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Here is this week's bracket. Two quick notes: The Richmond/UMass tie in the CAA would come down to the AD/committee vote, so I gave the auto-bid to Richmond because I ranked them higher. Also, I added two SWAC teams to the list since there's been some talk about the committee possibly looking at them if they're available.

Here are my bracket's disclaimers:

1. These are the teams I think should be in the field & how they should be seeded, not necessarily who I think the committee will choose.
2. This bracket is based what would happen if the playoffs started today. I'm not attempting to predict future games.
3. I use a points system to determine playoff credentials (that's what the "+#" & "-#" next to the teams in the power rankings are). You can find an explanation of my system in this thread: http://www.championshipsubdivision.com/ ... ?f=4&t=877.

• Auto-Bid Rankings
  
  1. Northern Iowa (10-0)
  2. Richmond (8-2)
  3. Delaware St. (9-1)
  4. McNeese St. (10-0)
  5. Montana (10-0)
  6. Eastern Kentucky (8-2)
  7. Wofford (8-3)
  8. Fordham (8-2)
  
  
  At-Large Rankings
  
  1. Appalachian St. (8-2)
  2. Massachusetts (8-2)
  3. Southern Illinois (9-1)
  4. Delaware (8-2)
  5. James Madison (7-3)
  6. South Carolina St. (6-4)
  7. Georgia Southern (7-3)
  8. Villanova (6-4)

• • • • • • • • Bracket
                
                
                Villanova (6-4)
                @ (1) Northern Iowa (10-0)
                
                Fordham (8-2)
                @ Massachusetts (8-2)
                
                James Madison (7-3)
                @ Appalachian St. (8-2)
                
                Wofford (8-3)
                @ (4) McNeese St. (10-0)
                
                Delaware (8-2)
                @ (3) Delaware St. (9-1)
                
                Southern Illinois (9-1)
                @ Montana (10-0)
                
                South Carolina St. (6-4)
                @ Georgia Southern (7-3)
                
                Eastern Kentucky (8-2)
                @ (2) Richmond (8-2)

• Bids by conference:
  
  5 - CAA
  3 - SoCon
  2 - Gateway, MEAC
  1 - Big Sky, Southland, OVC, Patriot

Playoff Power Rankings
Here you can see where your team stands, and where they may move based on this week's results.
(Bold - Denotes Auto-Bid)
(15. Team - Denotes At-Large cutoff line)
(* - Cannot get 7 DI wins)

1. Northern Iowa (10-0) +16
2. Richmond (8-2) +14
3. Delaware St. (9-1) +13
4. McNeese St. (10-0) +12
5. Appalachian St. (8-2) +12
6. Montana (10-0) +13
7. Massachusetts (8-2) +11
8. Eastern Kentucky (8-2) +9
9. Southern Illinois (9-1) +9
10. Wofford (8-3) +10
11. Delaware (8-2) +9
12. James Madison (7-3) +10
13. South Carolina St. (6-4) +6
14. Georgia Southern (7-3) +5
15. Villanova (6-4) +4
16. Dayton (10-1) +5
17. Fordham (8-2) +4
18. Eastern Washington (7-3) +4
19. New Hampshire (6-4) +3
20. Hofstra (7-3) +4
21. Norfolk St. (7-3) +4
22. Eastern Illinois (7-3) +2
23. Alabama A&M (8-2) +3
24. Elon (6-3) +5*
25. Colgate (6-3) +1
26. San Diego (9-1) +2
27. Jacksonville St. (6-4) +1
28. Albany (7-3) -1
29. Holy Cross (6-4) 0
30. Hampton (6-4) 0
31. Prairie View A&M (6-3) -2
32. Lafayette (6-4) -4
33. Morehead St. (7-3) -3



I'll post my final bracket tomorrow night.

Wow... that's bold. Montana seems low, Richmond seems high, Eastern Washington will be in the playoffs (I'm hopin' anyways!).. definitely bold. But tomorrow night we'll definitely know a lot more!

I doubt Villanova even if they get by Delaware tomorrow.

Richmond as a #2 seed? Delaware St. as a #3? What are you smoking?

MrTitleist wrote:Wow... that's bold. Montana seems low, Richmond seems high, Eastern Washington will be in the playoffs (I'm hopin' anyways!).. definitely bold. But tomorrow night we'll definitely know a lot more!

Montana ends up that low because of my tiebreakers—primarily that they played a DII & no FBS. Pretty much all of the rest have an FBS opponent & many of them have all-DI schedules. I actually give the Griz more credit than the GPI, which has them 9th (8th. excluding North Dakota State). Richmond is in line to win the CAA, the best conference in FCS this year, so a 2-seed seems reasonable even without looking at my +/- scores. I was even surprised that Delaware State ended up with that high of a score, but the MEAC is always underrated & that win over Norfolk is better than most people think. Also they have an all-DI schedule with no FCS losses & 2 quality wins over Norfolk & SCSU. The Hornets' credentials are at least as good as Hampton's were in 2005, & the Pirates got a 3-seed. Eastern Washington has a good chance of making my field if they beat Weber since the field will probably thin a bit tomorrow, especially if Georgia Southern loses to Colorado State. Dayton has a great chance of getting in as well, though they can't improve their stock this week.