 OT)

Whitewater 45, Lakeland 27

 

And now, the second round:

Mary Hardin-Baylor 27, Linfield 10

Wheaton 31, North Central 14

Alfred 30, Western New England 24

Mount Union 28, Johns Hopkins 21

St. Thomas 55, Coe 6

Oshkosh 31, St. John's 14

John Carroll 20, Wesley 17 (2 OT)

Whitewater 37, Wittenberg 9

 

So the D3 Elite Eight are as follows:

Wheaton at Mary Hardin-Baylor

Mount Union at Alfred

Oshkosh at St. Thomas

John Carroll at Whitewater

 

 

[Seadragon76]

On 11/26/2016 at 1:36 PM, stumpygremlin said:

I get why the Ivy abstains, because of "academics," but why do the MEAC and SWAC champions abstain? (I don't like it, and I think they should compete in the tournament, just like the other sports.)

 

Part of it is also that the MEAC schools have such a piss poor track record in the playoffs recently. The SWAC hasn't had a team in the playoffs since 1997. Meanwhile, the MEAC hasn't won a playoff game in history (I think)... it makes sense to do this for the both of them.

[omnivore]

SWAC makes more on the Bayou Classic than bothering with the playoffs. Don't blame them and they have a distinct audience akin to bowl game for a FBS program, so why not?

 

Celebration Bowl (SWAC v. MEAC) game drew better than 15 FBS bowls last year.

 

http://www.greensboro.com/blogs/sports_extra/jeff-mills-playoffs-feel-like-consolation-prize-for-n-c/article_2f3dbed1-2969-5435-9845-7d94a613d624.html

 

In D3 football, I assume we're setting up for another Whitewater - Mt. Union title game. Ugh. Not sure what that division can do for parity when the same two teams dominate, but so it goes. 

[4_tattoos]

What would happen if no FCS schools made a bit to host a playoff game?

[dfwabel]

43 minutes ago, 4_tattoos said:

What would happen if no FCS schools made a bit to host a playoff game?

So no team would not want a home field advantage? OK.

 

But for the sake of discussion, a local tourism board, or the municipality which the school resides in would pick up the tab with the hope of getting the money back through sales and lodging taxes.

 

Also, per the Division 1 Championship Manual, if all schools who bid for next week's round lose...

Quote

the committee will contact the institutions and offer the opportunity to submit a bid at the current  round’s  minimum  financial  guarantee  level.    If  seeded  teams  are  not  involved,  the  committee  will  determine  the host institution by applying the championship site-selection criteria in Bylaw 31.1.3.2.1.

 

For the quarterfinals, the financial guarantee is $50,000.

[4_tattoos]

[4_tattoos]

OT: Rumor going around is that North Alabama will be making the move to Division 1. Apparently they've received an invitation to join the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2018. Their football program would be in the Big South Conference (FCS).

[4_tattoos]

Shocker. We're guaranteed to see at least one different/new participant in the D3 championship game. Wisconsin-Whitewater loses to John Carroll in the quarterfinals 31-14!

 

Next weeks semifinal games in D3 are Mount Union vs Mary Hardin-Baylor and John Carroll vs Wisconsin Oshkosh.

[4_tattoos]

Division 2 semifinals

 

Ferris State @ Northwest Missouri State

North Alabama @ Shepherd

[4_tattoos]

FCS Quarterfinals

• South Dakota State @ North Dakota State
• Wofford @ Youngstown State
• Sam Houston State @ James Madison (on ESPN2 Friday 12/09/16)
• Richmond @ Eastern Washington

 

OT: Rumor going around that Merrimack College may be pursuing a move to Division 1. Primarily for their hockey program.

[4_tattoos]

Celebration Bowl will be Grambling vs North Carolina Central

[dfwabel]

FWIW, last week's Grambling/Southern game averaged 200K viewers.

 

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/

 

More than Indiana/Purdue.

 

What did the FCS first round get on TV?

 

Oh wait, they weren't on national cable, just streaming.

 

Grambling was on ESPNU on Saturday and will be on national TV again on ABC on December 17.  That's three national TV games in four weeks. Isn't that much better exposure than the FCS playoffs?