That's the thing, 89. If we don't allow for Cinderellas, we become nothing more than that monstrosity we all profess to hate: the B(C)$. Idiots like RKW will argue that that is for the best, but he's just an elitist bigot. You're a bit more open minded, but he's just got a one-track mind.
For me, the more the merrier. It's not a travesty if the #1 team in the country loses to a "nobody." It's all about "put up or shut up" in the playoffs, not protecting the haves from the have-nots.
SuperHornet's Athletics Hall of Fame includes Jacksonville State kicker Ashley Martin, the first girl to score in a Division I football game. She kicked 3 PATs in a 2001 game for J-State.
That's the thing, 89. If we don't allow for Cinderellas, we become nothing more than that monstrosity we all profess to hate: the B(C)$. Idiots like RKW will argue that that is for the best, but he's just an elitist bigot. You're a bit more open minded, but he's just got a one-track mind.
For me, the more the merrier. It's not a travesty if the #1 team in the country loses to a "nobody." It's all about "put up or shut up" in the playoffs, not protecting the haves from the have-nots.
1. At 16 we already allow for a cinderella.
2. You are not telling the truth with "For me, the more the merrier"... if you were, you would be OK with 64 or even letting in every team. Please tell me that's not the case. If not, you agree there is a rational number. You just disagree on what that number should be.
3. The "haves and have-not" discussion isn't the same in I-AA. Shutting teams out of making millions in a BCS bowl is a far cry from not putting a team into a tournament that loses LOTS of money.
I just did a formally regional 32-team playoff. No, this is NOT an excuse for Sac and Liberty to get in, because I left them out. I started with every 7-4 or better and eliminated the whole Pioneer (no SOS), two of the three MEACs (same reason), and IN St (can't get everyone). There ARE some regional crossovers.
For starters, I'm using the traditional West, Midwest, Southeast, and East regions. For bleedovers, I tried to keep it to West/Midwest, East/Southeast, though the Midwest also gets some from the Southeast. My four #1 seeds are EWU, NDSU, GA Southern, and ODU. NDSU is the national #1. I'm also predicting winners here.
First Round
West
#8 Youngstown State (7-4) @ #1 Eastern Washington (9-2)
#7 Eastern Kentucky (8-3) @ #2 Montana State (10-1)
#6 Illinois State (8-3) @ #3 Sam Houston State (8-3) #5 Tennessee State (8-3) @ #4 Northern Arizona (8-3)
Midwest
#8 Colgate (8-3) @ #1 North Dakota State (10-1)
#7 Eastern Illinois (7-4) @ #2 Central Arkansas (9-2)
#6 McNeese State (7-4) @ #3 Appalachian State (8-3)
#5 South Dakota State (8-3) @ #4 Cal Poly (9-2)
#4 Wofford (9-3) @ #1 Old Dominion (11-1)
#6 Towson State (8-4) @ #2 New Hampshire (9-2)
Elite Eight/Regional Finals
West
#2 Montana State (12-1) @ #1 Eastern Washington (11-2)
Midwest
#3 Appalachian State (10-3) @ #1 North Dakota State (12-1)
Southeast
#2 Lehigh (12-1) @ #1 Georgia Southern (10-3)
East
#2 New Hampshire (10-3) @ #1 Old Dominion (12-1)
Final Four/National Semifinals
#W1 Eastern Washington (12-2) @ #MW1 North Dakota State (13-1)
#SE1 Georgia Southern (11-3) @ #E1 Old Dominion (13-1)
National Finals
#E1 Old Dominion (14-1) vs. #MW1 North Dakota State (14-1)
SuperHornet's Athletics Hall of Fame includes Jacksonville State kicker Ashley Martin, the first girl to score in a Division I football game. She kicked 3 PATs in a 2001 game for J-State.
#2 Montana State (12-1) @ #1 Eastern Washington (11-2)
Midwest
#3 Appalachian State (10-3) @ #1 North Dakota State (12-1)
Southeast
#2 Lehigh (12-1) @ #1 Georgia Southern (10-3)
East
#2 New Hampshire (10-3) @ #1 Old Dominion (12-1)
You went to an awful lot of work to end up with 7 of 8 that already are in the 20 team field and the 1 "cinderella" who you have in there very well might not have made it that far.
SuperHornet wrote:I just did a formally regional 32-team playoff. No, this is NOT an excuse for Sac and Liberty to get in, because I left them out. I started with every 7-4 or better and eliminated the whole Pioneer (no SOS), two of the three MEACs (same reason), and IN St (can't get everyone). There ARE some regional crossovers.
For starters, I'm using the traditional West, Midwest, Southeast, and East regions. For bleedovers, I tried to keep it to West/Midwest, East/Southeast, though the Midwest also gets some from the Southeast. My four #1 seeds are EWU, NDSU, GA Southern, and ODU. NDSU is the national #1. I'm also predicting winners here.
First Round
West
#8 Youngstown State (7-4) @ #1 Eastern Washington (9-2)
#7 Eastern Kentucky (8-3) @ #2 Montana State (10-1)
#6 Illinois State (8-3) @ #3 Sam Houston State (8-3) #5 Tennessee State (8-3) @ #4 Northern Arizona (8-3)
Midwest
#8 Colgate (8-3) @ #1 North Dakota State (10-1)
#7 Eastern Illinois (7-4) @ #2 Central Arkansas (9-2)
#6 McNeese State (7-4) @ #3 Appalachian State (8-3)
#5 South Dakota State (8-3) @ #4 Cal Poly (9-2)
#4 Wofford (9-3) @ #1 Old Dominion (11-1)
#6 Towson State (8-4) @ #2 New Hampshire (9-2)
Elite Eight/Regional Finals
West
#2 Montana State (12-1) @ #1 Eastern Washington (11-2)
Midwest
#3 Appalachian State (10-3) @ #1 North Dakota State (12-1)
Southeast
#2 Lehigh (12-1) @ #1 Georgia Southern (10-3)
East
#2 New Hampshire (10-3) @ #1 Old Dominion (12-1)
Final Four/National Semifinals
#W1 Eastern Washington (12-2) @ #MW1 North Dakota State (13-1)
#SE1 Georgia Southern (11-3) @ #E1 Old Dominion (13-1)
National Finals
#E1 Old Dominion (14-1) vs. #MW1 North Dakota State (14-1)
You left off top 20 JMU.
JMU Football:
4 Years FBS: 40-11 (.784). Highest winning percentage & least losses of all of G5 2022-2025.
Sun Belt East Champions: 2022, 2023, 2025
Sun Belt Champions: 2025
Top 25 ranked: 2022, 2023, 2025
CFP: 2025
Rats! I HAD JMU in there. I must have lost them as I was shuffling teams around to avoid teams playing conference foes in the first round. SMH....
SuperHornet's Athletics Hall of Fame includes Jacksonville State kicker Ashley Martin, the first girl to score in a Division I football game. She kicked 3 PATs in a 2001 game for J-State.
SuperHornet wrote:I just did a formally regional 32-team playoff. No, this is NOT an excuse for Sac and Liberty to get in, because I left them out. I started with every 7-4 or better and eliminated the whole Pioneer (no SOS), two of the three MEACs (same reason), and IN St (can't get everyone). There ARE some regional crossovers.
For starters, I'm using the traditional West, Midwest, Southeast, and East regions. For bleedovers, I tried to keep it to West/Midwest, East/Southeast, though the Midwest also gets some from the Southeast. My four #1 seeds are EWU, NDSU, GA Southern, and ODU. NDSU is the national #1. I'm also predicting winners here.
First Round
West
#8 Youngstown State (7-4) @ #1 Eastern Washington (9-2)
#7 Eastern Kentucky (8-3) @ #2 Montana State (10-1)
#6 Illinois State (8-3) @ #3 Sam Houston State (8-3) #5 Tennessee State (8-3) @ #4 Northern Arizona (8-3)
Midwest
#8 Colgate (8-3) @ #1 North Dakota State (10-1)
#7 Eastern Illinois (7-4) @ #2 Central Arkansas (9-2)
#6 McNeese State (7-4) @ #3 Appalachian State (8-3)
#5 South Dakota State (8-3) @ #4 Cal Poly (9-2)
No question 32 is the best ... the more the merrier IMO, though 32 is the max number you could logically make a playoff work.
Are there 32 teams every year, capable of running the playoff table and winning the NC? Of course not, but there are 32 teams worthy of getting an opportunity, and if the goal is promote fan interest at the FCS level, expanding the field is the way to go.
slulionsfan wrote:No question 32 is the best ... the more the merrier IMO, though 32 is the max number you could logically make a playoff work.
Are there 32 teams every year, capable of running the playoff table and winning the NC? Of course not, but there are 32 teams worthy of getting an opportunity, and if the goal is promote fan interest at the FCS level, expanding the field is the way to go.
Yeah, no question. First round games aren't on TV and are always poorly attended. Not much exposure going on there.
BTW, with the results yesterday, we should definitely be looking at going back to 16. The only reason they expanded was to make room for the NEC and Big South champs. They showed that they probably deserve bids, but the MEAC and OVC also showed that perhaps they should have just had theirs taken away to make that room. I'd have to go back and count, but I believe the OVC and MEAC have now lost 30 straight playoff games. Do they really deserve an autobid?
I've always been in favor of 16, but I can live with 24. Give autobids to every conference that wants one. There are 13 FCS conferences, but the Ivy and SWAC don't participate, so thats 11 autobids and 13 at large.
Seed the teams 1 through 24.
First round seeds 1 through 8 get byes, 9 hosts 24, 10 hosts 23 and so on.
Second round 1 hosts lowest remaining seed, 2 gets next lowest and so on.
32 is too many teams unless the Ivy and SWAC decide to participate.
kalm wrote:
Wasn't JMU on the road during their run? How about Nova in 2010 upsetting SFA and ASU in '10?
And the Eastern Eagles appreciate that, Thank you Nova
"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"
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89Hen wrote:BTW, with the results yesterday, we should definitely be looking at going back to 16. The only reason they expanded was to make room for the NEC and Big South champs. They showed that they probably deserve bids, but the MEAC and OVC also showed that perhaps they should have just had theirs taken away to make that room. I'd have to go back and count, but I believe the OVC and MEAC have now lost 30 straight playoff games. Do they really deserve an autobid?
Deserve? Probably not. But since they're members...
There are about 48 teams that don't deserve bids to March Madness. But it sure is fun to watch...especially if you're team gets in. And think about the runs made by Gonzaga, Davidson, Butler, VCU, etc. It's great theater. Give a team like last year's Lehigh a second winnable game and the momentum might be enough to make a deeper run.
89Hen wrote:BTW, with the results yesterday, we should definitely be looking at going back to 16. The only reason they expanded was to make room for the NEC and Big South champs. They showed that they probably deserve bids, but the MEAC and OVC also showed that perhaps they should have just had theirs taken away to make that room. I'd have to go back and count, but I believe the OVC and MEAC have now lost 30 straight playoff games. Do they really deserve an autobid?
Deserve? Probably not. But since they're members...
There are about 48 teams that don't deserve bids to March Madness. But it sure is fun to watch...especially if you're team gets in. And think about the runs made by Gonzaga, Davidson, Butler, VCU, etc. It's great theater. Give a team like last year's Lehigh a second winnable game and the momentum might be enough to make a deeper run.
kalm wrote:
Deserve? Probably not. But since they're members...
There are about 48 teams that don't deserve bids to March Madness. But it sure is fun to watch...especially if you're team gets in. And think about the runs made by Gonzaga, Davidson, Butler, VCU, etc. It's great theater. Give a team like last year's Lehigh a second winnable game and the momentum might be enough to make a deeper run.
BlueHen86 wrote:I've always been in favor of 16, but I can live with 24. Give autobids to every conference that wants one. There are 13 FCS conferences, but the Ivy and SWAC don't participate, so thats 11 autobids and 13 at large.
Seed the teams 1 through 24.
First round seeds 1 through 8 get byes, 9 hosts 24, 10 hosts 23 and so on.
Second round 1 hosts lowest remaining seed, 2 gets next lowest and so on.
32 is too many teams unless the Ivy and SWAC decide to participate.
I like this idea, but I disagree with 32. 20 is plenty, 24 is ok with me, but more than enough.
SuperHornet's Athletics Hall of Fame includes Jacksonville State kicker Ashley Martin, the first girl to score in a Division I football game. She kicked 3 PATs in a 2001 game for J-State.
First round games aren't on TV and are always poorly attended. Not much exposure going on there. 
