Bracketology Breakdown
Six At-Large Bids: James Madison, Southern Illinois, North Dakota State, Albany, Nicholls, Eastern Washington
First Four Out: South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Southeastern Louisiana, Wofford
As crazy as last week was, this week was almost as docile. That is unless you’re Southeast Missouri State. An unforeseen loss to Murray State has knocked them completely out of contention - at least temporarily. And these things can be seen, also, if you happen to look at the CSM FCS Top 25 Rankings. Delaware, Murray State and UC-Davis all made a jump in, putting pressure on those holding the current playoff spots.
And those at the top are not completely safe either. James Madison had to do all they could to beat an Elon team who’s looked nothing like their predicted selves. Yes, a lot of that has to do with injuries. Villanova was also given a scare. Is that due to Stony Brook being better than perceived? Time will tell. Southern Illinois survived the proverbial sandwich game with Youngstown State, having just upset North Dakota State and awaiting a visit from Northern Iowa.
It was very difficult to not put a fourth Missouri Valley team in the field. And this wouldn’t be completely unprecedented. The final year of sixteen team playoffs, 2009, saw four teams from the Colonial Athletic Association make the field. It was a little different then, as there were eight at-large berths compared to this year’s six. But still, South Dakota State and Northern Iowa are going to be tough to keep off the tree much longer, considering their rankings and records, despite conference affiliation.
There was also some consideration about changing predicted automatic bids in a one conference. Chattanooga wasn’t overly impressive beating The Citadel. All of a sudden, Virginia Military looks like a legitimate contender in the Southern. The SoCon is looking to be a knock down, drag out affair all season. Maybe as much cannibalism as is typical in the Missouri Valley. Speaking of which, all these highly ranked teams will continually be squaring off for the rest of the season. Hopefully, for the Selection Committee and those of us who are in the Bracketology business, things start shuffling out in the next few weeks.
Bids By Conference
Big Sky (2): *Weber State, Eastern Washington
Big South (1): *Kennesaw State
Colonial (3): *Villanova, James Madison, Albany
Missouri Valley (3): *North Dakota, Southern Illinois, North Dakota State
Northeast (1): *Duquesne
Ohio Valley (1): *Jacksonville State
Patriot (1): *Holy Cross
Pioneer (1): *San Diego
Southern (1): *Chattanooga
Southland (2): *Sam Houston State, Nicholls
* denotes predicted automatic qualifier
