(04-03-2021 04:42 PM)ETSUfan1 Wrote: According to the playoff committee, VMI was #8. This will get us in the top 25 and hopefully position us for an at large if we can take care of business. Just win!
We are definitely in the mix right now. At present, I'd feel pretty confident about three teams getting an at-large:
-The loser of the NDSU/SDSU game (winner gets the MVFC AQ)
-North Dakota
-One of JMU and Delaware (the other being the CAA AQ)
After that, it's probably (in no particular order) Missouri State, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Richmond, Villanova, Incarnate Word, Jacksonville State if they lose to Murray State next week, and ETSU. So teams we want to root for include:
-Sam Houston State - if they run the table, they'll hand Incarnate Word a second loss and knock them out.
-Jacksonville State - a huge one. Murray State isn't getting in as an at-large without a win over a team above .500, so a JSU win helps us both ways.
-Youngstown State - they play both Missouri State and North Dakota the last two weeks of the season and are getting better. Beating Missouri State in particular knocks another team off the bubble, and beating UND helps create muddy the waters which could help us rise.
-Delaware - a second loss by Villanova would elevate us on the bubble.
-Chaos in the Big Sky - Idaho is leading Idaho State as I write this. It would be really helpful if the Bengals come back and win, then Idaho beats Eastern Washington next week. That would help us rise on the bubble.
There's not much we can do about Richmond except hope they can make up one of the games with JMU and JMU hammers them.
Of course, all of that is secondary to a potential conference auto-bid. Here's hoping we can TCB against Mercer and The Citadel can do us a favor.