IdaGriz01
Well-known member
deserve a bid. Could have put this on any of several threads, but decided it didn’t quite fit.
As the committee chair said, it came down to comparisons among the (7-4) bubble teams. The baseline for the Griz is that they lost to four teams who made the playoffs, two of whom got seeds. Those Big Sky teams got bids because three of them were/are ranked in the top-10 and the other in the top-25.
Let’s look at some of the competition (all 7-4 except final one):
Austin Peay with two FBS losses. Kiss of death: Blown out (49-20) by unranked Central Arkansas (5-6).
Abilene Christian with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: two losses to unranked Stephen F. Austin (6-5).
North Carolina A&T* with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: Bad loss (38-17) to never-ranked Gardner-Webb (6-5).
Rhode Island with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: None obvious, but low Sagarin ranking (162 versus 69 for Griz).
Youngstown State with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: Late loss to unranked Missouri State (5-6)
UT-Martin with two FBS losses: Kisses of death: Losses to Missouri State (5-6) and Kennesaw State (5-6).
Chattanooga with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: Late loss to never-ranked Western Carolina (6-5).
Mercer with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: Loss to Chattanooga (probably).
Florida A&M (9-2)* with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: Lost badly to Jackson State. Abysmal SOS (244 of 262).
* Wins included a D-II or NAIA opponent.
FWIW: I had this list at the end of yesterday. Except for the (7-4) teams that did get bids, I was most worried about Rhode Island. Besides the FBS game, their losses were all to contenders ... although not ranked nearly as high as what the Griz faced.
As the committee chair said, it came down to comparisons among the (7-4) bubble teams. The baseline for the Griz is that they lost to four teams who made the playoffs, two of whom got seeds. Those Big Sky teams got bids because three of them were/are ranked in the top-10 and the other in the top-25.
Let’s look at some of the competition (all 7-4 except final one):
Austin Peay with two FBS losses. Kiss of death: Blown out (49-20) by unranked Central Arkansas (5-6).
Abilene Christian with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: two losses to unranked Stephen F. Austin (6-5).
North Carolina A&T* with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: Bad loss (38-17) to never-ranked Gardner-Webb (6-5).
Rhode Island with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: None obvious, but low Sagarin ranking (162 versus 69 for Griz).
Youngstown State with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: Late loss to unranked Missouri State (5-6)
UT-Martin with two FBS losses: Kisses of death: Losses to Missouri State (5-6) and Kennesaw State (5-6).
Chattanooga with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: Late loss to never-ranked Western Carolina (6-5).
Mercer with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: Loss to Chattanooga (probably).
Florida A&M (9-2)* with one FBS loss. Kiss of death: Lost badly to Jackson State. Abysmal SOS (244 of 262).
* Wins included a D-II or NAIA opponent.
FWIW: I had this list at the end of yesterday. Except for the (7-4) teams that did get bids, I was most worried about Rhode Island. Besides the FBS game, their losses were all to contenders ... although not ranked nearly as high as what the Griz faced.