PO Seeding - We can do better

[IUPNation]

This is simply not true. The opposite has been proven over time.

Then if we just keep assuming only certain conferences have the best teams when do you take a program who is building up in a supposed weaker conference get taken seriously?

[Gliac_fan10]

Then if we just keep assuming only certain conferences have the best teams when do you take a program who is building up in a supposed weaker conference get taken seriously?

When they start competing with the top teams in those top conferences. i.e. - if Indy starts winning first round games in SR3 they would be taken seriously as a NC contender.

[BisonBones]

How about this:

1. Go to 32 teams
2. Only top seed cannot be moved and is guaranteed a home game (their reward instead of a bi-week)
3. All other teams can be moved from the outset to avoid rematches and reduce flights
4. Reseeding after each round to avoid rematches and reduce flights

Or

1. Stick with 28 teams
2. Four tops seeds based on initial playoff rating
3. All other teams can be moved from the outset to avoid rematches and reduce flights
4. Reseeding after each round to avoid rematches and reduce flights

I can't imagine anyone wanting the thankless responsibility for deciding the reseeding every week. There'd be a solid month of whining about the decisions.

[IUPNation]

IUP is #39 of 160.
IUP's reported expenses/revenues are $1,925,369.
The average is $1,602,879.

IUP is right at the average for overall athletic budget. #82 overall.

I figured as much..so we are the perfect D2 school!

:-)

[IUPNation]

Those who want change want to benefit the balance of the tournament overall. The semi-finals, except for a few years, turn into a laughing stock when the SR1 champ has to play the champion from another SR. The realignment of the SR and adding a conference to SR1 would benefit the tournament as a whole since you won't have top tier, national championship caliber teams, knocking out each other prior to the semifinals.

Which semifinals pairings seem better matched?

Ferris vs Pitt State
CO Mines vs West Florida

or

Ferris vs West Florida
CO Mines vs Shepherd

The former gives more stability to the semifinals and should create more competitive games.

Over the last 10 years, here's how SR 1 has faired in those semifinal games

Shepherd -44
Shepherd -48
Slippery Rock - 37
Notre Dame -6
IUO -10
Shepherd -10
Shepherd +2 (Shepherd -27 in Finals)
Concord -34
West Chester -28
Winston Salem +23 (WS -28 in Finals)

SR 1 is 2-8 in semifinal games (0-2 in finals) over the last 10 years being outscore by an average of 19.2 points. Let's remove the outliers of WS and Shepherd -48, and that turns to 1-7 getting outscored by an average of 20.9.

This isn't taking away from the competitiveness of the PSAC, nor am I saying that they shouldn't be able to get into the playoffs. What I'm saying is that by moving the GLIAC to SR1, you're creating a more competitive balance for the tournament as a whole. The PSAC can continue to have the most competitive conference in the nation, can schedule in-region matchups with the weaker GLIAC teams to boost their OOC resume, and should be able to beat the two headed monster that is GVSU and Ferris 2 out of every 10 years to get to the semifinals.

No what you want is GV to dominate us and get every playoff game at Rubbers Stadium going forward. We are the peasants and you are the King. We get it.

[IUPNation]

Literally SR1 can host the semifinals every single year if they want. I, nor anyone else, cares. We care about SR1's awful teams being guaranteed there in the first place and losing almost every time lol.

I love the guarantee and support the status quo because you want a change and you are being a typical GV dick.

lol

[IUPNation]

You want the PSAC to garner some respect that they aren't getting currently? Take the teams on the road to face the best of other conferences and see how they fair. As it is, we can only see what's put on the field in the semifinal games, and the NE/SR1 has been a joke as long as anyone can remember. Remember, FSU was part of the NE region and couldn't get out of the semifinals in the mid-90's. GVSU was never supposed to compete for, or win, a national championship in the early 2000's since they came out of the NE. Take away the GLIAC and the SR1 region hasn't done nearly enough to prove that the conferences should be in the same conversation with the GLIAC (3 finalist teams, 6 championships, 6/7 teams have made the playoffs), the MIAA (9 national championships, multiple playoff teams), the GSC, and others.

GVSU has traveled to CO-Mines and CSU-Pueblo the last couple of years.

Typical..come to us. We don’t have to come to you.

Entitled. Entitled. Entitled.

[IUPNation]

Northwest/Pitt/GV/Ferris/top teams from SR3/SR4/SR2 don't need to go to SR1 to prove anything. They've proven it in the playoffs against every other region's best teams, multiple times, for years. Your SR1 schools are the ones who are getting steamrolled constantly any time they step foot south or west of Ohio.

I guarantee that if GV were to call up Slippery Rock or IUP to schedule a week 1 or week 2 game, at SRU or IUP, it isn't GV who is going to be against the idea. It's going to be your PSAC school who is going to tuck their tail and hide because they know it would be a loss on their ledger for playoff purposes. GV would LOVE to schedule a team that they know they can easily beat and then get an SOS boost out of at the end of the year. But instead, the only teams in SR1 with the balls to do it are Assumption and American International, apparently. Hell, AIC has faced both GV and Ferris in the back to back years, so kudos to them for challenging themselves.

6-1

[IUPNation]

When they start competing with the top teams in those top conferences. i.e. - if Indy starts winning first round games in SR3 they would be taken seriously as a NC contender.

Talking about Region 1. You expect a team from Region 1 to be road warriors for years before they get the privileges awarded the entitled programs of D2.

Judt admit you all want the field titles in your favor so you don’t have to battle very hard and have every advantage possible.

[Brandon]

Then if we just keep assuming only certain conferences have the best teams when do you take a program who is building up in a supposed weaker conference get taken seriously?

After success over time.

[fitzpats]

Then if we just keep assuming only certain conferences have the best teams when do you take a program who is building up in a supposed weaker conference get taken seriously?

Beat the teams in front of you, but don't take the stance that the conference deserves a seat at the semifinal table because of it. GVSU was not taken as seriously as it is back in 2001. They came out of the NE region, which was always beaten in the semifinals, with few occurrences. They continued to build their program, narrowly lost a championship game followed up by consecutive wins. This success resulted in bringing attention and prestige to the programs that did eventually beat them, such as the 2003 SVSU program that reached a #1 ranking prior to the 2003 playoffs. Ferris, for as good as they became under TA, didn't get the amount of respect that they deserved until they continuously showed that they owned the Lakers.

Prior to 2001, GVSU had not won a D2 playoff game, losing a number of games to the PSAC schools, including in 1998 to Slippery Rock, I believe. GVSU was 5-5 in 1999 and 7-4 in 2000, starting 1-4 before reeling off six straight wins to end the season. They weren't a power, and played in a joke of a SR. They developed a program above what they had before, and have found a way to continue with that over the last 20+years. They have performed very well against upper competition and as a result have pulled numerous programs up because they wanted to topple the giant. That meant FSU brings in TA to take control of the conference. Davenport hires a former AFL coach to guide them to national rankings and a playoff appearance. SVSU has had to step up their game to get national attention.

In the PSAC, you can have multiple conference champions and stake a claim to great conference competition, but when the national championship is played for through a bracketed system, and the SR1 champ is not holding their own year in and year out against the best the nation has to offer, you have to ask why they have a seat at the semifinal table when more talented teams are being knocked out of the playoffs too early. To put it in much too simple terms, this is like having the Big 10 and SEC battle for a single seat while the 1-loss MAC/WAC teams battle for a second seat. One of these is not like the other. Yes, NIU and Boise St can make some noise once in a great while, but they shouldn't be included in the final four unless they truly earn it by going through the top tier teams that make the playoffs.

At no time have I said that the SR 1 teams should be eliminated from the playoffs, but they should earn that seat at the semifinal table. If that means realignment with a GLIAC or MIAA heading to SR1, then so be it. It's not about the easiest path for the Lakers, it's about the best competitive balance for the semifinals. As it stands, GVSU would still have to go through the fight with the GLIAC and would either end up with FSU or whoever beats them in the playoffs (given the current situation). If Slippery Rock or IUP is good enough to knock off those GLIAC teams, then do so on the field.

[IUPNation]

There are two fixes..realistic fixes to satisfy the MIaA and GLIAC fan boys.

1. Swap the MIAA and NSIC between regions. Why Region 4 is the way it is doesn’t make sense. That would at least turn out three entitled conferences in charge of three regions.

2. Cut the field back to 16 teams. Every conference champions gets reviewed as worthy or not. Once conference champions who pass the criteria are selected then you open it up to at large bids to fill any remaining spots.

Seed them accordingly in brackets and have at it.

Its not really hard to fix.

[fitzpats]

There are two fixes..realistic fixes to satisfy the MIaA and GLIAC fan boys.

1. Swap the MIAA and NSIC between regions. Why Region 4 is the way it is doesn’t make sense. That would at least turn out three entitled conferences in charge of three regions.

2. Cut the field back to 16 teams. Every conference champions gets reviewed as worthy or not. Once conference champions who pass the criteria are selected then you open it up to at large bids to fill any remaining spots.

Seed them accordingly in brackets and have at it.

Its not really hard to fix.

Let's go ahead with your selection of 16 teams and conference champs. The GLIAC is too small of a conference, so let's dissolve that and move Ferris into the PSAC. We'll send Wayne State and SVSU along with Post and Clarion to the NE-10, Davenport to the GMAC, MTU and Northern to the GLVC, and GVSU can head to the Mountain East Conference. This should give each conference, except for the GMAC, 12 teams so they can all do conference championship games. With hearing the Indy may be leaving the GLVC, maybe they move to the GMAC and that gives them 12 teams and a conference championship game. That brings us down to 14 conferences, so you'll still have two at-large bids. GVSU and FSU can still play their Anchor-Bone classic, only this now counts as a non-conference game and doesn't hurt them except for seeding in the playoffs. Now, SR1 could have 4 playoff teams and the conference champions will always be in the playoffs. There's no more "conference superiority" since the PSAC is still there and the GLIAC is gone.

[KleShreen]

Then if we just keep assuming only certain conferences have the best teams when do you take a program who is building up in a supposed weaker conference get taken seriously?

Beat teams outside of your conference, and then beat teams outside of your region.

[KleShreen]

Typical..come to us. We don’t have to come to you.

Entitled. Entitled. Entitled.

PSAC in play against teams not from current SR1 pool:

2011:
St. Cloud defeats Cal PA 26-3
Cheyney defeats Lincoln 21-19
Cal PA defeats Elizabeth City State 44-0 (playoffs)
Winston-Salem defeats Cal PA 35-28 (playoffs)

2012:
Cheyney defeats Lincoln 34-21
Winston-Salem defeats East Stroudsburg 37-14 (playoffs)
Winston-Salem defeats IUP 21-17 (playoffs)

2013:
Lincoln defeats Cheyney 33-28
Winston-Salem defeats Slippery Rock 27-20 (playoffs)
Lenoir-Rhyne defeats West Chester 42-14 (playoffs)

2014:
Livingstone defeats Millersville 46-44
Carson-Newman defeats Edinboro 38-24
Lincoln defeats Cheyney 30-18
IUP defeats St. Augustine's 41-19
Cal PA defeats Virginia State 33-24
Bloomsburg defeats Virginia State 35-14 (playoffs)

2015:
St. Joseph's defeats Edinboro 30-10
Lenoir-Rhyne defeats West Chester 41-28
Lincoln defeats Cheyney 29-22
Cal PA defeats Virginia State 35-16
Slippery Rock defeats Virginia Union 40-21 (playoffs)

2016:
Cheyney defeats Lincoln 21-10
Seton Hill defeats Bowie State 50-48
Edinboro defeats St. Joseph's 31-30

2017:
Cheyney defeats Lincoln 56-28
Slippery Rock defeats Kentucky State 42-21
Bowie State defeats Seton Hill 48-7
West Florida defeats IUP 27-17 (playoffs)

2018:
Ferris State defeats East Stroudsburg 49-17
Virginia Union defeats Seton Hill 34-28
Slippery Rock defeats Kentucky State 38-31
Clarion defeats Lincoln 44-7
Texas A&M Commerce defeats Lock Haven 68-6

2019:
Slippery Rock defeats Wayne State 62-37
Lock Haven defeats Lincoln 57-13
GVSU defeats Edinboro 35-10
Minnesota State defeats Slippery Rock 58-15

2021:
Slippery Rock defeats Wayne State 24-21
(GVSU/Edinboro canceled, or this would have been a loss for Edinboro)
Lock Haven defeats Lincoln 20-0
Ferris State defeats Shepherd 55-7 (playoffs)

2022:
Slippery Rock defeats Wayne State 42-10
Colorado Mines defeats Shepherd 44-13 (playoffs)

2023:
Ferris State defeats Mercyhurst 54-12
Newberry defeats Shippensburg 14-10
Slippery Rock defeats Wayne State 28-17
Lenoir-Rhyne defeats Shepherd 63-17 (playoffs)

The PSAC has 20 wins over non-SR1 schools since 2011. 15 of those wins are against the CIAA and SIAC, arguably the two worst conferences in D2. And 4 of those wins are by the PSAC's best team, against the GLIAC's worst team. The other win is over a school that doesn't even exist anymore.

So the PSAC has 0 wins since 2011 over schools that aren't SR1, CIAA, SIAC, or the worst team in the GLIAC. Not a single win over an actual quality opponent by the PSAC since 2011.

Go beat someone. Anyone with a pulse.