October 24th, 2001 12:00am
Homecoming is supposed to be a fun time on a college campus. Football schedules often are constructed to assure that alumni leave campus with a warm and fuzzy feeling about their alma mater after seeing their football team drub some unsuspecting victim.
That’s what’s supposed to happen. For the second time in two weeks, someone forgot to tell the visiting teams.
Two weeks ago it was Northwest Missouri that sent the crowd at Pittsburg State’s homecoming away numb. Last week it was the Bearcat’s faithful that went home heads in hands after the ‘Cats were victimized by Truman State’s Bulldogs and were left with a formidable task of fighting their way into the playoffs.
Following the ‘Cats win over Pitt State, it appeared that Northwest was on its way to another MIAA title and a good slot in the playoff seedings. When Truman left Rickenbrode Stadium the ‘Cats were left knowing they have no margin for error. One more loss and the Bearcat’s players will be able to enjoy Thanksgiving with their families watching someone else play football.
Was there a hint of this disaster?
The Bearcats win over Pittsburg State was hardly a thing of beauty. Four turnovers tainted the win. But a win by any other name is a win, and every team once in awhile is faced with having to overcome self-induced jeopardy, but it better not become habit forming.
Typically when a favored team loses, fans are inclined to blame the surprise on intangibles like the loser took the winner for granted. Could over-confidence have been a factor in this game? Maybe, but writing off the game to this factor misses the point that when it had to, Truman came through with drive-saving plays, several of which were on fourth down, to do what no other MIAA team has done in years. The Bulldogs broke Northwest’s 41-game MIAA winning streak and ended a string of 22-straight wins at home. And in the process they made a mess out of the MIAA title and playoff race. Northwest is now locked with Pitt State, Truman and Central Missouri for the top spot in the conference.
But if you think the Bearcats had a tough day, think how you would feel if you are a Central Missouri fan. This now once-defeated team was blown out by Missouri Southern, a team with only one win – before it played Central.
If there is any doubt about which team is the class of the North Central Conference, Nebraska-Omaha erased it --- well, maybe.
The Mavericks pulled off a stunning overtime defeat of North Dakota. Trailing 24-14 with less than eight minutes left, the Mavericks pulled within a touchdown on Troy Severson’s career-best 52-yard field goal. They then tied the game when Brian Everette recovered a blocked punt and returned it 43 yards with 1:09 left. Severson’s 31-yard field goal on UNO’s first possession in overtime gave the Mavericks the win.
As excellent a job as UNO did coming back in this contest, it did not appear to have established supremacy in the North Central Conference or the Midwest Region. North Dakota led in nearly every offensive category. The only fault was that ND failed to put UNO away when it has a chance.
But then UNO could have ended this game in regulation had it only managed to take advantage of its opportunities, too.
But such are games between two evenly matched teams. There always are numerous opportunities presented, any one of which has the potential to change the outcome of a game.
North Dakota’s loss did not damage its regional ranking, which in my view, is correct. Unless proven otherwise later this season, it appears the class of the NCC has two members, both of which are ranked appropriately. UND and UNO might also be the class-leaders of the Midwest Region.
Although the regional rankings each week always generate some debate, this week’s versions appear to be correct in three of the four regions. Where there might appear to be errors, regular season play will work out the apparent discrepancies.
In at least two instances the regional committees sent a clear message. Competition level does matter when it comes to rankings.
Consider the Northeast Region.
Grand Valley rightfully is in the first slot. IUP is second with Saginaw third. There are no arguments with any of these.
Questions start when you get to the fourth through the sixth slots. Bloomsburg won last weekend while Shepherd joined the ranks of the shocked when it lost to Glenville – a team it should have crushed.
But Shepherd with one loss is one slot under New Haven (did not play last weekend) with a 4-2 record including an embarrassing loss to North Dakota.
It appears from this perspective that the regional committee clearly is telling Shepherd (and indirectly the entire West Virginia conference) that to get the full benefit of a 7-1 record, more of the seven wins have to be against a generally higher level of competition.
Shepherd can get back into playoff contention, but it will need help. New Haven, Saginaw or Bloomsburg have to lose at least one game for Shepherd to be back in the mix.
New Haven has the most difficult schedule that includes Western Washington (home), St. Cloud State (home) and Northern Colorado (away). Assuming no major surprises from the top four in the region, a loss to any of these three probably excludes New Haven from the tournament.
As tough as it might be to face a road game against Northern Colorado, a win is not an impossible consideration. Not unlike prior seasons, New Haven has been a Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde unit. Its win two weeks ago against Villanova showed that New Haven has the personnel to beat many teams, UNC included. The issue for the next three weeks is which NH team will show up. The right one could play its way into the tournament.
But even if the right team does show up, New Haven still needs someone above it in the rankings to lose.
Bloomsburg might seem to have a relatively easy schedule, but two contests, Kutztown and Slippery Rock at home, could derail the Huskies’ playoff hopes. Millersville this weekend should be nothing more than a tune-up for the final two games.
Bloom faces a Rock unit that will remember last year when Bloom knocked Slippery Rock out of tournament contention and did it on the Rock’s home field. Slippery Rock is an improving team that could give Bloom fits. Kutztown does not seem to be in the Rock’s league, but, as the college football cliché about on any given Saturday goes, Kutztown cannot be taken lightly.
As for Saginaw, it is virtually impossible to imagine that it could lose to either Findlay or Northern Michigan, but it is not a stretch to think that Michigan Tech next week might give Saginaw all it can handle. It appears likely the Northeast Region should be settled with the results of games November 3 when Bloom hosts the Rock and Saginaw visits Michigan Tech.
Another statement in the same region reaffirming the issue of competition is the fact that undefeated C. W Post is behind Shepherd. So how can an undefeated team in a region with only three undefeated teams be ranked seventh with five teams with one or more losses above it? It’s simple.
Post is part of the revamped Northeast-10 football conference, which also was known in prior times as the Eastern Football Conference. The EFC in 1997 moved to a D-II non-scholarship status. After several school changes the conference now is comprised of teams from C.W. Post, Bentley, American International, Pace, Southern Connecticut, Saint Anselm, Bryant Stonehill. Merrimack, UMass Lowell and Assumption. The teams in the league only play other teams in the conference and the league’s title game is slated to be played November 17, the first weekend of the D-II national playoffs.
Due to its status change several years ago, the NE-10 has not been considered on a par with other scholarship-offering D-II conferences. Post itself has a long football history and at one point many years ago it had a competitive program. It disappeared from the visible ranks of D-II for a long time and then returned as a member of the EFC and now the NE-10.
Unless something truly bizarre happens Post making the playoffs is about as likely as the sun burning out tomorrow. But we hasten to note that there are rumblings (grumblings?) that the NE-10 wants to be considered for the tournament.
The NE-10 should take a look at what the Northern Sun Conference is doing to gradually gain acceptance. Some of the league’s more competitive units are scheduling non-conference games with credible opponents in other conferences. So far this has met with minimal success on the field, but in time, if the programs continue to improve they should move to a competitive status that assures them full consideration when it is time to select playoff teams. The West Virginia Conference also is trying to expand its schedule to include more out of conference opponents and gain more credibility as a result.
The NE-10 cannot expect the Northeast Region committee to look favorably upon its members until and unless they do something similar to the Northern Sun or the WVIAC. The league has to find a way to overcome the notion and, in fact, the reality, that as a league it is not competitive with true playoff-qualifying D-II units.
It is interesting that this year the NE-10 demanded representation on the regional selection committee, which now has five members instead of the prior four. Under NCAA regulations it was entitled to this representation, but by doing so it is saying it wants to be considered for the playoffs. If so then scrap the title game (or move it up a week) and schedule teams out of the league so that fair comparisons can be made. Until this happens watching the tournament from afar is the league’s fate. Screaming about being excluded from tournament consideration amounts to nothing more than whining.
The Midwest Region also seems to be a place where the NCAA committee sent a message by pushing Truman and Northwest Missouri ahead of both Winona State and Minnesota-Duluth. The Northern Sun Conference we suspect understands what it needs to do to gain NCAA recognition relative to the playoffs. As noted earlier, gradually the Conference has been trying to schedule out-of-conference opponents while staying within its own region. In those instances where it has done so thus far, competitive NSCI teams have come away with only one win this season.
It is our belief, however, that the conference truly understands that gaining more playoff consideration requires more out-of-conference play against reputable competition. That will come in time, but not this year.
It is not inconceivable that either Winona or Minnesota-Duluth could slide into a playoff spot (the two teams end the regular season against each other) if some bizarre events happen. But a good argument could be made that the conference would be better served long-term by neither team qualifying this season. The potential embarrassment we think either would likely face in the opening round of the tournament could taint the conference and mean pushing even further out the time at which NSIC teams regularly will be considered to be legitimate regional contenders.
And then there is the South Region.
No one will dispute the first three slots and maybe not even the fourth despite Tuskegee not being willing to play in the tournament. But putting both Central Arkansas and West Georgia below Winston-Salem State appears to be a serious error.
I guess, however, that the frequently borrowed line from Dennis Miller applies. You know. It’s the one about this is only our opinion. We could be wrong.
And then there is the West Region. Not many people dispute the notion that Chadron appears to have emerged as the Region’s top team. After that it is anybody’s guess. Davis has frittered away its dominant spot and left open good possibilities for at least four other teams to slip into the tournament. The regular season schedule thankfully should settle any contentiousness since many of the teams with a shot at a playoff slot play each other in the next three weeks.
Last week I asked for your views on the differences in the number of scholarships offered by different conferences relative to the D-II maximum of 36. I have received more than 100 responses to those questions.
Those readers who expressed their opinions, however, probably did so without knowing that beginning this season there is a slight twist in the scholarship rules – a twist that might choke a few schools.
Previously the NCAA regulations that permit D-II teams to have 36 scholarships included specific language about how the money that pays for those scholarships can be counted. In general the rules stated that all monies received by a student-athlete would be counted as part of the allocation schools made toward calculating their scholarship totals.
For example, let’s assume a school has a $10,000 annual cost for each student. A full athletic scholarship would then be worth $10,000. If a player received $8000 from the athletic department in a direct scholarship grant and $2000 from other forms of aid, instead of the NCAA considering that he got 80% of a scholarship it instead would take the total received and count it as one full scholarship.
Under rules that went into effect this season the calculation is different. Using the same example, the NCAA would say that only 80 percent of a scholarship has been used, leaving the other 20 percent available to be used by another player.
Consider this example.
Suppose a football team is spending $360,000 to fund 36 full scholarship equivalencies (stated as equivalencies since scholarships can be divided so that the money for one scholarship can be split among several players).
Assume also that in prior years 75% of the $360,000 came directly from athletic aid and the other 25% came from other aid sources. Under prior rules this still added up to 36 full scholarship equivalencies. Under the new rule, the team would have only used 27 equivalencies. If the athletic department could raise $90,000 in additional funds it could add nine more full scholarships.
This rule change might seem to benefit those who are not currently using the full 36 scholarships allowed by D-II, but in reality it benefits most those schools that already are funding the full 36 allotment.
Many schools that currently are not using the entire D-II aid allotments (or in many cases not even funding lower scholarship limits in some conferences) are not because they cannot raise the money to do it. Merely rearranging how the calculation is made does not help them raise more cash.
Many of the schools that can fund the full scholarship allotment likely will be able to raise more funds to add scholarships.
There are interesting twists and turns as to how this rule is applied and how the sources of non-athletic aid are calculated. Since this is the first year it is in effect it is difficult to find any impact right now. The rule change, we suspect, however, will alter the landscape again. We also suspect it will benefit those who least need the benefit relative to other D-II units that are struggling to fund their scholarships now.
As for this weekend, the top games appear to be Texas A&M-Kingsville hosting Eastern New Mexico, Northern Colorado hosting North Dakota State, Central Arkansas visiting Delta State and Carson-Newman hosting Catawba.
The week’s two most important contests, however, are in the MIAA in which four playoff-contending schools collide. Northwest Missouri State visits Central Missouri State and Pitt State hosts Truman State. None of the four has any room for error. Two of them could be totally out of the playoff picture by Saturday evening.
One NCAA committee member summed it up perfectly when told me that, “It’s gonna get tense in the next few weeks.”