Playoffs...seeding

[weberwildcat]

Sorry team and fans, I know there is a month left but...

In deciding the 16 team playoff:

Committee members are Dave Kaverman of Southeast Missouri State and Tim Van Alstine of Western Illinois representing the Central Division; Bruce McCutcheon of Lafayette and John McCutcheon of Massachusetts of the East; Floyd Kerr of Morgan State and Warren Koegel of Coast Carolina from the South; and Jim O’Day and Richard Benardi of Nicholls State representing the West.

The only ranking/rating system the committee publicly acknowlegdes using is the Sagarin. Imo, they probably do take a look at the other polls/systems.

Currently WSU is #3 in the Sagarin, UM is #4

 

[weberdude]

The West is represented by people from Nicholls State (in Thibodaux, Louisiana)?

Wow, they're barely west of the Mississippi River!

 

[weberwildcat]

The West is represented by people from Nicholls State (in Thibodaux, Louisiana)?

Wow, they're barely west of the Mississippi River!

Yes, and according to UM fans, the FCS aint got no love for the real West...most of the relevant teams are in the East or South.

 

[wildfan]

Wonder if FCS havin' no love for the real West is in any way connected to UM's history of losing at home in the first round? Hmmm...

 

[tailbone1]

Wonder if FCS havin' no love for the real West is in any way connected to UM's history of losing at home in the first round? Hmmm...

2000: NC Game (loss to GSU)
2001: NC Game (winners)
2002: quarterfinals (loss to McNeese St)
2003: 1st round loss (WIU)
2004: NC Game (loss to JMU)
2005: 1st round loss (Cal Poly)
2006: Semifinals (loss to UMass)
2007: 1st round loss (Wofford)

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

 

[native]

Wonder if FCS havin' no love for the real West is in any way connected to UM's history of losing at home in the first round? Hmmm...

2000: NC Game (loss to GSU)
2001: NC Game (winners)
2002: quarterfinals (loss to McNeese St)
2003: 1st round loss (WIU)
2004: NC Game (loss to JMU)
2005: 1st round loss (Cal Poly)
2006: Semifinals (loss to UMass)
2007: 1st round loss (Wofford)

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Eight straight trips to the playoffs and five of eight advances past the first round? Pretty darn good!

 

[n.ogdencat]

In all honesty, Montana has been a fairly good representative of the west and Big Sky Conference over the years. After the season is over, I always root for those Big Sky schools that are in the playoffs, and hope they do well. Eastern was a great representative last season.
I think the biggest problem for western schools is the fact that there are only a handful of FCS schools out here. With the Sky being, by far, the best conference. While on the east side of the Mississippi there are hundreds of schools that are afraid to come west to play us. The sky needs to strengthen itself, and the only way it can do that is pick up more teams. Candidly; however, The Sky took a step backwards when it welcomed Northern Colorado (I do think UNC is improving and will become quite competitive in the future). The Sky should only allow DI (FCS and other athletics) to join. Cal Poly (talk of going DI is total BS!!! They are not in a position to go DI, none of their other athletic teams can compete even in the whatever crap conference they are in), Cal Davis, SUU, San Diego, and maybe Northridge (AGAIN, LOOOOOL). These teams have decent facilities, competitive teams, and quality communities from which to support them. Automatically they would improve the Big Sky. Or the BSC needs to wait a few years for New Mexico State, Idaho, Utah State, and San Jose State to be dropped from DI, and then can realign the conference.

 

[weberwildcat]

Wonder if FCS havin' no love for the real West is in any way connected to UM's history of losing at home in the first round? Hmmm...

2000: NC Game (loss to GSU)
2001: NC Game (winners)
2002: quarterfinals (loss to McNeese St)
2003: 1st round loss (WIU)
2004: NC Game (loss to JMU)
2005: 1st round loss (Cal Poly)
2006: Semifinals (loss to UMass)
2007: 1st round loss (Wofford)

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Eight straight trips to the playoffs and five of eight advances past the first round? Pretty darn good!

They've also made 4 national championship appearances in I believe the last 12-15 years. They won 2 of em!!!

 

[demonofdarkness]

I can't resist. I have to do my bad Jim Mora imitation:

"Play offs?" "Play offs?" "Play offs?" :lol:


I hope we finish this season strong and healthy and actually make it to the play offs. The post season in the FCS is a tension filled grind. I watched Boise State do it back in '94 in their 1-AA days. It's a week by week nail biter. It's a great experience though. Way better than some meaningless lower level bowl game. This is real football. None of this take three weeks off and play in Albuquerque stuff. (No offense to the people of Albuquerque.)

 

[native]

I can't resist. I have to do my bad Jim Mora imitation:

"Play offs?" "Play offs?" "Play offs?" :lol:

I hope we finish this season strong and healthy and actually make it to the play offs. The post season in the FCS is a tension filled grind. I watched Boise State do it back in '94 in their 1-AA days. It's a week by week nail biter. It's a great experience though. Way better than some meaningless lower level bowl game. This is real football. None of this take three weeks off and play in Albuquerque stuff. (No offense to the people of Albuquerque.)

Point well taken, but we are literally over the hump, having beaten all the teams in the top half of the conference.

Weber could lose one of the remaining three conference games and still be the undisputed champs by virtue of having beaten Montana. But I honestly think we will win out the rest of our conference games, two at home and we own Holt Arena.

Conference champ = autobid.

Besides, these ain't your daddy's Wildcats! The lads are focused and hungry, not to mention talented, skilled and tested.

 

[wildfan]

2003: 1st round loss at home to WIU
2005: 1st round loss at home to Cal Poly
2007: 1st round loss at home to Wofford

Thank you for proving my point for me.

 

[weberwildcat]

2003: 1st round loss at home to WIU
2005: 1st round loss at home to Cal Poly
2007: 1st round loss at home to Wofford

Thank you for proving my point for me.

2008: loss to WSU in 2nd round

 

[wildfan]

Ahhh yeaaaahhh...

 

[Da Griz]

Ahhh yeaaaahhh...

That's a pretty selective list. As others have pointed out, there's a lot more history. We have managed to build some degree of respect by actually being there. Welcome... finally.

Of more interest is will the NCAA give you a seed even if you win out, and if we both win out, do we get a seed and perhaps not you? Might really expose some warts in the system.

 

[wildfan]

Yes, UM has the appearances in the playoffs that every I-AA/FCS school in the West wants. Most of that history is positive, but some is negative as well. I’m wondering if the “What have you done for me lately” syndrome is going to hurt the Big Sky this year.

In addition to your comments about seeding, there's the issue of bid money. I know that UM has far deeper pockets that WSU in terms of guaranteed money. While this doesn’t “officially” factor in the FCS committee’s decisions, this is the NCAA we are talking about, where bribery by any other name seems to be encouraged when they are on the receiving end (i.e. the bid system to host playoff games in the FCS). However, this conjecture is about 3 weeks premature. But fun anyway.

I guess the young men in Purple need to take care of things on the field, and then the speculation posts can come rolling in. We all love to play the "What if..." game, don't we?

 

[weberdude]

...will the NCAA give you a seed even if you win out, and if we both win out, do we get a seed and perhaps not you? Might really expose some warts in the system.

IF both Weber State and Montana win out, Weber State would win the conference outright--and thus get the automatic bid. Montana would get an at-large bid, and the debate would be whether the Big Sky gets three teams in the playoffs (the third being NAU with another loss to UM).

I'm glad Montana fans can feel good about themselves by talking about history though.

 

[wsucatfan]

...will the NCAA give you a seed even if you win out, and if we both win out, do we get a seed and perhaps not you? Might really expose some warts in the system.

IF both Weber State and Montana win out, Weber State would win the conference outright--and thus get the automatic bid. Montana would get an at-large bid, and the debate would be whether the Big Sky gets three teams in the playoffs (the third being NAU with another loss to UM).

I'm glad Montana fans can feel good about themselves by talking about history though.

I think what Griz is saying is, will UM get a top 4 seed and a bye in the first round, and Weber get a lower seed even if we win the conference outright. Based on UM and WSU history, and attendance records it is a valid concern for the 'Cats. Money is king in college football.

 

[native]

I think what Griz is saying is, will UM get a top 4 seed and a bye in the first round, and Weber get a lower seed even if we win the conference outright. Based on UM and WSU history, and attendance records it is a valid concern for the 'Cats. Money is king in college football.

Weber would have to lose two of the remaining three games to lose the conference championship. It's not going to happen. Weber State will win the 2008 Big Sky Conference football championship outright and earn the autobid to the FCS playoffs. Period.

Griz has a point, however. WSU could win the conference and still be seeded lower than UM. There are no "byes" in a 16 team playoff. Everybody plays. The value of the top four seed would be not only to play a bottom four seed but to get a home game in the first round without "bidding" for the home field advantage. So the top four seed really matters.

Fans complain about having to "bid" for a home field venue in the playoffs, and some call it "corruption" or "bribery."

Nonsense! There is no free lunch!

SOMEBODY pays for the team travel, liability insurance, and on and on. Pay thorough revenue or donors or taxes, but somebody pays.

It is an undisputable fact that there is a good revenue stream in Missoula for playoff games. To their credit, the UM players, fans and administration have built it up for years and years.

Our coaches, players, administration and fans are trying to build up our own potential now. It will take more than one season, but for the first time in history we have a big chip in the big dance, with at least a chance for a top four seed!

Hopefully, we earn a top four seed from the seeding committee by kicking butt in our last three games and maintaining our high Sagarin rating which is an important consideration by the committee. We are currently rated #3 by Sagarin, a fraction of a point ahead of #4 Montana.

No matter what happens, relish the next seven weeks! Don't let the excitement or Coach Mac's vision die at the end of the season! GO WILDCATS!

 

[wsucatfan]

Gotcha, I guess I was reading about the bye games for when the tournament is expanded to 20 teams. Thanks for the correction and the info native.

 

[native]

Gotcha, I guess I was reading about the bye games for when the tournament is expanded to 20 teams. Thanks for the correction and the info native.

THANK YOU WSU CatFan, for all that you and the other heavy hitters are doing to help Mac build up the football program at Weber State. GREAT! GREAT! GREAT! :!: :!: :!: