New Playoff Rule

[Pantherpower]

Hey guys, consider what I propose here regarding the playoffs as I feel it has merit:

When it comes to auto-bid eligability from a conference:

If a conference that has auto-bid status cannot post a single playoff win by ANY of its members (auto-bid or otherwise) over a 5 year period, that conference will lose its status as an auto-bid conference.

I believe that in the case of the MEAC and possibly the OVC, this would hold up. What does everybody think? There are teams in the playoffs each year that have NO business being there ESPECIALLY teams from the MEAC. When was the last time a team from the MEAC won a playoff game??? As far as the OVC...Hell Indiana State was undefeated against teams from the OVC this year and probably would've won that conference. Anyhow, I'm venting a little but I think I'm on to something here....

[B.True]

great post, so i did the research to see if this could happen this year. surprisingly enough, the MEAC won a game in 1999, five years ago but the OVC hasn't won a first round game in the last five years.... OVC teams are in orange and MEAC teams are in maroon.....

1999 - First Round (11/27):
N.C. A&T 24, Tennessee St. 10
Florida A&M 44, Appalachian St. 29

2000 - First Round (11/25):
Montana 45, Eastern Ill. 13
Western Ky. 27, Florida A&M 0

2001 - First Round (12/1):
Northern Iowa 49, Eastern Ill. 43
Ga. Southern 60, Florida A&M 35

2002 - First Round (11/30):
Ga. Southern 34, Bethune-Cookman 0
Western Ill. 48, Eastern Ill. 9

2003 - First Round (11/29):
Florida Atlantic 32, BETHUNE-COOKMAN 24
WESTERN KENTUCKY 45, Jacksonville State 7

it would be interesting to see what the committee does with Jacksonville State if this rule is actually in the books. the reason being, JAX State clinched at least a share of the OVC title and play SEMO next week, but their only non-conference wins were a 25-16 win over D2 Emporia State the opening game of the season and a 65-20 win over now 2-8 Tennessee-Chattanooga .... are the Gamecocks deserving of a spot in the first round??? I don't know

[Pantherpower]

I just wanted to post this as a recommendation. It is NOT a rule, but I think it is something that the committee should consider.

[panther2317]

I respectfully disagree...

Can you imagine if we were having this discussion about NCAA Basketball??? I think this is a bad idea because it doesn't promote equality in the sport. Each conference should get an automatic bid. They play I-AA football just like the rest of us, why do they get picked on? What if the Gateway went 5 straight years losing every play-off game they were involved in?

This is just like someone at the I-A level complaining about Utah and Boise State being ranked and having a shot at playing in a BCS bowl. They play at this level, they should get in if they win their conference.

Maybe you expand the play-off field by a spot or two and have a "play-in" game like the NCAA Tournament does now???

I know we all want UNI to get in with a 7-4 record (and it may happen), but if we don't get it, it's not because a MEAC team go an automatic bid...it's because UNI started off the season 1-4. If they find a way to win ONE of those games, I'm not worried at all about our chances of getting in at 8-3.

[B.True]

i agree with 2317 and power on a couple issues....sorry that i did not read the full first post and did research on an idea by a poster, but it was interesting to see how those teams have faired in the past half-decade. i think that at the 1AA level you have to try and put together the best playoff system possible and this kind of an IDEA is something that continues to strengthen the playoff system. as we all know, the playoff system is the best for 1AA and i love it, but you always need to look at ways to make things better or else they will get worse. i think the old adage is something like, "there are only two ways to go; forward and backward. and if you are doing things the same way over and over, its essentially moving backward!"

who knows if UNI will get in with a win, we'll just have to wait and see this weekend!