Bracket Thoughts

[BisoNation]

I don't believe that EWU has EVER "choked" in the playoffs. And I don't expect it to happen THIS year, EITHER. Particularly given that their QF opponent will be App/IL St. That should be a good Eag win....

Losing to App State or Ill State wouldn't be choking. That would be losing to a better team.

[CPAlum]

They will welcome any and all adoptions...gonna need all the love they can get but I do suspect that Sam will be staring at the best run offense they have seen all season. Further, Cal Poly runs some spread...this ain't your grandads triple option team

Better than Texas A&M or Baylor

Oh why not ....ill take the bait. Yes I'd say Cal Poly as a team runs the ball better than Baylor for sure. Deonte Williams probably has 2x more yards rushing than any Baylor RB alone.

The Triple Option is a different offense and teams that are not used to facing it have a bit if trouble defending it. Cal Poly has really added some different looks. Sam has a great run defense but as a fan I expect Cal Poly will be able to run the ball...if they can't they will lose

[JohnStOnge]

I'm surprised that Stony Brook got in ahead of Lehigh, but that's not a huge snub.

So how did the tiebreaker work with Stony Brook, Coastal Carolina, and Liberty?

[EWURanger]

EWU deserves its pairing. The BSC was amazingly competitive this year from top to almost bottom. But I agree, NDSU got hosed a little. They should get the winner of CCU-BCU. It gets tough for everybody after that.

I blame NDSU's draw on fan karma as witnessed by your assine prediction.

I did find it alittle odd that the Bison might potentially face a conference foe right away in their 1st game.

But it doesn't matter, you have to win or you're done now.

If EWU wins their 1st game they will have a very tough quarterfinal game against either Appy or Ill State.

+2

Our first game might not be terribly competitive, but I'm not sure how anyone could consider App State a cake-walk.

The deep-rooted hate that some Bison folks still holds toward EWU is mildly entertaining, though.


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[BisoNation]

I did find it alittle odd that the Bison might potentially face a conference foe right away in their 1st game.

But it doesn't matter, you have to win or you're done now.

If EWU wins their 1st game they will have a very tough quarterfinal game against either Appy or Ill State.

+2

Our first game might not be terribly competitive, but I'm not sure how anyone could consider App State a cake-walk.

The deep-rooted hate that some Bison folks still holds toward EWU is mildly entertaining, though.


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I will agree with you on that. Your quarterfinal game would be tougher than ours. Personally, I don't know how SDSU didn't get a first round bye. They are by far the best team playing in the 1st round. But then again they didn't get the respect they deserved all year so why would they come playoff time. Who knows maybe Eastern Illinois will go into Brookings and win though.

Something just doesn't seem quite right that NDSU has the possibility of playing their biggest rival right away in the 2nd round. But hey, gotta be able to beat everyone to call yourself the best.

[htownbearkat]

You had better hope the temps aren't around 10 degrees against MSU. I have seen too many warm weather teams totally fold in the cold.

The man speaks the truth. I won't look it up like I used to always do but the record of Southland teams at home in the playoffs vs. Big Sky teams and on the road are two entirely different things. Sam Houston did win at Eastern Washington in the playoffs a few years back though before getting handled by the Montana team the Bearkats beat soundly in Huntsville during the regular season.

It'll be interesting to see how the Cal Poly at Sam Houston State goes in the second round. That's a fairly tough opener for Sam Houston. Assuming Cal Poly still runs the double wing option style that'll be interesting to see that style of option playing against Sam Houston State's style of option.

i like it. The Bearkats strength on Def is their run stopping ability. No question Montana in Dec is a Biatch.

[JohnStOnge]

Oh why not ....ill take the bait. Yes I'd say Cal Poly as a team runs the ball better than Baylor for sure. Deonte Williams probably has 2x more yards rushing than any Baylor RB alone.

You picked a bad time to post that. Baylor rushed for 342 yards at 7 yards per carry last night. Baylor's Lache Seastrunk rushed for 185 yards on only 19 carries (9.7 yards per carry).

Don't get me wrong. I think Cal Poly is a tough first round draw for Sam Houston State and would not be at all surprised to see Sam Houston do a "one and done" this year. But there is no way Cal Poly is the best rushing attack Sam Houston State has faced this year. If you think Cal Poly would rush for 342 yards at 7 yards per carry on Kansas State, you are, as the cliche goes, "smoking rope."

[CPAlum]

Oh why not ....ill take the bait. Yes I'd say Cal Poly as a team runs the ball better than Baylor for sure. Deonte Williams probably has 2x more yards rushing than any Baylor RB alone.

You picked a bad time to post that. Baylor rushed for 342 yards at 7 yards per carry last night. Baylor's Lache Seastrunk rushed for 185 yards on only 19 carries (9.7 yards per carry).

Don't get me wrong. I think Cal Poly is a tough first round draw for Sam Houston State and would not be at all surprised to see Sam Houston to a "one and done" this year. But there is no way Cal Poly is the best rushing attack Sam Houston State has faced this year. If you think Cal Poly would rush for 342 yards at 7 yards per carry on Kansas State, you are, as the cliche goes, "smoking rope."

Fair....but I never said that Cal Poly would run for 342 on Kansas St and frankly I doubt Baylor could do it twice. I said that as a team they (Cal Poly) run the ball better than Baylor and I'd stick with that. Its a apples to oranges comparison Baylor plays in a different subdivision against better competition.

Deonte Williams alone has over 1400 yards rushing. The best Baylor RB has 600 it's a different offense

I'm not trying to sound crazy and I can see why I might sound that way but I guess what I'm saying is that I expect Cal Poly will rush for more yards against Sam than any team has this year....if I'm wrong we will all know it in two weeks.

[JohnStOnge]

i like it. The Bearkats strength on Def is their run stopping ability. No question Montana in Dec is a Biatch.

I haven't gotten any feedback on whether or not Cal Poly runs that double wing option style with formation basically like Georgia Southern does but if so that is a different animal. "Stopping the run" in other styles of offenses is not the same thing.

Scott Stoker was defensive coordinator for McNeese when the Cowboys went to Georgia Southern in 2000 with a highly ranked rushing defense. Even after that playoff game Stoker's McNeese defense ended up 7th in I-AA rushing defense after giving up 98.5 yards per game and 2.93 yards per rush. But for that playoff game Georgia Southern's option attack put up 479 rushing yards at 8.6 yards per rush.

That style of offense actually exploits the kind of aggressiveness on defense Stoker likes to employ.

It's a different animal. Don't assume that because Sam Houston State's rushing defense stopped other styles it will stop this style as well. It may. Maybe Stoker remembers how his aggressive defense was exploited and shredded at Georgia Southern in 2000. We will see.

Of course right now I don't even know if Cal Poly still runs that style. If they do, though, it's going to be interesting because I think this it'll be the first time a Stoker defense has faced it in the playoffs since that butt whipping Georgia Southern gave his defense in 2000.

[Seawolf97]

I'm just happy we are not only in but at home. That surprised me. We also got a great game coming up against Villanova a future CAA opponent. Congrats to all the other Teams that made it in

[JohnStOnge]

Its a apples to oranges comparison Baylor plays in a different subdivision against better competition.

Yes but that's why you shouldn't say that. How well do you think Baylor could have run the ball if it had played Cal Poly's schedule?

However, as I indicated in my most recent post. I think it'll be interesting if Cal Poly does still run that double wing option style. Do they?

[CPAlum]

Cal Poly runs a spread option one part Georgia Southern one part Oregon...not a pure triple option. They run it faster and usually no huddle.

[The Kicker]

I'm surprised that Stony Brook got in ahead of Lehigh, but that's not a huge snub.

So how did the tiebreaker work with Stony Brook, Coastal Carolina, and Liberty?

I think it was points allowed.

[JohnStOnge]

Cal Poly runs a spread option one part Georgia Southern one part Oregon...not a pure triple option. They run it faster and usually no huddle.

Well it'll be interesting to see. I am not a football expert but from what I've read and heard an option offense such as Georgia Southern is tough on an attacking style of defense because they are accustomed to attacking and disrupting but that kind of offense forces them to have to hang back and be disciplined. If they attack as they are accustomed to they get burned. And that sure as heck appeared to have happened when Scott Stoker, Sam Houston State's current defensive coordinator, tackled Georgia Southern's offense in 2000. That was a VERY strong defense. A very strong run defense against the I-AA offenses it had played against during the regular season.

[ewudood]

I don't believe that EWU has EVER "choked" in the playoffs. And I don't expect it to happen THIS year, EITHER. Particularly given that their QF opponent will be App/IL St. That should be a good Eag win....

The last time they truly choke was 2004 Sam Houston. I think EWU's 2010 run got them the #2 seed this year but they'd still be ahead of MSU regardless. I expected the SSU loss would have affected us more. With the same records it's tough to argue NDSU not being seeded first even if we beat SSU and had the same record.

[htownbearkat]

Better than Texas A&M or Baylor

Oh why not ....ill take the bait. Yes I'd say Cal Poly as a team runs the ball better than Baylor for sure. Deonte Williams probably has 2x more yards rushing than any Baylor RB alone.

The Triple Option is a different offense and teams that are not used to facing it have a bit if trouble defending it. Cal Poly has really added some different looks. Sam has a great run defense but as a fan I expect Cal Poly will be able to run the ball...if they can't they will lose

I love this match up for the Bearkats. Facing a running team at home makes for a nice opener. Since the bearkat off runs this as an aside it will not be unfamiliar. I just really do not see this game being that close. The bearkat team speed was discounted in last years playoffs only to be proven very wrong.

[Mvemjsunpx]

Several good teams didn't get in, but we knew that would be the case.

The one team that has a legitimate gripe is Towson. They were playing great at the end of the year and they eviscerated an otherwise equal UNH team, and yet the Wildcats get in & the Tigers don't.

[Grizalltheway]

Several good teams didn't get in, but we knew that would be the case.

The one team that has a legitimate gripe is Towson. They were playing great at the end of the year and they eviscerated an otherwise equal UNH team, and yet the Wildcats get in & the Tigers don't.

Yeah, that was a head-scratcher for me.

[Mvemjsunpx]

Several good teams didn't get in, but we knew that would be the case.

The one team that has a legitimate gripe is Towson. They were playing great at the end of the year and they eviscerated an otherwise equal UNH team, and yet the Wildcats get in & the Tigers don't.

Yeah, that was a head-scratcher for me.

Oh, and to add one thing…

I'm glad the the committee ignored the shiny, pretty 10 wins for Lehigh and saw them as they truly were—a glorified Pioneer League team. Their high poll ranking was mostly based on last year's success.

[JohnStOnge]

I love this match up for the Bearkats. Facing a running team at home makes for a nice opener. Since the bearkat off runs this as an aside it will not be unfamiliar. I just really do not see this game being that close. The bearkat team speed was discounted in last years playoffs only to be proven very wrong.

Dude, they had a close game in the first round, a blowout in the second round, a close game in the semis, then got completely shut down in the championship game. It was not an overwhelmingly dominant playoff run. Yes, they were self-evidently good enough to have a shot at the national title. But they also weren't far from losing their first playoff game. And they were at home every week until the championship game. Then even in the championship game they were in Texas. That's not likely to happen this time.

The Bearkat team speed was not discounted. People just looked at how Southland teams had done in the playoffs recently. Southland teams are always fast. They just don't usually go very far in the playoffs.

[Grizalltheway]

Yeah, that was a head-scratcher for me.

Oh, and to add one thing…

I'm glad the the committee ignored the shiny, pretty 10 wins for Lehigh and saw them as they truly were—a glorified Pioneer League team. Their high poll ranking was mostly based on last year's success.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Waaannhhhhhh, we didn't get the easiest route to the finals, they're supposed to just give us our 2nd National Championship, don't they know who we are!!!??? Waaaaaannnhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Are you 12?

I agree Bison Fan, doesn't matter who comes to Fargo, they will fall in December.

Obviously you do not understand the concept of mockery, or how whiny, ignorant, and self entitled ndsu fans come across in the threads I linked. Can't say I'm surprised though.

[TheHerd]

I don't like that we're going to end up playing SDSU again 2nd round. Not too worried about Wofford or New Hamsphire, Semi-finals would make for an exciting matchup if we get there.

Can't wait to get it going next Saturday, congrats to everyone who made it in!

Wofford plays good defense and they have overall a more balanced option offense with fewer mistakes than GSU. That would be a pretty good matchup.

I was very surprised how NDSU's half of the bracket turned out. NDSU will almost certainly have the toughest first round game of the seeded teams by far. And overall that half of the bracket is without question tougher than EWU's half.

Totally agree about Wofford and toughest first round for NDSU. Wofford should rush for 400 against UNH's vaunted D!

[BisoNation]

Are you 12?

I agree Bison Fan, doesn't matter who comes to Fargo, they will fall in December.

Obviously you do not understand the concept of mockery, or how whiny, ignorant, and self entitled ndsu fans come across in the threads I linked. Can't say I'm surprised though.

NDSU fans on Bisonville act dumb I'm not trying to debate that. I would compare how you act on here to how many people act on Bisonville...v

[BisoNation]

Wofford plays good defense and they have overall a more balanced option offense with fewer mistakes than GSU. That would be a pretty good matchup.

I was very surprised how NDSU's half of the bracket turned out. NDSU will almost certainly have the toughest first round game of the seeded teams by far. And overall that half of the bracket is without question tougher than EWU's half.

Totally agree about Wofford and toughest first round for NDSU. Wofford should rush for 400 against UNH's vaunted D!

This years Wofford team has nothing on the Georgia Southern team NDSU crushed last year. Of course, this isn't the same NDSU team either...