Is the OVC eligible for an automatic bid this year?

[HensRock]

Before you answer, "Of course they are, you moron!", hear me out and read the "Additional Football Criteria" below...

Direct from the NCAA's 2006 Division I Football Championship Handbook


Automatic Qualifiers
[Reference: Bylaws 31.3.4 and 31.3.5 in the NCAA Manual.]
The following conferences have been granted automatic-qualification privileges for the 2006 championship:

Atlantic 10 Conference
Big Sky Conference
Gateway Football Conference
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Ohio Valley Conference
Patriot League
Southern Conference
Southland Conference

Additional Football Criteria. Conferences must conduct regular-season, round-robin play among the members to determine the champion. The Division I-AA football committee may grant exceptions to the round-robin requirement subject to approval of the NCAA Executive Committee.


The OVC is NOT conducting a full round-robin regular season since TSU and UTM do not play each other. Is this just an oversight or does this happen a lot? As far as I can tell, every other team in the OVC plays each other. Only UTM and TSU do no meet. Has the Executive Committee granted the OVC an exception?

Does this mean that the OVC ibecomes ineligible for an automatic qualifier?

[dbackjon]

Before you answer, "Of course they are, you moron!", hear me out and read the "Additional Football Criteria" below...

Direct from the NCAA's 2006 Division I Football Championship Handbook


The OVC is NOT conducting a full round-robin regular season since TSU and UTM do not play each other. Is this just an oversight or does this happen a lot? As far as I can tell, every other team in the OVC plays each other. Only UTM and TSU do no meet. Has the Executive Committee granted the OVC an exception?

Does this mean that the OVC ibecomes ineligible for an automatic qualifier?

First off, if that was the case, then the A-10 would not get an auto-bid either, since every team does not play THREE other teams in the A-10. For example, this year, New Hampshire is the only one of the top teams in the league that play UMass, Maine, Richmond, and James Madison. Neither UMass or Maine play either Richmond or JMU this year.

TSU plays one less league game because of their classic committments. This was a deal engineered when TSU joined the OVC. Instead, one of the classics counts as a league game for standings purposes.

[HensRock]

First off, if that was the case, then the A-10 would not get an auto-bid either, since every team does not play THREE other teams in the A-10. For example, this year, New Hampshire is the only one of the top teams in the league that play UMass, Maine, Richmond, and James Madison. Neither UMass or Maine play either Richmond or JMU this year.

TSU plays one less league game because of their classic committments. This was a deal engineered when TSU joined the OVC. Instead, one of the classics counts as a league game for standings purposes.


You really have it in for the A-10, don't you?

"First off", I'm not talking about the A-10. (who play a schedule that is approved by the executive committee as an exception) - reading comprehension much?

"Second off", Thank you for the clarification about TSU. I wthdraw my question.

BTW, which Classic counts as a league game this year for TSU and how does UTM make up the league game that THEY are missing?

Another thing: Why is EIU playing a 12-game schedule?

I guess I've never paid much attention to the OVC before but there seems to be a lot of exceptions being made here.

[Husky Alum]

You really have it in for the A-10, don't you?

"First off", I'm not talking about the A-10. (who play a schedule that is approved by the executive committee as an exception) - reading comprehension much?

"Second off", Thank you for the clarification about TSU. I wthdraw my question.

BTW, which Classic counts as a league game this year for TSU and how does UTM make up the league game that THEY are missing?

Another thing: Why is EIU playing a 12-game schedule?

I guess I've never paid much attention to the OVC before but there seems to be a lot of exceptions being made here.

EIU played at Hawai'i - they get a 12th game as part of the "Hawai'i exemption rule" for football.

In order to get teams to play at Hawai'i, the NCAA allows the game not to "count" towards the standard games per season limit.

[dbackjon]

You really have it in for the A-10, don't you?

"First off", I'm not talking about the A-10. (who play a schedule that is approved by the executive committee as an exception) - reading comprehension much?

"Second off", Thank you for the clarification about TSU. I wthdraw my question.

BTW, which Classic counts as a league game this year for TSU and how does UTM make up the league game that THEY are missing?

Another thing: Why is EIU playing a 12-game schedule?

I guess I've never paid much attention to the OVC before but there seems to be a lot of exceptions being made here.


No - I don't have it out for the A-10. Just their scheduling that allows the best teams to duck each other.......(and that would apply to any large conference).

And no where in your post do you mention that the A-10 has a "exemption from the rules". I just found it ironic that an A-10 fan would be questioning the OVC for this.

Not sure on which games count for TSU - a TSU person may know that. I do know that the TSU exception causes some grumbling....

[HensRock]

EIU played at Hawai'i - they get a 12th game as part of the "Hawai'i exemption rule" for football.

In order to get teams to play at Hawai'i, the NCAA allows the game not to "count" towards the standard games per season limit.


Very interesting! Thank you, Husky. I never knew about that.

[LeopardFan04]

Very interesting! Thank you, Husky. I never knew about that.

I believe the reason is so the teams that travel there can have an extra home game to help defer the cost...I may not have this totally correct though...

[Husky Alum]

Leopard, it does have something to do with it, from what I remember.

As for the A-10 scheduling, no one is "Ducking" anyone, there's a pattern for the scheduling, and it's a fluke that this year the group of North teams that plays JMU, Richmond and Delaware has a "tougher" road to hoe than the teams that play W&M, Towson, and Villanova.

[redbirdtim]

From talking with some Eastern people, I believe it can be between $250,000 and $400,000 (probably closer to $400,000) as a non-con payout to play at Hawaii for a I-AA school. For Eastern, that's a steal...they were able to play U of I (approx. $250,000 payout) and Hawaii banking approx. $650,000 for their program. Of course, they spent a load in travel costs, but I would still guess that they banked over $500,000 for the 2 games.

The Hawaii rule can be very nice for I-AA schools.