2015 National Championship - NDSU vs Jacksonville St

[93henfan]

[Mvemjsunpx]

I saw that.

Also funny (creepy?) was that Wentz "thanked the Lord" right as that was happening.

[UNI88]

One can never really know but this is certainly consistent with what I wrote early on when somebody posted that wheel thingy showing the brackets. My response was that the brackets were WAY unbalanced with the side that North Dakota State was on being the much tougher bracket.

I also am back to thinking Jacksonville State was over rated. The only thing I saw that was really inconsistent with thinking that was how bad they beat Sam Houston State. I have no explanation for that. Sometimes stuff like that happens. But I don't know if Jacksonville State would even have made the playoffs if they'd been playing in the MVFC. Of course you can say that about a lot of champions of other conferences including my own favorite the Southland.

I thought early on about posting a thought i had while watching this game early but didn't want to jinx things. Now I can say it:

Hey Jacksonville State. This ain't the OVC.

No, that's just silly. JSU has arguably more talent than any other team in FCS and they took a bowl-winning SEC team to overtime. They just played like crap today, in large part thanks to Carson Wentz.

Agreed. It looked like the Gamecocks started with a case of the jitters and never recovered. Wentz took advantage of them and played a great game.

[Gil Dobie]

Pleasantly surprised the Bison are on a drive for 5. Before the season, it looked like a rebuilding year, and even more like that, after the Montana game. Defense lost 9-10 starters from last year. Looks like the youngsters have improved since that first game. Still not a dominating Bison team as the last few years, hopefully good enough to beat Jack St.

The Bison had 5 returning on defense this year.

5 guys with starting experience, not 5 guys that were #1 starters.

[Gil Dobie]

Upon further review, UNI was the best team the Bison played in the playoffs?

[CAA Flagship]

Congrats Gil

[Gil Dobie]

Congrats Gil

Thanks Flaggy!

They already have a slogan for next year.

[JohnStOnge]

No, that's just silly. JSU has arguably more talent than any other team in FCS and they took a bowl-winning SEC team to overtime. They just played like crap today, in large part thanks to Carson Wentz.

I don't think taking a team like Auburn to overtime is the be all and end all of such debate. There are a number of historical instances of I-AA/FCS teams having impressive performances against big time teams then turning out not to be all that great in I-AA/FCS. One I'll always remember is Eastern Washington losing by 21-19 to Oregon State in 2000. Oregon State went on to finish 11-1 and in the I-A top 5 while Eastern Washington finished 6-5 and didn't make the playoffs. James Madison beat Virginia Tech 21-16 in 2010 and ended up finishing 3-5 in the CAA while Virginia Tech went on to win the ACC and play in a BCS bowl. I have my own painful memory of McNeese losing to a Nebraska last year when Amir Abdulla caught a short pass on 3rd and 6 then turned it into a 58 yards scoring play with 20 seconds left to break a 24-24 tie. Nebraska went on to finish 9-4. McNeese ended up 4-4 in the Southland.

Auburn was not that great by Big 5 standards this year. They finished 1 game over 0.500, 6-6 against other FBS teams, and 2-6 in the SEC. Looking back Jacksonville State giving them problems like that was NOT all that big a deal. To tell you the truth Jacksonville State clubbing Sam Houston State like they did gives me more pause in thinking what I think than Jacksonville State taking Auburn to overtime does.

I just don't think Jacksonville State was anywhere near the #1 team this year. Top 10, yes. But #1 no. That's what I thought going into the playoffs. I wondered if I should re-consider after they beat Sam Houston State like they did. But now I'm feeling comfortable with the thought again. And I don't think it's silly at all to say they might not have made the playoffs if they'd been in the MVFC. I'm not saying they wouldn't have had a shot. But thinking they could've lost enough games playing an MVFC schedule to keep them out of the playoffs isn't unrealistic at all.

I also don't think that's all that much of an insult. I think you could say the same thing about the auto bid from every other FCS league. Southern Utah. Check. Richmond. Check. McNeese. Check. Chattanooga. Check. Charleston Southern. Check. Duquesne. CHECK. Colgate. CHECK. Dayton. CHECK. And yes, Jacksonville State. Check. I think that's how tough the MVFC is.

[clenz]

Upon further review, UNI was the best team the Bison played in the playoffs?

yes.

2 best teams in the country

[Ibanez]

Go JSU!

Why? it's just not right. A Northern Iowa fan can talk about the Panthers but I look at McNeese and say it just ain't fair. Over the last 25 years McNeese has had 23 winning seasons. They've won 11 conference championships and been to the playoffs 16 times. They went into the last game of the regular season with a chance to win the conference championship 18 times. They never went for more than two years without going into the last game of the season with a chance to win the conference crown (2004 - 2005 then 2011 - 2012). They went to the championship game twice, once losing by one point under freakish horrible luck circumstances to the third place team from the Gateway after having beaten the second place team from the Gateway during the regular season then the champion of the Gateway during the playoffs then the second time losing 34-14 to a team they beat 38-13 during the regular season. They lost to second one in spite of holding their opponent to 13 first downs while getting 26 first downs of their own. Ran up and down the field all game while somehow avoiding scoring points while also managing to give up a handful of big plays so the other team could score lots of points without being able to move the ball consistently.

And now this? Jacksonville State? A program McNeese has a 7-1 historical record against from the friggin' OVC wins a national championship? A program that moved to the OVC because it couldn't complete in the Southland? It's just not right. The Football Gods would have to be very cruel to allow that to happen.

With North Dakota State you just bow down, pay homage, and say it's just a superior program. Same with a program like Montana when that happens. But Jacksonville State? The Barney Fife metaphor comes to mind.

Dude...less is more.

[BDKJMU]

Greatest runs I-AA:
-NDSU 5 straight NC wins 2011-2015
-GSU 6 seasons 85’-90’, 5 NC games, won 4. 16 seasons 85’-00’ 8 NC games, won 6.
-YSU 4 seasons 91’-94’ 4 straight NC games, won 3; 9 seasons 91’-99’ 6 NC games, won 4.
-Marshall 6 seasons 91’-96’ 5 NC games, won 2.
-ASU 3 seasons 05’-07’ won 3 straight NC
-EKU 4 straight NC appearances 79’-82’, won back to back 80’-81’ (79’-80’ 4 team field, 81’ 8 team field, 82’ 12 team field).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_f ... sion_I_FBS" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Div II
-NDSU 10 seasons 81’-90’: 7 NC games, won 5, with streaks of 3 out of 4 and 5 out of 8.
-NW Missouri State: 18 seasons 98’-15’: 9 NC games, won 5.
-Grand valley State: 9 seasons 01’-09’ 6 NC games, won 4 in 5 seasons 02’-06’
-N Alabama won 3 straight NC 93’-95’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Divi ... ampionship" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Div III
-Mount Union: 23 seasons 93’-15’, 19 NC game appearances, including last 11 straight, won 12 NC.
-Wisc Whitewater: 10 seasons 05’-14’ 9 NC game appearances (all against Mt Union), won 6 NC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Divi ... ampionship" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BDKJMU]

As far as 5 in a row being done before at any level , you have to go back over 130 years:

Princeton:
-6 in a row 1869-1875 (1871 no football)
-5 in a row 1877-1881
Won or shared 28 national titles 1869-1950. 30 seasons 1869-1899 (1870 no football) won or shared the national title 20 times. Started out with only 2 teams, them & Rutgers, and the 1st 6 seasons through 1875 were only playing 1-2 games. Then about 5 season of 5-6 games. 1881 were playing 9 games, and by 1884 were playing 10.


Yale
-5 in a row 1880-1884
Won or shared 27 National titles, 25 times in 38 seasons between 1872 and 1909.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_f ... sion_I_FBS" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/nation ... s_year.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JohnStOnge]

Dude...less is more.

No. It's not. It might be easier for people to absorb. But it's not more.

But if you insist: Jacksonville State's performance against Auburn, in retrospect, was not all THAT impressive because Auburn was a bad SEC team. 2-6 in SEC play. And North Dakota State's bracket was WAY tougher than Jacksonville State's bracket was.

[Chizzang]

Dude...less is more.

No. It's not. It might be easier for people to absorb. But it's not more.

But if you insist: Jacksonville State's performance against Auburn, in retrospect, was not all THAT impressive because Auburn was a bad SEC team. 2-6 in SEC play. And North Dakota State's bracket was WAY tougher than Jacksonville State's bracket was.

Agreed:
The bracket problem became clear pretty fast

[Bison Fan in NW MN]

The Bison had 5 returning on defense this year.

5 guys with starting experience, not 5 guys that were #1 starters.

Schatz
Tanguay
DeLuca
Smith
Campion

[Gil Dobie]

5 guys with starting experience, not 5 guys that were #1 starters.

Schatz
Tanguay
DeLuca
Smith
Campion

Deluca replaced an injured Beck. I am wrong on the total.

[HI54UNI]

Congrats to our MVC conference brothers!

[93henfan]

Congrats to our MVC conference brothers!

COAT TAIL RIDER!!!

echoing every non-CAA fan from 2003 to 2010

[AZGrizFan]

Upon further review, UNI was the best team the Bison played in the playoffs?

If the only metric you use is final score.

[Gil Dobie]

Upon further review, UNI was the best team the Bison played in the playoffs?

If the only metric you use is final score.

They play the Bison tough every game.

[SACCAT]

Upon further review, UNI was the best team the Bison played in the playoffs?

If the only metric you use is final score.

What other Metric is there?

[Mvemjsunpx]

If the only metric you use is final score.

What other Metric is there?

UNI's other scores against other teams.

Also, NDSU had Wentz against JSU but not against UNI (in the playoffs, anyway).

[AZGrizFan]

If the only metric you use is final score.

What other Metric is there?

It's possible to vastly outplay another team and only win by a couple points. It's also possible to have a game be much closer than the score indicates.

In both games NDSU ran a KO back for a TD, but take away the 2 pick-sixes vs the Griz and that game looks eerily similar to the UNI game both in score and in yardage....

....and before you go there, I realize you can't take back the two pick sixes (and I'm not saying the Griz/NDSU game was closer than the score indicated)...

[SACCAT]

What other Metric is there?

It's possible to vastly outplay another team and only win by a couple points. It's also possible to have a game be much closer than the score indicates.

In both games NDSU ran a KO back for a TD, but take away the 2 pick-sixes vs the Griz and that game looks eerily similar to the UNI game both in score and in yardage....

....and before you go there, I realize you can't take back the two pick sixes (and I'm not saying the Griz/NDSU game was closer than the score indicated)...

I understand what you are saying, the Cats had a lot of games like that this year. We were down BIG to NAU, EWU, and another I can't think of right now, and all those games came down to the very end. The score really wasn't as close as it looked. But at the end of the day, a loss is a loss. Just ask ISU if they feel good about having a last second chance to beat the griz fly over their head.