November 25th, 2008 12:00am
It seems that complaining about a lack of playoff spots is becoming an annual ritual in the PSAC. Last year it was the Slippery Rock folks complaining that their team had to watch from home and this year Edinboro and Indiana have joined the list of those unhappy with the system.
There was a very interesting article written about this very subject by Matthew Burglund (who in my opinion is among the best in the country at covering some of the issues in Division II), that appeared last Saturday in the Indiana Gazette.
If you read the story, it's pretty apparent that many coaches in the PSAC feel that they are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to the playoffs. Certainly, politicking for what they feel is best for their team comes with the territory of being a coach. But there is so much illogic and shortsightedness that comes across in these opinions that I feel this issue needs to be addressed in my column.
First of all, I just can't get myself to feel too bad about what would essentially be the fourth and fifth place teams in the PSAC (Edinboro and Indiana) not getting into the playoffs, especially when the conference already has three playoff teams in the field.
Since the playoffs expanded to 24 teams in 2004, the PSAC has had 15 teams selected for the postseason, an average of three per season. With the PSAC making up roughly 10-12% of all D-II football playing schools and the league getting 12.5% of the playoff spots over the past five years, there sure doesn't seem to be a lack of inclusion to me-- especially when you add the fact that the PSAC is about an average D-II conference.
The fact that the CIAA was added to Super Region One this year is also irrelevant since no CIAA teams made the playoffs. In other words, if the region were still comprised of just the PSAC, NE-10 and WVIAC, the six teams selected for the playoffs would have been exactly the same. And even if a CIAA team had gotten in via earned access, it would not have affected the PSAC because Southern Connecticut would have been the team that got bumped.
Which leads me to address what I thought was one of the most ridiculous ideas I saw in the article. Indiana coach Lou Tepper and PSAC Commissioner Steve Murray both believe that the regions with more schools should get more playoff spots. Tepper's idea was for Super Region One and Super Region Three to each get eight spots, while Murray tempered it a bit by going with seven spots for each of those regions.
If the NCAA would even consider going to unbalanced regions, we might as well do away with any sort of regionalized system and just go to some sort nationalized selection system.
I do agree that the current playoff format leaves a lot to be desired and there are certainly some major issues that need to be addressed. But too many PSAC schools watching the playoffs from home is not one of those issues.
Regional Finals
Is this the best group of regional finals we've ever had? This Saturday will feature four teams that are unbeaten against D-II competition. The other four teams each have one loss, with three of those losses being to the team they play this week. Plus, seven of the top eight ranked teams in our final poll are still alive and playing this weekend. Sit back and enjoy what should be a great Saturday of D-II football.
Super Region One
California (11-1) @ Bloomsburg (11-1)
Bloomsburg beat California 24-17 in a driving rainstorm back in week two and I expect another very closely contested game this week. In the first game, Bloomsburg controlled the game with its running game and, combined with the weather, it made for a miserable day for the Vulcan offense. I think California will turn the tables this time. The Vulcans are more diverse offensively and just a slightly more complete team overall. California 28 Bloomsburg 24.
Super Region Two
North Alabama (11-1) @ Delta State (10-1)
Yes, DSU fans, I know your team beat UNA 34-28 earlier this season. But outside of that one game, the Lions have been the more dominant team. A.J. Milwee's presence at quarterback gives UNA an added dimension that the Statesmen don't have and I simply think this is UNA's year while the Statesmen are probably a year away from having a truly great team. The one thing the UNA defense must do is contain DSU's Trevar Deed. Deed killed the Lions with 234 yards running and receiving and they must have a better game plan to stop him. North Alabama 27 Delta State 21
Super Region Three
Minnesota-Duluth (12-0) @ Grand Valley (11-0)
The Bulldogs have a 4-year starter at quarterback. They have a veteran offensive line, a bruising running back and a senior dominated defense. This sounds like a team capable of going to GVSU and coming away with a win. But I think the Lakers have one more subtle overall advantage that will help them win this game: team speed. Even with top running back Jimmy Berezik serving a suspension, the Lakers have enough playmakers on both sides of the ball to get it done. I do believe, however, that the Bulldogs are good enough to make this a game into the second half. Grand Valley 31 Minnesota-Duluth 21.
Super Region Four
Northwest Missouri State (11-1) @ Abilene Christian (11-0)
Can the Bearcats slow down this ACU offense? When the two teams met in August the ACU offense controlled the game and simply pulled away from Northwest on the scoreboard in the second half. Certainly Northwest's defense has improved since then, but you could obviously make the case that an offense that scored 93 points last week is clicking also. The bottom line to me is this: this is probably going to be somewhat of a shootout and the Wildcats simply have more bullets. Abilene Christian 40 Northwest Missouri 30.
Mailbag
[Q] How can you defend the complete omission of West Texas A&M quarterback Keith Null from Harlon Hill consideration?
Ian
[A] Each school can only forward one nominee for consideration. WTAMU elected to nominate receiver Charly Martin instead of Null. It's a similar situation at Abilene Christian where Bernard Scott was nominated instead of Billy Malone.
[Q] I just realized that there are no California schools in D-II with football teams. Why?
Tom
[A]Actually, there is one team in California: Humboldt State. There used to be an entire league of D-II teams in California but a few moved to D-I and several other dropped the sport because of Title IX compliance problems in the mid 90's.
I think the bottom line is that small college football just isn't very popular in California so none of the existing D-II schools in the state feel much of a need to add the sport. I doubt that stance will be changing anytime soon.
Contact Me
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