Maybe instead of dwelling on what might have been, we should look at could be for Mercyhurst here. Regardless of if they get cleaned up by SDSU or not, I expect they will exit that game at 1-4. Their game against New Haven does not count in the NEC standings, just like Mercyhurst's first year in 2024, New Haven is not playing all of the NEC teams, so their results are not recorded in conference standings, as I suspect will be the case when Chicago State opens shop next year.
So what if Mercyhurst wins against Long Island (1-3), at Wagner (0-4), Duquesne (1-3), Stonehill (1-3), at Saint Francis (0-4 and headed to D-III), Robert Morris (1-3) and at Central Connecticut State (2-2)? All together, that's three D-I wins for the entire NEC and one of those was an NEC game where CCSU won over Saint Francis. If Marist ran the table, they would be 8-4, all dressed up and no place to go because they aren't playoff eligible so the runner up from the NEC would get the bid.
No one wants Bozeman to lose as bad as I do every week but imagine the impact on the BSC if they or Sac State had lost to that. There is no doubt in my mind that Mercyhurst is a bad team from the worst conference in D-I that ends up being a free pass to the round of 16 for a CAA team that didn't deserve a home game in too many years. They are not the worst, or near team in FCS, but they are bad enough that it would have had a negative impact on the entire BSC.