DMoo531 wrote: Yes they did schedule (and lose to) two quality FBS teams. This gives them the edge over Northern Arizona-who actually beat a FBS team? NAU who had to fight in a somewhat stiffer BSC.
I posted much of this information in the "Quality Losses" thread but I'll repeat it here. The consensus of power rankings, at least, is that McNeese State was stronger than anybody NAU played. I'll indicate Sagarin (Sag), Massey (Mas), and the average of ratings at
http://masseyratings.com/cf/compare1aa.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (Av). There are some blanks (---) because Sagarin only does Division I and the ranking comparison only includes FCS. Here we go:
McNeese State Sag 111*, Mas 128**, Av 27
UNLV Sag 138, Mas 153, Av ---
Fort Lewis Sag ---, Mas 598, Av ---
Montana Sag 154, Mas 156, Av 42
Portland State Sag 161, Mas 177, Av 57
North Dakota Sag 144, Mas 145, Av 44
UC Davis Sag 159, Mas 165, Av 48
Northern Colorado Sag 165, Mas 162, Av 51
Idaho State Sag 222, Mas 307, Av 113
*17th in FCS **22nd in FCS
So it appears that power ratings pretty much "agree" that McNeese State was better than anybody NAU beat. And Sam Houston State beat the Cowboys by 45-10.
You might get some idea as to how well McNeese State could play at times this year by looking at their game with Weber State. Yes, I know Weber State was bottom of the barrel in the Big Sky. But the McNeese's level of dominance before it cleared the bench midway through the 4th quarter was probably at least as "large" as what any Big Sky team achieved against the Wildcats.
At 6:45 remaining in the game, McNeese had a 35-7 lead and had outgained Weber State by 469 to 93 in total yards. They had 292 yards rushing. Then it was bench clearing time and Weber State got two cosmetic touchdowns on two +60 yard drives to make the final score and final stats look better.
Now, another thing that happened during that game did make things easier for other teams playing McNeese for the remainder of the season. McNeese suffered a rash of injuries during the second half. I wrote in this forum at the time that, while they had won the game, they may have lost their season due to the injuries Weber State inflicted on them. When they played Sam Houston State they were playing without six players who started on defense against Middle Tennessee State and Weber State plus some of their backups. So they were significantly weaker and thinner on that side of the ball.
But, still, they were a good team. They were still able to play Central Arkansas to the point of Central Arkansas needing a miracle to win in the last minute of play and still able to comfortably beat a Stephen F. Austin team that, as you recall, gave Montana State a pretty good game. They're not a playoff team. But the difference between them being in the playoffs ahead of Central Arkansas is a good bounce Central Arkansas got on an onside kick followed by a 47 yard field goal. That bounce also probably made the difference between them being somewhere around the top 15 in the average power ratings and rankings instead of hovering around the edge of the top 25.
