While many Big Sky
Conference fans might have been unhappy about the seedings and/or schools left
out of the NCAA Division I FCS Football Playoffs, it really should be viewed as
an opportunity for the league to show the rest of the FCS why it deserves more
respect in the future.
Looking at the bracket, it
appears the Missouri Valley Football Conference remains the “power conference”
for the FCS division, qualifying five teams for the upcoming playoffs. Leading the way is four-time defending national
champion North Dakota State University, which the Montana Grizzlies defeated
38-35 to open the 2015 season. NDSU is
the No. 3 seed in the tourney, while the No. 2 seed is Illinois State - another
MVFC foe who lost to the Bison 29-27 in last year’s championship game in
Frisco, TX. The two squads did not match
up this year, and tied for the conference regular-season title with matching
7-1 records. Also representing the MVFC
are South Dakota State (8-3 - Montana’s first-round opponent Saturday in
Washington-Grizzly Stadium), Northern Iowa (7-4) and Western Illinois
(6-5). The Playoff Selection Committee
assured there won’t be a repeat of last year’s MVFC title showdown as all five
schools from the MVFC are on the same side of the bracket.
Fortunately or
unfortunately, two of the Big Sky Conference’s three participants are in the
same bracket: Montana and Portland State (9-2).
The Vikings claimed one of the eight “seeds” in the tournament at No. 6,
and will host the winner of Northern Iowa (7-4) vs. Eastern Illinois (7-4) of
the Ohio Valley. The winner of the
UM-South Dakota State contest will head to Fargo the following week to take on
NDSU in Round 2. Southern Utah (8-3
overall, and at 7-1, the Big Sky regular-season champ) is in the opposite
bracket, and plays at Sam Houston State (8-3) on Saturday… with the winner
meeting No. 4 seed McNeese State (10-0) on Dec. 5.
All three Big Sky Conference
schools have an opportunity to demonstrate the strength of the league this
weekend. Having compiled a less-than-impressive 7-9 playoff record the past
three years, it looks like the Big Sky may be ready for some revenge. Of those
seven wins, Eastern Washington has accounted for five – with the only others
coming when Montana defeated non-scholarship Pioneer League champion San Diego
last year, 52-14, and Montana State slipped past Stoney Brook, 16-10, in 2012.
In 2012 and 2014, the Big Sky had three playoff participants, and four in 2013
when the league went 2-4 (both wins by Eastern Washington).
This year’s 24-team playoff
includes five teams from the MVFC, four from the Colonial Athletic Association,
three from the Big Sky, two each from the Big South, the Ohio Valley, the
Patriot, the Southern and the Southland, and one from the Northeast and Pioneer
leagues. The No. 1 seed is Jacksonville
State (10-1) of the Ohio Valley. The Gamecocks’ only loss was 27-20 to FBS
power Auburn.
… Some fans felt 7-4 North
Dakota or 7-4 Northern Arizona should have been included in the playoff field,
especially over 6-5 Western Illinois of the MVFC. There could be an argument for the “Fighting
Hawks” of North Dakota, but there was less ammunition for NAU as the Lumberjacks
only had six Division I wins and went 0-2 against teams that made the
playoffs. North Dakota, meanwhile, was
1-2 against the three schools who qualified for the playoffs (beating Portland
State 19-17, and losing to Montana, 42-16, and North Dakota State, 34-9). The Fighting Hawks also knocked off FBS
Wyoming, 24-13, to open the season.
Still, with the “power” still perceived to be in the MVFC, a 6-5 Western
Illinois, fresh off a double-overtime victory over South Dakota State last
Saturday, was the committee’s choice to fill one of the final positions in the
24-team bracket. In fairness, Western
Illinois was 3-3 versus playoff teams this year – defeating Eastern Illinois
(33-5), Northern Iowa (24-19) and SDSU (30-24), while losing to Coastal
Carolina (34-27), Illinois State (48-28) and NDSU (59-7). Towson and Central Arkansas, both 7-4, were
also mentioned as contenders, but both compiled 0-2 records against playoff
teams.
… 2001 was the last year the
Montana Grizzlies won the national championship. The head coach at the time was Joe Glenn. This past weekend, Glenn
announced his retirement from the coaching profession after 28 years. Over that time, his teams posted a combined
record of 200-134-1… which included two Division II national titles at Northern
Colorado (1996-97) along with the I-AA win at UM. The 66-year-old Glenn was 12-34 in four
seasons at South Dakota, including 5-6 this year. Among his memorable wins at his alma mater
was a 24-21 road win at North Dakota State this year. Along with Montana and Northern Colorado, Joe
coached at Doane College and Wyoming. I
wish Joe and his family the best in retirement.
They certainly deserve it. He
will always be one of my favorites – both professionally and as a good friend!
… I would also like to wish
the best of luck to Rob Ash, who was relieved of his duties Monday after having
served as the head football coach at Montana State the past nine years. During that time, his teams posted a 70-38
record, won three Big Sky titles and made the FCS playoffs four times (2010,
2011, 2012 and 2014). While he did a lot
of positive things for MSU Football, a 4-14 record against rivals Montana (2-7)
and Eastern Washington (2-7) appear to be his undoing. On Saturday, the
Grizzlies defeated MSU, 54-35, in Bozeman, resulting in the Bobcats’ first losing
season under Ash, 64. The Cats went into
the 2015 season expected to content for the Big Sky championship, but finished
6-5 with a disappointing 3-5 league record – and 8th place in the 13-team
league. In his 36-year coaching career, Ash’s teams went 247-137-5. Eighteen of those years were coaching at
Drake University.
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