Last Four In: Northern Arizona, Liberty, Northern Iowa, Stephen F. Austin
First Four Out: Youngstown State, McNeese State, Cal Poly, William & Mary
With North Dakota State’s loss to Missouri Valley Football Conference rival Northern Iowa, could that mean the FCS playoffs go through Durham, N.H., this season? That could be with New Hampshire taking over the No. 1 in the College Sports Madness Top 25. The Wildcats (8-1) have winnable games remaining against Delaware and at Maine.
Elsewhere, here are three key playoff questions remaining with two weeks to go in the regular season: Will the MVFC get four or five bids: At this point, we’re going to say four with Youngstown State being on the outside. The Penguins might have to win both regular-season games remaining to make it and one of those is against North Dakota State. We’d been saying the MVFC would get five berths all season, but that might not be the case, particularly if teams such as Liberty and Bethune-Cookman make the field.
Will three or four teams make it from the Southland? We’ll say three with McNeese State being on the outside looking in. But if the Cowboys beat Southeast Louisiana Saturday night, those teams switch and SE Louisiana would be in jeopardy of not making it.
Questions still remain in the Big Sky, but Cal Poly suffered a setback with its loss on Saturday. Look for Eastern Washington, Montana State, Montana and Northern Arizona to make it, and at this point, we’re still projecting two teams from the MEAC to make it: South Carolina State and Bethune-Cookman.
See the FCS Football Projected Bracket
Big Sky: *Eastern Washington, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona
Big South: *Coastal Carolina, Liberty
CAA: *Villanova, New Hampshire, Richmond
MEAC: *South Carolina State, Bethune-Cookman
MVFC: *North Dakota State, Illinois State, South Dakota State, Northern Iowa
NEC: *Bryant
OVC: *Jacksonville State, Eastern Kentucky
Patriot: *Fordham
Pioneer: *Jacksonville
Southern: *Chattanooga
Southland: *Southeastern Louisiana, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin
* Automatic bid
See the FCS Football Projected Bracket
