Automatic Qualification Criteria/Process
The Division I Football Championship Committee will annually make the determination
of which eligible conferences will receive automatic qualification. The following criteria
are used when determining which conferences shall receive annual automatic qualification
for the NCAA Division I Football Championship:
1. Non-conference records;
2. Strength of non-conference opponents;
3. Recent postseason history; and
4. Competition against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents.
The Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet policy stipulates that for the
Division I Football Championship at least 50 percent of the bracket shall be reserved for at-large
selections, and
no more than 50 percent of the bracket shall be available for automatic
qualification of eligible conferences.For those conferences that qualify for automatic qualification but do not receive it,
a guaranteed at-large position shall be awarded in any year in which its conference
champion team meets all of the following conditions:
a. Team wins a minimum of eight Division I games during the season;
b. Team wins a minimum of two non-conference games against Division I teams
representing a conference that has earned an automatic qualification in that year;
and
c. Team finishes the season ranked
20 or higher in an average of the last regular-season
media, coaches and/or computer polls (
which will be determined by
the committee on an annual basis). For 2011, the media poll will be the Sports
Network Poll, the coaches poll will be the FCS Coaches poll and the computer
poll using the following computer rankings: The Massey Ratings, Wolfe Rankings, Ashburn Rankings,
Self Rankings and the Laz Index.
So for those of you complaining about playing two Non-Scholarship teams ...the above is why. Which is also why you will see the Pioneer with an automatic berth soon. When this happens, only the schedules will keep the conferences in contention for an automatic berth. Also, the media people are so east-coast biased, all of the votes are going to continue to go to the Colonial. Then when they break back into 2 again ...they will just dominate the participants. Another good reason to look at any IA conference that will have us.