Playing in Texas is always going to be tough no matter who we are playing.

My take after the last 5 days. Life is not fair; sports are not fair. UC Davis had a solid football team. At the end of the season the 6-5 record was the team’s resume, and the selection team for better or worse, fair or unfair did NOT like our resume enough to include us in the play-offs. IF UCD wins conference or 9-2 then this is a moot point.

Sac state won the conference and may win all of their playoff games. Sac State has just raised the bar for us and allows us to focus on becoming the best version of UCD football in pursuit of beating them. Let’s tip our cap to Sac State this time and kick the sh*t out of them next year.

“ First, I believe there was an agreement to only consider 7-win teams. ”
Gardner-Web was 6-5. Haven’t looked at their schedule and losses, just the w-l number.

Conference winner

Oh, ok thanks.

August Weather in Dallas Texas, United States. Daily high temperatures decrease by 3°F, from 96°F to 93°F, rarely falling below 85°F or exceeding 102°F.

Commerce is 1 hour NE of Dallas.

There had been hope that the strength of the Aggie schedule, plus close losses to No. 1 South Dakota State (24-22) and No. 2 Sacramento State (27-21) would sway the selection committee despite UCD’s 6-5 overall record.

Alas, it wasn’t to be.

And while I can make a case for a 6-5 team not getting into the playoff, it’s hard to imagine how both Idaho and Montana did make it into the final field over this 6-5 Aggie team.

In the next-to-last game of the season, the Aggies traveled to Moscow and drilled No. 15 Idaho, 44-26. UCD led, 31-7, at halftime and never looked back. You would think that late-season head-to-head matchups, especially one as lopsided as this one, would weigh heavily in the selection committee’s judgment.

Montana, meanwhile, limped to the finish line, losing four of its last six games, including a 30-23 setback to Idaho and a final game 55-21 shellacking by Montana State. Indeed, the much-hyped Brawl of the Wild turned into the Maul of the Wild.

Worse yet, the Griz finished 4-4 and sixth in the Big Sky Conference, while the Aggies were 5-3 and in fifth place. Again, you would think conference standings would weigh heavily in the selection committee’s judgment, especially with a team that failed to break .500 in the Big Sky and finished halfway down the league standings.

Montana and the Aggies had six common opponents. Montana was 2-4 against those six, while the Aggies were 3-3. Once again, what criteria could the committee be using if not this?

https://www.aggiesportstalk.com/discussion/1991/2022-fcs-playoffs

My hunch.

1. Montana has the "name" and game day experience.
2. The powers that be know what $$$ Montana will offer to host a game.
3. Montana is #2 in FCS attendance, and set their own record (over 25,000 per game).
4. Their AD is on a couple of FCS committees?
5. At in person meetings, I'm sure the Montana AD is sharing meals, drinks, and selling 1-3.

https://herosports.com/fcs-football-2022-attendance-leaders-bzbz/

6. All of the above.

I hate to say that Montana's victory in the first round justifies their selection, so I won't. Rather, I think that if UC Davis had been in the slot, we'd be on to the next round.

Weather, altitude, and home field helped the Griz. Fourth quarter the SEM QB looked defeated. ND will give it to them.

Things I'm hoping for next weekend:

Montana to lose by 40.
Sac St to lose.

I'm basing this purely off the schedule but Sac's game doesn't appear to be easy. They face Richmond who lost to FBS Virginia, #5 William and Mary by 11 and Elon (1st round playoff loser) by 3 in 2 OT. They also beat New Hampshire at home and Delaware on the road, both of whom won their first round playoff games.

I second the Montana thumping. Watching the game - their players absolutely refuse to help an opposing player up. SEMOs qb would get sacked then raise his hand and Montana players would refuse any assistance. But what would one expect from a Hauck-coached team.

Richmond is good, but Elon looked pretty pedestrian yesterday so I don’t give a lot of credit to only losing to them in OT. I think Sac is definitely favored but should be a good game. I think William and Mary is the class of CAA this year.

Montana fans were booing their own team when they fell behind early. Very classy fans too!

Sorry, but I'm rooting for the Big Sky. Especially rooting against the CAA. Probably root for Weber over Montana St. I actually despise deference to North Dakota St more than Montana, so . . .

Reminder, Davidson got an auto-bid...

Rain predicted for Sacramento Saturday. Richmond looks to be balanced on offense, averaging 426 yards per game and only 4 picks all season.
Todays Richmond press conference on Slac:
https://youtu.be/FGhzJQFg0RI