LR at Harding Semifinal.

[bigmrg74]

That was should have been a TD, and honestly just give it to him.

[BillyGV]

can agree to some extent Kle - however, I believe there are more than 3 or 4 competitive teams - heck there were 5 in our region alone - Mines is competitive as are several in the GSC - there's probably a dozen or so teams that year in and year out are competitive nationally - the rest are only in their respective conferences at best - but you know, that's kind of the same at any level if you really break it down - you are a detail guy, check it out I'd be interested in what you find

[Predatory Primates]

The wheels started falling off early there with those bad penalties. Clean that up, maybe force a field goal or two and maybe we wouldn't be looking at a 50 burger here.

Yeah there are only 3 ways to beat an option team.
-Score with them and get one or 2 stops
-Have a super defense and force a rock fight.
-Put em in a hole early and use their scheme and tempo against them.

UCM tried #1, GV tried #2. I think Mines will try #3.

[Turbonium]

Thank you for the obvious statement.

There's still money to be made and recognition to be had by providing a good product. It's a vicious circle when you only have 3-4 competitive teams in the entire level every year, potential recruits see it as a joke of a level, and don't want to play, resulting in a worse product. On and on and it goes.

Money to be made? You are delusional. There's not money to be made in D2 Football. Anyone saying it should be behind a paywall is doing nothing but hurting the sport. Not sure who would think that was a good idea but boy were they wrong.

[IUPNation]

Your region's team is also going to be an embarrassment. Again.

Not as embarrassing as your saltiness.

I will laugh my ass off if the Kutztown Fighting Amish put up a decent fight.

[BillyGV]

Do you think the non D2 fan even knows what the playoff system is? Or who these teams are or where they're located or what they were ranked or what conference they are from or literally anything about the game? These games struggled to get viewership on ESPN2, even those games that are competitive, I can't imagine how atrocious viewership is on ESPN+. Sure if GV and Ferris were playing in the semi final they'd get a few thousand more views. Views from their current fans. I don't ever see D2 football growing outside of those with a direct connection to the schools.

that can be said for every level to some extent except for those 10 to 20 top teams in the BCS - does anyone really care about the rest other than their alumni? - probably not - all you can do is keep putting out a good product and see who watches

[IUPNation]

Do you think the non D2 fan even knows what the playoff system is? Or who these teams are or where they're located or what they were ranked or what conference they are from or literally anything about the game? These games struggled to get viewership on ESPN2, even those games that are competitive, I can't imagine how atrocious viewership is on ESPN+. Sure if GV and Ferris were playing in the semi final they'd get a few thousand more views. Views from their current fans. I don't ever see D2 football growing outside of those with a direct connection to the schools.

You make too much sense for these Region 3 fanboys.

[bigmrg74]

Money to be made? You are delusional. There's not money to be made in D2 Football. Anyone saying it should be behind a paywall is doing nothing but hurting the sport. Not sure who would think that was a good idea but boy were they wrong.

I don't think anybody here has wanted the games behind a paywall. Heck, technically ESPN+ is a paywall, but most people probably already have access to it. If anything putting all of the games on ESPN plus probably would be a better option.

[Predatory Primates]

Do you think the non D2 fan even knows what the playoff system is? Or who these teams are or where they're located or what they were ranked or what conference they are from or literally anything about the game? These games struggled to get viewership on ESPN2, even those games that are competitive, I can't imagine how atrocious viewership is on ESPN+. Sure if GV and Ferris were playing in the semi final they'd get a few thousand more views. Views from their current fans. I don't ever see D2 football growing outside of those with a direct connection to the schools.

The average casual viewer absolutely doesn't know what the playoff system is. They just know that the few times they have seen D2 football the games weren't competitive at all, and the talent level was really low for the losing team.

That's not how you get people interested in a product. And if you keep doing the same thing, you are absolutely right. They will never get viewership.

[BillyGV]

Harding runs over LR - breaks LR season record for most rushing yards against LR - good on them - Harding does a nice job and I wish them luck but what I don't like is they don't have a watcher friendly product unless they are your team - for anyone else, the 3 or 4 yards and a cloud of dust does not interest them and is a boring type of game

[IUPNation]

When did anyone bring up GV? Is GV living rent-free in your head?

Although, now that you mention it, at least GV was playing on ESPN and ESPN2 20 years ago. Not WatchESPN.com Plus The Ocho.

I mention GV because of your Entitlement Syndrome..I mean what was the difference if Harding beat you this week instead of last week? Nobody would still be watching.

The playoffs have proved what I’ve been saying all along that the vast majority of D2 are closer LR in scope and the power teams are the exception. So either they move up or you cut the playoff field so 97 percent of the D2 members never see a playoff game and only 7-8 entitled teams have their playoff circle jerk every year. If only to stop the incessant whining of Region 3 fanboys.

[OBUGrad]

LR would lose 2 maybe 3x in the gauntlet that is the great American conference.

That’s it? By the looks of things I might guess 4.

[KleShreen]

can agree to some extent Kle - however, I believe there are more than 3 or 4 competitive teams - heck there were 5 in our region alone - Mines is competitive as are several in the GSC - there's probably a dozen or so teams that year in and year out are competitive nationally - the rest are only in their respective conferences at best - but you know, that's kind of the same at any level if you really break it down - you are a detail guy, check it out I'd be interested in what you find

I mean who, realistically, were the national title contenders this year? Teams that could routinely stay within 1 or 2 scores of each other at the top of the talent tree? Mines, GV, UCM, Harding, Pitt, Ferris? I don't think there's anyone else, is there? But then once you get past SR3, it's 1 or 2 competitive teams against 2 or 3 uncompetitive teams, in the biggest games of the year with the biggest audiences. It's embarrassing. Might as well just televise the entirety of the SR3 region.

FCS and D3, at least lately since Whitewater/Mount Union and NDSU have come back to Earth, have been pretty competitive throughout the playoffs, particularly the later stages. FBS is also very top heavy, you're right, but at least in FBS, there can be a team from any P5 conference that is able to win the title. Obviously SEC is the best, but the top team in the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12, and Big 12 any given year are at least competitive. But at least FBS doesn't shove the MAC and MWC in to the playoff for no reason.

[BillyGV]

I don't think anybody here has wanted the games behind a paywall. Heck, technically ESPN+ is a paywall, but most people probably already have access to it. If anything putting all of the games on ESPN plus probably would be a better option.

NO - you have to buy ESPN+ - MOST people don't have it - these games today are going unwatched

[KleShreen]

Do you think the non D2 fan even knows what the playoff system is? Or who these teams are or where they're located or what they were ranked or what conference they are from or literally anything about the game? These games struggled to get viewership on ESPN2, even those games that are competitive, I can't imagine how atrocious viewership is on ESPN+. Sure if GV and Ferris were playing in the semi final they'd get a few thousand more views. Views from their current fans. I don't ever see D2 football growing outside of those with a direct connection to the schools.

I don't know why you're posting as if anyone is saying that millions of people would tune in to a D2 game. Nobody is saying that.

But more people are going to tune in to a competitive game than are going to tune in to a 55-7 game. That's literally all anyone is saying. And the 55-7 game happens virtually every year in the semifinal, and it makes the level look poorer than it should. At this point in the season, the best teams should all be facing each other. Not having a bunch of blowouts nobody cares to watch.