re: Weekly FCS Poll and Discussion

So Liberty decides to play football tonight.

Game is on ESPNews

I'll get the notes out tomorrow had drama at the school this afternoon.

Liberty's DB just became a trading card

Coastal's PAT in turn became the Three Stooges.

17-3 SLU at half. Same shite as always though, drop a wide open TD right before half.

Nicholls scores on the second play of the 4th quarter to go up 24-17. Another massive 2nd half collapse in the works for the Lions.

COLONELS WIN!!!!!

The following is a copy of interview with Marc Wilson, Chair of NCAA FCS Playoff Committee...




(STATS) - He would say it didn't change when the FCS playoffs expanded by four teams in 2010 or by another four two years ago, and that it won't change this weekend even though one of the 24 spots will go to an additional at-large selection.

An athletic director himself, Mark Wilson, the chair of the selection committee, knows how passionate people are about their football programs, and he expects there will be a team, maybe more than one, that comes away from Sunday's announcement of the playoff field heavily disappointed over not being included among the 24 teams.

If Wilson had the chance to talk to any of them - presumably the football coach or athletic director - he says he would assure that person how the system in place, with representatives from all 10 conferences which send their champions through automatic bids, delivers the best 14 at-large selections to fill out the field (it's gained an at-large bid with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference relinquishing its automatic bid).

Wilson, Tennessee Tech's AD since 2004, is part of the selection process for the fourth straight year, this time in the leading capacity. In addition, the selection committee consists of athletic directors Chuck Burch (Gardner-Webb), Troy Dannen (Northern Iowa), Brian Hutchinson (Morehead State), Richard Johnson (Wofford), Nathan Pine (Holy Cross), Marty Scarano (New Hampshire), Paul Schlickmann (Central Connecticut State), Dr. Brad Teague (Central Arkansas) and Jeff Tingey (Idaho State).

With the committee set to meet in Indianapolis to select the 2015 field - the announcement of the pairings will come in an ESPNU selection show Sunday at 11 a.m. ET - Wilson discussed the season-long process with STATS.

STATS: Can you provide an overall description of the selection process?

MW: Well, it's a very intense process. The members of the NCAA football committee have been talking about teams and using our regional committees to analyze work as well as the national committee has been all season long. And as we get into the selection process, we'll follow the established policies and procedures as we work through to determine the 14 at-large selections.

STATS: From past experience, what would you say is the most difficult aspect of the selection process?

MW: The most difficult is to be able to draw correlations between teams because in FCS typically we have three nonconference opponents, and many of us play Bowl Subdivision opponents. So (it's difficult) to draw those correlations between leagues to determine the very best teams to put into the playoffs.

STATS: How much decision making continues into Sunday morning or does that not happen?

MW: We hope there's no decision making that continues into Sunday morning. Our goal is to do everything on Saturday night. … We do sleep on it overnight, and when we come back on Sunday morning, we ask each committee member to confirm the belief that we absolutely think we have it right.

STATS: If you have, say, four or five teams for the final at-large bid or two, do you eliminate them one at a time until you have what you're looking for?

MW: The NCAA utilizes a computerized voting process, so every member of the committee will vote and use that data to help us formulate our decisions. Of course, as we get into those last four or five, we do only put a team or two in at a time depending on the number of spots that are available in the field. So early on, the number of teams that go (are greater), but as less spots become available, then you do only put one team in at a time.

STATS: Will MEAC teams be considered for an at-large bid considering their champion will play in the Celebration Bowl and not in the playoffs this year?

MW: Yes, sir, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference is eligible for at-large selection, and we've been receiving information on their teams over the course of the year. We will use that information as we head into the selections.

STATS: Does having one more at-large bid make it easier for the committee or does it open up a list of even more legitimate candidates to consider?

MW: It's always difficult when you get down to the last two, three, four teams that you select into the playoffs, whether adding one more will really make an impact on that, I don't know going into this weekend. I'll be able to tell you after this weekend. But it's always a challenge no matter how many spots there are because there are deserving teams and it's tough to find differentiation between the teams. Certainly if you look at this year, there's been so many good teams that just beat each other. It's going to be tough decision making by the committee to make sure we have the very best teams selected.

STATS: In your role as selection chair this year, how is it going to change for you?

MW: I think my role this year is just to make sure everything goes smoothly, make sure we follow the policies and procedures as set forth in our guidelines, and make sure we do the work that is necessary. Of course, that's been the work of the entire season. We have been tactical watching games and looking at teams and talking about teams all season long, to make sure we are efficient and we as a committee do good work for the membership.

If there was any question before, I don't think there is anymore. The Citadel HAS to be in the playoffs.

Illinois State just locked up their 2nd straight MVFC championship. 46-0 drubbing of South Dakota in a snow game. Brock Spack got the Gatorade shower as I post this.

The committee has proven already how much of a joke they are today

NDSU seeded below ILS?
3 rematches in by Rd 2? Including a reg season rematch game 1.
4 teams on 1 side bracket for a conference?
Seeding a team that had no business being a seed?


This bracket is a joke.