Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Special Report II - I-AA Playoffs:

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Special Report II - I-AA Playoffs:

    Special Report II - I-AA Playoffs: Another Conference Quartet?
    By Matt Dougherty, The Sports Network


    Link to playoff report: http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default...AGN3588402.htm

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Here is a couple excerps from the article, must read whole thing at: http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default...AGN3588402.htm

    Sixteen playoff teams will be announced on Nov. 21, of which eight will be automatic qualifiers (the champions of the Atlantic 10, Big Sky, Gateway, MEAC, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern and Southland conferences) and eight will be chosen as at-large entries. A committee of I-AA directors of athletics will be asked to judge at-large teams on the following points - which come straight out of the NCAA manual:

    1. The committee shall select the best teams available on a national at-large basis to complete the bracket; 2. There is no limit to the number of teams the committee may select from one conference; 3. The won-lost record of a team will be scrutinized to determine a team’s strength of schedule; however, more than three losses will place a team in jeopardy of not being selected; 4. The committee may give more consideration to those teams that have played all Division I opponents; and 5. If the team of a committee member is under consideration, the member may not vote for the team being considered and will not be in the room when a vote is taken.

    Here are a few clarifications for who is and who is eligible for the playoff field:

    - The Ivy League does not participate in the I-AA playoffs by decree of the Ivy school presidents.; - The SWAC will send its division champions to the SWAC title game on Dec. 11, so only second place teams and below are playoff eligible. Grambling and Southern, which play in the Nov. 27 Bayou Classic, are also ineligible for the playoffs due to conflict with the first round.; - The Great West Conference does not have an automatic bid, but both Cal Poly and Southern Utah are playoff eligible. UC Davis, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State and South Dakota State are in their transitional phase from Division II football and are not playoff eligible.; - The five-team Big South Conference’s teams are eligible for the playoffs, but the league does not have an automatic bid.; - The 22 teams from the three "I-AA Mid-Major" conferences (MAAC, NEC, Pioneer) are technically playoff eligible, though no team from any of those non- scholarship leagues has ever been chosen for the field.;
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    Projections are made by the Sports Network based on predicted finishes and not current standing:

    Top Four seeds: Southern Illinois, James Madison, Furman, Sam Houston State

    Automatic bids A-10: James Madison; Big Sky: Montana; Gateway: Southern Illinois; Ohio Valley: Jacksonville State; Patriot: Lehigh; MEAC: Hampton; Southern: Furman; Southland: Sam Houston State.

    At-large bids: A-10: New Hampshire, Delaware, William & Mary; Big Sky: Eastern Washington; Gateway: Western Kentucky; Great West: Cal Poly; Southern: Georgia Southern, Wofford.

    Projected Matchups and Seeds:

    East: Wofford at No. 2 James Madison, William & Mary at Georgia Southern, Hampton at No. 3 Furman, Lehigh at Delaware;

    West: Jacksonville State at No. 1 Southern Illinois, Eastern Washington at Western Kentucky, New Hampshire at No. 4 Sam Houston State, Cal Poly at Montana;
Working...
X