I think many of the HBCU's have traditions and even contractual commitments that conflict with the NCAA playoff schedules. The Celebration Bowl is an annual game pitting the SWAC champion against the MEAC Champion.
https://www.si.com/college/hbcu/football/jackson-state-florida-state-sway-fcs-playoffs-vote

Florida A&M did in fact play in the playoffs this year.

Davis played Bethune Cookman in a D-II playoff game in 1977.

And as I recall there was a time when Tuskegee had to choose between the D-II playoffs and their traditional Turkey Day game agains Alabama A&M. Similarly Grambling and Southern play in their Bayou Classic on the Saturday after Thanksgiving which would conflict with the FCS playoffs.

Whole thing is bizarre. In the end Bethel-Thompson did play in the game, however the Argos lost to the Hamilton Ti-Cats, 27-19.

https://www.thescore.com/cfl/news/2243643/report-bethel-thomspon-to-play-in-east-final-after-clearing-covid-protocol

With the early signing date for D-1 football it may already be too late to bring in a new coach and get any recruiting done. That's December 15th this year. I think if Sac had kept winning it would have made it harder for Taylor to leave, etc. I can't see him pulling a Kelly or Riley and leaving when the team still has games to play.

Big game and the SC game may have saved Wilcox' job. This isn't the SEC where he'd be canned for a sub .500 year.

That in turn means the AD is not meeting with Troy Taylor for lunch today.

As soon as I hit "Post Comment" there will be a press release from Berkeley proving me wrong, yet again, and it's just past 9:00 AM.

I suspect neither the Bears nor the Trojans want to be playing this game, and SC probably wants it less.

Beating Long Beach State, the Gold Coast champ, was as good as hanging with USC. At some point the Ags should probably leave the WWPA and join our Big West brethren in the Gold Coast, but let's enjoy this for the present.

UPDATE: Sunday's championship final: Cal 13, USC 12.

"There are no moral victories," but this was a moral victory.

With only SDSU at Sac left to play the home team has won every second round game.

USC defeated the Ags, 11-8, in an NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship semifinal this afternoon.

UPDATE: Cal 15, UCLA 13 (OT)

Cal will play USC in final on Sunday afternoon.

This is only the 10th or 11th season the Bobcats have competed in intercollegiate athletics. The school was founded in 2005 and had only club and IM sports until 2011 when they joined the NAIA and the California Pacific Conference.

This is the fight for the top UC in the Central Valley!!! I don't even want to think what would happen if the Ags pull another Academy of Arts performance.

Ags defeated Long Beach State, 9-8, in OT in an NCAA quarterfinal match at UCLA this afternoon. This is a great upset win. They now advance to the semifinals for the first time ever where the will play top seeded USC. Host UCLA defeated Princeton, 12-6, in the other quarterfinal match and will meet Cal in the semifinals. Semifinals will be played on Saturday and the finals on Sunday.

EDIT: Typing as I walk the dog and duplicated BlueGoldAg. My apologies, but this is a win for the program that is worth repeating!!

I'm usually up a couple of times between 1:00 and 2:30 anyway.

My TV says PAC-12 Network will rebroadcast game at 1:00 AM.

At the risk of going back down a road we traveled a couple of days ago, Les should invite Coach Gross to speak at one if his team building morale sessions.

A couple of articles from Hero Sports looking ahead to this weekend’s FCS playoff games. Both articles favor SDSU to defeat Sac.

Favorites To Win The 2021 FCS National Title, Ranked 16-1
https://herosports.com/fcs-football-favorites-2021-national-title-16-bzbz/

FCS Playoffs: Ranking The Most Likely Second-Round ‘Upsets’
https://herosports.com/fcs-playoffs-2021-likely-second-round-upsets-bzbz/

Years ago I went to a USC game at Notre Dame. At some point the Notre Dame band lined up in front of the USC rooting section and played the USC fight song. Very impressive. It almost makes me want to say something nice about Notre Dame.

Seeing a game at the Notre Dame stadium, especially a rivalry game, in October when the Midwest is in full autumn display is a bucket list experience.

…above the table.

I’ve had a secret wish list that Cal might drop Wilcox and hire Taylor. There was a rumor that UW would go after Wilcox. This may work.

Cal’s postponed game with USC throws a wrench in all of this. Schools changing coaches are on a new hurry up schedule with the December early signing date.

And on the subject of coaching hires there is a story that Kelly will get a ten year contract wort over $100 million!!!

A lot of that is probably private/donor money but you wonder how much of that is government money and how far that would go if applied to general education in Louisiana.

And Riley’s contract at USC is around $110 million including a $6 million home (which in LA county could be a modest fixer-upper,) and 24/7 access to a private jet. SC is probably still paying millions for civil litigation in a harassment case involving a campus health physician…and I believe at one time was paying three head football coaches - Kiffin, Sarkisian, and Helton.

But I digress…

Next rumor: Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame for LSU.

I guess beating Davis wasn't enough to keep the job.