ODU president: FCS playoffs may expand by 2013

[89Hen]

Flagship, for me it's about a quality tournament vs giving everyone a participation trophy. People in the conferences that didn't have autos didn't like hearing that they should just try earning a bid, rather than being given one. In all the years of that debate, not a single person on the other side ever answered my question of how teams that didn't play in autobid conferences found a way to get into the field, but their teams couldn't.

Georgia Southern won FOUR National Championships as an Independent. YSU won three. Hofstra, Coastal, CalPoly... all made the field without being in an autobid conference.

[GannonFan]

Flagship, for me it's about a quality tournament vs giving everyone a participation trophy. People in the conferences that didn't have autos didn't like hearing that they should just try earning a bid, rather than being given one. In all the years of that debate, not a single person on the other side ever answered my question of how teams that didn't play in autobid conferences found a way to get into the field, but their teams couldn't.

Georgia Southern won FOUR National Championships as an Independent. YSU won three. Hofstra, Coastal, CalPoly... all made the field without being in an autobid conference.

UD made it as in Independent too. Auto-bids are for sissies.

[jcmanson]

So are you saying that the Conference champion should not get an autobid?

Not automatically. I can think of several things you could do to qualify the autos, some of which exist now... minimum number of teams in a conference, minimum number of DI wins for the conference to get an auto, minimum number of DI wins for the champ to actually get it...

Coastal was 1-4 vs DI OOC (1-3 vs I-AA). That alone should eliminate them from an auto IMO. Throw on top of that the Big South was a whopping 5-23 vs DI... No. Not all conference champions should get an auto.

I agree Coastal didn't belong last year, but that was the Big South's fault for having a defunct tiebreaker.

But I do think there are conference champions of "lesser" conferences that belong in the playoffs but would otherwise not make it if not for the autobid. Just because the conference sucks doesn't mean the team sucks. And only having 3-4 OOC games to judge them on is not enough, particularly when 1 of those is an FBS and another a D2.

[89Hen]

Just because the conference sucks doesn't mean the team sucks. And only having 3-4 OOC games to judge them on is not enough, particularly when 1 of those is an FBS and another a D2.

If they don't suck, then they should be able to get an at-large. As for playing half your games against teams that basically don't count towards the playoffs.... tough shit. Don't schedule them.

[jcmanson]

If they don't suck, then they should be able to get an at-large. As for playing half your games against teams that basically don't count towards the playoffs.... tough ****. Don't schedule them.

What I’m saying is, it’s hard for teams to prove they don’t suck enough to earn an at-large when in a sucky conference.

And as for scheduling - easier said than done. A lot of teams need the FBS game for the check and sometimes there is no way around the D2.

[BlueHen86]

I think 16 was the best number. Adding more teams means a longer post season, some teams get byes and now the NC game is in January.

I liked the old system much better.

6-5 should not get you in. I think the AQ should have to meet the 7 D-I win standard.

[DetroitFlyer]

I think some of these auto-bid's for partial-scholly conferences is pretty stupid. Just because they have the FCS label doesn't mean they can compete in the FCS. Some of these conferences would struggle against the likes of Grand Valley State of D2 or Mount Union of D3.

Wow, I simply cannot wait until we go to 10-0 all time against YSU and send you home crying to your mothers in 2013. Man, would it be sweet to win the PFL in 2013 and get the PFL's first autobid after dining on penguin meat.

[alvin kayak]

DetroitFlyer, your days of dominating the lowly PFL are over. Jacksonville is the new cock of the walk. Try beating Butler and Duquesne first. Penguin RB Cook would run through the state of Ohio and back against you guys.

[89Hen]

And as for scheduling - easier said than done. A lot of teams need the FBS game for the check and sometimes there is no way around the D2.

It's a choice.

[BlueHen86]

And as for scheduling - easier said than done. A lot of teams need the FBS game for the check and sometimes there is no way around the D2.

It's a choice.

Usually. Sometimes one of your scheduled opponents backs out and you have a hole to fill. You might not be able to get a D-I school.

[Grizalltheway]

It's a choice.

Usually. Sometimes one of your scheduled opponents backs out and you have a hole to fill. You might not be able to get a D-I school.

Especially out West, and it's only going to get worse with UND, Cal Poly, and UCD joining the Big Sky.

[jcmanson]

It's a choice.

Usually. Sometimes one of your scheduled opponents backs out and you have a hole to fill. You might not be able to get a D-I school.

That happened to Liberty a couple years ago when Iona dropped their football team. We were scheduled to play them, but had to scramble and ended up with a d2.

[89Hen]

It's a choice.

Usually. Sometimes one of your scheduled opponents backs out and you have a hole to fill. You might not be able to get a D-I school.

That's the exception, not the rule.

[BlueHen86]

Usually. Sometimes one of your scheduled opponents backs out and you have a hole to fill. You might not be able to get a D-I school.

That's the exception, not the rule.

Agreed, which is why I said "usually".

I do think the NCAA should tweak the D-I rule though. Allow teams to count a non-D-I game every four years, provided it's for a "schedule emergency". In other words, the West Chester game wouldn't count for UD since UD schedules them, but say Furman backs out of the return home-and-home date and UD is forced to scramble for an opponent. They could schedule a D-II team and still count it toward their win total, but only once every four years.

[BDKJMU]

I think 24 would be fine. I just hope they don't go beyond that number any time soon.

I agree and think most fans of the lower tier conferences would as well.

24 gives the PFL a AQ and I'm all for that.

It also saves an AQ for a new conference to be formed (AEast?) or in the alternative the Ivys if they change their mind.

Anything beyond 24 is expansion for the sake of expansion and I don't really see any compelling reason for it.

Or the SWAC.

[BDKJMU]

The length of the regular season = 13 weeks.
The length of the postseason = 7 weeks.

Who put the 'stu' in student-athlete?

And I have a bone to pick with you facists who insist that 24 teams is enough. Every team should have access to the postseason. It's just not fair.

Regular season is 12 weeks.

[danefan]

I agree and think most fans of the lower tier conferences would as well.

24 gives the PFL a AQ and I'm all for that.

It also saves an AQ for a new conference to be formed (AEast?) or in the alternative the Ivys if they change their mind.

Anything beyond 24 is expansion for the sake of expansion and I don't really see any compelling reason for it.

Or the SWAC.

I wish. The playoffs would be a much better draw and media event with the SWAC and Ivy leagues involved.

[ODUalum11]

Or the SWAC.

I wish. The playoffs would be a much better draw and media event with the SWAC and Ivy leagues involved.

+1

...at least the Ivy League, not sure about the SWAC....

[89Hen]

I wish. The playoffs would be a much better draw and media event with the SWAC and Ivy leagues involved.

Don't count the SWAC in there. They were 0-19 when they did participate and didn't bring much to the table in the way of media or draw. SWAC fans don't care about games against PWC's.

[henfan]

The length of the regular season = 13 weeks.
The length of the postseason = 7 weeks.

Who put the 'stu' in student-athlete?

And I have a bone to pick with you facists who insist that 24 teams is enough. Every team should have access to the postseason. It's just not fair.

Regular season is 12 weeks.

I stand corrected on that minor point, though that doesn't change the fact that the length it takes to complete the FCS post-season is nearly half as long as the regular season. That's ridiculous.

[Grizalltheway]

I wish. The playoffs would be a much better draw and media event with the SWAC and Ivy leagues involved.

Don't count the SWAC in there. They were 0-19 when they did participate and didn't bring much to the table in the way of media or draw. SWAC fans don't care about games against PWC's.

Way to bring race into it.

[89Hen]

Don't count the SWAC in there. They were 0-19 when they did participate and didn't bring much to the table in the way of media or draw. SWAC fans don't care about games against PWC's.

Way to bring race into it.

Go find attendance figures for when a PWC plays at a SWAC team and see if you agree.

[Grizalltheway]

Way to bring race into it.

Go find attendance figures for when a PWC plays at a SWAC team and see if you agree.

I don't wanna.

[dal4018]

"Old Dominion University president John Broderick said Thursday morning that the NCAA is moving forward with plans to expand the Football Championship Subdivision playoff pool from 20 to 24 teams.But it might not happen until 2013."

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/10/odu-pre ... xpand-2013

My take, more isn't always better. I guess this will include some additional auto bids, maybe the Ivy and PFL. The NCAA needs to help with the cost, thru sponsorship. Why should NCAA games cost so much and do you ask team which don't even give scholarships to fork over +$50K to play in the playoff games.

I hope that the SWAC is allowed to rejoin the playoffs

[dal4018]

Don't count the SWAC in there. They were 0-19 when they did participate and didn't bring much to the table in the way of media or draw. SWAC fans don't care about games against PWC's.

Way to bring race into it.

Agreed race has no place in this subject as stated before I hope that the SWAC rejoins the 1-AA playoffs