Best of the Playoffs

With a tip of the cap to OL FU and Mountaineer for putting together the info in this thread for 2010 and previous years I added totals for the last 7 years.

I used Mountaineer's point system:

A first round game is worth 5 points.
A second round game is worth 10 points.
A quarterfinal game is worth 15 points.
A semifinal game is worth 20 points.
A championship game is worth 25 points.
Winning the championship game is worth an additional 25 points.

Therefore the totals that could be earned throughout the years are as follows:

1978 - 1980: Semis/Finals (4 Teams) - 70 Points
1981 - Quarters/Semis/Finals (8 Teams) - 85 Points
1982 - 1985: First/Quarters/Semis/Finals (12 Teams) - 95 Points
1986 - 2009: First/Quarters/Semis/Finals (16 Teams) - 95 Points
2010 - 2012: First/Second/Quarters/Semis/Finals (20 Teams) - 100 Points
2013 - present: First/Second/Quarters/Semis/Finals (24 Teams) - 100 Points

I included the teams no longer classified in the subdivision in the list but denoted them in italics and with an asterisk.

All that said here's how the 109 teams that have participated in the FCS/D1AA playoffs stack up:

Rank	Team	Points
1	Georgia Southern*	1060
2	Montana	875
3	Youngstown State	695
4	Appalachian State*	655
5	North Dakota State	645
6	Delaware	590
7	Eastern Kentucky	565
8	Northern Iowa	560
9	Marshall*	540
10	Furman	535
11	James Madison	435
12	Sam Houston State	415
13	Eastern Washington	410
14	McNeese	360
T15	New Hampshire	350
T15	Richmond	350
17	Villanova	325
18	UMass*	290
19	Nevada*	270
20	Southern Illinois	245
21	Boise State*	230
22	Western Kentucky*	225
T23	Eastern Illinois	210
T23	Idaho	210
T23	Lehigh	210
T23	Montana State	210
T23	William & Mary	210
28	Illinois State	205
29	Wofford	200
T30	Stephen F Austin	195
T30	Western Illinois	195
32	Colgate	190
T33	Florida A&M	180
T33	Middle Tennessee*	180
35	Jacksonville State	165
36	Troy*	155
37	ULM*	140
T38	Arkansas State*	135
T38	Jackson State	135
40	South Dakota State	130
41	Tennessee State	120
T42	Louisiana Tech*	115
T42	Maine	115
44	Northwestern State	110
45	Weber State	105
46	Idaho State	95
T47	Coastal Carolina*	90
T47	South Carolina State	90
49	Rhode Island	85
T50	Boston U*	80
T50	Hofstra*	80
T50	Towson	80
53	Murray State	75
T54	Fordham	70
T54	Samford	70
T54	The Citadel	70
T54	Western Carolina	70
T58	Chattanooga	65
T58	Indiana State	65
T58	Northern Arizona	65
61	North Carolina A&T	60
T62	North Texas*	55
T62	Texas State*	55
T62	UCF*	55
T65	Cal Poly	50
T65	Central Arkansas	50
T65	Hampton	50
T65	Nicholls	50
T69	Alcorn State	45
T69	Bethune-Cookman	45
T69	Florida Atlantic*	45
T69	Stony Brook	45
T73	Grambling State	40
T73	Old Dominion*	40
T75	Holy Cross	35
T75	Lafayette	35
T75	Missouri State	35
T75	San Diego	35
T79	Charleston Southern	30
T79	Kennesaw State	30
T79	Southeastern Louisiana	30
T82	Connecticut*	25
T82	East Tennessee State	25
T84	Portland State	20
T84	Southern Utah	20
T86	Elon	15
T86	Liberty*	15
T86	South Dakota	15
T86	Southeast Missouri State	15
T86	Wagner	15
T91	Akron*	10
T91	Delaware State	10
T91	Howard	10
T91	Mississippi Valley State	10
T91	North Dakota	10
T91	Northeastern*	10
T91	Sacred Heart	10
T91	UT Martin	10
T99	Albany	5
T99	Butler	5
T99	Central Connecticut State	5
T99	Dayton	5
T99	Duquesne	5
T99	Monmouth	5
T99	Morgan State	5
T99	Norfolk State	5
T99	Robert Morris	5
T99	Saint Francis (PA)	5
T99	Tennessee Tech	5

Funny to think McNeese was once a consistent playoff team...

before 2002 that is...

Since I started from 2011 on (and I like to look at numbers from 2011 on for some reason ;)) here's the teams that have accumulated the most points during that time along with their current ranking and their 2010 ranking to see how far they've moved during that time.

Team	Points (2011-2017)	Current rank	2010 rank
North Dakota State	615	5	T69
Sam Houston State	325	12	40
James Madison	195	11	17
New Hampshire	165	T15	23
Eastern Washington	160	13	15
Jacksonville State	130	35	T63
Illinois State	125	28	T43
South Dakota State	120	40	T75
Georgia Southern*	90	1	1
Richmond	90	T15	14
Wofford	90	29	T36
Montana	85	2	2
Northern Iowa	85	8	9
Towson	80	T50	T86
Youngstown State	75	3	4
Coastal Carolina*	75	T47	T73
Montana State	55	T23	T29
Chattanooga	55	T58	T75
Central Arkansas	50	T65	T86
Villanova	45	17	12
Stony Brook	45	T69	T86
Old Dominion*	40	T73	T86
Eastern Illinois	35	T23	T26
Lehigh	35	T23	T26
Colgate	35	32	T29
Maine	35	T42	T43
Weber State	35	45	T48
Fordham	35	T54	T63
San Diego	35	T75	T86
Furman	30	10	8
Charleston Southern	30	T79	T86
Kennesaw State	30	T79	N/A
Southeastern Louisiana	30	T79	T86
The Citadel	25	T54	T58
Appalachian State*	20	4	3
McNeese	20	14	20
Western Illinois	20	T30	T26
Southern Utah	20	T84	T86
William & Mary	15	T23	21
Tennessee State	15	41	38
Samford	15	T54	T50
Indiana State	15	T58	T56
Cal Poly	15	T65	T63
Liberty*	15	T86	T86
South Dakota	15	T86	N/A
Wagner	15	T86	T86
Eastern Kentucky	10	7	6
Northern Arizona	10	T58	T50
Bethune-Cookman	10	T69	T63
Portland State	10	T84	T75
North Dakota	10	T91	N/A
Sacred Heart	10	T91	T86
Stephen F Austin	5	T30	22
South Carolina State	5	T47	T41
North Carolina A&T	5	61	T50
Nicholls	5	T65	T58
Lafayette	5	T75	T69
Elon	5	T86	T75
Albany	5	T99	T86
Butler	5	T99	T86
Central Connecticut State	5	T99	T86
Dayton	5	T99	T86
Duquesne	5	T99	T86
Monmouth	5	T99	T86
Morgan State	5	T99	T86
Norfolk State	5	T99	T86
Saint Francis (PA)	5	T99	T86
Tennessee Tech	5	T99	T86

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Professor Chaos

Since I started from 2011 on (and I like to look at numbers from 2011 on for some reason ;)) here's the teams that have accumulated the most points during that time along with their current ranking and their 2010 ranking to see how far they've moved during that time.

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Saddens the Blue Hen heart to note that 10 of the 12 teams currently in the CAA have appeared in the playoffs during this time - and UD isn't one of them. What's next, a Rhode Island appearance before the Hens participate again? xsmhx

Not sure if this is the best way to rank them. I mean a seeded team doesn't play a first round game so they don't get 5 points. Also the PO's have expanded so current teams get more points for more games. Maybe break them down for each era or something rather them lumped together.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bisonator

Not sure if this is the best way to rank them. I mean a seeded team doesn't play a first round game so they don't get 5 points. Also the PO's have expanded so current teams get more points for more games. Maybe break them down for each era or something rather them lumped together.

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The scoring is pretty fair I thought. A championship game appearance and championship game win are worth 25 points each no matter what era. The more teams in the tournament and the more games you have to win the tougher it is to win a title so I think it's about as fair as it can be given the expanding playoff format over the years. Since the field expanded to 16 teams in 1986 every national champion has earned 95 points for that year so 32 of the 40 seasons have essentially been the same scoring for the teams that have made deep runs. The difference is really just those teams earning 5 points for first round playoff exits now that would've earned 0 with smaller playoff fields in the past but that doesn't move the needle much IMO until you get outside the top 40 or 50 or so.

Mountaineer does have some breakdowns from previous years in the older thread (but they are kind of tough to read):
1991-2010
1996-2010
2001-2010
2006-2010
1978-1987

And then I have 2011-2017 in the 3rd post of this thread.

Still an interesting ranking and post. It helps even place teams that have moved on to FBS and give an idea of where they were in FCS; then the movement by other teams from there.

Hey we are tied for 54th and haven't been to the playoffs in 34 years... That isn't too bad

It's been 4 years (and a new decade).. time to update. As always tip of the hat to OL FU and Moutaineer for coming up with the scoring system (details in the first post).

Here's the overall standings by school (we're coming for you Eagles - 2 more years at this rate!).
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1c040e76_o.jpg


Through the decades:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...549b8994_o.jpg


And by (current team's) conference:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1b8933f1_o.jpg

Fun fact on that last one: When JMU and SHSU move to FBS there will be one conference left whose current members have a winning record in the FCS/D1AA playoffs (and that conference still would have a winning record if you take away their top team).

As an addendum to my last post here's the conference records vs teams from other conferences in the FCS playoffs since 1978:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9ed1f747_o.jpg


The numbers are a little funky because these are the historical records for teams currently in the conference in the first column but the corresponding records against each conference are representative of the opponent's conference at the time the game was played. For example, Sam Houston's playoff record counts towards the WAC totals but wins or losses to Sam Houston in the playoffs prior to this past fall from teams in other conferences count towards those teams' record against the SLC.