It just ain't right

[JohnStOnge]

No way South Dakota State and North Dakota State should be playing in the second round. No way the 1 seed should be having to play a team that good for its first game. I realize there have to be practical considerations but that's ridiculous.

Frankly, I don't even know why South Dakota State was playing in the first round instead of getting a bye. That's ridiculous. South Dakota State would, for instance, absolutely pistol whip Central Arkansas. What the heck were those guys on the committee thinking?

I realize that Eastern Illinois isn't that good and I think we all expected South Dakota State to mash the Panthers. But still. No way it was rational to think of South Dakota State as one of the "weakest" eight so that they should be playing in the first round.

[SeattleGriz]

No way South Dakota State and North Dakota State should be playing in the first round. No way the 1 seed should be having to play a team that good for its first game. I realize there have to be practical considerations but that's ridiculous.

Frankly, I don't even know why South Dakota State was playing in the first round instead of getting a bye. That's ridiculous. South Dakota State would, for instance, absolutely pistol whip Central Arkansas. What the heck were those guys on the committee thinking?

That's what happens out in the West. Not enough teams to give the really good ones a patsy.

[BisoNation]

No way South Dakota State and North Dakota State should be playing in the first round. No way the 1 seed should be having to play a team that good for its first game. I realize there have to be practical considerations but that's ridiculous.

Frankly, I don't even know why South Dakota State was playing in the first round instead of getting a bye. That's ridiculous. South Dakota State would, for instance, absolutely pistol whip Central Arkansas. What the heck were those guys on the committee thinking?

Many are scratching their heads about the committee’s focus on pairing up teams regionally to save a buck – a policy that escalated when this playoff expanded from 16 to 20 teams.

According to Missouri Valley commissioner Patty Viverito, it all came down to the possible bus trip SDSU could take to Fargo.

“Money dictated this … there was no conspiracy involved here,” said Viverito. “If it’s anybody else other than South Dakota State from our conference, this doesn’t happen. It was like the perfect storm.”

Money really shouldn’t be an issue at this level – especially after last year’s playoffs operated in the black, thanks much to the three sellouts at the Fargodome.

But if going regional is the committee’s strategy, then why is it sending the winner of the Colgate and Wagner game across the country to the West Coast. Merry Christmas Eastern Washington.

Word is, a couple committee members – including Ron Strollo, athletic director of Missouri Valley member Youngstown State – were lobbying to have the Colgate-Wagner winner play at NDSU, the SDSU-Eastern Illinois winner play at No. 3-seeded Montana State and the Stony Brook-Villanova winner play at No. 2-seeded Eastern Washington.

It fell on deaf ears.

Yup. Glad a none NDSU fan has some common sense and sees how ridiculous it is too. But with that, NDSU is supposed to be the best, so we should be able to beat anyone in our path. Be a tough one next Saturday but I'm excited.

[JohnStOnge]

Cost aside, South Dakota State should not have been playing in the first round. They are obviously better than a number of teams that got first round byes.

[Pwns]

The whole bracket is really lopsided if you ask me.
NDSU's bracket is waaaaaaaay better than EWUs. I think App. State could make it all the way to Frisco, but no way would they do that in the 1-4 side of the bracket.

[Gil Dobie]

Should be a great game in Fargo next weekend.

[LDopaPDX]

I don't agree at all that the top half of the bracket is tougher. You have NDSU up there, but at this point the CAA might be a question mark based on Villanova's performance today. And Old Dominion is the 4 seed. And I really don't believe Georgia Southern deserved a 5 seed either. The North Dakota State /SDSU winner will get Wofford or New Hampshire; two teams who both backed into the playoffs.

On the other side, you've got ALL the Big Sky teams, plus Sam Houston State who is playing as well as anybody, and both App State and Illinois State-- the winner of that one is a legit darkhorse.

[BisoNation]

I don't agree at all that the top half of the bracket is tougher. You have NDSU up there, but at this point the CAA might be a question mark based on Villanova's performance today. And Old Dominion is the 4 seed. And I really don't believe Georgia Southern deserved a 5 seed either. The North Dakota State /SDSU winner will get Wofford or New Hampshire; two teams who both backed into the playoffs.

On the other side, you've got ALL the Big Sky teams, plus Sam Houston State who is playing as well as anybody, and both App State and Illinois State-- the winner of that one is a legit darkhorse.

Agreed on that. I'm not really worried about Wofford or New Hampshire. I just think we got screwed big time on our second round game.

[LDopaPDX]

I don't agree at all that the top half of the bracket is tougher. You have NDSU up there, but at this point the CAA might be a question mark based on Villanova's performance today. And Old Dominion is the 4 seed. And I really don't believe Georgia Southern deserved a 5 seed either. The North Dakota State /SDSU winner will get Wofford or New Hampshire; two teams who both backed into the playoffs.

On the other side, you've got ALL the Big Sky teams, plus Sam Houston State who is playing as well as anybody, and both App State and Illinois State-- the winner of that one is a legit darkhorse.

Agreed on that. I'm not really worried about Wofford or New Hampshire. I just think we got screwed big time on our second round game.

So you've got a tough opener and a seemingly easy next game. Eastern has an oppponent that seems light in their opener and a tough next round. And once you get to the semis, all bets are off. Nobody gets a pass in the semis.

[BisoNation]

Agreed on that. I'm not really worried about Wofford or New Hampshire. I just think we got screwed big time on our second round game.

So you've got a tough opener and a seemingly easy next game. Eastern has an oppponent that seems light in their opener and a tough next round. And once you get to the semis, all bets are off. Nobody gets a pass in the semis.

I wouldn't say easy next game, but it could def be worse and I'm much more worried about SDSU than either of those two teams. I'll be very happy to be sitting in the semi-finals in two weeks as I think all teams would be.

[JohnStOnge]

I don't get you guys' attitude about Wofford. Backed in? They lost to South Carolina 24-7 in their last game. Would you favor ANYBODY in the field to win their last game if they were playing at South Carolina? The score was 7-7 at the end of the third quarter. Wofford ended up holding South Carolina to less than 300 total yards. They outgained the Gamecocks 330 to 293 and rushed for 259 yards.

Yeah they lost but it was impressive effort. You think Eastern Washington or somebody like that would've done better at South Carolina? Please don't say "yes" because then I'll know you're not being serious.

And you guys are talking about Appalachian State but Wofford beat Appalachian State by 10 at Boone. Yeah they had one bad loss in losing to Samford but it's certainly no worse than Eastern Washington losing to Southern Utah.

[LDopaPDX]

So you've got a tough opener and a seemingly easy next game. Eastern has an oppponent that seems light in their opener and a tough next round. And once you get to the semis, all bets are off. Nobody gets a pass in the semis.

I wouldn't say easy next game, but it could def be worse and I'm much more worried about SDSU than either of those two teams. I'll be very happy to be sitting in the semi-finals in two weeks as I think all teams would be.

Yeah, I agree. I didn't mean to say "when NDSU gets to the semis," as much as ANY team who gets to the semis should expect a tough road out.

Honestly, I think the most competitive foursome in the bracket right now is Montana State and Stony Brook / Cal Poly and Sam Houston State. You could make a decent argument for any one of those teams.

[slulionsfan]

South Dakota State would, for instance, absolutely pistol whip Central Arkansas.

Having played both, I would disagree vehemently with that statement. Of course it would depend on where the game is played but on a neutral field, under average weather conditions, I would bet on UCA ... they have more weapons and more ways to beat you on offense, plus I think they could slow down Zenner enough to make SDSU semi one-dimensional. On the other hand, if they played in Brookings in 30 degree weather with a 20 mph wind, on a field of hay, I'd probably go with the Jackrabbits. But in no way would they "pistol whip" the Bears.

[BisoNation]

I don't get you guys' attitude about Wofford. Backed in? They lost to South Carolina 24-7 in their last game. Would you favor ANYBODY in the field to win their last game if they were playing at South Carolina? The score was 7-7 at the end of the third quarter. Wofford ended up holding South Carolina to less than 300 total yards. They outgained the Gamecocks 330 to 293 and rushed for 259 yards.

Yeah they lost but it was impressive effort. You think Eastern Washington or somebody like that would've done better at South Carolina? Please don't say "yes" because then I'll know you're not being serious.

And you guys are talking about Appalachian State but Wofford beat Appalachian State by 10 at Boone. Yeah they had one bad loss in losing to Samford but it's certainly no worse than Eastern Washington losing to Southern Utah.

Yeah and Georgia Southern put up more yards on Alabama than anyone else did last year and look what NDSU did to them. Even I don't think NDSU's defense is Alabama good. Wofford did not get South Carolina's best effort guaranteed.

I think Wofford is a great team and will beat New Hampshire, but they scare me less than SDSU does.

[Pwns]

Agreed on that. I'm not really worried about Wofford or New Hampshire. I just think we got screwed big time on our second round game.

Wofford would give you all you can handle, as they would anyone in the bracket.

[JayJ79]

Is the Dakota Marker at stake in the playoff matchup?

[BisoNation]

Is the Dakota Marker at stake in the playoff matchup?

I don't believe so! But it will be the 100th meeting between NDSU and SDSU.

[Aho Old Guy]

Agreed on that. I'm not really worried about Wofford or New Hampshire. I just think we got screwed big time on our second round game.

Wofford would give you all you can handle, as they would anyone in the bracket.

Seldom do I agree with a Convict.

Go get them Bears.

[JohnStOnge]

I know you will be shocked to see this but I look at football games as probability propositions and at a potential playoff run as a probability chain. So to me, before you start, getting a bye is big and so is getting an easy first round opponent.

Say you assume you're the best team so your probability of winning each time is >0.5 but also as you go through the rounds it gets lower. So say you assume that the final three games are going to be 0.70, 0.65, and 0.60. You'd calculate that you only have 0.27 chance of getting through those last three games. And if the committee jobs you by giving you somebody as tough as you're going to see iin the first round...say another 0.60...then you're down to 0.16 of getting all the way through without a loss somewhere along the way.

On the other hand if the committee gives you what's reasonably thought to be a relatively weak opponent in the first round so that your probability of winning is 0.95 you're at 0.26.

The potentially good news is that if you do get by the 0.6 then you wipe the slate and you're in the same place you'd be if you'd beaten a 0.95 in the first round. What happened in the past has no bearing on probabilities associated with the future unless you suffer significant injury problems or something like that.

But anyway the point is I don't go with the "if you're the best team you should be able to beat anybody anyway." To me it doesn't work like that. To me being the best team means that it's more probable than not that you beat any other team you play in any one game. But each time you play there's also a probability that you'll lose and the better the other team is in a given game the higher that probability is. So it most certainly does make a big difference to your chances of getting all the way through when the committee jobs you like they jobbed North Dakota State this time.

[malibudude]

I don't get you guys' attitude about Wofford. Backed in? They lost to South Carolina 24-7 in their last game. Would you favor ANYBODY in the field to win their last game if they were playing at South Carolina? The score was 7-7 at the end of the third quarter. Wofford ended up holding South Carolina to less than 300 total yards. They outgained the Gamecocks 330 to 293 and rushed for 259 yards.

Yeah they lost but it was impressive effort. You think Eastern Washington or somebody like that would've done better at South Carolina? Please don't say "yes" because then I'll know you're not being serious.

And you guys are talking about Appalachian State but Wofford beat Appalachian State by 10 at Boone. Yeah they had one bad loss in losing to Samford but it's certainly no worse than Eastern Washington losing to Southern Utah.

I watched the game in South Carolina. Wofford did not back into anything. They played very well against a very good team.

[LDopaPDX]

Yeah, I'll stand by the statement Wofford backed in. They lost 2 of their last 3 and were life-and-death in the game they won between the two losses.