The waiting game: JSU one of 4 OVC teams unsure of playoff fate
by Al Muskewitz, The Anniston Star, Ala. , The Anniston Star
"We're pushing for two," Steinbrecher said Tuesday.
One thing is certain: The OVC is guaranteed one spot in the field, and that will be either unranked Eastern Kentucky (7-3) or 18th-ranked Tennessee-Martin (8-3) after they play for the league title Saturday. But No. 24
The playoff field will be announced Sunday at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.
The OVC has put two teams in the playoffs each of the last two years. It's been 24 years since an OVC team with at least eight wins was left out, and that tournament had only eight teams -- and two of those were from the OVC. Since the field expanded in 1986, however, no OVC team with eight Division I wins has been left out of the field, but the pool has never been this crowded.
By the commissioner's count, there are 21 teams with eight or more wins -- football's equivalent to the 20-win plateau in basketball -- and nearly a dozen more with seven. James Madison (CAA), Appalachian State ( Southern ), Weber State ( Big Sky ) and
"I don't remember a year like this where there are so many teams across the country being playoff worthy," Steinbrecher said. "There are a lot of good teams. Given the quality, it'd be nice to have (the playoffs) expanded to 20 or 24."
That won't happen until 2010, so there will be a lot of quality teams watching games the Saturday after Thanksgiving instead of playing in them.
Eastern Kentucky has to win Saturday to get in, but the other three teams all have what Steinbrecher called "complelling arguments" if they fall among the at-large contenders.
UT-Martin gets in if it wins, but if it lands on the bubble, coach Jason Simpson would pitch the victory over
"We had to (play the BCS teams) for our program and decided to play the NAIA games to be fair to our players," Simpson said. "I understand the possible ramifications, but I thought it was the right thing to do with our players."
In March, the OVC adopted an enrichment plan for basketball that specifies certain scheduling mandates. There is no similar initiative on the horizon for football, although Steinbrecher said "we talk about scheduling philosophy in general and I think we would continue with that discussion."
Unintentionally, Steinbrecher may have made the Gamecocks' case.
"(The committee) will look at some of our members and ... the quality of their schedule," he said. "If they lost games, they'll look at who they lost to; when they lost, they've been to pretty darned good teams ... We've got some playmakers in this league that maybe we've not always had in this league. We've got teams that go the length of the field. There are compelling arguments when you start matching up Team A with Team B. I think better players make your league better and force the people to get better around them."
The OVC does face an uphill climb to get multiple teams in the field. Discounting the rest of the country for a moment, the league doesn't exactly have a glowing post-season resume. It hasn't won a playoff game by one of its current members since 1996.
Beyond that, several other conferences are vying to put multiple teams in the field. The Colonial Athletic Association, with six teams in the top 20 of this week's coaches poll, could get as many as five spots, and that would close the door on a lot of teams, not just the OVC's. The Southern Conference could get as many as three. It's a pretty safe bet the Big Sky and Missouri Valley conferences are going to get two each. Crowe figures there are about a half dozen teams vying for the final two spots in the field.
But there's one element Crowe suggests needs to be taken into account when the subject is football -- geography.
"I have confidence that history says an eight-win team would be the SECond team from the OVC over an eight-win team that would be the fourth team out of the Colonial or the third out of the Southern , although history has put a third and fourth team in there from them, too," he said. "(But) to think (football) north of the Mason-Dixon line is better than us. I think the South is pretty good football territory; that's hard as a Southern football person for me to swallow."
Next: FCS playoff selection show
Sunday, 6 p.m., ESPNU
(Bold indicates bid SECured)
(*-Automatic qualifier)
*- BIG SKY : Weber State (9-2), Montana (10-1).
BIG SOUTH : Liberty (9-2)
*-CAA: James Madison (9-1), Villanova (8-2), William & Mary (7-3), New Hampshire (8-2), Maine (8-3), Richmond (8-3)
GREAT WEST: Cal Poly (8-1)
*-MEAC:
*- Missouri VALLEY : Southern Illinois (8-2), Northern Iowa (9-2)
*- Ohio VALLEY : UT-Martin (8-3), Eastern Kentucky (7-3),
*-PATRIOT: Colgate (8-2), Holy Cross (7-3), Lafayette (7-3)
*- Southern : Appalachian State (9-2), Wofford (8-2), Elon (8-3), Furman (7-4)
*- SOUTHLAND : McNeese State (7-3), Texas State (7-4).
About Al Muskewitz
Al Muskewitz covers golf and
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