FCS PLAYOFFS

[FUBeAR]

Furman made great progress in coaching and personnel this year. We even got lucky/smart with bringing in a grad QB and Huff was the right one. It looks like our recruiting was helped by our showing in the playoffs as. I love the fact that we seem to be building an outstanding receiving corps. I think a really good passing game has more to do with the guys going after the ball than throwing it. We clearly belonged in the picture. Is it realistic to think we can beat these big state schools and win the FCS championship? Can a school of our size and academic standards compete against programs not similar to ours in this environment? We were one play away from going pretty deep into the playoffs. Actually one questionable holding call. We return a lot of talent for 2023 and our recruiting efforts seem to be bearing fruit. I would think there is a grad transfer or two on the horizon as well. Can we really handle those big old Dakota/Montana farm boys or cowboys or whatever the hell they are?

They are a myth…

SDSU’s OL avg 6-4 300
FU’s OL avg 6-3 290

SDSU’s DL 6-3 261
FU’s DL 6-4 277

What we need to handle first is the Playoff Structure, the Rankings & Polls, and the BS ‘work’ of the Playoff Selection Committee. The deck is triple stacked against Furman and our SoCon brethren.

NDSU was no better than Elon this year.

[apaladin]

FuBear speaks the truth. I really believe FU would have beaten NDSU. UIW should gave beaten them but their coaching staff had a horrible game.

[The Jackal]

I think we are getting back into the conversation nationally.

Furman should start next season with a relatively high ranking and be in the conversation for pre-season SoCon favorite. That’s usually a key piece of the “gain respect and get playoff home games” puzzle.

[The Jackal]

I would also love to see some genuine efforts to make changes to the playoff system. The current format has been widely criticized for years, and this year it may have ended up being louder than normal

[AstroDin]

For what it's worth… AGS sent out the final top 25 ballots yesterday.
My top ten. I try not to be a homer with my ballot. My heart wanted me to put Furman ahead of SAC ST, but I couldn't rationalize doing that.

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: North Dakota State Bison
3: Holy Cross Crusaders
4: Incarnate Word Cardinals
5: Montana State Bobcats
6: Samford Bulldogs
7: Sac State Hornets
8: Furman Paladins
9: William & Mary Tribe
10: Southeastern Louisiana Lions

[FUBeAR]

For what it's worth… AGS sent out the final top 25 ballots yesterday.
My top ten. I try not to be a homer with my ballot. My heart wanted me to put Furman ahead of SAC ST, but I couldn't rationalize doing that.

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: North Dakota State Bison
3: Holy Cross Crusaders
4: Incarnate Word Cardinals
5: Montana State Bobcats
6: Samford Bulldogs
7: Sac State Hornets
8: Furman Paladins
9: William & Mary Tribe
10: Southeastern Louisiana Lions

FUBeAR can easily rationalize that using maths…

* 3 points is the widely recognized standard for home field advantage.
* UIW beat FU @ UIW by 3 & beat SacSt @ SacSt by 3.
* Thus FU is 6 points better than SacSt on a neutral field.

* You can go further…NDSU beat UIW by 3 @ NDSU & UIW beat FU by 3 @ UIW
* Thus FU is equal to NDSU & UIW on a neutral field

We can extend this …

NDSU beat Samford by 18 @ NDSU, thus Furman is 15 points better than Samford on a neutral field (and/or w/neutral refs).

So…your ranking should be…

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Holy Cross Crusaders
3: Montana State Bobcats
4T: Furman
4T: Incarnate Word Cardinals
4T: North Dakota State Bison
7: Samford Bulldogs
8: Sac State Hornets
9: William & Mary Tribe
10: Southeastern Louisiana Lions

As the AGS won’t allow you to ‘do’ ties, you should just enter the 3 tied at 4th in Alpha order (as shown).

Finally…if you want to slide Holy Cross down below the 3 tied at #4, FUBeAR won’t be mad at ya. They are in the Patsy League after all. They are really getting way too much love for playing well for 3 periods at the North Pole. Musta thought it was a Hockey game.

[The Jackal]

Another observation.

A lot of the teams that are sort of living in the upper echelon of FCS football are doing what we're doing - stout defense and a run heavy attack lead by a good QB-as-a-runner player.

[Furmanoid]

At the local Pub yesterday people were actually watching the FCS championship game! Lots of “Go Jacks”. Of course for the 500th time I had to explain what FCS is. Hard to explain what it is so I just say it’s sort of D 1.5.

[Flagman]

At the local Pub yesterday people were actually watching the FCS championship game! Lots of “Go Jacks”. Of course for the 500th time I had to explain what FCS is. Hard to explain what it is so I just say it’s sort of D 1.5.

I like to explain it this way:
FBS teams have a goal each season to win 6 games so they can qualify for a bowl game in an exotic location like Montgomery or Mobile, Alabama or Boise, Idaho. FCS teams have a goal of a conference championship and a bid to the only NCAA division I national championship tournament where 24 teams compete "on the field", and a team like Furman can win the national championship.

[Roundball]

At the local Pub yesterday people were actually watching the FCS championship game! Lots of “Go Jacks”. Of course for the 500th time I had to explain what FCS is. Hard to explain what it is so I just say it’s sort of D 1.5.

I explain it as being I-AA. They get it.

[Jasper]

I think we are getting back into the conversation nationally.

Furman should start next season with a relatively high ranking and be in the conversation for pre-season SoCon favorite. That’s usually a key piece of the “gain respect and get playoff home games” puzzle.

Glad to hear a championship is a realistic possibility for most people. Looks like a new group of sound academic schools of medium size are emerging in the FCS playoff picture. Furman, Holy Cross, William & Mary, Fordham are already. I would not be surprised to see Villanova and St. Thomas join them next year and hope that Wofford will soon regain their footing as well. I am sure there are others on the cusp.

[gofurman]

Furman made great progress in coaching and personnel this year. We even got lucky/smart with bringing in a grad QB and Huff was the right one. It looks like our recruiting was helped by our showing in the playoffs as. I love the fact that we seem to be building an outstanding receiving corps. I think a really good passing game has more to do with the guys going after the ball than throwing it. We clearly belonged in the picture. Is it realistic to think we can beat these big state schools and win the FCS championship? Can a school of our size and academic standards compete against programs not similar to ours in this environment? We were one play away from going pretty deep into the playoffs. Actually one questionable holding call. We return a lot of talent for 2023 and our recruiting efforts seem to be bearing fruit. I would think there is a grad transfer or two on the horizon as well. Can we really handle those big old Dakota/Montana farm boys or cowboys or whatever the hell they are?

They are a myth…

SDSU’s OL avg 6-4 300
FU’s OL avg 6-3 290

SDSU’s DL 6-3 261
FU’s DL 6-4 277

What we need to handle first is the Playoff Structure, the Rankings & Polls, and the BS ‘work’ of the Playoff Selection Committee. The deck is triple stacked against Furman and our SoCon brethren.

NDSU was no better than Elon this year.

Objectively, I don't think we could play with the SDSU guys. NDSU - maybe.. and that is a GREAT IMPROVEMENT !!!! Don't read this wrong.. I am so proud of our team !!!!! but we are not yet the SDSU boys. Man, their OL and DL were STRONG. Impressive !!

They had that game won as soon as they got the first fumble and scored. NDSU was not going to come back - it's been a loooooooooong time since I have seen NDSU whooped up and down the LOS like that.

Glad SDSU won it and not NDSU. They were clearly the better team. Won the game on the LOS! Also, they were more comfortable throwing the ball it seemed . SDSU was a little more balanced.

Anyway, let's get back in the playoffs and make another run !!!

GoFurman

[FurmAlum]

For what it's worth… AGS sent out the final top 25 ballots yesterday.
My top ten. I try not to be a homer with my ballot. My heart wanted me to put Furman ahead of SAC ST, but I couldn't rationalize doing that.

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: North Dakota State Bison
3: Holy Cross Crusaders
4: Incarnate Word Cardinals
5: Montana State Bobcats
6: Samford Bulldogs
7: Sac State Hornets
8: Furman Paladins
9: William & Mary Tribe
10: Southeastern Louisiana Lions

I don't know Astro. I would put Furman up another notch to #7 and drop Holy Cross to #8. The only reason HC had such a good record is they play in such a weak conference. Just my opinion.

While we're on the subject I think FU might could have beaten all of them if we had had all home games like NDSU and SDSU. And yes I think we could have competed with SDSU on a neutral field.

[FurmAlum]

I know this will never happen but 2 things that could cure the bias thing would be:

1. Don't have a poll until after the 5th game.

2. Play all playoff games after the first 2 rounds at a neutral site. Kind of like the NCAA basketball tournament.

[FUBeAR]

I know this will never happen but 2 things that could cure the bias thing would be:

1. Don't have a poll until after the 5th game.

2. Play all playoff games after the first 2 rounds at a neutral site. Kind of like the NCAA basketball tournament.

The whole ‘never happen’ mentality needs to go! FUBeAR is, today, able to buy lovely craft beers right inside Paladin Stadium. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!

Currently…
* the FCS Playoffs are not currently profitable for the participating schools, nor for the NCAA (if FUBeAR’s sources are correct)
* 3 Conferences / 26 schools / 20% of the subdivision have no interest in participating in the Playoffs as currently structured
* The Selection / Seeding / Pairing / Bidding process is CLEARLY broken as demonstrated by the Committee’s shoddy work this year and the total BS logic they tried to sell as excuses for their horrible process.

The only way to fix these issues is to make changes and try new things - much like FU has totally revamped how we view/execute Football Game Day for fans with outstanding results.

If significant changes are not made before the 2024 Playoffs, FUBeAR would like to see FU and the SoCon pull out of the Playoffs and set up a Post-Season Bowl Series with the CAA - Top 6 Teams in each Conference - maybe 3 Host Cities - Atlanta, Charlotte, Philly perhaps - 4 Teams at each location and play 2 games on the same day - SOMETHING DIFFERENT …. ANYTHING … make it fun, make it exciting , make it fair, make it make money.

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!

Now…it does not.