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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 10, 2023 14:09:20 GMT -5
I’m hoping our “brand” comes into play. “Holy Cross is back again” “they gave SDSU, the eventual national champ a scare”, etc. Like RW being told “you’re not going to be a 16 seed again” after going toe to toe with Kansas. Are committees supposed to just judge you on a year to year basis? Yes. Do they? No. You're right on this. The FCS committee absolutely favors bubble teams with a) recent pedigree of postseason success and b) FBS wins that season Montana would've been an example of A in 2022 while Delaware was an example of both A and B. This helped these schools make the field over the likes of Youngtown State and Mercer. Holy Cross giving SDSU a fight in the 2022 quarters absolutely will help us next year if we don't win the PL and find ourselves on the bubble. While its WAY too early to spend time jogging playoff scenarios, I believe it is possible that we could be an at-large with 8 wins next year. Scenaeio 1: Losses to BC and Army and a loss to eventual PL champ, while winning our other 8 games against FCS comp. Scenario 2: Loss to Harvard, Yale OR Merrimack (lets say NEC or Ivy champ), 1-1 against Army/BC & a loss to eventual PL champ.
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Post by hchoops on Jan 10, 2023 14:34:18 GMT -5
IMO either scenario would be putting our hopes in the hands of a committee which has never thought highly of either the PL, Ivy, or northeastern football in general.
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Post by efg72 on Jan 10, 2023 15:03:20 GMT -5
The Coach's poll also reflects the same thought process. It will be that way until we consistently make it to the semis or win the championship.
Members of this board have opposed the only other options---find a better league or play an OOC schedule that includes one or two FBS each year and the remainder of the schedule built around the CAA or Valley schools
Given the choices, my guess is nothing will change.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 10, 2023 15:30:26 GMT -5
IMO either scenario would be putting our hopes in the hands of a committee which has never thought highly of either the PL, Ivy, or northeastern football in general. As someone whose followed I-AA/FCS football pretty closely since 1995, the committee has been pretty fair for the most part. The biggest bummer I can remember was 10-1 Lehigh not getting in a number of years back. 2012? And I think that was also bad timing in the sense that it was right before the expansion to 24 teams. Of course, Colgate losing to Wagner in the opening round that year kind of proved the committee right.
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cross99
Climbing Mt. St. James
Posts: 85
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Post by cross99 on Jan 11, 2023 14:07:33 GMT -5
Lot of talk about getting a playoff seed and the season opener is still 8 months away. Does everyone understand how difficult it is to earn a Top 8 playoff seed out of the Patriot League? It takes a perfect storm of things to go right for such an occurrence to take place, even with a great team. A PL team getting a playoff seed is basically the equivalent of a G5 team getting into a New Year's Bowl game in a world before the top G5 team was guaranteed a slot. Simply getting an at-large bid out of the PL is an immense challenge, typically requiring 9 wins bare minimum, but would be possible with 8 wins in a season where a team has 2 FBS losses. In 2022, Holy Cross went 11-0 with an FBS win and got the last seed. And that was with the benefit of having a win over a legit Top 20 team in conference (Fordham). Really the only path for a seed out of the Patriot League is to go undefeated against FCS competition. With all due respect, talking about the playoffs as a starting point is what a dominant, winning program should be doing. Do you think SDSU or NDSU worry about losing? No, they are focused on winning. Do you think those schools worry about the "perfect storm of things to go right for such an occurrence to take place, even with a great team"? No. They focus on winning. Obviously the team will have to attack every workout, every practice, and every game with laser precision. With that said, these players have done that for 4+ years -- there should be no doubt that they will be dedicated to the job of winning every game. A loss to Army or BC does not derail the ultimate goal of advancing far in the NCAA tournament, nor should it. Holy Cross is now a dominant, winning program - I think we need to embrace that.
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 12, 2023 0:52:47 GMT -5
Lot of talk about getting a playoff seed and the season opener is still 8 months away. Does everyone understand how difficult it is to earn a Top 8 playoff seed out of the Patriot League? It takes a perfect storm of things to go right for such an occurrence to take place, even with a great team. A PL team getting a playoff seed is basically the equivalent of a G5 team getting into a New Year's Bowl game in a world before the top G5 team was guaranteed a slot. Simply getting an at-large bid out of the PL is an immense challenge, typically requiring 9 wins bare minimum, but would be possible with 8 wins in a season where a team has 2 FBS losses. In 2022, Holy Cross went 11-0 with an FBS win and got the last seed. And that was with the benefit of having a win over a legit Top 20 team in conference (Fordham). Really the only path for a seed out of the Patriot League is to go undefeated against FCS competition. What's an FBS loss?
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Post by jackjd on Jan 13, 2023 21:21:39 GMT -5
Checking this board to see what's up with HC. Coincidently, I posted on SDSUfans.com, on the subject of which opponents caused the most trouble for SDSU this season. In my book, it was the Crusaders. Here's what I wrote on the SDSU message board:
Which 2022 opponent caused the most anxiety?
After returning from Frisco, I've thought about the football season just completed, focusing on which 2022 regular-season and post-season opponents caused the most anxiety...wondering if other Jacks fans agree.
I was in the stadium for every home game including the playoff games and I either watched or listened to all of the away games. Looking back, I think the three games that caused the most concern were NDSU; Holy Cross and Montana State...but not in that order.
1. NDSU because they're NDSU and NDSU doesn't quit. That program is hard-wired to win. This year the Jacks were a better team in all aspects of the game but that doesn't mean squat to the Bison. We had to prove it twice. I think those guys went home from Frisco unconvinced and you have to admire that. Expect an epic battle for the Marker in Brookings this fall; and start betting now that the FCS title game will once again pit SDSU against NDSU.
But neither of the NDSU games caused the most worry.
2. Montana State. Now, Montana State was a scarey outfit. They were playing their best at the end of the season and coming to SDSU in snow meant nothing to them. But as I watched that game, the confidence exhibited by the Jacks on the field was contagious. MSU losing one of two outstanding running quarterbacks early in the game had to really hurt. But I suspect MSU did not take into account the Jacks win over HC and the preparation HC's crazy-running QB Sluka provided to the Jackrabbit defense as the MSU game approached. Against MSU, the Jacks played like a team of destiny -- that game was a low hurdle in the path to a win in Frisco and we played like the outcome had already been entered into the schedule posted on gojacks.com. There were early signs in the MSU game on how it was going to end. But before the opening kickoff, I was very concerned.
3. Holy Cross. I think Holy Cross caused the most anxiety this season. Crusader QB Sluka was unique among running quarterbacks...totally unpredictable. Until we finally took that game over, I was not comfortable watching the HC game. We scored two field goals in the first quarter, ending that period down a point, 7-6. With a little more than a minute on the clock the Jacks scored on a Freeman interception of a Sluka pass and the half ended SDSU 21, HC 14.
I think most observers will agree that SDSU halftime adjustments throughout the season were stellar. We ripped teams in the third quarter. But not Holy Cross.We couldn't score in the third quarter but HC could: the third quarter ended tied at 21. The Jacks finally took over in the fourth quarter, outscoring HC 21-0 to end the game 42-21. Seems to me the FCS is assured of seeing HC in the playoffs this fall.
I sweated the HC game. More than any other game this season, I thought that one had the greatest potential of ruining what turned out to be a dream season for SDSU.
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Jan 13, 2023 23:47:04 GMT -5
^
jackjd, you and other SDSU peeps who visited this forum in April of '21 and again last month are great. Congrats on on the national championship.
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Post by HC92 on Jan 14, 2023 7:57:04 GMT -5
Every time I think of that game, I wish I could go back in time and have us go for it on fourth down rather than going for a field goal at 21-21 having missed our last 4. For one of the few times all season, Chesney made the conservative call and I feel like it potentially cost us the game. The pick 6 didn’t help either but the field goal attempt will always bug me.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 14, 2023 11:09:27 GMT -5
Every time I think of that game, I wish I could go back in time and have us go for it on fourth down rather than going for a field goal at 21-21 having missed our last 4. For one of the few times all season, Chesney made the conservative call and I feel like it potentially cost us the game. The pick 6 didn’t help either but the field goal attempt will always bug me. Same. I know Ng was likely dealing w a plant foot injury during the playoffs but he's always had trouble with short kicks from the left hash. Going back in time, I think Sluka either finds someone in the EZ with at least solid chance of coming down with the catch or scrambles for the 1st down on that play if given the chance.
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