BIG to play in fall?

[gofurman]

Yes, i know this is FBS but we have a thread on Sunbelt>BIG12..

Just interesting from a SoCon view that a conference has now said they will play this fall after having stated before that they would not. I will still be happy if I see us play in the spring..

[gman84]

Big, as in Big 10?

[Furmanoid]

Big, as in Big 10?

Yep, they are playing.

[FUBeAR]

Big, as in Big 10?

[apaladin]

Yeppers! Starting 10/23 and 10/24, will be eligible for CFP.

[Flagman]

I'd rather play in the spring with a chance at a play-off. Starting this late would probably still mean no FCS play-off. For FCS, why start now? FBS has a 4 team play-off. They can pull it off. We can't.

[FUBeAR]

I'd rather play in the spring with a chance at a play-off. Starting this late would probably still mean no FCS play-off. For FCS, why start now? FBS has a 4 team play-off. They can pull it off. We can't.

...hate it, but best, now, to wait until Spring & HOPE we play...

...still shoulda played 3 games in the Fall if we coulda found opponents & made it make sense financially.

[The Jackal]

The FBS schools are operating under different facts. I believe there are a few "lone wolf" schools, but not many. Most of the programs playing are doing so because the conference has opted to play.

In the FCS, no conference, I believe, has opted to play, so everyone is sort of doing their own thing.

[apaladin]

I'd rather play in the spring with a chance at a play-off. Starting this late would probably still mean no FCS play-off. For FCS, why start now? FBS has a 4 team play-off. They can pull it off. We can't.

FYI any games played in the fall will be considered when determine at large bids. We should have played 2-3 fall games but the ship has sailed now.

[The Jackal]

I'd rather play in the spring with a chance at a play-off. Starting this late would probably still mean no FCS play-off. For FCS, why start now? FBS has a 4 team play-off. They can pull it off. We can't.

FYI any games played in the fall will be considered when determine at large bids. We should have played 2-3 fall games but the ship has sailed now.

I'm not sure many teams scheduled games this fall with that in mind. However, I think the way it shakes out will benefit Furman.

You are already seeing the fall games applied to the conferences' 2020 standings. The Citadel, for instance, is listed as being 0-1 in the standings. Austin Peay is 0-2 in the OVC standings.

A number of the teams that opted to play this fall are similar to Furman in terms of playoff positioning. Furman was ranked by many services in the mid-teens to start the season. Similar to Austin Peay, UCA, and slightly ahead of the Citadel.

Austin Peay, for instance, will wrap up their fall schedule this weekend, I think, against Cincinnati. They are already 0-2 and will likely be 0-3. So, if they are able to play a full conference schedule in the spring, they will all but have to win every game to make the post season.

UCA is another top 15 team. I believe they've already said they will sit out the spring.

The Citadel is in a similar boat. They were considered by many to be the SoCon's second best team, but after playing three FBS schools, they will be looking at a probable 1-3 or 0-4 record going into the spring. They also may not even be able to play a SoCon schedule and, I suppose, would be precluded from the autobid.

I think if everyone was planning on using the fall to help their championship resume, they'd have scheduled a little differently. Most teams have opted to schedule up. While that is good for the pocketbook and maybe for experience, it isn't likely to help them with a playoff at large resume.

[FUBeAR]

I'd rather play in the spring with a chance at a play-off. Starting this late would probably still mean no FCS play-off. For FCS, why start now? FBS has a 4 team play-off. They can pull it off. We can't.

FYI any games played in the fall will be considered when determine at large bids. We should have played 2-3 fall games but the ship has sailed now.

I'm not sure many teams scheduled games this fall with that in mind. However, I think the way it shakes out will benefit Furman.

You are already seeing the fall games applied to the conferences' 2020 standings. The Citadel, for instance, is listed as being 0-1 in the standings. Austin Peay is 0-2 in the OVC standings.

A number of the teams that opted to play this fall are similar to Furman in terms of playoff positioning. Furman was ranked by many services in the mid-teens to start the season. Similar to Austin Peay, UCA, and slightly ahead of the Citadel.

Austin Peay, for instance, will wrap up their fall schedule this weekend, I think, against Cincinnati. They are already 0-2 and will likely be 0-3. So, if they are able to play a full conference schedule in the spring, they will all but have to win every game to make the post season.

UCA is another top 15 team. I believe they've already said they will sit out the spring.

The Citadel is in a similar boat. They were considered by many to be the SoCon's second best team, but after playing three FBS schools, they will be looking at a probable 1-3 or 0-4 record going into the spring. They also may not even be able to play a SoCon schedule and, I suppose, would be precluded from the autobid.

I think if everyone was planning on using the fall to help their championship resume, they'd have scheduled a little differently. Most teams have opted to schedule up. While that is good for the pocketbook and maybe for experience, it isn't likely to help them with a playoff at large resume.

Hah! You’ll be howling a different tune when the Mercer Bears go 3-0 this Fall, beating Army & JaxSt on the road, and Abilene Christian @ Home!

APSU’s situation is not as bad as you present it. They, most likely, will have lost a VERY competitive game to a perennial Top 10-15 FCS Team, a FBS P5 ACC, and a FBS G5 Team that went 11-3 in 2019. If they don’t win the OVC, they won’t lose many ‘style points’ with that resume. They still won’t get an At-Large berth, because they play in the OVC, but they wouldn’t have either, if they went 0-0 in the Fall. I’m sure they think these games will give them a better shot at winning the OVC in the Spring...and if they could have won 1 or 2 of them, so much the better...even though they QUIT last week...which put a big damper on FUBeAR’s growing positive opinion of their program.

Who knows about CIT.... Better question, who really cares about the bellhops. Not FUBeAR...#FUAllTheTime

[The Jackal]

Not that it's bad or good, but just that it will be harder to make the post season.

I do not believe we've ever had a season where there are 10 auto bids and a 16 team field. The field increased to 20, I believe, the same year that the auto bid number increased.

So, looks like it will be only 6 at large bids for a post season.

Also, I saw this article which adds a bit of info not found on the NCAA press release:

The FCS Playoffs will feature 16 teams in the spring, eight less than the normal amount of 24 teams that usually qualify for the postseason. The FCS Playoffs are scheduled to take place from April 18 through May 15 and teams are permitted to play up to eight regular-season games.

https://www.whsv.com/2020/09/16/ncaa-an ... n-in-2021/

So, it looks like a conference only schedule for the spring. I guess there's an open question on whether the Citadel can play a conference schedule, become an "out of conference" opponent, or we need to find a non conference team for an 8th game.

[Furmanoid]

If we aren’t good enough to win the freaking SoCon, there’s no point in going to the playoffs. Hopefully we will dominate the SoCon. Then the 16 team thing doesn’t matter.

[The Jackal]

If we aren’t good enough to win the freaking SoCon, there’s no point in going to the playoffs. Hopefully we will dominate the SoCon. Then the 16 team thing doesn’t matter.

I think we were the clubhouse favorite.

I agree, though. This season was going to be "put up or shut up" time for Furman.

[apaladin]

Not that it's bad or good, but just that it will be harder to make the post season.

I do not believe we've ever had a season where there are 10 auto bids and a 16 team field. The field increased to 20, I believe, the same year that the auto bid number increased.

So, looks like it will be only 6 at large bids for a post season.

Also, I saw this article which adds a bit of info not found on the NCAA press release:

The FCS Playoffs will feature 16 teams in the spring, eight less than the normal amount of 24 teams that usually qualify for the postseason. The FCS Playoffs are scheduled to take place from April 18 through May 15 and teams are permitted to play up to eight regular-season games.

https://www.whsv.com/2020/09/16/ncaa-an ... n-in-2021/

So, it looks like a conference only schedule for the spring. I guess there's an open question on whether the Citadel can play a conference schedule, become an "out of conference" opponent, or we need to find a non conference team for an 8th game.

The Citadel will play an 8 game SoCon schedule. Take it to the bank. FCS teams are already eligible to play 12 games in certain years depending on how many Saturdays are available in that year. I see no problem for Citadel getting a waiver or whatever they need to play a full schedule especially in this situation.