Sunday, November 22, 2009

2009 FCS Playoffs, Bracket and First Round Predictions

The FCS playoff bracket has been announced! Here's the bracket, with the WASEAN Ratings and records (which don't include OT or D-II opponents) as well. The top 4 seeds are #16 Montana, #1 Villanova, #6 Southern Illinois and #2 Richmond. All will get to host second round games if they win their opener.

#9 South Dakota State (8-3) @ #16 Montana (9-0-1)
#21 Eastern Washington (7-3) @ #25 Stephen F. Austin (8-2)

#5 Elon (9-2) @ #2 Richmond (10-1)
#12 South Carolina State (10-1) @ #10 Appalachian State (8-2-1)

#18 Holy Cross (9-2) @ #1 Villanova (10-1)
#11 New Hampshire (9-2) @ #27 McNeese State (8-2)

#38 Eastern Illinois (8-3) @ #6 Southern Illinois (9-1)
#22 Weber State (7-4) @ #3 William & Mary (9-2)

Here are the WASEAN predicted scores for the first round:

Montana 24, South Dakota State 24, OT
Stephen F. Austin 30, Eastern Washington 27

Richmond 27, Elon 20
Appalachian State 28, South Carolina State 24

Villanova 34, Holy Cross 14
New Hampshire 30, McNeese State 28

Southern Illinois 31, Eastern Illinois 14
William & Mary 31, Weber State 16

2009 WASEAN Ratings, Week 12

I posted on the collegebcs.com members mailing list this week that this was a terrible slate of games, and that it would be a good weekend to get some wife-points, that there wasn't much going on.

For the most part, that was an accurate assessment; there was little movement at the top of the ratings. The big dogs blew out the teams they were supposed to blow out. Florida did nudge ahead of TCU, by beating their patsy worse than TCU beat theirs. But overall, it was pretty uneventful, in terms of the national championship picture.
There were some great games though. UConn and Notre Dame went to OT. So did Oregon and Arizona. Mississippi edged LSU in a game that literally came down to the last second. So even a bad week provided plenty that was worth watching.

Next week has some huge games with BCS implications, with top teams going on the road. Thanksgiving night #1 Texas goes to Texas A&M. Friday #4 Alabama will be at #32 Auburn and #11 Pitt goes to Morgantown to face #29 West Virginia. #5 Boise State is at home Friday night, but they get a test as #51 Nevada comes to town. The Wolf Pack is playing very well over their last 4 games, they've risen 42 spots in the rankings.

Saturday, #26 Oklahoma State has a potential BCS at-large berth on the line in Norman vs. #12 Oklahoma. #2 Florida hosts a #40 Florida State team that isn't as bad as everyone thinks they are.

All of that should keep you busy over the holiday weekend. Please click the 'read more' link to see the ratings.

2009 WASEAN Confernce Ratings, Week 12

No big inter-conference games this week to shake up the ratings here, I think we're pretty much set with the rankings at this point. The SEC is clearly the top dog, followed by the ACC. The ACC has 3 of the top 9 teams (#6, #8, #9) and two others in the top 25.

WASEAN does not share the Pac 10 love that other systems have. Only Oregon is in the top 20 (#10) with two others in the FBS top 25 (#22 & #25).

The Colonial pulled off an amazing feat, finishing with top three teams in the FCS. It wasn't just a top heavy league, as four others finished in the top 25.

Please click the 'read more' link to see the ratings.