from the PSU chat board

STREETCAT · Post by **STREETCAT** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:22 pm

GoViks wrote:
'm extemely bitter about the selection committees choices!! I was at the selection show hosted by the athletic dept. and there were alot of upset football players!

It was tough for the great Adam Hayward to stomach. He had such a great year and now he has to sit back and watch MSU a team play who I personally feel does not deserve to be in the playoffs.

So I thought strength of schedule was the key ingredient to making the playoffs, apparently I was wrong!!!! Losing to a DII (Chadron State), Poor EWU, and a slaughter by UC Davis all at home still gets you a birth into the Football Championship Series playoffs. Hell I say we schedule a DII schools, a 1A WAC/PAC 10 school, and a easy nonconference team that way even if we have one or two inconference losses we are guaranteed playoff bid. Because if you can have a loss to a DII school and still get into the playoffs it sounds to me that it only matters how well you do in inconference play.

I really hope this lites a fire underneath the coaches arses to jump on recruiting, game plan, playmaking, strength training, player development to get ready to make a bigger and better run at the playoffs because we have a lot of tough road games next yr @ UM, EWU, and ISU.

I think the BSC next yr is going to be the toughest it has been in years. I think EWU is going to be tough again along with MSU and UM but the ones I think are going to be a much better team than this year is Weber State & Sac State. They both had a really good recruitment squad this last spring. I'm not sure what to think about ISU but if they put something together next year then there will be 7/9 teams in the BSC who have a very good chance to make a run for the playoffs! I dont think that NAU will be at the level they were this year because they are loosing Murietta, and several other key players. UNC will have another struggling season but will put some more W's up than they did this year.[/quote]

catamaran · Post by **catamaran** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:24 pm

can't really blame them as that's the same argument we tried to use last year

STREETCAT · Post by **STREETCAT** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:26 pm

catamaran wrote:can't really blame them as that's the same argument we tried to use last year

exactly. glad that is not our position this year

Bleedinbluengold · Post by **Bleedinbluengold** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:32 pm

yup - which is why our whole goal this year was to get 7 D-I wins, because the committee said they would look at that first. Good losses were way down on the priority list for the committee.

STREETCAT · Post by **STREETCAT** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:37 pm

not to mention the shut out

Egg Salad · Post by **Egg Salad** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:38 pm

Bleedinbluengold wrote:yup - which is why our whole goal this year was to get 7 D-I wins, because the committee said they would look at that first. Good losses were way down on the priority list for the committee.

The problem is that their losses weren't even good losses. They got shut out in one, and their asses kicked against a couple D-IA schools. In my opinion, a loss to a I-A is not necessarily a good loss.

theblackgecko · Post by **theblackgecko** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:39 pm

Although, to be completely fair, MSU's losses to Chadron State and UC-Davis (at home) were a lot worse than PSU's losses to Cal and Oregon (on the road). So, it's not a matter of good losses as much as how bad the bad losses were.

CARDIAC_CATS · Post by **CARDIAC_CATS** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:39 pm

Egg Salad wrote:
Bleedinbluengold wrote:yup - which is why our whole goal this year was to get 7 D-I wins, because the committee said they would look at that first. Good losses were way down on the priority list for the committee.
The problem is that their losses weren't even good losses. They got shut out in one, and their asses kicked against a couple D-IA schools. In my opinion, a loss to a I-A is not necessarily a good loss.

Nope, they scheduled those for the money and COP OUT! You can't count those. You have to look at WINS when selecting the best teams. And MSU had them beat (and head to head).

Post by **SonomaCat** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:43 pm

If PSU had finished the season with a better SOS than us, had an identical record to us, AND beat us in the head to head matchup, they would have an excellent case for outrage.

As it is, I simply can't imagine anyone whining about not getting a playoff invite over a team that skunked them in their only head-to-head meeting. I'd have a really hard time keeping a straight face if I was trying to make that argument.

Bleedinbluengold · Post by **Bleedinbluengold** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:50 pm

Ya, there is no such thing as a 'good' loss. If PSU had 8 D-I wins and had lost to us, they would have definitely been selected instead of us, I think.

And, honestly, that's why we scheduled Chadron instead of another Division I team. We were thinking that we had to be 8-3 (with 7 Div I wins) in order to make the playoffs.

We just got lucky this year.

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:57 pm

Chadron is 11-0. Who's to say PSU would have beat them? It's all hypothetical. I think if Chadron had lost some games it could have hurt us more than it did.

We beat PSU long after we had lost to Chadron and CU-Davis, so obviously we had improved. If it was the other way around PSU might have a better case.

And finally, head to head means everything. It will be interesting to watch the BCS this year. If Notre Dame beats USC does Notre Dame go to the Championship game over Michigan? Michigan beat Notre Dame head-to-head. Most pundits I've heard talk about it say Michigan would get the nod.

Last season we were tied with EWU and the griz, but lost out due to head to head competition. That got no argument from me.

Sportin' Life · Post by **Sportin' Life** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 6:00 pm

Any team with 4 losses doesn't get to complain that they didn't make the playoff field. The best way to get in is not the way the Cats did this year....the best way to get in is to put together a season that the committee cannot overlook. 8-3 or better.
There was a weak field this year and the Cats got lucky, but that does not mean any other 7-4 team should complain that they didn't get in.

That said even though the Cats don't really deserve to be in this year....I hope you guys take the break and run with it. At least through the first round.

CatFamily · Post by **CatFamily** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 6:06 pm

Also goes to show that early loses and a strong finish are better than the reverse... that was the strong point of the Bobcats this year... no so with PSU as much. Any polls also respond more positively to teams that suffer an early loss or two but close strong. PLUS... it ALWAYS helps to beat the team you are in the running with... sorry PSU... that was the big blow not taking care of business then... and the Cats did!

Bleedinbluengold · Post by **Bleedinbluengold** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 7:18 pm

BelgradeBobcat wrote:Chadron is 11-0. Who's to say PSU would have beat them? It's all hypothetical. I think if Chadron had lost some games it could have hurt us more than it did.

We beat PSU long after we had lost to Chadron and CU-Davis, so obviously we had improved. If it was the other way around PSU might have a better case.

And finally, head to head means everything. It will be interesting to watch the BCS this year. If Notre Dame beats USC does Notre Dame go to the Championship game over Michigan? Michigan beat Notre Dame head-to-head. Most pundits I've heard talk about it say Michigan would get the nod.

Last season we were tied with EWU and the griz, but lost out due to head to head competition. That got no argument from me.

Actually, we were not considered because we only had 6 D-I wins compared to many teams with 7, or more, D-I wins, including EWU and Montana.

Bleedinbluengold · Post by **Bleedinbluengold** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 7:20 pm

Sportin' Life wrote:Any team with 4 losses doesn't get to complain that they didn't make the playoff field. The best way to get in is not the way the Cats did this year....the best way to get in is to put together a season that the committee cannot overlook. 8-3 or better.
There was a weak field this year and the Cats got lucky, but that does not mean any other 7-4 team should complain that they didn't get in.

That said even though the Cats don't really deserve to be in this year....I hope you guys take the break and run with it. At least through the first round.

We did get lucky - AND of course we deserve to be in the playoffs, or else we wouldn't be!

MSU01 · Post by **MSU01** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 7:49 pm

Bleedinbluengold wrote:
Actually, we were not considered because we only had 6 D-I wins compared to many teams with 7, or more, D-I wins, including EWU and Montana.

We did have 7 D-I wins last year...non-conference games were against Ok. St., NDSU, Cal Poly, and SFAustin.

Cledus · Post by **Cledus** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:25 pm

BelgradeBobcat wrote:Last season we were tied with EWU and the griz, but lost out due to head to head competition. That got no argument from me.

I couldn't agree more.

To continue with that thought, I've never once said the Cats were BSC champs in 2005 by virtue of the fact they didn't beat both the Grizzlies and EWU. I've never even heard anybody in my close-knit Cat group say the Cats were co-champs last year even if they did have the same conference record as UM and EWU.

Bottom line: if you don't win, you can't gripe.

Another thing us Montana schools have going for them is that we're passionate about I-AA football for the simple reason I-AA is the pinnacle level of competition we have to offer. With Oregon, Oregon State, and the Trailblazers taking top billing, I don't think any reasonable person can argue that a majority of people in Portland or in the state would care enough about PSU to be upset that PSU didn't get the nod.

bobcatgrad2005 · Post by **bobcatgrad2005** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:33 pm

Cledus, why in the hell am I agreeing with you all the time all of a sudden?

I agree, I-AA football is the top level in MT, and as an added bonus for the NCAA, our fans travel well to away games. I have to doubt that PSU has a stong contingency.

Egg Salad · Post by **Egg Salad** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:38 pm

bobcatgrad2005 wrote:Cledus, why in the hell am I agreeing with you all the time all of a sudden?

I agree, I-AA football is the top level in MT, and as an added bonus for the NCAA, our fans travel well to away games. I have to doubt that PSU has a stong contingency.

I was at the PSU game last year. There crowd was small and quiet. And to make it worse, they play in a stadium far too big for them.

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:11 pm

MSU01 wrote:
Bleedinbluengold wrote:
Actually, we were not considered because we only had 6 D-I wins compared to many teams with 7, or more, D-I wins, including EWU and Montana.
We did have 7 D-I wins last year...non-conference games were against Ok. St., NDSU, Cal Poly, and SFAustin.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but yes the 'Cats finished 7-4 last year. The reason the griz won out is because they finished 7-3 in D-I (yes, the griz finished 8-3, but the Ft. Lewis win didn't count). No teams were selected last year with 7-4.