Elite Eight picks

[[cat_bracket]]

How does EWU get such cake playoff matchups every year? They had SE Missouri in 2010, Wagner in 2012, SDSU and Jacksonville this year.

EWU, NDSU, EIU and SE La will win. EIU vs SE La in the championship.

[catatac]

Or maybe EWU is just making those teams look like cake match ups... to some extent. SDSU was a pretty good team.

[John K]

Or maybe EWU is just making those teams look like cake match ups... to some extent. SDSU was a pretty good team.

I agree. I thought that SDSU would give them a much tougher game. I was very impressed with EWU, that they won so easily. I don't think cat bracket is giving them enough credit. No one, including Oregon State, has come close to stopping them on offense. They're a very good team, and I think they'll make it to the NC game. NDSU may be the only team in the nation that would be able to shut them down (somewhat) on offense.

[91catAlum]

In this round, I'll take all the favorites except UNH over SELA just because they seem to have caught fire in the last month.

In the semi's I'll take EWU and NDSU, with EWU winning the whole thing.

[[cat_bracket]]

Or maybe EWU is just making those teams look like cake match ups... to some extent. SDSU was a pretty good team.

I agree. I thought that SDSU would give them a much tougher game. I was very impressed with EWU, that they won so easily. I don't think cat bracket is giving them enough credit. No one, including Oregon State, has come close to stopping them on offense. They're a very good team, and I think they'll make it to the NC game. NDSU may be the only team in the nation that would be able to shut them down (somewhat) on offense.

Geez. I didn't say they were bad just that they get easy openers. SDSU barely beat UND, but they were playing well at the end of the year. Easily the toughest opener for EWU compared to Wagner and SE Missouri.

[John K]

Or maybe EWU is just making those teams look like cake match ups... to some extent. SDSU was a pretty good team.

I agree. I thought that SDSU would give them a much tougher game. I was very impressed with EWU, that they won so easily. I don't think cat bracket is giving them enough credit. No one, including Oregon State, has come close to stopping them on offense. They're a very good team, and I think they'll make it to the NC game. NDSU may be the only team in the nation that would be able to shut them down (somewhat) on offense.

Geez. I didn't say they were bad just that they get easy openers. SDSU barely beat UND, but they were playing well at the end of the year. Easily the toughest opener for EWU compared to Wagner and SE Missouri.

I don't remember for sure how high they were seeded in 2010 and 2012, but I believe they were top 4 both years, and they're #3 this season. When you're seeded that high, you're generally going to draw one of the weaker teams from the lower part of the field.

[marceag]

How does EWU get such cake playoff matchups every year? They had SE Missouri in 2010, Wagner in 2012, SDSU and Jacksonville this year.

EWU, NDSU, EIU and SE La will win. EIU vs SE La in the championship.

If it wasn't for regional games in the early rounds, EWU probably would have had an easier draw last week than SDSU. SDSU was probably one of the most difficult draws for a 2nd round team, but because of the upset, EWU does have the easiest qtr final game.

[[cat_bracket]]

Or maybe EWU is just making those teams look like cake match ups... to some extent. SDSU was a pretty good team.

I agree. I thought that SDSU would give them a much tougher game. I was very impressed with EWU, that they won so easily. I don't think cat bracket is giving them enough credit. No one, including Oregon State, has come close to stopping them on offense. They're a very good team, and I think they'll make it to the NC game. NDSU may be the only team in the nation that would be able to shut them down (somewhat) on offense.

Geez. I didn't say they were bad just that they get easy openers. SDSU barely beat UND, but they were playing well at the end of the year. Easily the toughest opener for EWU compared to Wagner and SE Missouri.

I don't remember for sure how high they were seeded in 2010 and 2012, but I believe they were top 4 both years, and they're #3 this season. When you're seeded that high, you're generally going to draw one of the weaker teams from the lower part of the field.

Not necessarily. They like to do regional matchups to save money and um wasn't seeded that high and got an easy opener too.

[[cat_bracket]]

How does EWU get such cake playoff matchups every year? They had SE Missouri in 2010, Wagner in 2012, SDSU and Jacksonville this year.

EWU, NDSU, EIU and SE La will win. EIU vs SE La in the championship.

If it wasn't for regional games in the early rounds, EWU probably would have had an easier draw last week than SDSU. SDSU was probably one of the most difficult draws for a 2nd round team, but because of the upset, EWU does have the easiest qtr final game.

EWU should've played the winner of Bethune Cookman vs Coastal Carolina. They had you and um backwards. SDSU should've played um. That whole thing with um was just weird. Seeded 8th was stupid and then getting the easier matchup than EWU. Strange.

[John K]

How does EWU get such cake playoff matchups every year? They had SE Missouri in 2010, Wagner in 2012, SDSU and Jacksonville this year.

EWU, NDSU, EIU and SE La will win. EIU vs SE La in the championship.

If it wasn't for regional games in the early rounds, EWU probably would have had an easier draw last week than SDSU. SDSU was probably one of the most difficult draws for a 2nd round team, but because of the upset, EWU does have the easiest qtr final game.

EWU should've played the winner of Bethune Cookman vs Coastal Carolina. They had you and um backwards. SDSU should've played um. That whole thing with um was just weird. Seeded 8th was stupid and then getting the easier matchup than EWU. Strange.

I'll let marceag carry the torch in this debate. I'll save my energy for arguing with you in the other thread.

[[cat_bracket]]

How does EWU get such cake playoff matchups every year? They had SE Missouri in 2010, Wagner in 2012, SDSU and Jacksonville this year.

EWU, NDSU, EIU and SE La will win. EIU vs SE La in the championship.

If it wasn't for regional games in the early rounds, EWU probably would have had an easier draw last week than SDSU. SDSU was probably one of the most difficult draws for a 2nd round team, but because of the upset, EWU does have the easiest qtr final game.

EWU should've played the winner of Bethune Cookman vs Coastal Carolina. They had you and um backwards. SDSU should've played um. That whole thing with um was just weird. Seeded 8th was stupid and then getting the easier matchup than EWU. Strange.

I'll let marceag carry the torch in this debate. I'll save my energy for arguing with you in the other thread.

I'm fighting a two front war!

[marceag]

How does EWU get such cake playoff matchups every year? They had SE Missouri in 2010, Wagner in 2012, SDSU and Jacksonville this year.

EWU, NDSU, EIU and SE La will win. EIU vs SE La in the championship.

If it wasn't for regional games in the early rounds, EWU probably would have had an easier draw last week than SDSU. SDSU was probably one of the most difficult draws for a 2nd round team, but because of the upset, EWU does have the easiest qtr final game.

EWU should've played the winner of Bethune Cookman vs Coastal Carolina. They had you and um backwards. SDSU should've played um. That whole thing with um was just weird. Seeded 8th was stupid and then getting the easier matchup than EWU. Strange.

Pretty sure Coastal Carolina was in line to be the next seed if the Big Sky (UM or NAU) didn't receive the 8th seed, if they hadn't lost to Charleston Southern, they would have been a top 8 seed regardless.

As far as SDSU in cheney in the 2nd round, it did make sense. The Committee tries to keep games within the region in the first couple rounds and it was almost a no brainer NAU and SDSU were going to play as they were really the only two teams besides SUU in the "Western Region". NAU was favored to beat SDSU and if they would have won, would have come to Cheney. It just didn't make sense to send NAU to Missoula in the 2nd round had they won, when NAU never played EWU during the year. SDSU beat NAU so they came to Cheney instead.

As far as 2010 or 2012, there just aren't enough FCS playoff teams out west so typically east coast teams are sent to the seeded Western teams in the first couple rounds when matchups arent available within the region. I don't know how to answer how Wagner ended up in Cheney in 2012, but EWU was the 2 seed then...

[John K]

How does EWU get such cake playoff matchups every year? They had SE Missouri in 2010, Wagner in 2012, SDSU and Jacksonville this year.

EWU, NDSU, EIU and SE La will win. EIU vs SE La in the championship.

If it wasn't for regional games in the early rounds, EWU probably would have had an easier draw last week than SDSU. SDSU was probably one of the most difficult draws for a 2nd round team, but because of the upset, EWU does have the easiest qtr final game.

EWU should've played the winner of Bethune Cookman vs Coastal Carolina. They had you and um backwards. SDSU should've played um. That whole thing with um was just weird. Seeded 8th was stupid and then getting the easier matchup than EWU. Strange.

Pretty sure Coastal Carolina was in line to be the next seed if the Big Sky (UM or NAU) didn't receive the 8th seed, if they hadn't lost to Charleston Southern, they would have been a top 8 seed regardless.

As far as SDSU in cheney in the 2nd round, it did make sense. The Committee tries to keep games within the region in the first couple rounds and it was almost a no brainer NAU and SDSU were going to play as they were really the only two teams besides SUU in the "Western Region". NAU was favored to beat SDSU and if they would have won, would have come to Cheney. It just didn't make sense to send NAU to Missoula in the 2nd round had they won, when NAU never played EWU during the year. SDSU beat NAU so they came to Cheney instead.

As far as 2010 or 2012, there just aren't enough FCS playoff teams out west so typically east coast teams are sent to the seeded Western teams in the first couple rounds when matchups arent available within the region. I don't know how to answer how Wagner ended up in Cheney in 2012, but EWU was the 2 seed then...

Regardless, that answers cat_bracket's question about EWU getting "patsies" in their playoff opener. As a #2 seed, they should have been matched up against one of the weaker teams.

[[cat_bracket]]

How does EWU get such cake playoff matchups every year? They had SE Missouri in 2010, Wagner in 2012, SDSU and Jacksonville this year.

EWU, NDSU, EIU and SE La will win. EIU vs SE La in the championship.

If it wasn't for regional games in the early rounds, EWU probably would have had an easier draw last week than SDSU. SDSU was probably one of the most difficult draws for a 2nd round team, but because of the upset, EWU does have the easiest qtr final game.

EWU should've played the winner of Bethune Cookman vs Coastal Carolina. They had you and um backwards. SDSU should've played um. That whole thing with um was just weird. Seeded 8th was stupid and then getting the easier matchup than EWU. Strange.

Pretty sure Coastal Carolina was in line to be the next seed if the Big Sky (UM or NAU) didn't receive the 8th seed, if they hadn't lost to Charleston Southern, they would have been a top 8 seed regardless.

As far as SDSU in cheney in the 2nd round, it did make sense. The Committee tries to keep games within the region in the first couple rounds and it was almost a no brainer NAU and SDSU were going to play as they were really the only two teams besides SUU in the "Western Region". NAU was favored to beat SDSU and if they would have won, would have come to Cheney. It just didn't make sense to send NAU to Missoula in the 2nd round had they won, when NAU never played EWU during the year. SDSU beat NAU so they came to Cheney instead.

As far as 2010 or 2012, there just aren't enough FCS playoff teams out west so typically east coast teams are sent to the seeded Western teams in the first couple rounds when matchups arent available within the region. I don't know how to answer how Wagner ended up in Cheney in 2012, but EWU was the 2 seed then...

Regardless, that answers cat_bracket's question about EWU getting "patsies" in their playoff opener. As a #2 seed, they should have been matched up against one of the weaker teams.

What happened?

[91catAlum]

Or maybe EWU is just making those teams look like cake match ups... to some extent. SDSU was a pretty good team.

I agree. I thought that SDSU would give them a much tougher game. I was very impressed with EWU, that they won so easily. I don't think cat bracket is giving them enough credit. No one, including Oregon State, has come close to stopping them on offense. They're a very good team, and I think they'll make it to the NC game. NDSU may be the only team in the nation that would be able to shut them down (somewhat) on offense.

Geez. I didn't say they were bad just that they get easy openers. SDSU barely beat UND, but they were playing well at the end of the year. Easily the toughest opener for EWU compared to Wagner and SE Missouri.

I don't remember for sure how high they were seeded in 2010 and 2012, but I believe they were top 4 both years, and they're #3 this season. When you're seeded that high, you're generally going to draw one of the weaker teams from the lower part of the field.

EWU was the #5 seed in 2010. MSU was the #4 that year.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

[[cat_bracket]]

Or maybe EWU is just making those teams look like cake match ups... to some extent. SDSU was a pretty good team.

I agree. I thought that SDSU would give them a much tougher game. I was very impressed with EWU, that they won so easily. I don't think cat bracket is giving them enough credit. No one, including Oregon State, has come close to stopping them on offense. They're a very good team, and I think they'll make it to the NC game. NDSU may be the only team in the nation that would be able to shut them down (somewhat) on offense.

Geez. I didn't say they were bad just that they get easy openers. SDSU barely beat UND, but they were playing well at the end of the year. Easily the toughest opener for EWU compared to Wagner and SE Missouri.

I don't remember for sure how high they were seeded in 2010 and 2012, but I believe they were top 4 both years, and they're #3 this season. When you're seeded that high, you're generally going to draw one of the weaker teams from the lower part of the field.

EWU was the #5 seed in 2010. MSU was the #4 that year.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

Yet we played winner of NDSU and Robert Morris. EWU played SE Missouri. We should've played winner of Robert Morris and SE Missouri. EWU should've played NDSU.

[marceag]

Or maybe EWU is just making those teams look like cake match ups... to some extent. SDSU was a pretty good team.

I agree. I thought that SDSU would give them a much tougher game. I was very impressed with EWU, that they won so easily. I don't think cat bracket is giving them enough credit. No one, including Oregon State, has come close to stopping them on offense. They're a very good team, and I think they'll make it to the NC game. NDSU may be the only team in the nation that would be able to shut them down (somewhat) on offense.

Geez. I didn't say they were bad just that they get easy openers. SDSU barely beat UND, but they were playing well at the end of the year. Easily the toughest opener for EWU compared to Wagner and SE Missouri.

I don't remember for sure how high they were seeded in 2010 and 2012, but I believe they were top 4 both years, and they're #3 this season. When you're seeded that high, you're generally going to draw one of the weaker teams from the lower part of the field.

EWU was the #5 seed in 2010. MSU was the #4 that year.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

Yet we played winner of NDSU and Robert Morris. EWU played SE Missouri. We should've played winner of Robert Morris and SE Missouri. EWU should've played NDSU.

This was, I believe, NDSU's 2nd year in the FCS, the committee ranked them lower than SEMO so they played a 1st round game against Robert Morris. NDSU was 7-4 that year. SEMO was 9-2 and ranked like 8th in the country, they received a bye and played EWU. In the committees eyes, MSU had an easier draw in 2010. Plus we ended up playing NDSU anyways...

[[cat_bracket]]

Or maybe EWU is just making those teams look like cake match ups... to some extent. SDSU was a pretty good team.

I agree. I thought that SDSU would give them a much tougher game. I was very impressed with EWU, that they won so easily. I don't think cat bracket is giving them enough credit. No one, including Oregon State, has come close to stopping them on offense. They're a very good team, and I think they'll make it to the NC game. NDSU may be the only team in the nation that would be able to shut them down (somewhat) on offense.

Geez. I didn't say they were bad just that they get easy openers. SDSU barely beat UND, but they were playing well at the end of the year. Easily the toughest opener for EWU compared to Wagner and SE Missouri.

I don't remember for sure how high they were seeded in 2010 and 2012, but I believe they were top 4 both years, and they're #3 this season. When you're seeded that high, you're generally going to draw one of the weaker teams from the lower part of the field.

EWU was the #5 seed in 2010. MSU was the #4 that year.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

Yet we played winner of NDSU and Robert Morris. EWU played SE Missouri. We should've played winner of Robert Morris and SE Missouri. EWU should've played NDSU.

This was, I believe, NDSU's 2nd year in the FCS, the committee ranked them lower than SEMO so they played a 1st round game against Robert Morris. NDSU was 7-4 that year. SEMO was 9-2 and ranked like 8th in the country, they received a bye and played EWU. In the committees eyes, MSU had an easier draw in 2010. Plus we ended up playing NDSU anyways...

Obviously they thought that, but we all knew better. Somehow the committee is consistently wrong on these things.

[John K]

Or maybe EWU is just making those teams look like cake match ups... to some extent. SDSU was a pretty good team.

I agree. I thought that SDSU would give them a much tougher game. I was very impressed with EWU, that they won so easily. I don't think cat bracket is giving them enough credit. No one, including Oregon State, has come close to stopping them on offense. They're a very good team, and I think they'll make it to the NC game. NDSU may be the only team in the nation that would be able to shut them down (somewhat) on offense.

Geez. I didn't say they were bad just that they get easy openers. SDSU barely beat UND, but they were playing well at the end of the year. Easily the toughest opener for EWU compared to Wagner and SE Missouri.

I don't remember for sure how high they were seeded in 2010 and 2012, but I believe they were top 4 both years, and they're #3 this season. When you're seeded that high, you're generally going to draw one of the weaker teams from the lower part of the field.

EWU was the #5 seed in 2010. MSU was the #4 that year.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

Yet we played winner of NDSU and Robert Morris. EWU played SE Missouri. We should've played winner of Robert Morris and SE Missouri. EWU should've played NDSU.

This was, I believe, NDSU's 2nd year in the FCS, the committee ranked them lower than SEMO so they played a 1st round game against Robert Morris. NDSU was 7-4 that year. SEMO was 9-2 and ranked like 8th in the country, they received a bye and played EWU. In the committees eyes, MSU had an easier draw in 2010. Plus we ended up playing NDSU anyways...

Obviously they thought that, but we all knew better. Somehow the committee is consistently wrong on these things.

As CatDaddy pointed out in another thread, hindsight is 20-20. I don't think the committee was wrong back in 2010 to have viewed NDSU as being a weaker team than SEMO, based upon the results of that season. NDSU turned out to be much better than your average 7-4 team by the time we played them, but that doesn't mean they were deserving of being ranked higher than SEMO when the playoff pairings were determined.

[CPrice91]

Jacksonville has been sneaky good in these playoffs. I still think Eastern pulls away and wins by 2-3 TD, but I bet it's close at the half. And the NDSU-CCU game could be interesting with all the drama going on in Fargo. The players got caught off guard so we'll see if there's any mixed feelings about it.


I'm taking all home teams if I have to pick. Will make for exciting semifinals if it happens (SELA @ NDSU, EWU @ EIU).