Picks:

First Round
Lehigh at Stony Brook
Western Illinois at Weber St
Monmouth at Northern Iowa
CC State at New Hampshire
Samford at Kennesaw St
South Dakota at Nicholls St
Furman at Elon
San Diego at Northern Arizona

Second Round
Stony Brook at JMU
Western Illinois at Southern Utah
Northern Iowa at South Dakota St
New Hampshire at Central Arkansas
Samford at Jacksonville St
South Dakota at Sam Houston St
Furman at Wofford
Northern Arizona at North Dakota ST

Quarterfinals
Western Illnois at JMU
South Dakota St at Central Arkansas
Sam Houston St at Jacksonville St
Wofford at North Dakota St

Semi-Finals
Central Arkansas at JMU
Sam Houston St at North Dakota St

Championship
JMU - North Dakota State

Interesting bracket DD. I would like to know your justification for some of the "upsets" and in some cases the higher seeded or host team may even be a true underdog, despite rankings claiming otherwise.

I see a lot of people claiming WIU will go on a run, but I'm just not sold on them. They were put in their place by NDSU's defense to the tune of only 12 points (season avg 36 pts).

They beat playoff NAU on the road (impressive), drubbed "FBS" CCU, lost to a 7-4 USD team that fell apart to end the season and could arguably not be in the playoffs, beat playoff UNI, also lost to SDSU. In conference, they essentially lost to every meaningful opponent except for UNI. Defense is surrendering 22 ppg.

i took half hour last night to watch some youtube videos of some of the teams we could get matched up with.

Not sold on Weber at all. SUU and WIU is a damn good matchup. Both those teams are pretty good. WIU has a RB who is blazing fast with real good moves. He would be a handful for any team to bring down in the open field.

both those teams have decent QB's but they are both pocket passers predominantly and I think we would feast on them.

i think Central Arkansas is dangerous. They look balanced on both sides of the ball. I expect to see them in BFS for the semis.

I think Soft Houston will get it together this year. they have a very experienced team who has been through this before. Too much talent there not to break through

my eyes are bleeding from that last sentence dukedawg

(11-20-2017 11:14 AM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  my eyes are bleeding from that last sentence dukedawg

yea, i know.

but Soft Houston got lucky. Until NDSU, there bracket provides some tasty matchups for them.

I don't think South Dakota has the defense to hold them down, especially when Soft Houston gets that game at home after a bye.

and then Jax St....as much as we make fun of Soft Houston, Jax St is just as much a fraud. Two frauds go in...one must come out.

I don't think Jax St can score. And Soft Houston still has a deadly offense. They'll find a way to score over 20 points. And that will be all it takes to win.

then they'll play at NDSU and Soft Houston will live up to their reputation. NDSU will beat them by 30.

damn, every time I look.....it's a cakewalk for NDSU ! There fans most be laughing at how easy their bracket is. And have probably booked up every available hotel that was left yesterday.

hear ya..they just have no defense, and seem like a very insecure team at this point

over on katfans board.. one poster got it right - SHSU needs to just embrace who they are - similar to JMU under EW... just run like hell and hope to be the last one with the ball. instead, they are trying to balance and grind..but still have no D, and they are sacrificing their O momentum

I fell asleep last night worrying about SDSU's 6'4" TE, featured in this piece. Check out the insane catch.

http://www.argusleader.com/story/sports/...878182001/

Apparently he's projected as the #1 TE in the upcoming NFL draft. So if Central Arkansas can get SDSU out of the way I'll be sure to tip my cap to them right before we kick their tails at Bridgeforth.

(11-20-2017 11:26 AM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  hear ya..they just have no defense, and seem like a very insecure team at this point

over on katfans board.. one poster got it right - SHSU needs to just embrace who they are - JMU under EW... just run like hell and hope to be the last one with the ball. instead, they are trying to balance and grind..but still have no D, and they are sacrificing their O momentum

you look at their box scores though, and some of the final scores are misleading.

they were up 59-3 on Nicholls at the end of the 3rd quarter. Nicholls made the playoffs.

they scored 41 in the first half on Richmond.

other early game scores:
24-0 over ACU at end of 1st
46-14 over ICW at half, 57-14 after 3
33-7 over HBU at half

they gave up a lot of garbage points on D to make scores look worse than they really were.

(11-20-2017 11:29 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  

(11-20-2017 11:26 AM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  hear ya..they just have no defense, and seem like a very insecure team at this point

over on katfans board.. one poster got it right - SHSU needs to just embrace who they are - JMU under EW... just run like hell and hope to be the last one with the ball. instead, they are trying to balance and grind..but still have no D, and they are sacrificing their O momentum

you look at their box scores though, and some of the final scores are misleading.

they were up 59-3 on Nicholls at the end of the 3rd quarter. Nicholls made the playoffs.

they scored 41 in the first half on Richmond.

other early game scores:
24-0 over ACU at end of 1st
46-14 over ICW at half, 57-14 after 3
33-7 over HBU at half

they gave up a lot of garbage points on D to make scores look worse than they really were.

I agree Sam Houston is a much better team than the one we faced in our game last year, but those examples you're listing are against horrible teams. Richmond played like sh!t against them and they did much better than any of those teams.

I think SH is capable of beating many playoff teams, but I really don't see them making it past South Dakota and Jacksonville State. If they do, then they're legit.

I'm trying to predict what the most likely game will be chosen for a Friday night, Dec. 8th, quarterfinal game to be televised via ESPN-2 (assuming they follow the same script they have last few years)...

...I'm guessing if the Softies travel to Jax State, that might be the most intriguing. My guess is we will likely play on Dec. 9th, Saturday, this time around...which, works just fine.

A semifinal game with us hosting South Dakota State? Maybe Friday night prime time national TV for that one. We'll see...

(11-20-2017 11:54 AM)2Buck Wrote:  

(11-20-2017 11:29 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  

(11-20-2017 11:26 AM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  hear ya..they just have no defense, and seem like a very insecure team at this point

over on katfans board.. one poster got it right - SHSU needs to just embrace who they are - JMU under EW... just run like hell and hope to be the last one with the ball. instead, they are trying to balance and grind..but still have no D, and they are sacrificing their O momentum

you look at their box scores though, and some of the final scores are misleading.

they were up 59-3 on Nicholls at the end of the 3rd quarter. Nicholls made the playoffs.

they scored 41 in the first half on Richmond.

other early game scores:
24-0 over ACU at end of 1st
46-14 over ICW at half, 57-14 after 3
33-7 over HBU at half

they gave up a lot of garbage points on D to make scores look worse than they really were.

I agree Sam Houston is a much better team than the one we faced in our game last year, but those examples you're listing are against horrible teams. Richmond played like sh!t against them and they did much better than any of those teams.

I think SH is capable of beating many playoff teams, but I really don't see them making it past South Dakota and Jacksonville State. If they do, then they're legit.

of course they are horrible teams. that's the point.

they didn't struggle with them. They took care of business, as they should.

but 59-3 over playoff bound Nicholls? is that horrible? Nicholls almost beat Georgia last year and only lost by 14 to Texas A&M this year.

I expect JSU to be a very tough game for SHSU.

Not really sold on either teams defense, but JSU has speed and conditioning on offense. They ran by TSU like they were sleeping, especially late in the game. I’d expect a high scoring game. The Softies can score, but still lack a real defense imo. Either team will get clobbered at NDSU.

(11-20-2017 11:29 AM)Madison 91 Forever Wrote:  I fell asleep last night worrying about SDSU's 6'4" TE, featured in this piece. Check out the insane catch.

http://www.argusleader.com/story/sports/...878182001/

Apparently he's projected as the #1 TE in the upcoming NFL draft. So if Central Arkansas can get SDSU out of the way I'll be sure to tip my cap to them right before we kick their tails at Bridgeforth.

Yeah. We'd much rather face UCA than SDSU. With that being said, I was surprised how poorly SDSU ranked defensively. Maybe one TE won't make the difference if we control him.

(11-20-2017 12:31 PM)Wear Purple Wrote:  I'm trying to predict what the most likely game will be chosen for a Friday night, Dec. 8th, quarterfinal game to be televised via ESPN-2 (assuming they follow the same script they have last few years)...

...I'm guessing if the Softies travel to Jax State, that might be the most intriguing. My guess is we will likely play on Dec. 9th, Saturday, this time around...which, works just fine.

A semifinal game with us hosting South Dakota State? Maybe Friday night prime time national TV for that one. We'll see...

The national TV games will be JMU and NDSU unless one gets knocked out early. It's always given to the top 2 seeds, even more so when those schools actually have a semblance of a fan base.

so is no one else going to make some picks?

(11-20-2017 10:41 AM)Duke Dawg Wrote:  Picks:

First Round
Lehigh at Stony Brook
Western Illinois at Weber St
Monmouth at Northern Iowa
CC State at New Hampshire
Samford at Kennesaw St
South Dakota at Nicholls St
Furman at Elon
San Diego at Northern Arizona

Second Round
Stony Brook at JMU
Western Illinois at Southern Utah
Northern Iowa at South Dakota St
New Hampshire at Central Arkansas
Samford at Jacksonville St
South Dakota at Sam Houston St
Furman at Wofford
Northern Arizona at North Dakota ST

Quarterfinals
Western Illnois at JMU
South Dakota St at Central Arkansas
Sam Houston St at Jacksonville St
Wofford at North Dakota St

Semi-Finals
Central Arkansas at JMU
Sam Houston St at North Dakota St

Championship
JMU - North Dakota State

First Round
Lehigh at Stony Brook
Western Illinois at Weber St
Monmouth at Northern Iowa
CC State at New Hampshire
Samford at Kennesaw St
South Dakota at Nicholls St
Furman at Elon
San Diego at Northern Arizona

Second Round
Stony Brook at JMU
Western Illinois at Southern Utah
Northern Iowa at South Dakota St
New Hampshire at Central Arkansas
Samford at Jacksonville St
South Dakota at Sam Houston St
Elon at Wofford
Northern Arizona at North Dakota ST

Quarterfinals
Western Illnois at JMU
South Dakota St at Central Arkansas
Sam Houston St at Jacksonville St
Wofford at North Dakota St

Semi-Finals
South Dakota State at JMU
Jacksonville State at North Dakota St

Championship
JMU - North Dakota State

First Round
Lehigh at Stony Brook
Western Illinois at Weber St
Monmouth at Northern Iowa
CC State at New Hampshire
Samford at Kennesaw St
South Dakota at Nicholls St
Furman at Elon
San Diego at Northern Arizona

Second Round
Stony Brook at JMU
Western Illinois at Southern Utah
Northern Iowa at South Dakota St
New Hampshire at Central Arkansas
Kennesaw St. at Jacksonville St
South Dakota at Sam Houston St
Elon at Wofford
Northern Arizona at North Dakota ST

Quarterfinals
Southern Utah at JMU
South Dakota St at Central Arkansas
Sam Houston St at Jacksonville St
Wofford at North Dakota St

Semi-Finals
South Dakota St at JMU
Sam Houston St at North Dakota St

Championship
JMU - North Dakota State

I don't like Picking Sam Houston to go that far, but picking between to shams (JSU, and SHSU is hard).

(11-20-2017 12:53 PM)Potomac Wrote:  

(11-20-2017 12:31 PM)Wear Purple Wrote:  I'm trying to predict what the most likely game will be chosen for a Friday night, Dec. 8th, quarterfinal game to be televised via ESPN-2 (assuming they follow the same script they have last few years)...

...I'm guessing if the Softies travel to Jax State, that might be the most intriguing. My guess is we will likely play on Dec. 9th, Saturday, this time around...which, works just fine.

A semifinal game with us hosting South Dakota State? Maybe Friday night prime time national TV for that one. We'll see...

The national TV games will be JMU and NDSU unless one gets knocked out early. It's always given to the top 2 seeds, even more so when those schools actually have a semblance of a fan base.

Then how did 5-SHSU at 4-JMU get a quarterfinal Friday night prime time spot last year when both 1-NDSU and 2-EWU were still alive?

First Round
Lehigh at Stony Brook
Western Illinois at Weber St
Monmouth at Northern Iowa
CC State at New Hampshire
Samford at Kennesaw St
South Dakota at Nicholls St
Furman at Elon
San Diego at Northern Arizona

Second Round
Stony Brook at JMU
Weber State at Southern Utah
Northern Iowa at South Dakota St
New Hampshire at Central Arkansas
Kennesaw State at Jacksonville St
South Dakota at Sam Houston St
Furman at Wofford
Northern Arizona at North Dakota St

Quarterfinals
Southern Utah at JMU
South Dakota St at Central Arkansas
South Dakota at Jacksonville St
Furman at North Dakota St

Semi-Finals
South Dakota State at JMU
South Dakota at North Dakota St

Championship
JMU - North Dakota State I hope I'm wrong. A close game determined by who gets the lucky bounces and a few more clutch plays on both sides of the ball. The QB who stands out more wins.

(11-20-2017 01:17 PM)Wear Purple Wrote:  

(11-20-2017 12:53 PM)Potomac Wrote:  

(11-20-2017 12:31 PM)Wear Purple Wrote:  I'm trying to predict what the most likely game will be chosen for a Friday night, Dec. 8th, quarterfinal game to be televised via ESPN-2 (assuming they follow the same script they have last few years)...

...I'm guessing if the Softies travel to Jax State, that might be the most intriguing. My guess is we will likely play on Dec. 9th, Saturday, this time around...which, works just fine.

A semifinal game with us hosting South Dakota State? Maybe Friday night prime time national TV for that one. We'll see...

The national TV games will be JMU and NDSU unless one gets knocked out early. It's always given to the top 2 seeds, even more so when those schools actually have a semblance of a fan base.

Then how did 5-SHSU at 4-JMU get a quarterfinal Friday night prime time spot last year when both 1-NDSU and 2-EWU were still alive?

Well lets put it this way. The top 2 seeds this year happened to be the two biggest fan bases and ESPN knows that.