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?
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