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What are everyone's opinions on the D2 playoff bracket.
To me the obvious stunner should be GVSU hosting Ferris in the first round (remember Ferris is without their head coach for this game). Using the presumed AFCA rankings, this is a top 5 matchup in round 1. I am shocked the NCAA made this decision, but when Ferris failed to earn a top 4 spot, given the NCAA's reliance on distance for opponents, and the fact there were several upsets in the region, and across the country, this matchup should have been all but assumed. The seeding criteria and selection criteria need to change when you have two top 5 teams in the country stuck meeting in round 1 of the playoffs.
I also have to question Henderson State's inclusion in the bracket. Yes, they did beat OBU in week 11, BUT they also were ranked behind Southern Arkansas going into week 11, finished with the same record (9-2) as Southern Arkansas, and most importantly, lost head to head to Southern Arkansas on the field. Yes, winning the Battle of the Ravine was a good win, but in my opinion, it can't overshadow the head to head loss to Southern Arkansas. The problem is it created a 3 way split for second in the GAC with OBU, Henderson State and Southern Arkansas, which was likely how the NCAA justified Henderson States's inclusion.
In the other regions, I can't argue with the top 4 seeds in the Tiffin Region (SR1). Tiffin was undefeated, so they should have been the top seed after SRU's loss. Charleston and SRU both have 1 loss, but SRU's loss was in week 11 and was a blowout loss to Kutztown. Kutztown, started 0-2, but won 9 straight including the blowout win over SRU. SRU and Kutztown take the final two seeded spots in the bracket with California's loss in what amounted to a play in game for the post-season against East Stroudsburg. New Haven moved into the earned access position by virtue of the 8th and 9th place teams in the region playing in week 11. That was going to drop the loser of that game behind New Haven and move the Chargers into a top 9 Earned Access Position. When it came to bracketing, the only one that suprised me was moving Virginia Union into SR1 and moving Shepherd down to SR2. I don't understand this move from a travel standpoint or a competitive standpoint, given what has happened in other regions.
In Super Region 2, I don't think there was any way to change the regional top 4. Benedict was undefeated, Delta State, Valdosta and L-R all had a lone loss, but Delta beat Valdosta head to head (seems to matter here, but not in Henderson vs SAU). L-R simply didn't play the same level of schedule to jump either GSC team. As for the at-large teams, Virginia Union got in by winning a play in game in the CIAA championship game, knocking Fayetteville State out in the process. VUU was then shipped to SR1 for some reason. West Florida entered the final week 5th in the region and would only drop out with a loss, which they did not do. Unfortunately for West Florida and Delta State, they, like Ferris State and GVSU, got the way to tough draw for round 1, apparently due to travel considerations.
In Super Region 4, CSM was the obvious #1 seed all season, Western Colorado, Central Washington and UT-PB should all have been in consideration for a top 4 seed entering week 11. Western Colorado won their game, while Central Washington was beaten by UTPB. Given Western Colorado's head to head win over UTPB, this secured the #2 seed for Western. The #3 went to UTPB because they beat CWU. The #4 was left wide open. You had Augustana, Bemidji and Minn State all competing for that final seeded spot. Augustana beat Bemidji in week 11, while they also had the head to head over Minn State earlier in the season, making them the obvious choice for the final seeded spot. The only question would be travel and assignments for first round games. This region was going to have two games of teams flying to a seeded team, so how were you going to set the games up. Augustana vs Minn State almost had to happen based on seeding (4 vs "5") and because it was the shortest trip distance wise of any first round game. If you kept the region intact. The only question then was CWU or Bemidji to Western Colorado.
Could the NCAA have some something to eliminate the first round mess of GVSU-Ferris? Could they have moved Henderson State to SR4 and moved one of the Minnesota schools to SR3? The most obvious move would be Henderson State to UTPB in the first round. This trip is exactly 600 miles. How would this impact other matchups? Someone from SR4 would need to replace Henderson State. That would be Minn St, who you could send to GVSU (also exactly 600 miles), or you could have sent Minn State to play at Pittsburg State (524) or to Central Missouri (436 miles) and Indianapolis up to GVSU with Bemidji going to Augustana for a rematch of week 11. The problem, Ferris to Central Missouri or Pittsburg St would be over 600 miles.
Unfortunately, under the current playoff system in D2, I think we might see a lot of unwanted first round rematches. This is again a reason why I think the NCAA needs to ditch the regional system and go to a top 16 seeded team format nationally then fill in geogrpahic pairings as needed with the top 16 seeds.
To me the obvious stunner should be GVSU hosting Ferris in the first round (remember Ferris is without their head coach for this game). Using the presumed AFCA rankings, this is a top 5 matchup in round 1. I am shocked the NCAA made this decision, but when Ferris failed to earn a top 4 spot, given the NCAA's reliance on distance for opponents, and the fact there were several upsets in the region, and across the country, this matchup should have been all but assumed. The seeding criteria and selection criteria need to change when you have two top 5 teams in the country stuck meeting in round 1 of the playoffs.
I also have to question Henderson State's inclusion in the bracket. Yes, they did beat OBU in week 11, BUT they also were ranked behind Southern Arkansas going into week 11, finished with the same record (9-2) as Southern Arkansas, and most importantly, lost head to head to Southern Arkansas on the field. Yes, winning the Battle of the Ravine was a good win, but in my opinion, it can't overshadow the head to head loss to Southern Arkansas. The problem is it created a 3 way split for second in the GAC with OBU, Henderson State and Southern Arkansas, which was likely how the NCAA justified Henderson States's inclusion.
In the other regions, I can't argue with the top 4 seeds in the Tiffin Region (SR1). Tiffin was undefeated, so they should have been the top seed after SRU's loss. Charleston and SRU both have 1 loss, but SRU's loss was in week 11 and was a blowout loss to Kutztown. Kutztown, started 0-2, but won 9 straight including the blowout win over SRU. SRU and Kutztown take the final two seeded spots in the bracket with California's loss in what amounted to a play in game for the post-season against East Stroudsburg. New Haven moved into the earned access position by virtue of the 8th and 9th place teams in the region playing in week 11. That was going to drop the loser of that game behind New Haven and move the Chargers into a top 9 Earned Access Position. When it came to bracketing, the only one that suprised me was moving Virginia Union into SR1 and moving Shepherd down to SR2. I don't understand this move from a travel standpoint or a competitive standpoint, given what has happened in other regions.
In Super Region 2, I don't think there was any way to change the regional top 4. Benedict was undefeated, Delta State, Valdosta and L-R all had a lone loss, but Delta beat Valdosta head to head (seems to matter here, but not in Henderson vs SAU). L-R simply didn't play the same level of schedule to jump either GSC team. As for the at-large teams, Virginia Union got in by winning a play in game in the CIAA championship game, knocking Fayetteville State out in the process. VUU was then shipped to SR1 for some reason. West Florida entered the final week 5th in the region and would only drop out with a loss, which they did not do. Unfortunately for West Florida and Delta State, they, like Ferris State and GVSU, got the way to tough draw for round 1, apparently due to travel considerations.
In Super Region 4, CSM was the obvious #1 seed all season, Western Colorado, Central Washington and UT-PB should all have been in consideration for a top 4 seed entering week 11. Western Colorado won their game, while Central Washington was beaten by UTPB. Given Western Colorado's head to head win over UTPB, this secured the #2 seed for Western. The #3 went to UTPB because they beat CWU. The #4 was left wide open. You had Augustana, Bemidji and Minn State all competing for that final seeded spot. Augustana beat Bemidji in week 11, while they also had the head to head over Minn State earlier in the season, making them the obvious choice for the final seeded spot. The only question would be travel and assignments for first round games. This region was going to have two games of teams flying to a seeded team, so how were you going to set the games up. Augustana vs Minn State almost had to happen based on seeding (4 vs "5") and because it was the shortest trip distance wise of any first round game. If you kept the region intact. The only question then was CWU or Bemidji to Western Colorado.
Could the NCAA have some something to eliminate the first round mess of GVSU-Ferris? Could they have moved Henderson State to SR4 and moved one of the Minnesota schools to SR3? The most obvious move would be Henderson State to UTPB in the first round. This trip is exactly 600 miles. How would this impact other matchups? Someone from SR4 would need to replace Henderson State. That would be Minn St, who you could send to GVSU (also exactly 600 miles), or you could have sent Minn State to play at Pittsburg State (524) or to Central Missouri (436 miles) and Indianapolis up to GVSU with Bemidji going to Augustana for a rematch of week 11. The problem, Ferris to Central Missouri or Pittsburg St would be over 600 miles.
Unfortunately, under the current playoff system in D2, I think we might see a lot of unwanted first round rematches. This is again a reason why I think the NCAA needs to ditch the regional system and go to a top 16 seeded team format nationally then fill in geogrpahic pairings as needed with the top 16 seeds.
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