PLAYOFFS!!!!!!

Leatherneck177 · Sun Nov 22, 2015 7:05 pm

Glad the committee saw the light. I knew that if they looked it the teams on the bubble in a thorough manner that Western would be ok. Yes they are lucky they aren't going to Montana. SDSU really got screwed on that one.

Glad to be back on this board as well, I think my registration dropped when it switched from leatherneck nation.com.

WIU2DC · Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:07 pm

I know this is a way down the road but when we win this week and when we knock off ISU, the three possible teams we would face are all in the VA area. How do they determine home field? Are always going to be away since we were last in? I live in DC so I wouldn't mind driving into va to see the game.

Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:50 pm

WIU2DC wrote:I know this is a way down the road but when we win this week and when we knock off ISU, the three possible teams we would face are all in the VA area. How do they determine home field? Are always going to be away since we were last in? I live in DC so I wouldn't mind driving into va to see the game.

Depends on the team that we play. The way it works with hosting for the NCAA tournament is that the seeded teams get to host (higher seeds host lower seeds if both are seeded). Outside of seeding, teams submit a bid to the NCAA...essentially how much the school is willing to pay to host. For some, they make back enough in ticket sales, increased team visibility, etc. to make a large bid worth it (or they have backers with "deep pockets" that can make it feasible). For some, they can't really swing it and only put in a minimum bid. The reason we're playing at Dayton, for example, is because they put in a bid, and we most likely didn't (probably because we either didn't think we'd be in it, or because we didn't think we could outbid anyone else).

So, IF we beat Dayton, then go to Illinois State and beat the Redbirds (that's a BIG IF on that one), then we'd play Richmond, William & Mary, or Duquesne (likely either Richmond or W&M). If it's W&M (or Duquesne...that's pronounced like doo-cane for those that aren't aware), then it depends on what we and they put forth as a bid. If it's Richmond, then it'll be at Richmond since they're the #7 seed.

It's unlikely that we'll end up playing another game at home, although not impossible. We'd have to win the next two games and root for the winner of W&M/Duquesne to beat Richmond. Probably we want Duquesne to win for a couple of reasons: they didn't win the home bid for the first round, which means it's more likely that we'd be able to outbid them if we tried; also they got in by being the auto-bid from the NEC...limited scholarships, they finished 8-3, but only 6-3 against Div. I schools (they beat a Div. II and a NAIA school), with a 24-13 loss to a team we would have already beaten if we get to that point...Dayton.

rocki · Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:52 pm

Curious. Not having had any experience with playoff, what do they do for the team for Thanksgiving? Back in the "olden days" we only got Thursday and Friday off, so it wouldn't have been such a big deal, but with the break going all week how do they accommodate them?

wiu712 · Sun Nov 22, 2015 9:21 pm

rocki wrote:What do they do for the team for Thanksgiving?

In past years, there has been a team Thanksgiving dinner in Macomb.

Sun Nov 22, 2015 9:28 pm

wiu712 wrote:
rocki wrote:What do they do for the team for Thanksgiving?
In past years, there has been a team Thanksgiving dinner in Macomb.

That's what I remember hearing about as well. They start back in on practice and do their best to keep the same schedule they've been going with in the past. Then they have dinner for the team on Thursday, and I'd imagine they'll hop on a bus Friday morning to head over to Dayton.

yokedneck · Sun Nov 22, 2015 9:35 pm

Normal game week schedule with 6 am departure for Dayton on Friday. Hearing they will get Thursday off after morning practice. Hyvee helping out with meals this week.

Tom

rocki · Sun Nov 22, 2015 9:43 pm

Thanks for the info. I figured they'd try and keep the same workout/practice schedule. HyVee's catering is really good.

Here's hoping for a second Thanksgiving Day on Saturday!!

Have a great holiday everyone.

yokedneck · Sun Nov 22, 2015 10:04 pm

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/6/2 ... the-middle

Slightly off topic but was seeing other FCS games on the schedule for next weekend. Apparently the SWAC and MEAC are FCS but do not participate in the playoffs. Those 2 conferences have another week of games and then league champ game.

Tom

Sun Nov 22, 2015 11:15 pm

yokedneck wrote:http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015/6/2 ... the-middle

Slightly off topic but was seeing other FCS games on the schedule for next weekend. Apparently the SWAC and MEAC are FCS but do not participate in the playoffs. Those 2 conferences have another week of games and then league champ game.

Tom

Yup, the SWAC has skipped the FCS playoffs since 1997, and the MEAC dropped out this year. We can actually likely thank the MEAC for giving up their auto-bid this year...opened up 1 more at-large spot, and from what I've read, we were the last team in. That means...if the MEAC had not dropped out of sending their auto-bid to the playoffs, then Bethune-Cookman would be in the playoffs and we would not.

The SWAC and MEAC have a different situation than most FCS conferences, being comprised of HBCUs. Some HBCU matchups have a long tradition of pulling in HUGE crowds for games that are more like "events" (the "classics"), but on the other side, have not had a great deal of success in the FCS playoffs (SWAC went 0-19 overall in the playoffs before bowing out, MEAC was 6-30...essentially the only times they saw success was the first FCS championship game, where Florida A&M won, and then 1999 where Florida A&M made it two rounds deep).

In return for forgoing the FCS playoffs, the SWAC and MEAC send their conference champions to play in the newly created Celebration Bowl to be held at the Georgia Dome. It will likely outdraw the attendance of nearly every bowl game outside of the big traditionally new years day games and the playoffs, each conference will get just under $1 million, and the game will air live on one of the ESPN network channels (hasn't been said which one yet). To even get to the Celebration Bowl, the SWAC will have already held their own conference championship in a very similar situation at Houston's NRG stadium (where the Texans play).

In addition to that, you have the annual Bayou Classic held the Saturday after Thanksgiving between Grambling and Southern University (both in the SWAC). The longstanding rivalry game has (outside of a few years due to Hurricane Katrina) been held at the Louisiana Superdome for quite a while, brings in 50k-70k fans, from '91-'14 was aired nationally on NBC (will move to NBC Sports Network this year), and provides a very large boost to the budgets of both teams.

Think of it like this...if Western was offered the opportunity to play a game every year (regardless of how good we're doing that year) against an in-state rival in front of 50k+ fans that would be aired nationally on NBC and then be paid roughly what we're paid for a big money FBS game...with the downside being we couldn't participate in the FCS playoffs...that'd be a very tempting offer.