NCAA needs to expand its Division III football playoff field

Nov. 13—As it played out, John Carroll’s Division III playoff hopes were already on life support at about 4 p.m. Sept. 2.

The Blue Streaks might have felt it at the time but couldn’t have known for sure.

Despite a strength of schedule rating that ranked inside the top 50 nationally, taking on D-III power Wisconsin-Whitewater in its only nonconference game — a down-to-wire 27-23 loss — and a solid 8-2 record, John Carroll is sitting home for the postseason.

It’s not a shock. That because — some would argue — the Blue Streaks had their chance Nov. 4 against No. 2-ranked Mount Union and came up short in a 49-14 setback in what was the Ohio Athletic Conference championship game. That argument definitely has merit, but there’s more here.

The lone argument should not be JCU needs to find a way to beat Mount in football. Of course it does. As many have found out, talking about it is much easier than doing that.

In the last decade, four teams — only four — have beaten the Purple Raiders on the gridiron. Three are D-III national championship programs Whitewater, Mary Hardin-Baylor and North Central. Each have done it multiple times in the playoffs. The other is John Carroll in a 2016 regular-season game.

This is the real argument: Expansion is needed for the Division III football playoff model — which is by far the worst postseason format among all college football divisions.

That’s saying a lot, considering the FBS model — the College Football Playoff — invites just four teams among a field of more than 100 programs.

At least there is the bowl system within the FBS, where teams get the bonus of an extra game during the holidays. It’s the not best alternative, but it’s something.

In D-III, it’s a mess. Year after year, playoff-worthy teams sit home wondering what could have been.

It’s not just John Carroll, which…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa-needs-expand-division-iii-044600477.html

Author : The News-Herald, Willoughby, Ohio

Publish date : 2023-11-14 04:46:00

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