Big Sky Playoff Debate

[OldHornet]

If the Big Sky gets four teams in the playoffs, why should an 8-3 Cal Poly be selected over a 7-4 Sac St? Granted if Cal Poly wins out then there is no discussion, they deserve to go. But if they lose to NAU and then Sac St beats Davis then I believe Sac St should get the at large bid rather than Cal Poly.

The obvious rationale is Sac St won the head to head match up. In addition, Sac had to play two FBS teams - winning one.

[Appattk]

I would watch out for Cal Poly or Sac St to get kicked to the curb in favor of SDSU, Richmond or some other conference team...

[asucrutch23]

I would watch out for Cal Poly or Sac St to get kicked to the curb in favor of SDSU, Richmond or some other conference team...

I agree with this but I actually think SDSU is solidly in even with a loss to NDSU. Right now, I have SDSU, Richmond, and Cal Poly in.

But the OP is right, if Cal Poly loses to NAU they would only have 1 good win (Wyoming). Cal Poly avoided the top teams in the conference this year except for EWU, who handled them. If I'm the Cal Poly coaching staff, I'm moving forward as if we have to win out to be comfortable on selection day.

For Sac St, the loss to UND really stands out, but the head-to-head could give them an edge over Cal Poly. If Sac St had been able to pull out either the EWU game or the MSU game, they'd be sitting pretty. Instead, they need to hope for a kind bubble. In other words, if I'm a Sac St fan, I'm rooting for Lehigh and Stony Brook and against the OVC bubble teams.

[WrenFGun]

I think Cal Poly AND Sac. State will be out if Cal Poly finishes 8-3.

Just FWIW, Sac. State unfortunately scheduled themselves out of the playoffs. They don't have the luxury of being as fortunate as SHSU has been with pollsters, in large part because they didn't make the National Championship last year.

[MTfan4life]

If this were 2011, Sac. State would have a much better resume than Eastern Kentucky. However, this season both Cal Poly and Sac State are competing with about 12 other teams with 7 or 8 wins for just 4 playoff spots.

[JALMOND]

The thinking is that the Big Sky should get five teams in, which means the committee will select four teams (they usually take one less Big Sky team than what we Big Sky fans think we deserve). Three of those are Montana State, Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington. The fourth will be decided between Cal Poly and Sacramento State and, as Walsh found out in 2006 with Portland State, it does not matter who the best team is perceived to be, the committee weighs head to head pretty big. Sac goes if they beat Davis. Poly has to win out (vs Idaho State, at Northern Arizona) for any chance at going.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

The head to head has always mattered if the teams were fairly even but with Cal Poly having the extra win that negates the head to head and they both have an FBS win so it's real even Thinking that H2H is the be all end all is a mistake though.

Those bad losses for Sac probably sink them unfortunately.

[MTfan4life]

It's important to note that Sac State still has to win the Causeway Classic just to get to 7 wins. They play at UC-Davis this year for the 60th matchup within the rivalry and UC-Davis has won 16 of the last 20 Causeway Classic contests. Yes, the Aggies have been in sort of a tailspin the last month, but they'll always be ready to play in the rivalry game, especially when at home. Also, this will be Coach Bob Biggs' final game after twenty seasons at the helm. It will be a major hurdle for the Hornets just to get in to the conversation by Selection Sunday.