Ugly Opening weekend

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

What a "blah" way to open the playoffs. I was expecting some great games today and we got one decent one, Fordham-Sacred Heart.

Has there ever been an opening weekend of the playoffs where all the games were decided by double-digits? If nothing else, hopefully it makes for a lot of evenly matched games next week!

I was not a fan of expanding the playoffs. Hopefully this year is the exception rather than the rule. I'm not so sure though....

[Twentysix]

The SDSU-NAU game was entertaining ;)

[BisonPride]

The conferences with the 6 worst non-conference records were a combined 2-8 today. 6-0 for the top 5 conferences. 3 of those bottom 6 conferences were 2 bid or more leagues. All 4 At-Large teams from the bottom 4 conferences lost. Those 4 At-Larges had a combined 27-9 conference record. According to the Selection Chairman during the selection show conference records were a big determining factor in who made the playoffs. Seeing how things went today I think non-conference record, quality wins, and records vs teams with records of .500 or better need to be weighted much higher.

Example
Team A
4-3 vs Teams .500 or better +FBS

Team B
1-3 vs Teams .500 or better +FBS

Team C
3-4 vs Teams .500 or better +FBS

Which one do you think made the playoffs as an At-Large?

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

I think the lack of intersectional play hurts several playoff teams. There's some teams styles that travel well while others don't. The lack of available OOC games due to conference size doesn't help either. Neither do pay-day beat downs in the long run.....

How a conference can go 14 years without a playoff win is mind boggling to me. You think by dumb luck, the other team has the flu or 5 turnovers, you win a game. There's obviously a serious issue that needs to be addressed there.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

On the brighter side of things...

The PL has now won at least one game in 8 out of the possible 16 seasons of playoff eligibility, That's very respectable imo. The league is also 4-1 in playoff home games. Plus, Lafayette did not have the worst performance of the day :p

The league gets killed on here but it "ain't that bad"....

[taper]

The PL has now won at least one game in 8 out of the possible 16 seasons of playoff eligibility, That's very respectable imo.

Look at the "power" conference records and say that again. It's very rare the CAA, BSC, MVFC and Southern don't each win a game every year.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Look at the "power" conference records and say that again. It's very rare the CAA, BSC, MVFC and Southern don't each win a game every year.

Which is why those leagues top teams are still half-a step ahead MOST years. However, I think the overall gap between conferences is shrinking. As a result, FCS is becoming more and more about individual teams like it is in college hoops....

[GAD]

Anybody got this weeks playoff attendance?

[robsnotes4u]

Look at the "power" conference records and say that again. It's very rare the CAA, BSC, MVFC and Southern don't each win a game every year.

good point and those conferences will have more teams in the playoffs in any given year also, right?

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

good point and those conferences will have more teams in the playoffs in any given year also, right?

The SoCon is not what the SoCon once was. Team for team the PL and SoCon are very even right now.

Ultimately, it's about who the top teams are. Some years they might come from the OVC, Southland, PL, etc...

[Green26]

The conferences with the 6 worst non-conference records were a combined 2-8 today. 6-0 for the top 5 conferences. 3 of those bottom 6 conferences were 2 bid or more leagues. All 4 At-Large teams from the bottom 4 conferences lost. Those 4 At-Larges had a combined 27-9 conference record. According to the Selection Chairman during the selection show conference records were a big determining factor in who made the playoffs. Seeing how things went today I think non-conference record, quality wins, and records vs teams with records of .500 or better need to be weighted much higher.

Example
Team A
4-3 vs Teams .500 or better +FBS

Team B
1-3 vs Teams .500 or better +FBS

Team C
3-4 vs Teams .500 or better +FBS

Which one do you think made the playoffs as an At-Large?

There were some weak teams playing today, but your conference stats are skewed by the pairings. For example, SDS and SHS may have been the best teams playing today. I think NAU could have beaten most of the other teams playing today.

[Bogus Megapardus]

The SDSU-NAU game was entertaining ;)

That was the first time I'd ever actually watched a game played inside NAU's dome, so it was for me!

[Twentysix]

I am entertained by SDSU throttling teams so long as that team is not NDSU. So I was being serious :p. I was on NAU's campus for a week this summer, but I never went into the skydome. I did see it from the outside though, lol.

[TigerFen]

FBS football was much better on Saturday than FCS football. That is usually a rare thing. I think they may need to look at out of conference records and having an above .500 record in those games. If FCS football really wants to be engaged in people's minds, this should've been one of the best weekends of Football all years.

[Twentysix]

FBS football was much better on Saturday than FCS football. That is usually a rare thing. I think they may need to look at out of conference records and having an above .500 record in those games. If FCS football really wants to be engaged in people's minds, this should've been one of the best weekends of Football all years.

Nah, next weekend should be. This weekend was when the scrubs duke it out for the right to play the big boys.

[CID1990]

Opening weekend of the playoffs has always been lopsided. Even when it was just 16 teams.

I was surprised at Samford though. It was as if they just gave up starting with the loss to The Citadel.

[Cocky]

Anybody got this weeks playoff attendance?
We had very few.

[Fordham2012]

We had very few.

Unlike the FBS, FCS fans don't know if we are playing this Friday (or where) till the week before. Being Thanksgiving weekend, this cuts down on attendance. I don't think there are any obvious solutions. We should be making the point to ESPN that this does NOT mean that wouldn't watch on TV.

[Cocky]

Looked it up JSU had 8992. Appeared smaller, I doubt the university would inflate the number of tickets you pay the NCAA.

[WestCoastAggie]

I think the lack of intersectional play hurts several playoff teams. There's some teams styles that travel well while others don't. The lack of available OOC games due to conference size doesn't help either. Neither do pay-day beat downs in the long run.....

How a conference can go 14 years without a playoff win is mind boggling to me. You think by dumb luck, the other team has the flu or 5 turnovers, you win a game. There's obviously a serious issue that needs to be addressed there.

Man, I am Glad the OVC broke their streak. It sucks that EIU & TSU play again next week but it should be a good one.

The MEAC on the other hand, idk man. Idk.

[semobison]

There were some weak teams playing today, but your conference stats are skewed by the pairings. For example, SDS and SHS may have been the best teams playing today. I think NAU could have beaten most of the other teams playing today.

Yes, but there are a couple of MVFC teams who didn't play yesterday that NAU couldn't beat.

[Cocky]

Yes, but there are a couple of MVFC teams who didn't play yesterday that NAU couldn't beat.
There were some OVC teams at home yesterday who could have beaten NAU.

[lydiabixby]

Anybody got this weeks playoff attendance?


A meagre 3300 at the UNH-Lafayette on as nice a Durham, New Hampshire Nov. 30th day as one has the right to expect. Lafayette had a good group populating the visitor stands while the UNH fans were of the die-hard ilk.

10,333 the previous week vs Maine.

[kalm]

There were some OVC teams at home yesterday who could have beaten NAU.

No...there wasn't.

[FordhamFan]

4787 at Fordham. Stands looked packed, but lack of students on campus didn't really help the cause. Was very impressed by the Sacred Heart showing, they had a pretty big group of supporters.

[UNH Fanboi]

Even before the playoffs expanded, blowouts were more common in the playoffs than you would expect. Look at the quarterfinal scores from 2009:

Montana 51
SFA 0

Richmond 31
ASU 35

Villanova 46
UNH 7

W&M 24
SIU 3
I think fatigue, long traveling distances and bad weather are aggravating factors that tend to cause blowouts in the playoffs. I think a lot of teams are burnt out when the playoffs arrive and just roll over when they get behind on the road.

[Cocky]

No...there wasn't.
UTM, Murray and EKU would have beaten NAU yesterday.

[TennBison]

On the brighter side of things...

The PL has now won at least one game in 8 out of the possible 16 seasons of playoff eligibility, That's very respectable imo. The league is also 4-1 in playoff home games. Plus, Lafayette did not have the worst performance of the day :p

The league gets killed on here but it "ain't that bad"....
Really, what other team lost by more than 38 points.

[JSU02]

Really, what other team lost by more than 38 points.
Samford, the SoCon co-champ did xnodx

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I think fatigue, long traveling distances and bad weather are aggravating factors that tend to cause blowouts in the playoffs. I think a lot of teams are burnt out when the playoffs arrive and just roll over when they get behind on the road.

That was definitely the case with Lafayette, who had their entire season focus on beating Lehigh the last game of the year, they learn Sunday they're travelling to UNH, there's not a hotel available an hour away from the stadium, and that there's no place to practice close to the stadium. During the regular season these things are worked out months in advance.

[Engineer86]

Samford, the SoCon co-champ did xnodx

Ssshhh, he was grinding his ax, don't disturb him.

[TennBison]

Samford, the SoCon co-champ did xnodx
Huh, my default sports page says the score was 24-55, but espn has the 14-55. Ok, I stand corrected, thank you sir .

[Fordham2012]

That was definitely the case with Lafayette, who had their entire season focus on beating Lehigh the last game of the year, they learn Sunday they're travelling to UNH, there's not a hotel available an hour away from the stadium, and that there's no place to practice close to the stadium. During the regular season these things are worked out months in advance.


NCAA needs to do a MUCH better job of demanding fair practice time.

[dgtw]

We had very few.

We were there. I froze my tail feathers off and was not happy about the earlier game but we were there.

[TennBison]

That was definitely the case with Lafayette, who had their entire season focus on beating Lehigh the last game of the year, they learn Sunday they're travelling to UNH, there's not a hotel available an hour away from the stadium, and that there's no place to practice close to the stadium. During the regular season these things are worked out months in advance.
I was under the impression that the host teams would have to meet certain criteria like allowing the visiting team to be able to practice, hotel availability within the area, just to be able to host.

[kalm]

UTM, Murray and EKU would have beaten NAU yesterday.

Good to see the OVC finally win a couple but let's not get carried away here.

[ccd494]

I was under the impression that the host teams would have to meet certain criteria like allowing the visiting team to be able to practice, hotel availability within the area, just to be able to host.

Its a holiday weekend. Are potential host schools supposed to reserve a block of rooms months in advance?

[FordhamFan]

That was definitely the case with Lafayette, who had their entire season focus on beating Lehigh the last game of the year, they learn Sunday they're travelling to UNH, there's not a hotel available an hour away from the stadium, and that there's no place to practice close to the stadium. During the regular season these things are worked out months in advance.

Whoa whoa whoa, teams don't travel until Friday (Thursday the earliest if it's a lengthy flight). Practice space at the away facility is not a thing. Teams practice at home for the entire week, and it's very common for teams to stay an hour or so away if need be. I know Fordham stayed an hour away from Andy Kerr Stadium up in Colgate, simply because there was no big enough hotel closer.

Thinking other teams provide space for an opponent to practice is just not true (or at least not often at all). The most they have to provide is space for a walk-thru Friday practice, which many teams just let an opponent do on their home field where the game will be.

[FordhamFan]

Obviously long travel distances matter, but all this operations stuff is simply just booking a hotel for the team to stay at that's as close to the stadium as possible. Yes, that can be very tough in a week's notice, but far from a determining factor.

[Cocky]

Good to see the OVC finally win a couple but let's not get carried away here.
NAU wasn't impressive.

[kalm]

NAU wasn't impressive.

Neither was Bethune-Cookman and they beat TSU.

[DSUrocks07]

Even before the playoffs expanded, blowouts were more common in the playoffs than you would expect. Look at the quarterfinal scores from 2009:

Montana 51
SFA 0

Richmond 31
ASU 35

Villanova 46
UNH 7

W&M 24
SIU 3
I think fatigue, long traveling distances and bad weather are aggravating factors that tend to cause blowouts in the playoffs. I think a lot of teams are burnt out when the playoffs arrive and just roll over when they get behind on the road.

But but, these were better games tho, because of the name of the teams in them and the conferences they belonged too...

[RabidRabbit]

The Furman-SCSU game was entertaining. Jax St/Samford such a great story line & rivalry. Too bad only one team (JSU) showed up to play. Butler was fortunate that they were matched against an OVC at-large.

The SDSU/NAU were the best two teams, and SDSU sawed down the 'Jacks, and made toothpicks out of the lumber. Round of 16 should be more challenging games as the questionable entries are eliminated. After the 1st round, the only "questionable" team remaining is SHSU. A healthy SHSU should do well, and is a great challenge. We'll see if a healthy SHSU can play well with SELA. As my "adopted" team, SELA looks to be a team that could be the challenge to NDSU, where as SHSU has had two shots, and I doubt a third shot at the BiZun will be any better than the previous results.

[JayJ79]

That was definitely the case with Lafayette, who had their entire season focus on beating Lehigh the last game of the year, they learn Sunday they're travelling to UNH, there's not a hotel available an hour away from the stadium, and that there's no place to practice close to the stadium. During the regular season these things are worked out months in advance.

Unless you're UNI traveling to Missouri State. xrotatehx

[DSUrocks07]

Anybody got this weeks playoff attendance?

SC State reported 4,871
Coastal reported 3,007

[DSUrocks07]

And because I know where this is going...the Bayou Classic had a reported attendance of 47,385

[UNIFanSince1983]

NAU wasn't impressive.

I think that had more to do with who they were playing. I am not sure people realize how good SDSU is. Which is why all of us MVFC fans thought it was a travesty we didn't get more teams in.

[ysubigred]

What a "blah" way to open the playoffs. I was expecting some great games today and we got one decent one, Fordham-Sacred Heart.

Has there ever been an opening weekend of the playoffs where all the games were decided by double-digits? If nothing else, hopefully it makes for a lot of evenly matched games next week!

I was not a fan of expanding the playoffs. Hopefully this year is the exception rather than the rule. I'm not so sure though....

I blame it on the AUTO-Bids and not taking the best 24 teams period! Actually, I'd like to see the playoff's go back to 16 and select the best 16 team's on SOS, quality of wins etc..

[ysubigred]

SC State reported 4,871
Coastal reported 3,007
I counted the fans at NAU... 137 xlolx

[ysubigred]

Good to see the OVC finally win a couple but let's not get carried away here.

The OVC is the new MVFC! xrotatehx

[Bronco]

I watched 3 games and if you had a friend at the game they could have yelled your name
and you would have heard it on TV.


Tennessee St at Butler Attendance: 1928

Bethune-Cookman at Coastal Carolina Attendance: 3007

Sacred Heart at Fordham Attendance: 4787
Furman at SC State Attendance: 4871
Southern Utah at Sam Houston St Attendance: 4069
Samford at Jacksonville St Attendance: 8992
South Dakota St at Northern Ariz Attendance: 5077
Lafayette at New Hampshire Attendance: 3,286

[Fordham2012]

And because I know where this is going...the Bayou Classic had a reported attendance of 47,385

The Bayou Classic is known well in advance. The FCS games, one week.

[citdog]

The SoCon is not what the SoCon once was. Team for team the PL and SoCon are very even right now.

Ultimately, it's about who the top teams are. Some years they might come from the OVC, Southland, PL, etc...


dude you are nuts. WCU wouldn't lose a game in that league. look at what happened to your AQ yesterday.

[SIUSalukiFan]

There were some OVC teams at home yesterday who could have beaten NAU.

Please.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

dude you are nuts. WCU wouldn't lose a game in that league. look at what happened to your AQ yesterday.

Samford lost by 41 points which was worse than Lafayette's game. Fordham has a better chance of advancing than Furman. SoCon=PL this year. Fordham will be ranked higher than every SoCon team in EVERY objective poll. Stop spewing uneducated, ignorant drivel....

[youwouldno]

Samford lost by 41 points which was worse than Lafayette's game. Fordham has a better chance of advancing than Furman. SoCon=PL this year. Fordham will be ranked higher than every SoCon team in EVERY objective poll. Stop spewing uneducated, ignorant drivel....

Fordham doesn't have to play at North Dakota State!

The SoCon had one of its worst years ever, and Massey composite has the conference 5th in FCS, and the Patriot 9th. The conferences still aren't close overall. For perspective, here are the top 4 from each, again in Massey composite:

SoCon: 27, 32, 35, 37

Patriot: 21, 48, 55, 62

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Fordham doesn't have to play at North Dakota State!

The SoCon had one of its worst years ever, and Massey composite has the conference 5th in FCS, and the Patriot 9th. The conferences still aren't close overall. For perspective, here are the top 4 from each, again in Massey composite:

SoCon: 27, 32, 35, 37

Patriot: 21, 48, 55, 62

Either way, Fordham has been considered the better team all season.

Was Georgia Southern factored into that? What did the rankings look before the SoCon's annual SEC paycheck beat down week?

Without GSU and App State the strength of the SoCon is greatly diminished. That's an absolute fact imo. My point still remains that FCS is becoming more about the teams and less about conferences like college hoops. The SoCon's best teams were pretty far removed from the nations elite this year.

[youwouldno]

Either way, Fordham has been considered the better team all season.

Was Georgia Southern factored into that? What did the rankings look before the SoCon's annual SEC paycheck beat down week?

Without GSU and App State the strength of the SoCon is greatly diminished. That's an absolute fact imo....

Well clearly the conference is weakened without GSU and App St., but it still is clearly superior to the Patriot League. App St. stunk this year anyway and GSU was 4-4 in conference.

Going from among the best to middle of the pack is a big drop. But the PL is well behind the mid-level conferences right now.

[JayJ79]

I blame it on the AUTO-Bids and not taking the best 24 teams period! Actually, I'd like to see the playoff's go back to 16 and select the best 16 team's on SOS, quality of wins etc..

Meh, with the 24 team bracket, the first round weeds out many of the weaker AQs. Then the real playoffs can start in the second weekend. Of course, it would be better if the whole field was seeded (and if the selection committee did the AL selection correctly), so that the first round matchups were 9v24, 10v23, 11v22, 12v21, 13v20, 14v19, 15v18, and 16v17, but that will never happen because it increases travel costs.

[hebmskebm]

Please.

Maybe he meant EIU, since technically they were at home yesterday. :D

[JayJ79]

Samford lost by 41 points which was worse than Lafayette's game. Fordham has a better chance of advancing than Furman. SoCon=PL this year. Fordham will be ranked higher than every SoCon team in EVERY objective poll. Stop spewing uneducated, ignorant drivel....

blowouts are blowouts. the difference between a 38 pt and a 41 pt blowout says absolutely nothing about how the two losing teams (or the two winning teams) compare against each other. At that point, it's all a matter of just how much (and how soon) the winning team lets off the gas and starts caring more about running down the clock than putting points on the board.

[hebmskebm]

The problem isn't the 24 team tournament. I think this format is just fine for the number of teams in the subdivision. The problem is the cheapness of the NCAA. Their desire to save money at all costs led to regionalization of the games. I think there would have been more excitement if they sent more teams around the country to play foes they don't normally face.

[citdog]

Samford lost by 41 points which was worse than Lafayette's game. Fordham has a better chance of advancing than Furman. SoCon=PL this year. Fordham will be ranked higher than every SoCon team in EVERY objective poll. Stop spewing uneducated, ignorant drivel....


Samford NEVER recovered from that whipping they took in General Johnson Hagood, CSA, Stadium.

fordham alomost lost to SACRED HEART! That's your leagues best team and SACRED HEART took them to the wire.....

You are the uneducated one. The Facts have been presented to you above.

Ignore them at your peril.........BRO

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Samford NEVER recovered from that whipping they took in General Johnson Hagood, CSA, Stadium.

fordham alomost lost to SACRED HEART! That's your leagues best team and SACRED HEART took them to the wire.....

You are the uneducated one. The Facts have been presented to you above.

Ignore them at your peril.........BRO

And your Co-Champ lost by 41 to a team from a conference that hasn't won a playoff game in YEARS! If that was a PL team I'd love to see your comments. But as it is, their loss was a result of their previous game against The Citadel? Seriously? That's your convenient excuse?

Why don't you take the majority of the AGS to task for ranking Fordham ahead of EVERY SoCon team? How do you justify that one?

The SoCon's best were far removed from the nations elite this year. The OVC's best clearly surpassed them for the season.

[IBleedYellow]

Got this from Bisonville.
Average margin of victory: 25.5 points
Average Attendance: 4,502
Home Teams: 5 - 3

By Conference:
OVC (2-0)
CAA (1-0)
Big South (1-0)
Southland (1-0)
MVC (1-0)
Patriot (1-1)
Southern (1-1)
Pioneer (0-1)
NEC (0-1)
MEAC (0-2)
Big Sky (0-2)

Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk

[clawman]

Its time to go back to 16 team playoff. Having the first round 10 days after T-giving gives everyone week off.
The NCAA had to have lost their ass this weekend with the terrible attendance and they paid for charter flights and hotel rooms etc. Not that I G. A. S. about the NCAA but the savings would go a long was toward abandoning the regional play BS.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Its time to go back to 16 team playoff. Having the first round 10 days after T-giving gives everyone week off.
The NCAA had to have lost their ass this weekend with the terrible attendance and they paid for charter flights and hotel rooms etc. Not that I G. A. S. about the NCAA but the savings would go a long was toward abandoning the regional play BS.

The expanded playoffs were an epic fail this week. The lack of competitive games and poor attendance are two obvious red flags....

[Bisonoline]

The expanded playoffs were an epic fail this week. The lack of competitive games and poor attendance are two obvious red flags....

I agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hebmskebm]

Its time to go back to 16 team playoff. Having the first round 10 days after T-giving gives everyone week off.
The NCAA had to have lost their ass this weekend with the terrible attendance and they paid for charter flights and hotel rooms etc. Not that I G. A. S. about the NCAA but the savings would go a long was toward abandoning the regional play BS.

The size of the tournament is never, ever, going to get smaller. It's more likely to balloon to 32 than to shrink back to 16.

[Big_Fan]

The expanded playoffs were an epic fail this week. The lack of competitive games and poor attendance are two obvious red flags....

Dunno how you can say that. Without the expanded playoffs, Jax State would have been left at home and Samford would have gotten in anyway. That blowout was the result of the expanded playoffs - only in reverse!

[ysubigred]

Meh, with the 24 team bracket, the first round weeds out many of the weaker AQs. Then the real playoffs can start in the second weekend. Of course, it would be better if the whole field was seeded (and if the selection committee did the AL selection correctly), so that the first round matchups were 9v24, 10v23, 11v22, 12v21, 13v20, 14v19, 15v18, and 16v17, but that will never happen because it increases travel costs.

Well Jay in my opinion these are unnecessary games that could cause injury or worse to student athlete's that have no future at the next level anyways. And if a few did have a future at the next level their talent should already be noted before a blowout playoff game. I like your idea of seeding the whole field.. 1-16 only and the best 16 teams no auto-bids. xtwocentsx

[kalm]

Expanded playoffs are great. More football and an extra chance to watch YOUR team play more,

[JayJ79]

Well Jay in my opinion these are unnecessary games that could cause injury or worse to student athlete's that have no future at the next level anyways. And if a few did have a future at the next level their talent should already be noted before a blowout playoff game. I like your idea of seeding the whole field.. 1-16 only and the best 16 teams no auto-bids. xtwocentsx

better scrap the playoffs entirely, then. matchups between evenly matched teams are just as likely (actually more so, IMO) to cause injury. and the few FCS players who "have a future at the next level" should have "already had their talent noted" before any playoff games. xrolleyesx

[UNHknowledge]

That was definitely the case with Lafayette, who had their entire season focus on beating Lehigh the last game of the year, they learn Sunday they're travelling to UNH, there's not a hotel available an hour away from the stadium, and that there's no place to practice close to the stadium. During the regular season these things are worked out months in advance.

xcoffeex Excuses...Lafayette could've had 6 weeks to prepare for UNH, practiced in a climate controlled dome, and got the ball for opening kickoff and halftime. It wouldn't have mattered. You make it sound like PA to NH is travelling to the other side of the world. UNH has won 1st rd matchups in Georgia, Virginia, Illinois, Louisiana in the past. It was 31-0 at half. Those kids didn't quit, they were simply outmatched. 10 sacks! I don't think UNH has had 10 sacks against a CAA/A10/Yankee opponent in school history. Lafayette was a team with a losing record from a marginal conference that had no business in the playoffs. Hats off the Lafayette seniors for beating Lehigh when it mattered and having the experience of playing a playoff game, can't say the same for many other teams.

[SIUSalukiFan]

The NCAA should maximize the money aspect of the FCS playoffs to the fullest extent.

It needs to find a neutral site (a domed stadium) for the first weekend of the playoffs where all eight first-round games could be played (Saturday/Sunday). Two one day, two the next. Once the field is narrowed to 16 another neutral site is used with the same format. Once the field is narrowed to 8 another neutral site is used with the same format. Once the field is narrowed to 4 the neutral site would host both semifinals, then the survivors would move on to Frisco for all the marbles.

Going this route would allow the NCAA to seed the field 1-24 and set match-ups exactly according to seed. It would also allow the NCAA to pursue corporate sponsorship, and it could also keep every dollar generated by the event (almost every school loses money by hosting a playoff game anyway).

In return, we would have a national champion decided on the field with few excuses for regionalism, bad travel, unfair match-ups, ect.

And, it would be a helluva fan experience to have a weekend where you could watch four FCS playoff games. The MVFC and Big Sky folks could continue their AGS discussions over conference strength in person. xlolx

[Sader87]

These 1st round games have never drawn that well historically (except a few outliers and even then, their #'s were usually down...looking at you Delaware)....particularly over Thanksgiving weekend.

I also don't see how you get around regionalization in the 1st and 2nd rounds. I just don't see E Washington traveling to Lafayette for instance or vice versa on such quick notice due to $$$, academic concerns etc etc

[JayJ79]

It needs to find a neutral site (a domed stadium) for the first weekend of the playoffs where all eight first-round games could be played (Saturday/Sunday). Two one day, two the next.

two + two = eight in southern illinois now?

[CID1990]

Samford lost by 41 points which was worse than Lafayette's game. Fordham has a better chance of advancing than Furman. SoCon=PL this year. Fordham will be ranked higher than every SoCon team in EVERY objective poll. Stop spewing uneducated, ignorant drivel....

It isn't just the SoCon. There is no full scholly conference that would be bested head to
head by the PL. Simply pointing out the vagaries and chance of playoff seeding does not make the PL comparable to the SoCon, the Big South, or even the MEAC.

[GAD]

And because I know where this is going...the Bayou Classic had a reported attendance of 47,385
No I was just wondering

[paward]

All I have to say about my bracket is..................What in the BeJesus is going on around here!

[DFW HOYA]

The NCAA should maximize the money aspect of the FCS playoffs to the fullest extent.

It needs to find a neutral site (a domed stadium) for the first weekend of the playoffs where all eight first-round games could be played (Saturday/Sunday). Two one day, two the next. Once the field is narrowed to 16 another neutral site is used with the same format. Once the field is narrowed to 8 another neutral site is used with the same format. Once the field is narrowed to 4 the neutral site would host both semifinals, then the survivors would move on to Frisco for all the marbles.


Really? How many people are traveling to a neutral dome (say, Univ. of Phoenix Stadium) over Thanksgiving weekend with one week's notice? The fan bases aren't there.

[hebmskebm]

If you follow the D2 and D3 playoffs you wouldn't be as surprised with the NCAA's move towards regionalization and travel cost minimization. They've been doing it to the small(er) schools for years. The NCAA views the FCS much closer to how they view D2 and D3 than how they view the FBS.

[Herder]

And because I know where this is going...the Bayou Classic had a reported attendance of 47,385

Sorry, but there had to be some free tv's or something given away at the door to get 47k to watch that product. I watch a little of the game, and came to the conclusion that the Bayou classic has to be about something other than football. I love my school ala Southern & G, but bad football is bad football. That must be a hell of a party to draw 47k. At the end of the day, what does winner earn?

Sorry if I'm offending anyone, but dont these programs want more than this? Wouldn't you play this game (classic) on the last week of the regular season, and SWAC conference champs play for an FCS national championship? Seems crazy and illogical.

[hebmskebm]

Really? How many people are traveling to a neutral dome (say, Univ. of Phoenix Stadium) over Thanksgiving weekend with one week's notice? The fan bases aren't there.

That post was written by a fan of a team in a conference that's geographically screwed by regionalization. He's grasping at straws, looking for a solution that just isn't there, other than to be good enough to be a seed and have everyone come to you like NDSU.

[TennBison]

Its a holiday weekend. Are potential host schools supposed to reserve a block of rooms months in advance?
Not saying that at all, not at least that the host school is responsible for blocking hotel rooms. But doesn't the NCAA look at how potential host schools can accommodate a visiting school for the playoffs and have some sort of guidelines. What if a school is 2-3 hours away from a hotel that can accommodate a team, would the NCAA expect a visiting team to be on a bus for up to 6 hours to go to practice.

[GAD]

Sorry, but there had to be some free tv's or something given away at the door to get 47k to watch that product. I watch a little of the game, and came to the conclusion that the Bayou classic has to be about something other than football. I love my school ala Southern & G, but bad football is bad football. That must be a hell of a party to draw 47k. At the end of the day, what does winner earn?

Sorry if I'm offending anyone, but dont these programs want more than this? Wouldn't you play this game (classic) on the last week of the regular season, and SWAC conference champs play for an FCS national championship? Seems crazy and illogical.
Both schools have fallen on hard times, back in 2003 & 2004 this game was drawing 60k plus easy. Once the teams get a little better the crowds will return the same thing happen back in the 80's

[Hammerhead]

Doesn't the NCAA regionalize tournaments for every sport that is played nationwide? Why should football be any different? The FCS is kind of like mens basketball where the top seeds are put in opposite brackets (even if that means a team like Duke is put into the west region) and the rest of the field plays in regional tournaments.

[TennBison]

Meh, with the 24 team bracket, the first round weeds out many of the weaker AQs. Then the real playoffs can start in the second weekend. Of course, it would be better if the whole field was seeded (and if the selection committee did the AL selection correctly), so that the first round matchups were 9v24, 10v23, 11v22, 12v21, 13v20, 14v19, 15v18, and 16v17, but that will never happen because it increases travel costs.
If the NCAA has to worry about cost because a team can't afford to travel where they are suppose to go to(as opposed to where it is cost effective) then those teams need to stay out of the playoffs. The playoffs are suppose to determine a national champ, not be a exhibition tour.

[Herder]

Both schools have fallen on hard times, back in 2003 & 2004 this game was drawing 60k plus easy. Once the teams get a little better the crowds will return the same thing happen back in the 80's

GAD, be honest with me. Would you rather . . .
1) Play Grambling on the last week of the regular season in a suedo Bayou Classic on NBC, then have the winner of the SWAC play in the FCS playoffs (or)
2) Play the Bayou Classic as it is today, and don't participate in the FCS Playoffs.

Honest question. Seems like there is little incentive to be good (other than win the SWAC), when you play in the BClassic whether you are 10-1 or 1-10. What is driving your FB program to achieve, improve? Again, just an honest question. I understand (a little bit anyway) the history of this game, but can't believe you want to still be playing in this calissic 10 years from now and not be in the playoffs.

Earlier I said BAD, I meant Grambling. Southern would likely have been a playoff team in 2013.

[GAD]

GAD, be honest with me. Would you rather . . .
1) Play Grambling on the last week of the regular season in a suedo Bayou Classic on NBC, then have the winner of the SWAC play in the FCS playoffs (or)
2) Play the Bayou Classic as it is today, and don't participate in the FCS Playoffs.

Honest question. Seems like there is little incentive to be good (other than win the SWAC), when you play in the BClassic whether you are 10-1 or 1-10. What is driving your FB program to achieve, improve? Again, just an honest question. I understand (a little bit anyway) the history of this game, but can't believe you want to still be playing in this calissic 10 years from now.
Personaly, give me option 1 but I understand why the game was placed on Thanksgiving weekend. People would come home from all over the country for Thanksgiving and to many Bayou Classic was/is just as much a part of Thanksgiving as turkey and cranberry sauce
Will things change maybe its not like the playoffs are going anywhere if the Bayou Classic and Turkey day Classic don't bounce back the playoffs are another option

[ysubigred]

better scrap the playoffs entirely, then. matchups between evenly matched teams are just as likely (actually more so, IMO) to cause injury. and the few FCS players who "have a future at the next level" should have "already had their talent noted" before any playoff games. xrolleyesx

touché.. I think we both can agree there's got to be a better way than the current 24 team field. xthumbsupx

[Engineer86]

Samford lost by 41 points which was worse than Lafayette's game. Fordham has a better chance of advancing than Furman. SoCon=PL this year. Fordham will be ranked higher than every SoCon team in EVERY objective poll. Stop spewing uneducated, ignorant drivel....

This!

[Twentysix]

This!

Man, you guys set a low bar.

The Socon has taken 25 steps backwards in conference strength,

PL's reaction: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, we are finally as good as the socon.

[Engineer86]

Samford NEVER recovered from that whipping they took in General Johnson Hagood, CSA, Stadium.

fordham alomost lost to SACRED HEART! That's your leagues best team and SACRED HEART took them to the wire.....

You are the uneducated one. The Facts have been presented to you above.

Ignore them at your peril.........BRO

Oh puppy, you are delusional again. The SoCon is fading fast. You one team got waxed and your other was lucky to play a team that was completely undeserving of even being in the playoffs, but other than that you are correct. The SoCon is still a power conference. xlolx

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Man, you guys set a low bar.

The Socon has taken 25 steps backwards in conference strength,

PL's reaction: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, we are finally as good as the socon.

The PL has and will continue to compare itself to the CAA. The two conferences recruit against each other, share historical rivalries, often meet in the playoffs etc....

The OVC will be better than the SoCon too imo. The Big South is also gaining ground. I was merely pointing out the fact that the PL's BEST is better than the SoCon's best this year.

[Engineer86]

Man, you guys set a low bar.

The Socon has taken 25 steps backwards in conference strength,

PL's reaction: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, we are finally as good as the socon.

Oh, I agree that this is a low bar and it is not the bar that I would target in four years. My point is that it is a joke to think the SoCon is better than the PL at this point. How will VMI look in there? And the sit puppy wants continue to live in the 1990-2012 era.

[JayJ79]

If the NCAA has to worry about cost because a team can't afford to travel where they are suppose to go to(as opposed to where it is cost effective) then those teams need to stay out of the playoffs. The playoffs are suppose to determine a national champ, not be a exhibition tour.

NCAA pays for team travel for the playoffs (that is, the XX number of players on the official traveling squad and the YY number of staff members, which is spelled out in the official handbook. it doesn't pay for the redshirting players, the cheerleaders, the band, etc.). Which is why they make the rules, and why they take the majority of the gate money for the playoff games.

[JayJ79]

touché.. I think we both can agree there's got to be a better way than the current 24 team field. xthumbsupx

I have absolutely no problem with the fact of there being 24 teams in. Just the inconsistent method of at-large selection.

[SIUSalukiFan]

two + two = eight in southern illinois now?

It obviously was today. xlolx

My bad.

[SIUSalukiFan]

Really? How many people are traveling to a neutral dome (say, Univ. of Phoenix Stadium) over Thanksgiving weekend with one week's notice? The fan bases aren't there.

That's obvious by the attendance totals from some of the first-round games.

In my scenario I'm not worried so much about the fans. I'm trying to put together the most competitive playoff field possible.

[SIUSalukiFan]

That post was written by a fan of a team in a conference that's geographically screwed by regionalization. He's grasping at straws, looking for a solution that just isn't there, other than to be good enough to be a seed and have everyone come to you like NDSU.

I'm not grasping at straws.

There are better solutions than the NCAA blackmailing schools for $30,000 just for the honor to get a home game and split half the proceeds. I'm suggesting the NCAA - since it is all about the dollars - go all-in instead of using this half-assed system that is in place now.

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

A meagre 3300 at the UNH-Lafayette on as nice a Durham, New Hampshire Nov. 30th day as one has the right to expect. Lafayette had a good group populating the visitor stands while the UNH fans were of the die-hard ilk.

10,333 the previous week vs Maine.

JMHO, there were more than 3.3K at Cowell on Saturday. Still disappointing that we didn't have a sellout. Tough weekend to travel and/or getaway. And after the 1-3 start, I doubt many penciled in "Playoff Game at Cowell" on their calendars for 11/30!! xlolx

[Bisonoline]

I'm not grasping at straws.

There are better solutions than the NCAA blackmailing schools for $30,000 just for the honor to get a home game and split half the proceeds. I'm suggesting the NCAA - since it is all about the dollars - go all-in instead of using this half-assed system that is in place now.

Why do they need to bid? Why dont the homesites just go to the top seeds?

[ngineer]

4787 at Fordham. Stands looked packed, but lack of students on campus didn't really help the cause. Was very impressed by the Sacred Heart showing, they had a pretty big group of supporters.

I am surprised at that number. Your stands hold about 7,500 and I would have estimated about 6,500-7,000 based upon what I saw on TV.

[Fordham2012]

JMHO, there were more than 3.3K at Cowell on Saturday. Still disappointing that we didn't have a sellout. Tough weekend to travel and/or getaway. And after the 1-3 start, I doubt many penciled in "Playoff Game at Cowell" on their calendars for 11/30!! xlolx


I think a lot of Fordham people didn't know what the playoffs were.

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

That was definitely the case with Lafayette, who had their entire season focus on beating Lehigh the last game of the year, they learn Sunday they're travelling to UNH, there's not a hotel available an hour away from the stadium, and that there's no place to practice close to the stadium. During the regular season these things are worked out months in advance.

Somehow I think UNH's focus to beat Maine in their final game was equal to Lafayette's. Coach Mac had the Wildcats ready to play.

First I've heard about any hotel issue. With a big Sheraton, Marriott (Wentworth By The Sea) and Hilton in Portsmouth (10 miles away), I'm surprised they couldn't find rooms. I did notice that LC had three buses when visiting CAA teams usually only have two. Might the extra bus load of people have caused the problem? Outside of Portsmouth, you're going to Manchester or suburban Boston for a big hotel, an hour at best away. Don't see that being such a big deal.

If LC wanted to practice at Cowell, then they needed to arrive in Durham early Friday afternoon because there are no lights. Every one in FCS knows Cowell doesn't have lights! They chose not to leave early enough to get to Durham with enough daylight. I know UNH left on Thursday and drove part way for their game at Lehigh this year so the Friday schedule would be similar to air travel and shorter bus ride road trips. Besides, what's the big deal? UNH often practices on the day before the game at a field other than where the game will be played.

And most of all, Lafayette didn't even bid on the game! They've only got themselves to blame because we all know they would have hosted the game if they had bid.

[dwtime]

JMHO, there were more than 3.3K at Cowell on Saturday. Still disappointing that we didn't have a sellout. Tough weekend to travel and/or getaway. And after the 1-3 start, I doubt many penciled in "Playoff Game at Cowell" on their calendars for 11/30!! xlolx

Yeah looking at the stands on TV I would say at least over 4000 fans maybe close to 5k.

[dwtime]

Somehow I think UNH's focus to beat Maine in their final game was equal to Lafayette's. Coach Mac had the Wildcats ready to play.

First I've heard about any hotel issue. With a big Sheraton, Marriott (Wentworth By The Sea) and Hilton in Portsmouth (10 miles away), I'm surprised they couldn't find rooms. I did notice that LC had three buses when visiting CAA teams usually only have two. Might the extra bus load of people have caused the problem? Outside of Portsmouth, you're going to Manchester or suburban Boston for a big hotel, an hour at best away. Don't see that being such a big deal.

If LC wanted to practice at Cowell, then they needed to arrive in Durham early Friday afternoon because there are no lights. Every one in FCS knows Cowell doesn't have lights! They chose not to leave early enough to get to Durham with enough daylight. I know UNH left on Thursday and drove part way for their game at Lehigh this year so the Friday schedule would be similar to air travel and shorter bus ride road trips. Besides, what's the big deal? UNH often practices on the day before the game at a field other than where the game will be played.

And most of all, Lafayette didn't even bid on the game! They've only got themselves to blame because we all know they would have hosted the game if they had bid.

And Lafayette still would have lost. xnodx

[maine612]

Flipping around the pu pu platter of ESPN3 games it was obvious there were plenty of good seats available across the FCS playoffs Saturday.

[caribbeanhen]

UTM, Murray and EKU would have beaten NAU yesterday.

lets toss in Stony Brook, JMU, Richmond, William and Mary, Delaware

[citdog]

This!


You're BOTH LOONY....MERCER was better than Lafayette

[citdog]

Man, you guys set a low bar.

The Socon has taken 25 steps backwards in conference strength,

PL's reaction: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, we are finally as good as the socon.


The Nations 5th oldest conference, the birthplace of the SEC and the ACC, will be just fine. Furman, Wofford, The Citadel, Chattanooga, and Sammy will battle it out for supremacy every year and for National Championships. We're just reloading.

[Lehigh'98]

There has never been nor will there ever be good attendance Thanksgiving weekend for FCS games, you will be missing all the students. Also, Lafayette has no excuses, they were pummeled and embarassed the league, no hotel would of changed that.

[citdog]

Oh puppy, you are delusional again. The SoCon is fading fast. You one team got waxed and your other was lucky to play a team that was completely undeserving of even being in the playoffs, but other than that you are correct. The SoCon is still a power conference. xlolx

I'M delusional? The rankings of the conferences were posted like three pages ago. One would think at 57, 715 per year you fellas would be sharper than a pound of wet liver.


btw......South Carolina State would have given UNH ALL THEY WANTED.

[SIUSalukiFan]

Why do they need to bid? Why dont the homesites just go to the top seeds?

Somebody has to host first-round games, and none of those teams are seeded. If I'm not mistaken, even seeded teams have to post a minimum bid to host once you get to the round of 16.

[taper]

The Atlantic 10, Big Sky, Southern(3), CAA(2), and MVFC(2) have all won titles since a Patriot team won more than one playoff game.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

The Atlantic 10, Big Sky, Southern(3), CAA(2), and MVFC(2) have all won titles since a Patriot team won more than one playoff game.

No one is saying the PL is or has been an upper tier conference. The PL has been a half a step behind the Southland but considerably better than the OVC since 1998.

- Also, The A10/CAA is the same conference ala Gateway/MVFC.
- Wofford has been the best remaining SoCon team the last 10 years. Everyone else needs to pick their game up.

I still contend it's about producing the best teams. As long as there's two or three nationally viable (One Top 15/20, others Top 40) teams in each league then the rest doesn't matter imo. The SEC might have 6 very good teams to the ACC's 2 or 3 but if the ACC has the best of them all, does it really matter? It simply comes down to conferences ability to produce elite teams. The CAA, MVFC, BSC and recently the Southland have proven that ability on a consistent basis. The PL has done it every few years. EIU is the first big time OVC team in MANY, MANY years. The SoCon is TBD with the loss of GSU and App State. To be fair, Wofford has had 2 or 3 championship "type" teams the last 10 years.

[DSUrocks07]

I'M delusional? The rankings of the conferences were posted like three pages ago. One would think at 57, 715 per year you fellas would be sharper than a pound of wet liver.


btw......South Carolina State would have given UNH ALL THEY WANTED.

FAMU, BCU and Alabama State would be a coup for the SoCon (possibly Savannah State as well if they would be interested)

[Bisonoline]

Somebody has to host first-round games, and none of those teams are seeded. If I'm not mistaken, even seeded teams have to post a minimum bid to host once you get to the round of 16.

Yes they do but what I am asking is why? Play in rounds are different. When you get to the meat of the playoffs home field should go to the seeded teams and shouldnt be the result of a monetary bid.

[JayJ79]

Yes they do but what I am asking is why? Play in rounds are different. When you get to the meat of the playoffs home field should go to the seeded teams and shouldnt be the result of a monetary bid.

they do get home field, as long as they can meet the minimum amount for that particular round. they don't have to outbid the non-seeded team, just meet the minimum.

[SIUSalukiFan]

Yes they do but what I am asking is why? Play in rounds are different. When you get to the meat of the playoffs home field should go to the seeded teams and shouldnt be the result of a monetary bid.

I agree.

But, the NCAA likes the money.

[taper]

- Also, The A10/CAA is the same conference ala Gateway/MVFC.

Gateway to MVFC was a simple name change. A10 to CAA was all the teams moving to a different conference under new management. A10 football no longer exists but James Madison won a title under it, not CAA.

[henfan]

The problem is the cheapness of the NCAA. Their desire to save money at all costs led to regionalization of the games. I think there would have been more excitement if they sent more teams around the country to play foes they don't normally face.

No, there really wouldn't have been and, if it's even possible, attendance would have been even lower than it was with fewer hardcores being able to afford trips across the country on a holiday weekend. Think, man. Think.

[henfan]

Gateway to MVFC was a simple name change. A10 to CAA was all the teams moving to a different conference under new management. A10 football no longer exists but James Madison won a title under it, not CAA.

While the name of the conference was the Atlantic 10 Football Conference when JMU won the title, all of the records from Atlantic 10 and the Yankee Conference before it were inherited by CAA Football. Thus, the existing FB conference, now known as CAA Football, considers JMU's NC as a conference NC, as does the NCAA.

http://www.caasports.com/fls/8500/FBMedia/13Guide/Postseason_History_81_84.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=8500

[katstrapper]

I watched 3 games and if you had a friend at the game they could have yelled your name
and you would have heard it on TV.


Tennessee St at Butler Attendance: 1928

Bethune-Cookman at Coastal Carolina Attendance: 3007

Sacred Heart at Fordham Attendance: 4787
Furman at SC State Attendance: 4871
Southern Utah at Sam Houston St Attendance: 4069
Samford at Jacksonville St Attendance: 8992
South Dakota St at Northern Ariz Attendance: 5077
Lafayette at New Hampshire Attendance: 3,286

The fact of it being Thanksgiving weekend and students not being on campus. Sam Houston reopened the dorms for the students to stay and come back for game and had $5 tickets, but it didnt help the student attendance.

[Pards Rule]

A meagre 3300 at the UNH-Lafayette on as nice a Durham, New Hampshire Nov. 30th day as one has the right to expect. Lafayette had a good group populating the visitor stands while the UNH fans were of the die-hard ilk.

10,333 the previous week vs Maine.

The Manchester Union Leader had it at 3682. And I guess this is a realistic number as the tickets went on sale only in the days before the game and being Thanksgiving weekend people only purchased if they knew they were going. I hate the "attendance" that is ticket sales NOT turnstile rotations.

[Pards Rule]

Somehow I think UNH's focus to beat Maine in their final game was equal to Lafayette's. Coach Mac had the Wildcats ready to play.

First I've heard about any hotel issue. With a big Sheraton, Marriott (Wentworth By The Sea) and Hilton in Portsmouth (10 miles away), I'm surprised they couldn't find rooms. I did notice that LC had three buses when visiting CAA teams usually only have two. Might the extra bus load of people have caused the problem? Outside of Portsmouth, you're going to Manchester or suburban Boston for a big hotel, an hour at best away. Don't see that being such a big deal.

If LC wanted to practice at Cowell, then they needed to arrive in Durham early Friday afternoon because there are no lights. Every one in FCS knows Cowell doesn't have lights! They chose not to leave early enough to get to Durham with enough daylight. I know UNH left on Thursday and drove part way for their game at Lehigh this year so the Friday schedule would be similar to air travel and shorter bus ride road trips. Besides, what's the big deal? UNH often practices on the day before the game at a field other than where the game will be played.

And most of all, Lafayette didn't even bid on the game! They've only got themselves to blame because we all know they would have hosted the game if they had bid.

Dude is spot on. WE should have hosted this. Actually regarding travel an LC football benefactor would have been willing to pay for a charter flight but apparently (due to the demand over a holiday weekend) the DEPARTURE from PSM (Portsmouth-Pease airport code) would have been like 11PM and Tavani said "who would want to sit around for 7 hours after a game like that?"...Hey, maybe they could have enjoyed downtown Portsmouth like I did. Quite impressed with what has been established down there against a regional backdrop of struggling former mill town city centers. Hardly a vacancy to note. Went to Libby's after the game and met a number of fans who were cognizant of the sting of a blowout. One UNH booster said, "yeah we got torched the same way a few years ago by Villanova so we know the feeling"...Newicks was bizarre in the plastic/foam plates, utensils and the like. Never experienced that in a restaurant with those prices!? At least the food was good. And thanks for a great trip (save for about 3.5 hours) made much better and easier due to all the new friends up in Cold Country - you know who you are.

[BisonBacker]

I watched 3 games and if you had a friend at the game they could have yelled your name
and you would have heard it on TV.


Tennessee St at Butler Attendance: 1928

Bethune-Cookman at Coastal Carolina Attendance: 3007

Sacred Heart at Fordham Attendance: 4787
Furman at SC State Attendance: 4871
Southern Utah at Sam Houston St Attendance: 4069
Samford at Jacksonville St Attendance: 8992
South Dakota St at Northern Ariz Attendance: 5077
Lafayette at New Hampshire Attendance: 3,286

Wow those are some pitiful numbers for playoff games! xsmhx

[walliver]

Tennessee St at Butler Attendance: 1928
Bethune-Cookman at Coastal Carolina Attendance: 3007
Sacred Heart at Fordham Attendance: 4787
Furman at SC State Attendance: 4871
Southern Utah at Sam Houston St Attendance: 4069
Samford at Jacksonville St Attendance: 8992
South Dakota St at Northern Ariz Attendance: 5077
Lafayette at New Hampshire Attendance: 3,286

These numbers are just plain inexcusably bad.

Most of these schools are regional colleges and universities with most students and alumni living within driving distance (some are listed as "national" in the rankings, but still have a regional student/alumni base. It appears that Furman, SC State, and Coastal fans would rather stay home and watch the Tiggers and Chickens. Butler's attendance would be embarrassing for a single A high school, and probably didn't cover TSU's gas money.

The best attended game of the week, 8992 fans and one of the two teams attending was still much lower than it should have been, apparently all their fans stayed home to watch Bama/Auburn.

I've heard all the excuses, but don't buy them. Weren't there SCSU fans excited about a home playoff game? Apparently not.
Coastal fans should be ashamed. Fans knew that the next game would be at NDSU (a difficult place to make travel arrangements for will only 6-7 days notice), why not attend the one game they were guaranteed to make.

GSU, Montana, and ASU (except for 2002) traditionally draw good first round games, even when played on Thanksgiving weekend.
24 teams is too many. There were obviously a lot of teams invited to the dance whose fans didn't seem to care.

[rokamortis]

These numbers are just plain inexcusably bad.

Most of these schools are regional colleges and universities with most students and alumni living within driving distance (some are listed as "national" in the rankings, but still have a regional student/alumni base. It appears that Furman, SC State, and Coastal fans would rather stay home and watch the Tiggers and Chickens. Butler's attendance would be embarrassing for a single A high school, and probably didn't cover TSU's gas money.

The best attended game of the week, 8992 fans and one of the two teams attending was still much lower than it should have been, apparently all their fans stayed home to watch Bama/Auburn.

I've heard all the excuses, but don't buy them. Weren't there SCSU fans excited about a home playoff game? Apparently not.
Coastal fans should be ashamed. Fans knew that the next game would be at NDSU (a difficult place to make travel arrangements for will only 6-7 days notice), why not attend the one game they were guaranteed to make.

GSU, Montana, and ASU (except for 2002) traditionally draw good first round games, even when played on Thanksgiving weekend.
24 teams is too many. There were obviously a lot of teams invited to the dance whose fans didn't seem to care.

I did my part - got off a plane in Atlanta at 6pm Friday. Got home around 1am after driving and pit stops. Drove 4 hours to Conway in the morning after about 5 hours of sleep. But I can see why attendance is typical low for this weekend. Students are out of town. Many fans are either traveling or have family in town. They also could be saving money as they prepare for Christmas. I don't like it, but can understand.

[ace93]

Fordham is not as regional as it used to be back in my day and our reported number is a lot lower than what I thought we had there. Even if regional, traffic around NYC on Thanksgiving weekend is not ideal. As a student you'd have to commit to going back a day early, something I definitely would have done, but not something most students are willing to do.

Keeping with the "I did my part" theme posted by rokamortis, I got an Amtrak from Baltimore at 7 AM in order to get to Fordham by 11 AM and giving me enough time to tailgate. No way was I going to drive even if traffic was light it would be too much hassle and risk on TG weekend. This coming weekend will be great, given our away game is only 7 miles form my home.

[jimbo65]

I was at the Fordham game. The stadium holds just over 7,000 not counting standing room, which believe it or not we had once or twice this year. No way ther were 2200 empty seats. Perhaps 1,000 but no where near 2200. I have zero inside info, but could it be that the lower attendance figures indicate an attempt to reduce sharing proceeds with the NCAA by some of the hosts, or perhaps the attendance does not include either reduced or free admission of students.

[SIUSalukiFan]

I was at the Fordham game. The stadium holds just over 7,000 not counting standing room, which believe it or not we had once or twice this year. No way ther were 2200 empty seats. Perhaps 1,000 but no where near 2200. I have zero inside info, but could it be that the lower attendance figures indicate an attempt to reduce sharing proceeds with the NCAA by some of the hosts, or perhaps the attendance does not include either reduced or free admission of students.

I'm sure the NCAA routinely lets schools falsify playoff attendance totals. That makes perfect sense.

BTW, I'm also pretty sure the NCAA has somebody on-site and the accounting is immediate.

Futhermore, there are no reduced ticket prices or free student tickets for the playoffs. If you go to the game you pay.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

I was at the Fordham game. The stadium holds just over 7,000 not counting standing room, which believe it or not we had once or twice this year. No way ther were 2200 empty seats. Perhaps 1,000 but no where near 2200. I have zero inside info, but could it be that the lower attendance figures indicate an attempt to reduce sharing proceeds with the NCAA by some of the hosts, or perhaps the attendance does not include either reduced or free admission of students.

The crowd looked very good based on the video! I didn't see any obvious empty seats!

[Sader87]

These games have always been a tough sell....for a lot of the reasons already given: Thanksgiving, weather (in some places), teams that don't travel well due to distance etc etc.

Different era but HC's lone home playoff game in 1983 drew a then disappointing 13k down from crowds consistently in the 15-20K+ range during the regular season.

[walliver]

I'm sure the NCAA routinely lets schools falsify playoff attendance totals. That makes perfect sense.

BTW, I'm also pretty sure the NCAA has somebody on-site and the accounting is immediate.

Futhermore, there are no reduced ticket prices or free student tickets for the playoffs. If you go to the game you pay.

Many schools will subsidize student tickets. If a school subsidizes student tickets, at the school's not NCAA's expense, that ticket doesn't count toward the attendance (or at least not as a full ticket)

[JSUBison]

Here are last years to compare:

Eastern Illinois @ SDSU: 4367
Coastal @ Bethune: 5465
Colgate @ Wagner: 3032
Villanova @ Stony Brook: 4905

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Personally I think the attendance was very good at NAU (Arizona/Arizona State) and Jacksonville State (Iron Bowl) considering that these games were going on at the EXACT SAME TIME as these known games that would suck in the interest of the entire state (if not nation).

Fordham's attendance looked like near-capacity as did UNH's.

[jacksfan29]

Neither is anyone in the OVC. I recall seeing the best of the best in the OVC in the opening round of the playoffs last year. Not very impressive. I still think once EIU gets up against a physical team from a top conference its over. The OVC is what it is. Don't try and make it anything better then a below average FCS conference.


NAU wasn't impressive.

[blackbeard]

I was at the Fordham game. The stadium holds just over 7,000 not counting standing room, which believe it or not we had once or twice this year. No way ther were 2200 empty seats. Perhaps 1,000 but no where near 2200.

Completely agree, the announced number is far lower than actual. No where near 2,200 empty seats. Great turnout for both teams, was really happy with the SHU turnout.

[Pards Rule]

Personally I think the attendance was very good at NAU (Arizona/Arizona State) and Jacksonville State (Iron Bowl) considering that these games were going on at the EXACT SAME TIME as these known games that would suck in the interest of the entire state (if not nation).

Fordham's attendance looked like near-capacity as did UNH's.

LFN, I was there and can tell you it wasn't near capacity. I don't know what camera angles they were showing but the UNH side if you were to squeeze them in would have just filled the area under the press box. Pards pretty much filed out most of visitors stands in the first half xlolx

[Lehigh Football Nation]

LFN, I was there and can tell you it wasn't near capacity. I don't know what camera angles they were showing but the UNH side if you were to squeeze them in would have just filled the area under the press box. Pards pretty much filed out most of visitors stands in the first half xlolx

Must have been really expert camerapeople xlolx Most times I think the focus was on the visitor's stands, with occasional focus on a group of UNH fans.

[Pards Rule]

Must have been really expert camerapeople xlolx Most times I think the focus was on the visitor's stands, with occasional focus on a group of UNH fans.

Well I guess so as the press box was "over there" and I thought we had an excellent Pard turnout for a haul on limited notice up to Durham, NH. I was the one waving the leopard around by the tail as usual after a big Pard play- um, that would be only once on Saturday (late TD)!!

[Hammerhead]

Even NDSU didn't sell out it's first playoff game in many years held on Thanksgiving weekend in 2010. The box score at espn.com lists the attendance at 12,202 which leaves about 1/3 of the seats empty.

[rokamortis]

Many schools will subsidize student tickets. If a school subsidizes student tickets, at the school's not NCAA's expense, that ticket doesn't count toward the attendance (or at least not as a full ticket)

I don't know how many - but I do know that Coastal was subsidizing seats.

[Pards Rule]

I don't know how many - but I do know that Coastal was subsidizing seats.

What kind of idiocy is this? Attendance now is classified as only a full price ticket. So if a school is discounting 50% of say $19 (the cost of the UNH-Lafayette ticket I bought) and they sat on cold aluminum seats on Thanksgiving weekend when they could have been partying with Marilinda Garcia in downtown Portsmouth, they weren't there?? Cut me an ever-loving break!!!!

[SIUSalukiFan]

Many schools will subsidize student tickets. If a school subsidizes student tickets, at the school's not NCAA's expense, that ticket doesn't count toward the attendance (or at least not as a full ticket)

Wrong.

[SIUSalukiFan]

I don't know how many - but I do know that Coastal was subsidizing seats.

Do you know the definition of subsidizing?

I don't think you do.

Coastal Carolina could have offered free tickets to everybody who wanted them but it still had to pay the full freight to the NCAA.

[Bisonator]

Even NDSU didn't sell out it's first playoff game in many years held on Thanksgiving weekend in 2010. The box score at espn.com lists the attendance at 12,202 which leaves about 1/3 of the seats empty.

Yeah Thanksgiving weekend really hurts attendance. Most people have plans before PO games are even a thought.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

http://wfuv.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/fuveleven_node/sports/photos/DSCN4356.JPG

In case anyone thought the reported Fordham attendance figures were at all accurate.

[SIUSalukiFan]

http://wfuv.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/fuveleven_node/sports/photos/DSCN4356.JPG

In case anyone thought the reported Fordham attendance figures were at all accurate.

Let's all start counting ... 1, 2, 3 ... xlolx

In all seriousness, it's always funny how folks don't think attendance matches up to what is announced. The reality is almost every stadium in America can only reach full capacity with fans packed shoulder-to-shoulder. A stadium can look full but have far fewer people in it than there really is.

[Engineer86]

I'M delusional? The rankings of the conferences were posted like three pages ago. One would think at 57, 715 per year you fellas would be sharper than a pound of wet liver.


btw......South Carolina State would have given UNH ALL THEY WANTED.

First, hardly. Second, they lost to a Weak SoCon champion. Third, even if you Opinion were correct, should I be impressed that they would give UNH "all the wanted"?

[Engineer86]

The Atlantic 10, Big Sky, Southern(3), CAA(2), and MVFC(2) have all won titles since a Patriot team won more than one playoff game.

So the PL is not at the level of the Big Sky, CAA and MVFC, or App St, who is headed to FBS. Ok, I'll buy that and am glad we too now offer scholarships.