FCS - Playoffs Done The Right Way.

[swamprat]

For the 10th straight year I will be missing the FBS, so called, College Football Playoffs. 

For the 27th year I am watching the FCS (D1-AA) playoffs. 

24 teams. Top 8 teams are seeded and get a first round bye. 10 conferences have automatic bids, with 14 at large bids. 

It is surprising how many games in the first round are NOT blowouts. In fact, this year has had some real nail biters,  Sacramento State / North Dakota, Chattanooga / Austin Peay, and Delaware coming from behind in the 4th to beat Lafayette.  

Round 2 was highlighted by North Dakota State blocking an extra point in overtime to eliminate Montana State for the fourth straight year. I love me some Bison. (The fact that they are heavily recruiting my grandson has nothing to do with it. 😁) 

As usual, I will skip all the bowl games that do not include USF or Kentucky, but I watch as many of the FCS playoffs as I can. Villanova at South Dakota State, noon, Saturday, ESPN, should be a good one. 

[DragonFire]

But it can't be done PAWWWWWWWL.

[bugatti]

2 hours ago, swamprat said:

For the 10th straight year I will be missing the FBS, so called, College Football Playoffs. 

For the 27th year I am watching the FCS (D1-AA) playoffs. 

24 teams. Top 8 teams are seeded and get a first round bye. 10 conferences have automatic bids, with 14 at large bids. 

It is surprising how many games in the first round are NOT blowouts. In fact, this year has had some real nail biters,  Sacramento State / North Dakota, Chattanooga / Austin Peay, and Delaware coming from behind in the 4th to beat Lafayette.  

Round 2 was highlighted by North Dakota State blocking an extra point in overtime to eliminate Montana State for the fourth straight year. I love me some Bison. (The fact that they are heavily recruiting my grandson has nothing to do with it. 😁) 

As usual, I will skip all the bowl games that do not include USF or Kentucky, but I watch as many of the FCS playoffs as I can. Villanova at South Dakota State, noon, Saturday, ESPN, should be a good one. 

Big FCS guy here and supporter of the Bison!

As much as I appreciate it, the FCS is still dominated by just a few with the product continually getting worse with teams jumping ship to FBS and the top talent doing the same with NIL. NDSU has won 9 of 11 titles so no griping there :). The gap between SDSU and everyone else is colossal this year.

They bit off more than they could chew with 24 teams. 16 was plenty.

[theguru]

I watched a little bit of a couple of games too.  I love the format, but the level of play is a couple of steps down from big time college football.

From Outkick on Facebook.

Montana and Delaware played a game this past weekend in heavy snow, and the pictures and videos are downright majestic.

[gchs_uk9]

1 hour ago, theguru said:

I watched a little bit of a couple of games too.  I love the format, but the level of play is a couple of steps down from big time college football.

From Outkick on Facebook.

Montana and Delaware played a game this past weekend in heavy snow, and the pictures and videos are downright majestic.

I can't help but think that an NCAA quarterfinal game with teams like Ole Miss at Michigan in weather like this would be an awesome experience. Alas, the conferences have steadfastly remained beholden to the bowl system. With the new format next year, I do hope it is changing more toward the FBS model.

[gchs_uk9]

On 12/5/2023 at 11:12 AM, bugatti said:

They bit off more than they could chew with 24 teams. 16 was plenty.

Any NCAA tournament has to have at least half of the participants be at-large. I think the expansion to 24 teams was due to the number of conferences sending automatic bid teams to the FBS tournament. But you are right, 16 was the magic number.

[theguru]

16 is the magic number to me too.  Forget any automatic bids and use a computer system, it is an ideal situation. 

[theguru]

6 minutes ago, gchs_uk9 said:

I can't help but think that an NCAA quarterfinal game with teams like Ole Miss at Michigan in weather like this would be an awesome experience. Alas, the conferences have steadfastly remained beholden to the bowl system. With the new format next year, I do hope it is changing more toward the FBS model.

I agree and I think it will eventually be bigger than March Madness.   The problem is, some of the people that have been making money for a long time will no longer be making money if this is done the "right" way.

I also think all the playoff teams should be paid (directly to the players) a predetermined amount for each playoff game your team participates in.

[gchs_uk9]

1 hour ago, theguru said:

I also think all the playoff teams should be paid (directly to the players) a predetermined amount for each playoff game your team participates in.

Absolutely agree with this 100%

[theguru]

1 minute ago, gchs_uk9 said:

Absolutely agree with this 100%

And what I really like about this, is if you play your cards right and you get a little lucky, even non-scholarship players can leave college with no debt. 

[9068]

18 hours ago, theguru said:

I agree and I think it will eventually be bigger than March Madness.   The problem is, some of the people that have been making money for a long time will no longer be making money if this is done the "right" way.

I also think all the playoff teams should be paid (directly to the players) a predetermined amount for each playoff game your team participates in.

Kind of like a Christmas Bonus, right Guru lol. If you get a chance go to the CCU website and listen to Cliff Ellis' retirement press conference. About the last 5 minutes or so he addresses NIL and the portal. Their collective is collapsing at CCU. Between Cliff and Joe Moglia(TD Ameritrade CEO and VP of Athletics at Coastal) it will be repaired. Been to Montana State...... beautiful and neat stadium. The Montana game made me think of my old friend Vic Clark, former TMC( at that time) coach.