The pairings for the FCS playoffs were announced today - James Madison landed the No. 1 spot with everyone's darling, Appalachian State setting up on the opposite side of the FCS playoff schedule as the two-seed.So while the big boys from the FBS (or Division I for you traditionalists) crunch those BCS computer numbers, the FCS gets ready to launch its exciting postseason. Games open on Saturday, Nov. 29 and run through the championship on Dec. 19 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Appalachian State is the No. 2 seed despite entering this year's playoffs as the three-time defending champs. The Mountaineers will open the playoffs with a home game against South Carolina State. JMU - the last team other than App. State to win the FCS/DI-AA crown - hosts Wofford.
Another newly-recognizable name in the field is Cal Poly, which nearly won at Wisconsin last Saturday; the Mustangs missed three extra points and lost to the Badgers in overtime.
See who the Mustangs play, and check out the full schedule for the first round of the FCS playoffs after the jump.
Wofford (9-2) at No. 1 James Madison (10-1)
South Carolina State (10-2) at No. 2 Appalachian State (10-2)
Maine (8-4) at No. 3 Northern Iowa (10-2)
Texas State (8-4) at No. 4 Montana (11-1)
Eastern Kentucky (8-3) at Richmond (9-3)
Colgate (9-2) at Villanova (9-2)
Weber State (9-3) at Cal Poly (8-2)
New Hampshire (9-2) at Southern Illinois (9-2)
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
How dare they compete in a playoff! This will mean excessive amounts of educational class time lost, culminating in poor graduation rates and an overall lack of institutional control. These students athletes are far inferior academically to their Div I counterparts (therefore) we should stop this insanity! How dare we ask them to settle the championship on the field? Truthfully, they have a playoff system and higher graduation rates! They also play 16 games! BCS sucks!
The NCAA has got to seed this thing. Why is #1 JMU playing 8th ranked Wofford and not 23rd ranked Texas State?
#2 Ap. State plays 13th ranked S.C.State while Richmond gets 21st ranked E. kentucky?
What a joke!!!!
Geography is what matters, not rankings. JMU was sent to App State last year and lost, barely. The year before they went to Youngstown. It would be better to play based on ranking, but $ to send the teams all over is a bit less in the FCS
Why does the CAA get 5 teams in the playoffs? Not to take any credit from Maine(8-4) but why Maine over a 10-2 Liberty or a 9-1 Praire View A&M, I dont understand?
It was those huge non-conference wins that Maine had against powerhoses Monmouth(21-17) and Stony Brook (28-13).
In reality, it's because the AD at UMass carries considerable weight on the selection committee. What's worse is that they gave unseeded Villanova the easiest draw. The Socon was not only slighted by the committee by not taking Elon as a third entry, but they make Wofford play the number one seed on the road.
Because it is the best conference in the FCS.
Prairie View plays in a conference that does not send teams to the playoffs. Also, they did not play anyone outside their conference except for Division II teams.
Maine and Liberty each had one quality win. Maine had 4 losses, but all were to playoff or bowl teams. Liberty had 2 losses to teams that were eliminated from making the playoffs weeks ago. No team that made the playoffs as an at large selection had a single loss as bad as either of Liberty's losses, let alone 2.
Incidentally, Liberty's conference, the Big South, has just as many votes on the selection committee as the CAA. At least 4 of the 6 other conferences had to cast the deciding votes.
My judgment is that the Colonial league is a bit overrated with five teams. Southern Conference was definitely slighted with only AppState and Wofford getting bids. Wofford may very well win at JMU. Watch the freshman running back, Breitenstein, who piled up 150+ yards I recall in Wofford's loss at AppState. Ironically, Breitenstein played high school ball in Boone and as I understand it was not recruited by AppState.
It is about the quality of opponents. If a team plays ranked/quality teams, their ranking are much higher than teams who have a cream puff schedule.
Play-offs without 10-2 Liberty are a farce. Conference Champs plus wins over two ranked teams should have easily put them in.
Playoff without Liberty? ....... Selection committee has no credibility if you ask me.....
Liberty is a Champion for God...they can focus now on hosting high school state championships and screwing over Lynchburg for another year.
The reason App State is seeded second, JMU first, is that JMU beat App State in the regular season.
Rankings do not matter. For what ever reason, Liberty did not grab the respect it deserved. Lafayette was 7-4, beat Liberty, but it was a close game, the other close loss was to Presbyterian, which probably was the game that prevented them from making the playoffs. Liberty definitely should have made the playoffs as they are the highest ranked team to not make it....even the coaches thought they were the 15th best team in the nation. I guess they had to go 12-0 to make it.
The Dukes deserve #1, but Liberty does not screw over Lynchburg, it helped make Lynchburg what it is today...just like JMU helps Harrisonburg.
JMU deserved to be #1 seed by virtue of its second half comeback win (at JMU) vs. Appachian State early in the season. For those that missed it, App was ahead 21-0 at halftime, but gave it away in the second half. My bet is that AppState would have won that game had it been played in Boone -- and would probably win if it were played again at JMU. I suggest that with AppState, Wofford, Furman, Elon, and Georgia Southern the Southern Conference is the strongest in FCS and it was definitely slighted with only two teams vs. 5 for the Colonial. But a previous commenter's bewilderment about the pairings (seedings) compared to the rankings is certainly valid....
From the looks of the brackets, the whole thing is really favors the JMU side of the pairings. JMU's toughest test before the finals may actually be Wofford.
from David...
"My bet is that AppState would have won that game had it been played in Boone -- and would probably win if it were played again at JMU."
So, does that mean that the Patriots would win, IF, they played the Giants again?
Hey, if App State doesn't want to play for 4 qtrs, that's fine. I was at the JMU/App State game, and it was no slack effort that posted 35 2nd half points. Ever heard of adjusting at half-time?
Personally, I HOPE AND PRAY that we can play App State again. This needs to get settled. App State is not the darling of the FCS. They beat Michigan, won a few championships. Either keep the program rolling, which it is now, or move up to D-1 if you're so good.
Oh, and Wooford? Please.
JMU has 2 likely candidates for 1st or 2nd round in the draft in Landers and McGee. Good luck with that, I'll be there to watch ya lose.
Your disrespect of Wofford is a bit brazen... if your comments are based on the one common opponent you are not looking at the entire picture. Mike Ayers, Wade Lang and Nate Woody will have a very well prepared team at JMU today. Please don't expect another Halloween Night debacle... that would be unwise on your part. Guess we will find out about 9 hours from now... wish I could be there.
happy its finally playoff time again. will be a great one i think. i do not understand the 5 spots the CAA gets when there are conferences in the FCS that dont get any bids at all. I know its a tough division, but so is the NFC East this year. any ways good luck to teams and fans. GO GRIZ
"From the looks of the brackets, the whole thing is really favors the JMU side of the pairings. JMU's toughest test before the finals may actually be Wofford."
Your right Montana would not stand a challenge. They only made the playoffs for the 16th season in a row. They don't have any experience. please