This one really stings for some reason!!

[nova75]

My favorite time of year.... Reading the conspiracy theories that kept poor old YSU out of the playoffs. Had nothing to do with 3 cupcake wins and crapping the bed at years end. Nope they seem to hold a team with 1 playoff appearance in 12 years to higher standards. Lol

I will say that once they start to get back in regularly they will get the benefit of the doubt when it is close. Until that happens it will be tough.

[IAA Fan]

My favorite time of year.... Reading the conspiracy theories that kept poor old YSU out of the playoffs. Had nothing to do with 3 cupcake wins and crapping the bed at years end. Nope they seem to hold a team with 1 playoff appearance in 12 years to higher standards. Lol

I will say that once they start to get back in regularly they will get the benefit of the doubt when it is close. Until that happens it will be tough.

yep.

[penguinpower]

My favorite time of year.... Reading the conspiracy theories that kept poor old YSU out of the playoffs. Had nothing to do with 3 cupcake wins and crapping the bed at years end. Nope they seem to hold a team with 1 playoff appearance in 12 years to higher standards. Lol

I will say that once they start to get back in regularly they will get the benefit of the doubt when it is close. Until that happens it will be tough.

I agree with you. But only 2 teams from the valley?  Wow, that seems like a big miss.

[ysubigred]

My favorite time of year.... Reading the conspiracy theories that kept poor old YSU out of the playoffs. Had nothing to do with 3 cupcake wins and crapping the bed at years end. Nope they seem to hold a team with 1 playoff appearance in 12 years to higher standards. Lol

I will say that once they start to get back in regularly they will get the benefit of the doubt when it is close. Until that happens it will be tough.

Spot on here^^

[ysubigred]

My favorite time of year.... Reading the conspiracy theories that kept poor old YSU out of the playoffs. Had nothing to do with 3 cupcake wins and crapping the bed at years end. Nope they seem to hold a team with 1 playoff appearance in 12 years to higher standards. Lol

I will say that once they start to get back in regularly they will get the benefit of the doubt when it is close. Until that happens it will be tough.

I agree with you. But only 2 teams from the valley?  Wow, that seems like a big miss.

I said it before.. the MVC has the best team and two decent teams and the rest are sh**ty.. unfortunately the other decent team had a 5 game skid 

[nova75]

It's very difficult to truly compare top conferences since most don't play each other out of conference. The MVC plays Midwest regional patsies and the CAA plays east coast regional patsies. Probably the same with other conferences. So is the third place MVC team better than the third place CAA team or the second place Big South team? How the hell could anyone figure that out? Unless you win a conference or have 2 or less losses it is a complete crap shoot.

Lets not forget one point. Other than those of us nuts that follow this level of football, it is largely irrelevant. What possible incentive would a committee have to chose one team over another? Some presidents are probably secretly happy their teams get left out because they hemmorhage money in the playoffs

[Observer]

^^^^^^^plus one times a million.    I-AA was intended as welfare for division one.   You get the same division in name but a designation that allows you to work hard to overcome financial inequities.   In the grand scheme of things,  who cares, unless this long twisted road of playoffs and committees gains something,   That something being the CASH that FBS conferences and football bowl games garner.  In such a conservative town i thought this would be understood.

[Spiderlegs]

Not sure the issue this year is MVFC vs. CAA but the OVC, SoCon, and Southland, which were overrated. A solution might be to have an MVFC challenge day against a conference, much like they do in basketball.  Imagine previous year MVFC #1 v. Southland #1, MVFC #2 vs. Southland #2, etc. Something like that would settle many of these issues on the field. Or do it with OVC simply because it is geographically close.

[Lets_Talk]

The anti-YSU conspiracy theories get old. This years team was 8-1 with 3 games to play. Win just ONE game, and YSU hosts a first round game. And, the NCAA committee does NOT rely heavily on the GPI. They use the NCAA rating system, which still had YSU as the odd team out, even if Sam Houston and the one other at-large team below YSU is the SRS(think that is t he name) were not chosen.

Secondly, the ONLY reason YSU was even in consideration for a playoff spot is the field has been expanded to add AQ'a from conferences which previously did not get an AQ bid. 2 new AQ's were added this year, but so were 2 new at-large spots.

Let's look at the so called "snubs":
1996 - YSU finsihes 8-3, but with 3 wins over D2 teams, and no "signature wins"
2001 - YSU finishes 8-3, with 2 wins over D2 teams... They also lost AT HOME to WKU, a team with which YSU finished tied for 2nd in the GFC. And, of course, there was the annual loss to UNI.
2002 - YSU finishes 7-4...again, no signature wins..losses to UNI at home, WKU on the road and OOC to McNeese State at home
2005 - YSU is 7-1/4-0, and loses at UNI(4-3/2-2 entering the game).. YSU then loses at SIU the following week... No "siganture" wins, and a 41-0 drubbing at PITT
2011 - YSU finishes 6-5...all the needed was a win in the last game, AT HOME agains last place Missouri State, and they lost
2012 - YSU finishes 7-4... Had a "signature win" at PITT...then lost 4 straight games in October
2013 - Started 8-1 against a fairly soft schedule.. This was the season the motto was "Leave No Doubt"... Well, they sure left no doubt by losing the final 3 games, including to a UNI team decimated by injuries, then getting embarrassed at home by SDSU in the season finale. And, in the UNI loss, YSU led 14-3 at halftime, only to get outscored 16-6 in the 4th quarter, and have UNI drive 56 yards in 14 plays to kick a FG on last play of the game... a UNI team that entered with a 5 game losing streak, and nothing to play for but pride.

[Pita]

21....I do hope you'll get to go the MAX with YSU Football in your lifetime.
I went to Chattanoga

[Lets_Talk]

21

Sorry if I came across ed as hostile to you. It was directed more at others who post on this site. The 90's were a magical decade for YSU football. I went to all 6 title games, plus several playoff games home and away. And, for me it was very special, because I graduated from YSU in June 1991, and knew many of the players on the 91 team. So, it was not just my Alma Mater and hometown school wining, it was people I knew. I some cases, people I knew since middle school.

92 was also special, even though the team lost in the NC game. 93 and 94 I still knew some of the players and coaches.

97 and 99, I knew less players, but enough that it was still a chance to see people I knew personally doing things I would never have dreamed possible from ANY sports team at YSU. And, I also knew several people in the Administration and a few coaches.

To be honest, if Jim Tressel were hired today, I do not think he could replicate the success of the teams from 89-2000. So many things went right for YSU. It was a different time in the Ytown area, and the talent pool of local players to draw from was much deeper. YSU football went from a laughing stock in the Mahoning Valley and among YSU students, to a source of pride for the entire community.

One last point. Alot of people seem to be trying to compare Wolf to Heacock. I think a better comparison is the state of YSU football when Tressel was hired, with the state of YSU football when Tress was hired. Wolf came in bad mouthing the previous coach and players. He talked brash. He was given a salary double the previous coach, and so many other things with the specific purpose of making YSU a top tier FCS program. This was not the case when Tressel was hired. And, alot of people seem to dismiss just how special Tress, his staff and the players were. YSU was basically a 6-5 program in a typical year before Tress. He built something special, then carried that success to OSU.

YSU has 11 playoff appearances at the FCS level since moving to FCS in 1981. And, 10 of those were while Tressel was coach. Maybe, just maybe, a big problem is alot of people do not give Tress, his staff and players enough credit? Maybe, just maybe, the Tressel era was a mirage of sorts, and what YSU football has become in the post Tressel days is simply the true YSU football program?

[guinpen]

Not sure the issue this year is MVFC vs. CAA but the OVC, SoCon, and Southland, which were overrated. A solution might be to have an MVFC challenge day against a conference, much like they do in basketball.  Imagine previous year MVFC #1 v. Southland #1, MVFC #2 vs. Southland #2, etc. Something like that would settle many of these issues on the field. Or do it with OVC simply because it is geographically close.

I like the challenge idea, would have to be on a two year cycle. big sky, ovc southern.

[ScarletRook]

I had a chance to watch some of the games again and to me it looks like the offense and defense are not allowed to check off or change the called play.  Waiting for the offensive sideline adjustments allowed for too many delay of game penalties or time outs wasted.  Many times the D-line looked like they were more in the right place at the wrong time.  I know the D-line has been highly criticized, but after watching some of the games again, I believe that more than the players should take the brunt of criticism.

I would really like to know what the coaching mindset is on some of this, but doubt if I ever will.