From 2 days ago..

"Simmering rumors that the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference would forego its spot in the FCS Playoffs in order to compete in a made-for-TV postseason bowl game appear to have reached a boiling point.

According to a report today by HBCUsports.com, Morgan State athletics director Floyd Kerr confirmed the plan in a recent call-in appearance to The Carlos Brown Show on WUBR-910 (Baton Rouge, La.) where he said that the MEAC would drop the playoffs in order to have its conference champion compete against the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) champion.

The game, created by ESPN, will pay each conference $1 million, Kerr said...."
http://thetandd.com/sports/report-meac-t...d41a4.html

That leaves only 10 AQ conferences. Any chance they take the field back down to 20? Would save $$ by taking the playoffs from 23 games back down to 19. Could always simply move it back to 24 if the MEAC, SWAC, or Ivy decided to participate.

123 teams this past season (not including UNCC).
-8 Ivy
-10 SWAC
-11 MEAC
= 94 teams eligible, 83 partial to full 63 scholly + the 11 team non scholly Pioneer.

Basically 23 spots for 83 teams +1 for the 11 team non scholly Pioneer. Going to be even more garbage teams getting in if they don't shrink the field back down to 20.

They need to reduce the number of teams in the playoffs, regardless. 24 is, and always has been, ridiculous.

(01-01-2015 08:38 PM)Madison 91 Forever Wrote:  They need to reduce the number of teams in the playoffs, regardless. 24 is, and always has been, ridiculous.

You might be able to make the argument that 24 waters down the playoff field, but 20 is a dumb format. 12 byes? Silly.

How to win friends & influence people? Thanks for deserting the FCS program guys ...

Bowl Games > Small Time FCS Playoffs

(01-01-2015 08:47 PM)bjk3047 Wrote:  

(01-01-2015 08:38 PM)Madison 91 Forever Wrote:  They need to reduce the number of teams in the playoffs, regardless. 24 is, and always has been, ridiculous.

You might be able to make the argument that 24 waters down the playoff field, but 20 is a dumb format. 12 byes? Silly.

completely agree with this. 20 is a very strange number. 16 was perfect in my opinion, but i seriously doubt we'll ever end up there again.

Though we never seemed to benefit anyway, there goes a usual easy first round opponent for CAA (and sometimes SoCon) schools.

(01-02-2015 09:36 AM)JMUdubbya Wrote:  Though we never seemed to benefit anyway, there goes a usual easy first round opponent for CAA (and sometimes SoCon) schools.

You're correct in that it doesn't really hurt us anyways because of this regional B.S., but it could "benefit" us in that the Richmond's of the world don't get a joke first round opponent in their region since Morgan State, Hampton, Norfolk State, NC A&T, etc are all within a quick drive of Richmond. No more joke first two games for the ticks of the world.

To those saying we should drop the field down to 20 or 16, I agree that 20 is stupid and you may as well just stay at 24 then bother to drop to anything less than 16.
With that being said, they wouldn't expand to 24 only to quickly drop to 16. That will never happen.

Let's just enjoy this mildly good news. A new at-large spot just opened up and it took away an easy first round opponent that Richmond won't get paired with any more.

They really need to seed the entire field 1-24, give the first 8 byes, and then pair 9/24, 10/23 and so on. Higher seeds host. Screw this bidding crap. If a team can't afford to travel from NC to WA, then they can voluntarily remove themselves from competing, leave their conference and become an independent, or just drop football altogether and really save money.

I actually see this as a good thing for both sides. The MEAC was only playing one game in the playoffs anyway, so why not get paid to play that game. Plus they probably get a matchup that would allow them a better chance of winning. Financially, they're in much better shape than the Ivy league in terms of FCS. Neither would participate in the playoffs, but MEAC would actually get a bowl game unlike the Ivy. Good for them.
For the FCS, it allows another at-large to get in. I would argue that it makes the playoffs stronger, not weaker.

(01-02-2015 09:58 AM)Potomac Wrote:  They really need to seed the entire field 1-24, give the first 8 byes, and then pair 9/24, 10/23 and so on. Higher seeds host. Screw this bidding crap. If a team can't afford to travel from NC to WA, then they can voluntarily remove themselves from competing, leave their conference and become an independent, or just drop football altogether and really save money.

Yup.

(01-01-2015 07:35 PM)BDKJMU Wrote:  That leaves only 10 AQ conferences. Any chance they take the field back down to 20? Would save $$ by taking the playoffs from 23 games back down to 19. Could always simply move it back to 24 if the MEAC, SWAC, or Ivy decided to participate.

123 teams this past season (not including UNCC).
-8 Ivy
-10 SWAC
-11 MEAC
= 94 teams eligible, 83 partial to full 63 scholly + the 11 team non scholly Pioneer.

Basically 23 spots for 83 teams +1 for the 11 team non scholly Pioneer. Going to be even more garbage teams getting in if they don't shrink the field back down to 20.

Perhaps we should be like 1A and say teams are playoff eligible with a winning record. No UMass , ASU, ODU - It's getting hard not to make the playoffs these days....

(01-02-2015 02:04 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  

(01-02-2015 09:58 AM)Potomac Wrote:  They really need to seed the entire field 1-24, give the first 8 byes, and then pair 9/24, 10/23 and so on. Higher seeds host. Screw this bidding crap. If a team can't afford to travel from NC to WA, then they can voluntarily remove themselves from competing, leave their conference and become an independent, or just drop football altogether and really save money.

Yup.

Be careful what you wish for. Probably half the teams in the playoffs could not afford to pay to send a team across the country....

Yeah, I know. Just seems so cheap to have playoff matchups based on geography/money instead of a logical bracket.

ESPN and the NCAA are currently working to create even more bowl games for FBS teams.

It is a win win for everyone involved.

Except, the FCS games become more irrelevant and removed from national coverage.

(01-02-2015 04:20 PM)Dukeman Wrote:  ESPN and the NCAA are currently working to create even more bowl games for FBS teams.

It is a win win for everyone involved.

Except, the FCS games become more irrelevant and removed from national coverage.

Face it, there are only a handful of FCS teams who generate any significant interest, JMU, Liberty, NDSU, Montana and only a couple more. To be perfectly honest, Liberty probably has more people pulling for it to succeed on the gridiron than any of the others and the only private school with real support.

(01-02-2015 02:24 PM)Dukester Wrote:  

(01-02-2015 02:04 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  

(01-02-2015 09:58 AM)Potomac Wrote:  They really need to seed the entire field 1-24, give the first 8 byes, and then pair 9/24, 10/23 and so on. Higher seeds host. Screw this bidding crap. If a team can't afford to travel from NC to WA, then they can voluntarily remove themselves from competing, leave their conference and become an independent, or just drop football altogether and really save money.

Yup.

Be careful what you wish for. Probably half the teams in the playoffs could not afford to pay to send a team across the country....

Obviously will never happen considering it's the NCAA that is footing the travel bills of the teams - not the schools. There is no way the NCAA will want to fund a bunch of teams flying cross country for the 1st round.

And I agree with those that point out that replacing a MEAC team with an At-Large team from the CAA, MVC, or Big Sky actually makes the field stronger - not weaker.

As I posted in another thread, I am wondering if we could see one or two defections from the MEAC over this. One million dollars spread out over an entire conference is not a lot of money. Are there some schools who realize the loss of prestige is not worth that - especially if there are good geographic alternatives? I especially look at a school like Delaware State - wouldn't they fit nicely in the NEC or even the Big South (as a geographic rival with Monmouth)?

(01-02-2015 02:24 PM)Dukester Wrote:  

(01-02-2015 02:04 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  

(01-02-2015 09:58 AM)Potomac Wrote:  They really need to seed the entire field 1-24, give the first 8 byes, and then pair 9/24, 10/23 and so on. Higher seeds host. Screw this bidding crap. If a team can't afford to travel from NC to WA, then they can voluntarily remove themselves from competing, leave their conference and become an independent, or just drop football altogether and really save money.

Yup.

Be careful what you wish for. Probably half the teams in the playoffs could not afford to pay to send a team across the country....

It is my understanding that the NCAA pays for the travel of teams in the tournament; the money that is bid pays the expenses; this is the reason why the NCAA likes close travel in first round games.

(01-02-2015 04:45 PM)HMK Wrote:  

(01-02-2015 02:24 PM)Dukester Wrote:  

(01-02-2015 02:04 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  

(01-02-2015 09:58 AM)Potomac Wrote:  They really need to seed the entire field 1-24, give the first 8 byes, and then pair 9/24, 10/23 and so on. Higher seeds host. Screw this bidding crap. If a team can't afford to travel from NC to WA, then they can voluntarily remove themselves from competing, leave their conference and become an independent, or just drop football altogether and really save money.

Yup.

Be careful what you wish for. Probably half the teams in the playoffs could not afford to pay to send a team across the country....

It is my understanding that the NCAA pays for the travel of teams in the tournament; the money that is bid pays the expenses; this is the reason why the NCAA likes close travel in first round games.

Correct - but the discussion was about having the full field seeded. This could lead to a team like JMU traveling to a small college out west. This would mean the NCAA would not get JMU home field dollars and the other school will have little if any gate income. Situations like this may have the NCAA not want to fund 1AA football. I'd guess under the current setup they at least break even. That might not the case in a fully seeded FCS playoffs....

(01-02-2015 04:55 PM)Dukester Wrote:  

(01-02-2015 04:45 PM)HMK Wrote:  

(01-02-2015 02:24 PM)Dukester Wrote:  

(01-02-2015 02:04 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  

(01-02-2015 09:58 AM)Potomac Wrote:  They really need to seed the entire field 1-24, give the first 8 byes, and then pair 9/24, 10/23 and so on. Higher seeds host. Screw this bidding crap. If a team can't afford to travel from NC to WA, then they can voluntarily remove themselves from competing, leave their conference and become an independent, or just drop football altogether and really save money.

Yup.

Be careful what you wish for. Probably half the teams in the playoffs could not afford to pay to send a team across the country....

It is my understanding that the NCAA pays for the travel of teams in the tournament; the money that is bid pays the expenses; this is the reason why the NCAA likes close travel in first round games.

Correct - but the discussion was about having the full field seeded. This could lead to a team like JMU traveling to a small college out west. This would mean the NCAA would not get JMU home field dollars and the other school will have little if any gate income. Situations like this may have the NCAA not want to fund 1AA football. I'd guess under the current setup they at least break even. That might not the case in a fully seeded FCS playoffs....

but if it really was all about the money, then why would they do something as idiotic as pair liberty and jmu in the first round.