Playoffs

Total Red

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A lot of respect paid to the MVFC (5! teams entered) but I don't think this is an outstanding year for the conference. A lot of our teams were stronger in the fall.

It's strange seeing NDSU unseeded. They lost to South Dakota St. yesterday and a they took a sound beating from SIU earlier in the winter/spring season. Both times the Bison were defeated by a QB from the state of Illinois that was light on experience and lightly recruited. QB Nic Baker of SIU (Rochester HS, IL) and QB Mark Gronowski of SDSU (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, IL).
 
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MadBird

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A lot of respect paid to the MVFC (5! teams entered) but I don't think this is an outstanding year for the conference. A lot of our teams were stronger in the fall.

It's strange seeing NDSU unseeded. They lost to South Dakota St. yesterday and a they took a sound beating from SIU earlier in the winter/spring season. Both times the Bison were defeated by a QB from the state of Illinois that was light on experience and lightly recruited. QB Nic Baker of SIU (Rochester HS, IL) and QB Mark Gronowski of SDSU (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, IL).
I was going to note the Illinois QB situation myself after reading about the Jackrabbits win. And the Jackrabbits guy is a freshman. Plus his backup is a soph. from Chicago. Sigh.

North Dakota QB is a redshirt freshman (from Michigan).

Bison finished the game yesterday with a freshman QB.

Leading MSU QB is a redshirt freshman.

The SIU kid from Rochester is a soph.

Who says a freshman or soph can't lead your team to the playoffs??
 
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Total Red

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I'm looking forward to watching the playoff games tomorrow. I don't consider them a joke. It's different that's for sure, but everybody is doing the best they can under difficult circumstances. Holy Cross at 3-0 actually makes more sense to me than a 7-4 or 6-5 team making the playoffs in a regular season. The Patriot conference had a reasonable 4 game schedule and they lost a game due to Covid so that can't be helped. Four games was more prudent than the MVFC agreeing to an 8 game regular season with a potential 4 playoff games after that. That resulted in 40% of the conference opting out at some point. I said from the beginning that that was too much. I wanted a 6 game regular season and a 4 team playoff so the season would end early and nobody would have to play more than 8 games. That would have helped everyone get ready for the fall but does anyone listen? (n)


So after all the complaints there will be football playoffs tomorrow and the young men competing in these games are like any other football players. They want to compete, they want to win, they want things to be as normal as possible in a very strange year. Whoever emerges will have my complete respect. In some ways this is tougher championship than any other year with all the starting and stopping, do we play in the fall? the winter? the spring? (if you're Missouri St. you answer "yes to all"). When it's over the champion will get the trophy just like any other year and I'll give them a round of applause because they deserve it. Go Valley.
 

Total Red

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Another full afternoon and evening of playoffs. The Valley got off to a great start in Round 1 going 4-1 where the only losing team (Missouri St.) lost to another Valley school (North Dakota), so the MVFC was 3-0 against other conferences. None of those 3 wins came against seeded teams so today is really the big test. North Dakota St. plays at #2 seed Sam Houston St. and North Dakota plays at #3 seed James Madison. The playoffs are becoming the Valley against all other conferences. #THE "V"
 

redbirdfan04

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I am excited to see North Dakota vs JMU today. I think NDSU and SDSU win easily.
 

Virginia Redbird

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I did not see the game but on the NCAA website Sam Houston knocked off NDSU 24-20. Can't say I am shedding one single tear for the Bison and their fans. Also, Delaware knocks off Jacksonville State. That one is an upset at least according to the seeding...which means absolutely nothing. Still can't say this means much of anything except to the teams playing. The Bison put together a pretty good season but the few times i watched them they looked vulnerable. Of course, the Birds looked pretty bad during much of the spring. I am looking forward to the fall and where nobody has the option to opt out. I know some as saying this is a legit season and championship but if you can opt out of playing it is not a real season. Nobody opt out in a real season. Just the way it really is.
 

Total Red

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The Jacks hang on against SIU. I think South Dakota St. can take Delaware but the other side of the bracket is really tough. Sam Houston and James Madison will be a great game. Both teams are big and physical but JMU more so, so edge to the Dukes. Jacks/Dukes championship?
 

MadBird

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God bless the Bison, but I gotta believe it's good for the FCS to have some new blood in there. Altho JMU and SHSU aren't exactly new blood.

Still grumbling about that Illinois freshman QB who got away to SDSU. Not that I know if we were even recruiting him. Ticks me off.
 

redbirdfan04

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I did not see the game but on the NCAA website Sam Houston knocked off NDSU 24-20. Can't say I am shedding one single tear for the Bison and their fans. Also, Delaware knocks off Jacksonville State. That one is an upset at least according to the seeding...which means absolutely nothing. Still can't say this means much of anything except to the teams playing. The Bison put together a pretty good season but the few times i watched them they looked vulnerable. Of course, the Birds looked pretty bad during much of the spring. I am looking forward to the fall and where nobody has the option to opt out. I know some as saying this is a legit season and championship but if you can opt out of playing it is not a real season. Nobody opt out in a real season. Just the way it really is.
The Valley did not have a great weekend! SIU played tough but got stuffed in the redzone too many times.
 

Total Red

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Hopefully this marks the decline of the NDSU empire.
We can hope but NDSU will not stand pat with their 2021 QB's. In the fall they will have the services of Quincy Patterson a former 4-star QB transferring in from Virginia Tech. Where did Patterson play HS ball? Illinois - of course.

 

Virginia Redbird

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The Jacks hang on against SIU. I think South Dakota St. can take Delaware but the other side of the bracket is really tough. Sam Houston and James Madison will be a great game. Both teams are big and physical but JMU more so, so edge to the Dukes. Jacks/Dukes championship?
Congrats to SDSU but also the Salukis. After getting hammered pretty hard by the Jacks earlier in the season they gave them a game in the playoffs. Yeah, I think the JMU v. Sam Houston game should be a good one. I will be pulling for the Dukes.
 

Total Red

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Jacks vs. Bearcats in the Championship.

South Dakota St. dominated Delaware 33-3. They did a lot of things right but the biggest advantage was their DE's vs Delaware's OT's. The OT's were big and slow whereas the SDSU DE's were aggressive and athletic. The SDSU QB had protection and the Delaware QB didn't. Game over.

Meanwhile Sam Houston beat James Madison 38-35 in a game that will become a playoff legend. Strange as it sounds from looking at the final score this one started as a defensive struggle with some incredible goal line stands. I thought it would be hard for the defensive intensity to remain that high and that was the case. I also expected JMU to break the stalemate and they did with a huge 2nd Q. The Dukes led 24-3 at halftime and I thought it might be the 2nd blowout of the day. What I did not expect was the Sam Houston stunning comeback. The Bearkats have #12 a WR/PR that will turn you around, undress you, abuse you, and shame you with some sick moves. He's one of the best open field runners I've seen and he had two TD's, one receiving, and one on a punt return. The Sam Houston QB is not physically impressive at a lean 180 lbs. but he's a true dual threat with an accurate arm and blazing speed. The game went from 24-3 JMU to 38-27 Sam Houston so fast it made your head spin.

So the two best teams are in the Championship with the #1 seed facing #2. South Dakota St. is fundamentally sound and very solid in the trenches on both sides of the ball. The Bearkats are physical on defensive and their offense can score in bunches as they showed today. I'll be cheering for the Jackrabbits but I have no idea who will win. Whoever does win will be a truly great team.
 

Bird Friend

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Jacks vs. Bearcats in the Championship.

South Dakota St. dominated Delaware 33-3. They did a lot of things right but the biggest advantage was their DE's vs Delaware's OT's. The OT's were big and slow whereas the SDSU DE's were aggressive and athletic. The SDSU QB had protection and the Delaware QB didn't. Game over.

Meanwhile Sam Houston beat James Madison 38-35 in a game that will become a playoff legend. Strange as it sounds from looking at the final score this one started as a defensive struggle with some incredible goal line stands. I thought it would be hard for the defensive intensity to remain that high and that was the case. I also expected JMU to break the stalemate and they did with a huge 2nd Q. The Dukes led 24-3 at halftime and I thought it might be the 2nd blowout of the day. What I did not expect was the Sam Houston stunning comeback. The Bearkats have #12 a WR/PR that will turn you around, undress you, abuse you, and shame you with some sick moves. He's one of the best open field runners I've seen and he had two TD's, one receiving, and one on a punt return. The Sam Houston QB is not physically impressive at a lean 180 lbs. but he's a true dual threat with an accurate arm and blazing speed. The game went from 24-3 JMU to 38-27 Sam Houston so fast it made your head spin.

So the two best teams are in the Championship with the #1 seed facing #2. South Dakota St. is fundamentally sound and very solid in the trenches on both sides of the ball. The Bearkats are physical on defensive and their offense can score in bunches as they showed today. I'll be cheering for the Jackrabbits but I have no idea who will win. Whoever does win will be a truly great team.
The JMU-Sam Houston game was astounding. Expected a shootout, but not like that.
 
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