Bracketology Breakdown
Last Four In: Nicholls, Southeast Missouri State, Southern Illinois, Albany
First Five Out: Towson, The Citadel, North Dakota, Sam Houston State, McNeese
Those teams from automatic conferences, that need the at-large berth to make the FCS playoff field, got lots of good news today. First, Robert Morris beat Duquesne. This likely takes Duquesne out of automatic bid territory in the Northeast. This sets up a Robert Morris/Central Connecticut State game next week. A Robert Morris win puts them in the field. Could CCSU still get an at-large? They would be in the discussion, but a loss to Robert Morris might knock them completely out - fair or not. Second, North Carolina A&T and Bethune-Cookman both lost to 1-8 (now 2-8) teams in the Mid-Eastern. A loss that bad will void any potential of a second place MEAC team poaching an at-large.
From this point on, the look into seeding will be done more on resume, rather than mostly by ranking. This is no more apparent than the very last spot in this week’s field. Albany has a head-to-head win over Towson. Towson has a head-to-head win over The Citadel. North Dakota has a head-to-head win over Sam Houston State. Sam Houston State has a head-to-head win over McNeese.
Speaking of Albany, they bring a third bid back to the Colonial. Welcome to the party, Lafayette, the new leader in the Patriot; the Leopards and their surprising 3-7 overall record. That’s just incredible!
Bids By Conference
Big Sky (4): *Weber State, Montana, Sacramento State, Montana State
Big South (2): *Monmouth, Kennesaw State
Colonial (3): *James Madison, Villanova, Albany
Missouri Valley (5): *North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Illinois State, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois
Northeast (1): *Central Connecticut State
Ohio Valley (2): *Austin Peay, Southeast Missouri State
Patriot (1): *Lafayette
Pioneer (1): *San Diego
Southern (2): *Furman, Wofford
Southland (3): *Southeastern Louisiana, Central Arkansas, Nicholls
* denotes projected conference automatic qualifier
