ODU president: FCS playoffs may expand by 2013

[SouthDakotaGrizzly]

How watered down does the playoff field need to be? We already had a 6-5 team in last year as an AQ. This could possibly result in a 6-5 at-large team getting in. At some point, it gets as ridiculous as having an FBS bowl game between two 6-5 teams. Playoffs are supposed to be a reward for having a good season, not a reward for having an okay season.

[DSUrocks07]

Opening the door for FBS schools to move down to FCS. Combined with the $2000 extra for athletes approved by the NCAA and multi-year schollies...a lot of interesting moves by the NCAA recently.

[89Hen]

If true I'm not at all surprised. Once they expanded the playoffs beyond 16 teams I predicted that this would happen. I think it is only a matter of time before they expand to 32.

You and me both. This is the other reason I was against expansion to 20. The other was there weren't 16 playoffs worthy teams as it was. There were always one or two dogs in the field before, now there are five or six. Wait until 6-5 teams start getting at large bids when it's expanded.

[Rob Iola]

Cool - more nationally televised games on Thanksgiving weekend with Joe Biden in the stands and nobody else...

Maybe go to a 6 week playoff format and allow, what, 64 teams in? This is getting to be like musical chairs in special ed class, where they have more chairs than kids. At some point teams will turn down at-large berths because the expense to jet the traveling team and staff to the number 1 seed only to get whomped doesn't justify the PR bump...

[jcmanson]

How watered down does the playoff field need to be? We already had a 6-5 team in last year as an AQ. This could possibly result in a 6-5 at-large team getting in. At some point, it gets as ridiculous as having an FBS bowl game between two 6-5 teams. Playoffs are supposed to be a reward for having a good season, not a reward for having an okay season.

Winning your conference, whether you're 6-5 or 11-0, is a good season and worthy of making the playoffs.

[Aho Old Guy]

I think 24 would be fine. I just hope they don't go beyond that number any time soon.

I agree and think most fans of the lower tier conferences would as well.

24 gives the PFL a AQ and I'm all for that.

It also saves an AQ for a new conference to be formed (AEast?) or in the alternative the Ivys if they change their mind.

Anything beyond 24 is expansion for the sake of expansion and I don't really see any compelling reason for it.

This ... except the play-in round will expand from 8 to 16 teams, meaning a reduction from 12 to 8 in 'bye' slots. The eventual certainty is a Top 10 team will be out-bid and have to open the playoffs on the road.

[89Hen]

How watered down does the playoff field need to be? We already had a 6-5 team in last year as an AQ. This could possibly result in a 6-5 at-large team getting in. At some point, it gets as ridiculous as having an FBS bowl game between two 6-5 teams. Playoffs are supposed to be a reward for having a good season, not a reward for having an okay season.

Winning your conference, whether you're 6-5 or 11-0, is a good season and worthy of making the playoffs.

Bullshit.

[jcmanson]

Winning your conference, whether you're 6-5 or 11-0, is a good season and worthy of making the playoffs.

Bullshit.

What are most teams' goals at the beginning of the season? Normally winning the conference championship would be at or near the top of that list. If a team accomplishes that goal, regardless of record, I believe they should be awarded with a spot in the playoffs.

[henfan]

The length of the regular season = 13 weeks.
The length of the postseason = 7 weeks.

Who put the 'stu' in student-athlete?

And I have a bone to pick with you facists who insist that 24 teams is enough. Every team should have access to the postseason. It's just not fair.

[EWURanger]

No more than 20. It doesn't need to be expanded. If you consider that the two teams that make the championship game played at least 15 games (possibly 16 if one of them played in the first round), that is a lot of games to be played. These guys are student-athletes, first and foremost.

You do realize that expanding to 24 teams (or even 32) wouldn't really change the number of games being played per team, right?

It's still a 5 round playoff.

Yeah, I realized that after I posted. I'd be ok with 24. I'm just against any expansion that would create more potential games played by each school.

[danefan]

I agree and think most fans of the lower tier conferences would as well.

24 gives the PFL a AQ and I'm all for that.

It also saves an AQ for a new conference to be formed (AEast?) or in the alternative the Ivys if they change their mind.

Anything beyond 24 is expansion for the sake of expansion and I don't really see any compelling reason for it.

This ... except the play-in round will expand from 8 to 16 teams, meaning a reduction from 12 to 8 in 'bye' slots. The eventual certainty is a Top 10 team will be out-bid and have to open the playoffs on the road.

I'm OK with that though. The Bye's should be reserved for the cream of the crop. I hope they seed all 8 teams that get a bye though, guaranteeing the Top 8 teams in the country a home game.

[89Hen]

Bullshit.

What are most teams' goals at the beginning of the season? Normally winning the conference championship would be at or near the top of that list. If a team accomplishes that goal, regardless of record, I believe they should be awarded with a spot in the playoffs.

What if Savannah's State's goal is simply a winning season... should they be awarded a playoff spot?

Winning a conference = nothing

[jcmanson]

Winning a conference = nothing

wow, can't believe someone actually holds that opinion. Oh well, agree to disagree I guess.

[CAA Flagship]

What are most teams' goals at the beginning of the season? Normally winning the conference championship would be at or near the top of that list. If a team accomplishes that goal, regardless of record, I believe they should be awarded with a spot in the playoffs.

What if Savannah's State's goal is simply a winning season... should they be awarded a playoff spot?

Winning a conference = nothing

Meh, I don't believe that you believe that completely. I think you are saying that certain conferences do not deserve an autobid. I'm OK with that. Ultimately, winning your conference is the first step in the playoff process. After that, the best XX remaining teams get a "second chance" and are included in the playoff field. No different than the NCAA basketball tourney. Every coach puts an emphasis on winning the conference thus taking the decision away from a committee as to whether you are worthy or not.

[DSUrocks07]

BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS BCS

[SouthDakotaGrizzly]

How watered down does the playoff field need to be? We already had a 6-5 team in last year as an AQ. This could possibly result in a 6-5 at-large team getting in. At some point, it gets as ridiculous as having an FBS bowl game between two 6-5 teams. Playoffs are supposed to be a reward for having a good season, not a reward for having an okay season.

Winning your conference, whether you're 6-5 or 11-0, is a good season and worthy of making the playoffs.

I was alluding more to a 6-5 at-large team being rewarded for an okay season, which I think will happen with a 24 team field. You would hope that a conference champion would manage more than a 6-5 record, but that's not always the case, as Coastal Carolina proved last year. But, they did still win their conference. You can see from my sig line that I'm a Seahawks fan, who made sneaking into the playoffs with a sub-par record cool (well, maybe not, but that Saints game was pretty sweet ).

[89Hen]

Meh, I don't believe that you believe that completely. I think you are saying that certain conferences do not deserve an autobid. I'm OK with that. Ultimately, winning your conference is the first step in the playoff process. After that, the best XX remaining teams get a "second chance" and are included in the playoff field. No different than the NCAA basketball tourney. Every coach puts an emphasis on winning the conference thus taking the decision away from a committee as to whether you are worthy or not.

I believe that 100%. Conference championships are for national losers. I couldn't tell you how many conference championships the Hens have because I don't give a rats ass about them.

As for using the basketball tourney to talk about anything football... Apples and oranges.

[89Hen]

Winning a conference = nothing

wow, can't believe someone actually holds that opinion. Oh well, agree to disagree I guess.

Why is it hard to believe? Maybe if I were a fan of a team who could only make the field by getting an auto I might think differently. But then again, if the ONLY way you can make the field is with an auto... maybe you don't belong. Many teams made the 16 team field as independents.

[CAA Flagship]

Meh, I don't believe that you believe that completely. I think you are saying that certain conferences do not deserve an autobid. I'm OK with that. Ultimately, winning your conference is the first step in the playoff process. After that, the best XX remaining teams get a "second chance" and are included in the playoff field. No different than the NCAA basketball tourney. Every coach puts an emphasis on winning the conference thus taking the decision away from a committee as to whether you are worthy or not.

I believe that 100%. Conference championships are for national losers. I couldn't tell you how many conference championships the Hens have because I don't give a rats ass about them.

As for using the basketball tourney to talk about anything football... Apples and oranges.

So are you saying that the Conference champion should not get an autobid?

[youngterrier]

16 was a good number. 20 is fine. I think 18 would actually be perfect. I would love to know the stats of how many times there have been more than 20 teams that finished with 7 D1 wins (or maybe even 6 for that matter) not counting the NEC, Patriot, Ivy, or Pioneer, MEAC, Big South. I mean, you could probably put the OVC or Southland in there too because of their lack of playoff success, but what of the conferences mentioned have been relevant in the postseason? How many at-large bids (not counting last year) have those conferences produced? Big time FCS football is played in the CAA, Socon, Big East, and MVC, there's a reason that 75% of the bracket is composed of teams from those conferences. They just deserve it more with quality wins and quality while I'm perfectly fine with giving every conference an autobid, but you have to stop somewhere. 24 is the absolute limit. When you look at the criteria of 7 D1 wins and playing quality competition, it's easy to pick out who does or who doesn't deserve to be in the playoffs. When you constantly expand the field, you basically say that you only need 7 D1 wins, which isn't fair to the teams that are in the Big Sky, CAA, SoCon, or MVC because the mid 50% of those conferences play against better competition and are probably better teams than most of the top tier of the other conferences, but they will have less of a shot at the title because it's harder for them to reach 7 D1 wins.

[danefan]

16 was a good number. 20 is fine. I think 18 would actually be perfect. I would love to know the stats of how many times there have been more than 20 teams that finished with 7 D1 wins (or maybe even 6 for that matter) not counting the NEC, Patriot, Ivy, or Pioneer, MEAC, Big South. I mean, you could probably put the OVC or Southland in there too because of their lack of playoff success, but what of the conferences mentioned have been relevant in the postseason? How many at-large bids (not counting last year) have those conferences produced? Big time FCS football is played in the CAA, Socon, Big East, and MVC, there's a reason that 75% of the bracket is composed of teams from those conferences. They just deserve it more with quality wins and quality while I'm perfectly fine with giving every conference an autobid, but you have to stop somewhere. 24 is the absolute limit. When you look at the criteria of 7 D1 wins and playing quality competition, it's easy to pick out who does or who doesn't deserve to be in the playoffs. When you constantly expand the field, you basically say that you only need 7 D1 wins, which isn't fair to the teams that are in the Big Sky, CAA, SoCon, or MVC because the mid 50% of those conferences play against better competition and are probably better teams than most of the top tier of the other conferences, but they will have less of a shot at the title because it's harder for them to reach 7 D1 wins.

First time I've ever seen "Big time" and "FCS" in the same sentence.

[CAA Flagship]

16 was a good number. 20 is fine. I think 18 would actually be perfect. I would love to know the stats of how many times there have been more than 20 teams that finished with 7 D1 wins (or maybe even 6 for that matter) not counting the NEC, Patriot, Ivy, or Pioneer, MEAC, Big South. I mean, you could probably put the OVC or Southland in there too because of their lack of playoff success, but what of the conferences mentioned have been relevant in the postseason? How many at-large bids (not counting last year) have those conferences produced? Big time FCS football is played in the CAA, Socon, Big East, and MVC, there's a reason that 75% of the bracket is composed of teams from those conferences. They just deserve it more with quality wins and quality while I'm perfectly fine with giving every conference an autobid, but you have to stop somewhere. 24 is the absolute limit. When you look at the criteria of 7 D1 wins and playing quality competition, it's easy to pick out who does or who doesn't deserve to be in the playoffs. When you constantly expand the field, you basically say that you only need 7 D1 wins, which isn't fair to the teams that are in the Big Sky, CAA, SoCon, or MVC because the mid 50% of those conferences play against better competition and are probably better teams than most of the top tier of the other conferences, but they will have less of a shot at the title because it's harder for them to reach 7 D1 wins.

First time I've ever seen "Big time" and "FCS" in the same sentence.

I have a big time woody for the FCS game of the week - JMU at ODU.


That's number two.

[89Hen]

So are you saying that the Conference champion should not get an autobid?

Not automatically. I can think of several things you could do to qualify the autos, some of which exist now... minimum number of teams in a conference, minimum number of DI wins for the conference to get an auto, minimum number of DI wins for the champ to actually get it...

Coastal was 1-4 vs DI OOC (1-3 vs I-AA). That alone should eliminate them from an auto IMO. Throw on top of that the Big South was a whopping 5-23 vs DI... No. Not all conference champions should get an auto.

[danefan]

First time I've ever seen "Big time" and "FCS" in the same sentence.

I have a big time woody for the FCS game of the week - JMU at ODU.


That's number two.

[CAA Flagship]

So are you saying that the Conference champion should not get an autobid?

Not automatically. I can think of several things you could do to qualify the autos, some of which exist now... minimum number of teams in a conference, minimum number of DI wins for the conference to get an auto, minimum number of DI wins for the champ to actually get it...

Coastal was 1-4 vs DI OOC (1-3 vs I-AA). That alone should eliminate them from an auto IMO. Throw on top of that the Big South was a whopping 5-23 vs DI... No. Not all conference champions should get an auto.

I see. I don't disagree with that. It's still a learning process for me on the disparity that is FCS football.