Reading these comments, the only thing that surprised me is that some of you are surprised. The NCAA selection committee has been a corrupt institution for decades. The NCAA organization really does not care about IAA/FCS football. They know this system is flawed but have failed to fix it for generations.
If the NCAA were interested in running an honest playoff, they need do only three simple things.
First, eliminate the conference ADs and staff the committee with about five retired, well-respected football people who no longer had any institutional affiliation. And pay them well for their service.
Second, publish for all to see the criteria that will be used for at-large selections. And stick to that criteria.
Third, and most importantly, how the five-man committee release a power ranking of all teams with a .500 or above record after the games on the first Saturday of November. And make it clear that the at-large bids will come from that list. You may or may not like your position, but you would know exactly where you stood. And the possibility for corruption would dramatically decrease.
That is what the NCAA would do if they cared. They don't.
Conference winner absolutely, positively must ALL go. Other wise you have a few "super conferences" and a bunch of schools that cannot recruit against them. There were two problems this year:
1. YSU in no way, shape, or form was a play-off caliber team.
2. There was a clear cutoff. We lost to everyone above us in the conference, except the #1 team in the nation with auto-bid which we did not play. Our problem was not losing to MO State, it was losing to North Dakota. Simply put, they took our spot. Now with their first-round loss to a Big Sky club (although a very good team) ND has set the MVFC's future for years to come.
Another big issue was the additional conference. Having both the ASUN and Big South 'eats up' another bid. IMO, The NCAA's expansion rules were not properly followed.
