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From the Forum. Now that the season has started we tend to forget about the uncertain future of the GWFC.
Big South must go national
Jeff Kolpack
Automatic. Qualifier. They are the two most important words in Division I-AA football and if you’re not convinced, just ask California Poly.
Last year’s Great West Football Conference champ was snubbed from the Division I-AA playoffs for some reason we will never know – or somebody will ever admit.
The Mustangs went 9-2, finished high in the final ESPN/USA Today top 25 poll and owned quality wins over NDSU, Montana State and Texas State.
But because the Great West does not have automatic qualifiers, the Mustangs were left begging for one of eight at-large entrants. They didn’t get invited.
So the answer, of course, is to get an AQ. To do so, a league must have at least six teams that are postseason eligible. The Great West has five teams. So does the Big South Conference.
But arranging a marriage between the two has not been love at first sight.
The Big South is south and east in a big way: Coastal Carolina, Virginia Military Institute, Gardner-Webb (N.C.), Liberty University (Va.) and Charleston Southern (S.C.).
A sensible idea that was proposed by the Great West was to have two divisions with two crossover games, meaning each team would have to travel just once.
One of the hang-ups is the Big South’s unwillingness to travel.
Teams apparently don’t want to spend the money to fly for one game.
Which begs the question: What is a program doing in Division I if it cannot afford to fly for one football game?
If the Big South wants to compete with the big boys, it needs to leave its comfort zone of the southeast and think on a more national scale.
The league made significant progress in its quest for recognition when Coastal Carolina defeated defending national champion James Madison last Saturday. Of course, this had all the news value to folks in the Red River Valley of a snow storm in Iceland.
Still, the Big South has not had a winning nonconference record in three years, was 6-14 against Division I-AA scholarship teams last year and is 13-38 in the last three years against teams that are from an automatic qualifier league.
Merging with the Great West could help raise its status.
As Cal Poly found out, relying on a committee to make the playoffs is risky business. Division I-AA puts more stock in strength of schedule than wins and losses.
If you want to make the playoffs, then you have to pony up and play teams from the five I-AA premier leagues: Big Sky, Atlantic 10, Gateway, Southland and Southern.
Big South must go national
Jeff Kolpack
Automatic. Qualifier. They are the two most important words in Division I-AA football and if you’re not convinced, just ask California Poly.
Last year’s Great West Football Conference champ was snubbed from the Division I-AA playoffs for some reason we will never know – or somebody will ever admit.
The Mustangs went 9-2, finished high in the final ESPN/USA Today top 25 poll and owned quality wins over NDSU, Montana State and Texas State.
But because the Great West does not have automatic qualifiers, the Mustangs were left begging for one of eight at-large entrants. They didn’t get invited.
So the answer, of course, is to get an AQ. To do so, a league must have at least six teams that are postseason eligible. The Great West has five teams. So does the Big South Conference.
But arranging a marriage between the two has not been love at first sight.
The Big South is south and east in a big way: Coastal Carolina, Virginia Military Institute, Gardner-Webb (N.C.), Liberty University (Va.) and Charleston Southern (S.C.).
A sensible idea that was proposed by the Great West was to have two divisions with two crossover games, meaning each team would have to travel just once.
One of the hang-ups is the Big South’s unwillingness to travel.
Teams apparently don’t want to spend the money to fly for one game.
Which begs the question: What is a program doing in Division I if it cannot afford to fly for one football game?
If the Big South wants to compete with the big boys, it needs to leave its comfort zone of the southeast and think on a more national scale.
The league made significant progress in its quest for recognition when Coastal Carolina defeated defending national champion James Madison last Saturday. Of course, this had all the news value to folks in the Red River Valley of a snow storm in Iceland.
Still, the Big South has not had a winning nonconference record in three years, was 6-14 against Division I-AA scholarship teams last year and is 13-38 in the last three years against teams that are from an automatic qualifier league.
Merging with the Great West could help raise its status.
As Cal Poly found out, relying on a committee to make the playoffs is risky business. Division I-AA puts more stock in strength of schedule than wins and losses.
If you want to make the playoffs, then you have to pony up and play teams from the five I-AA premier leagues: Big Sky, Atlantic 10, Gateway, Southland and Southern.