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How good is the MVFC
Penguin Nation:
I have posted innumerable times that YSU would win more games in another conference, and likely get into the playoffs probabaly every year. IMO, YSU improved this year, but not as steeply as the rest of the MVFC, which was 23-1 versus non-MVFC teams.
I began to wonder, how would the Yotes do in another conference? They are 0-7 in the MVFC, but 1-1 versus BSC teams. They beat NAU (5-2 / 7-4), a team that may see the post-season. The lost by one score to the Griz (6-1 / 8-3 /#15). Instead of large margins of defeat in the MVFC, they'd likely be beating most BSC squads, and tearing up lesser conferences and maybe earning their autobid. They would shred Bryant and Sacred Heart in the NEC, for example. But yet they languish in the MVFC likely due to geographical reasons.
Lets_Talk:
Here is how I see things playoff wise for MVFC:
NDSU and ISU are in
UNI is in with a win
Indy State is in with a win
SDSU is in with a win
YSU is in with a win
SoCon is only going to get 1 team, Chattanooga... WCU is 7-4 with 2 non D1 wins and play an SEC team this week...Samford is 7-4 with 2 Non D1 wins and play an SEC team this week
OVC only has 2 teams possible, Jax State and EKU with both in even if they lose
Big South likely gets 1 bid.... Charleston Southern is 8-3, but have 2 Non D1 wins and play Georgia this week... Liberty(7-3) could get in if they beat Coastal Carolina(11-0) this week
YSU could well end up in same scenario as last year... 8-4/5-3, but losing last 3 games, plus a bad loss to WIU and weak OOC schedule... When the season ends, the only MFVC team YSU has beaten that will be ranked is SDSU..... SIU will likely lose to ISU and finish 6-6.... MSU is 4-7 and will likely finish 4-8...South Dakota is 2-9 and will likely finish 2-10
The OOC teams from FCS... Duquesne is 5-6(3-6 against D1 teams) and plays RMU(1-9)...Dukes finish 6-6.... St. Francis is 5-5(3-5 against D1 teams) and place Central Conn... they likely finish 6-5..... Butlers fished the season 4-7, 2-7 against D1 teams
There may well be teams with 7 wins that get in as at-large instead of YSU, and I have no problem with that if YSU once again finishes the season with 3 losses in a row.
As for leaving the MFVC, where woulod YSU go? They would be only Northern school in OVC, and travel would not be a picnic... Do not see CAA having any interest in YSU, as they add NOTHING to the conference. Only FCS Conference I see that would consider YSU is Big South, as they have only 6 schools, and YSU would increase the stature of the Big South, plus be team #8. Also, Big South is trying everything they can to become a higher quality FCS Conference.
Here is the reality. Since Tressel left, YSU has not been good enough to be a premier team in the MVFC. The conference was fine the first 4 years:
1997 - went 9-2/4-2 regular season(2nd in MVFC) and won NC finishing 13-2
1998 - went 6-5/3-3 regular season
1999 - went 9-2/4-2 regular season...finished 12-3 with loss in NC game
2000 - went 9-2/4-2 regular season, lost at Richmond in 1st round of playoffs
YSU - UNI was a rivalry at that point..the game in 2000 had over 20,000 fans, largest crowd in Stambaugh history... YSU was 2-2 those 4 years against UNI... 1-12 since. How can there be a rivalry with ANY team when seasons is 1-12?
In order to have a truly exciting rivalry, the teams need to win about the same amount of times, or have one team with a slight edge. Geography does play a part in a rivalry, but even if teams are close in proximity the rivalry will not generate alot of excitement if dominate by 1 team. Especially among fans of the team that gets dominated
IAA Fan:
1. Eastern Washington
2. Montana State
3. Likely Montana (if they beat MSU)
4. Coastal Carolina
5. New Hampshire
6. Villanova
7. James Madison
8. NCA&T
9. NDSU
10. ILS
11. UNI
12. Sacred Heart
13. Jacksonville State
14. Eastern Kentucky
15. Chattanooga
16. Se LA State
17. Sam Houston State
18. Central Arkansas (as they will beat SHS bext week ...they alway do).
19. San Diego (depending on investigation of scholarship issues with Jacksonville.
3 = Big Sky
1 = Big South
3 = CAA
1 = MEAC
3 = MVFC
1 = NEC
2 = OVC
1 = SoCon
1 = Pioneer
-------------------------------------
Okay pick your last 5 teams from the following:
Idaho State (possible)
Northern Arizona (have a stupid loss yesterday, but a great resume).
Likely Liberty (if they beat CCSU)
William and Mary is a hard sell, with loses to all three teams above them
Bethune-Cookman and SC State are hard sells.
SDSU, YSU and ISU are hard sells.
Bryant (had good game against Sacred Heart & now possible, but unlikely)
Samford a possibility
Lets_Talk:
Bethune Cookman(8-3/5-2) will be 9-3 with a win this week over FAMU(3-8).... BCU would have 8 wins over D1 teams, including a win at FBS team FIU(4-7). Yes, FIU(4-7) is a bad FBS team, but they are in FBS. They also played at and lost to FBS Central Florida(6-3). They have an OOC win over Grambling(7-4).... I think they are in with a win.
South Carolina State(7-4/5-2) still has a chance to win the auto bid, as they beat first place NC A&T(9-2/6-1). SCSU will be 7-4 against D1 teams with a win this week over Norfolk State(4-7/4-3).... The 2 OOC losses for SC State were at Clemson and at Coastal Carolina(11-0). They have an OOC win over Furman(3-8). Furman is bad this year, but they are a full scholarship program from the SoCon. The other OOC win was over Non D1 opponent. SC State hurth their playoff chances yesterday with a 24-21 loss at Morgan State(6-5/5-2). That knocked SC State out of a 1st place tie with A&T. The MEAC has 11 teams and plays an 8 team schedule.
NAU(7-4/5-2) plays S. Utah(2-9/2-5), and ought to win. NAU would have only 7 wins over D1 opponents. They have a bad loss to South Dakota. But, they did beat EWU(9-2/6-1) and Cal-Poly(6-5/5-3). Still hard to see NAU in playoffs due to the loss against South Dakota, only 7 D1 wins, and only real quality win being EWU.
Idaho State(7-4/5-2) has 2 wins over non D1 teams. They ought to beat Weber State(2-9/2-5) this week, but they would give them only 6 D1 wins. Two best wins are Cal-Poly(6-5) and Sac State(6-5).... Very doubtful Idaho State makes playoffs.
Montana will likely be in with a win, even though they will have only 7 D1 wins. They draw well, their fans travel well, and that is something playoff committee considers when picking at-large teams. And, beating Montana State(8-3/6-1) will be a quality win.... Montana State has only 7 D1 wins, so they are not a playoff lock with a loss to Montana.
Sam Houston has to win and then hope. They likely get in with a win, as they will finish tie 1st in the Southland, have 7 D1 wins and they draw well.
Central Arkansas has to beat SHSU and then hope. They would be 7-5/6-2, and best wins would be Lamar(currently 7-4(but with 2 Non D1 wins), SFA(currently 7-4), SHSU(currently 7-4), Northwestern State(currently 6-5)..... Central Arkansas lost to Mo State and only OOC win was UT-Martin(presently 6-5)... Do NOT see this team making the playoffs.
Several teams, including SDSU, are putting themselves at risk of missing playoffs due to playing 1 or more non D1 teams...
Indiana State is an easy sell if they beat WIU... That would be 8-4/5-3... a win in week 10 at YSU(will finish 7-5 or 8-4). Indy State also beat UNI(7-4/5-2), a team that will likely make the playoffs.... OOC wins at FBS Ball State and home against Liberty(7-3 at present, 6-3 against D1 opponents). Also played at Indiana(loss) and Tenn Tech(4-7) at home. Tech is not very good, but they are in a FULL SCHOLARSHIP FCS Conference.
Where things get interesting is if Indy State, SDSU and YSU all win. All 4 would be 8-4/5-3. Indy State beat YSU and lost to SDSU.... YSU won at SDSU and lost to Indy State... SDSU beat Indy State and lost to YSU.
SDSU would have only 7 D1 wins, so that hurts them. But, if Indy State makes the playoffs, SDSU has an argument to be in playoffs by v irtue of beating Indy State, and finishing tied with Indy State in the MVFC.
YSU would have a valid argument, due to beating SDSU, especially if they in this week at NDSU and finish 8-4/5-3.
This year is very much like 2011, when YSU would have made the playoffs at 7-4 had they just beat last place Mo State in the final game of the season. I agree with the person who said the FCS playoffs are watered down now that there are 24 teams. Yes, there are 11 auto bids, but that means 13 at-large teams.
From 1986-2009 only 16 teams made the playoffs, there were 8 auto bids and 8 at-large bids. In 2010, the playoff field expanded to 20 teams. 10 auto bids and 10 at large bids. Last year, the playoffs expanded to 24 teams.. 11 auto bids and 13 at-large bids. Conside that from 89-2006, YSU was an Independent. While there were more Indepent teams then, and often the Independent team with the best record would make the playoffs, there was NO GUARANTEE of an auto bid. Which means, YSU made playoffs as an at-large team in 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94 when that was the ONLY way for YSU to get into the playoffs. Be one of the 8 best non auto qualifiers. YSU also received at-large bids in 97,99 and 00, but at least those seasons YSU had an opportunity to earn an AUTO bid. YSU earned AUTO BIDS in 1987(OVC Auto Bid) and 2006(MFVC Auto Bid).
All of this just shows how far YSU's program has dropped off since the Tressel years, when YSU made the playoffs 10 times, and in 9 of those seasonm they earned 1 of the 8 at-large bids. Also, top level programs such as App State, Ga Southern, Troy, Boise St, Marshall, Idaho, Nevada, WKU, NE Louisiana(now La-Monroe), MTSU, UMASS, Texas State, UCF have moved up to FBS. Boston U has dropped football.
NDSU, SDSU, Coastal Carolina, Wofford, Cal-Poly, S. Utah, Albany, Stony Brook, have joined FCS, but theses teams and others that have since joined FCS do not make up in QUALITY for the programs lost. As a whole, FCS is weaker now than it was 15 years ago, and the playoffs have 5 more at-large bids. This makes the playoff drought for YSU even worse.
Duplicating what happened at YSU from 91-99 is not reasonable to expect. But, making the playoffs 6-7 times a decade, and 1-2 of those years making a deep playoff run is reasonable. So is finishing higher than 3rd place in the MVFC 3-5 times per decade. And, I mean higher than 3rd place after tie-breakers are used. Not tie for 2nd, but losing to the team or teams YSU finished tied with for 2nd place. NDSU is on a great run, but it will come to an end. Not saying they will drop to the bottom of the MVFC, but they will eventually be dethroned as the Elite program in FCS. It happened to GSU on 2 different occasions. Happened to EKU. Happened to YSU. Montana is no longer the dominant program in the Big Sky. The question is, when NDSU falls back to the pack in the MVFC and FCS, will YSU be a team that takes advantage. Or, with they still be mired as a middle of the pack MVFC team, and a team that by the end of the year is not deserving of the playoffs?
penguinpower:
I watched Bethune-Cookman play Hampton. They are garbage and look like a high school team. They would get smashed by us. We wouldn't haveven to throw the ball once to beat them. If the selection committee wants to pick the top 24 teams then we are in. We are probably as good as #8 when we play well and as bad as #18 when we are pissing games away with errors. If you are #8 and have a few breaks during the game you can beat #1.
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