Bison06

Saw him in Minneapolis circa 02/03, my favorite of all time.

I agree completely with your premise, but even if it would have been a home and home, the outcome would have likely been the same.

I agree, you don't always feel bad for those last four out. But the resumes of the last four in and the last four out many times are interchangeable, so it feels arbitrary which team found its way in at times. The Idaho State loss this year and in '15 were awful, no doubt, but the 2015 year I think UND fans have some legitimate gripes about being left out when resumes are compared with others.

Dude, we lost to USD one of our championship years and Indiana State another I believe. Teams sometimes lose games they aren't supposed to. Actually, the fact that UND inexplicably lost to an inferior team only further speaks to how a team might be able to play above their level and make a run in the playoffs.

I hear this a lot as it pertains to playoffs, if you don't have a legitimate chance at the championship we don't want you in the playoffs. FBS arguments against expansion come to mind. I don't believe that determining a champion is the only function a playoff system has. I think it also exists for other reasons which include: Rewarding student athletes/schools with additional games and revenue for a season worthy of such. Seeing inter-conference play to determine with large data sets which conferences and teams are the best. To use FBS examples, as a fan, I would love to see how a third place Big10 team(making the tourney as a 16 seed for example) matches up with a potentially over ranked ACC team(that garnered the #1 seed). That helps me as years go by determine which conferences are truly the best. Seeing certain FCS conferences' champions go undefeated in the regular season and then get destroyed in the playoffs has helped us pump the breaks on how good an 11-0 University of San Diego team might be entering the FCS playoffs. And finally, the "any given saturday" effect. The reason the March Madness tourney is so captivating is the opportunity to see David slay Goliath. As sports fans we love this. I like the playoffs, not just to determine the champion, but for the excitement along the way. Just because a team has "no chance" to win it all, doesn't mean they should be excluded. Because, when you step on that field, anything can happen in a single game. And that's why you have to play the game.

It’s hard to have a discussion with multiple people at the same time, my apologies if I attributed a quote to you that wasn’t yours. I can’t keep going round and round with you, clearly the committee thought WIU had a better resume than UND, as other have said, and I’ve agreed, the Idaho state loss was likely the death blow. Just as it may be this year along with deciding to only play 11 games.

I agree, but is that unfair? You can bet your a$$, that if ndsu goes 7-4 next year they’re getting the benefit of the doubt. UND isn’t alone in their lack of equity with the playoff committee. That’s all I’m saying. It isn’t personal like some here seem to think.

What’s true? That there is some sort of conscious vendetta against UND? Patently false. Or that UND has a history of underperforming in big games(not my opinion or trash talk, many here would agree) and will rarely be on the positive end of the benefit of a doubt? This is an understandable truth, that a committee has an objective reason to choose one team over another when they are forced to split hairs.

The sad part is I think some here honestly believe this somehow. UND isn’t special, the NCAA isn’t out to get you.

What? A move up in the polls after a loss? How could that be?!?!? You mean how you play against good teams matters? (Sarcasm) I completely agree with you. If polls worked the way they should UND would move up in the polls. Reality says you’ll probably drop a few spot though.

If you’ve been following along, I’ve said at least twice that I thought UND should have been in the playoffs in 2015. My ONLY contention has been that you and/or others have said you were “punished” for winning. Which is clearly asinine. An argument could be made for any bubble team to make the playoffs in 2015 or any other year. For some reason, which I disagree with, western Illinois made it over UND in 2015. I don’t agree with it, but can disagree with an opinion while still understanding it. Clearly, the committee thought western Illinois deserved to get it. I’ve been making posts since yesterday trying to understand why they did so, not to justify it. You keep trying to, “get me” with some sort of argument that I’m not even disagreeing with. I only disagree with the argument that somehow you were punished for an FBS win. I disagree with that wholeheartedly and believe that the Idaho state loss was your downfall.

You can keep repeating it, but it doesn’t make it true. You got credit for beating Wyoming, it just wasn’t enough to overcome one of the worst losses in your school’s history.

Are you comparing your resume to Western Illinois? They had two top 10 wins. And you somehow think taking away your best win of the year puts you above them in the eyes of the committee? And I’m the one uninformed?

And to repeat myself, UND was not penalized for winning at Wyoming. UND was penalized for losing against Idaho State. You’re changing the wrong variable. If you had gone 6-5 with a loss instead of a win at Wyoming, do you think that somehow improves the resume? if you had lost to Wyoming, but beaten Idaho state and ended up with the same record than yes, that improves your resume. That’s not what you’re saying though.

I disagree, in a 12 game season, 7-4 isn’t necessarily going to be a no brainer to get you in. There will be more 8 win teams than an 11 game year. As has been said, if you end up 7-4 with a loss to Weber. It will depend on how you look in these last three games. Play Weber tough and 7-4 should get you in as long as those last two games aren’t extremely close.

It was four years ago, nearly all UND fans don’t remember every single detail. I’m agreeing with you all that UND probably should have gotten in and I remembering feeling that way at the time. What are you taking issue with that I’m saying?

Quality contribution as always. Go tell some teenagers to get off your lawn and leave the football to us.

Apparently it was to the committee. I agreed you should have been in, but I don’t make the decisions and am just trying speculate on their decision process. Truth is, teams on the bubble are almost always interchangeable. Resumes are so similar, it’s just splitting hairs at that point and an awful loss apparently was their reason for keeping UND out in 2015.

And my point, along with others, is to say that 6-5, 7-4, wouldn’t have mattered if you don’t beat Idaho state. It wasn’t the FBS win that kept you out, it was the Idaho state loss. UND was their only FCS win that year.

But, to look at it objectively, you can’t say the Wyoming win “hurt you”, it actually helped you. It’s just that the idaho state loss was so bad, not that the Wyoming win was somehow bad.

https://eiupanthers.com/sports/football/schedule/2015 lol...yeah...wow.

https://unhwildcats.com/mobile/schedule.aspx?schedule=10 Yikes, gotta agree with you there. This is about the worst 7-4 I’ve seen.

I really think them beating the #5 team in the nation the last game of the year was too big to not bring them into the mix. That coupled with them beating a really good UNI team that year. I think it was the wrong decision, but I can see why they made the decision. I doubt the Wyoming win “hurt” UND that year, as was said by others.

Yes, Western Illinois. It was hotly debated at the time and I believe the kicker was western Illinois beat both SDSU and UNI that year. UNI ended up making the semis I believe. I think UND deserved it, but the committee was too excited about WIU beating SDSU the last game of the year.

I think a 7-4 UND, as long as you look like you belong against Weber for most of the game, gets in over both of those schools. The Davis and Montana state wins are nice. The problem may be though, from my understanding when there are bubble teams, having a person in that room arguing your case can be helpful. At 7-4 with UND being an independent this year, I could see that hurting you guys.