Schnepf: Strides by some teams hurt Missouri Valley's playoff chances
Improvement is the buzz word in the Missouri Valley Football Conference this fall. Unfortunately for the league, it may not improve its chances to get more teams in the playoffs.
By: Kevin Schnepf, INFORUM
Improvement is the buzz word in the Missouri Valley Football Conference this fall. Unfortunately for the league, it may not improve its chances to get more teams in the playoffs.
“It’s nuts,” said league commissioner Patty Viverito, who was in the Fargodome on Saturday to watch North Dakota State keep its playoff hopes alive with a 27-15 win over Indiana State.
Bison coach Craig Bohl, who has been clamoring for week-to-week improvement since fall camp started, saw his defense get better. Realistically, the defense only allowed two field goals against an Indiana State team that was averaging 51 points during its previous three-game winning streak.
The most dramatic improvement has come from Indiana State – a team which one year ago at this time was ending its notorious 33-game losing streak. A win Saturday would’ve put the Sycamores in a tie for first-place in the Missouri Valley – a league in which six of the nine teams already have two conference losses.
Northern Iowa took first place from Western Illinois – which with Indiana State are two of the nation’s most improved teams.
“In my 26 years in this league, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Viverito said. “I have always bragged about the depth of this league, but not teams one through nine. It certainly makes for interesting and exciting games, but when it comes selection time for the playoffs, it’s going to make it tough on ourselves.”
When the Football Championship Subdivision expanded the playoffs from 16 to 20 teams this year, Viverito thought her league would deserve more than two playoff teams.
“Well, now … two would be nice,” she said of the wacky conference season.
Who would have thought a powerful program like NDSU would be sitting in last place at this point of the season? That’s what was staring the Bison in the face when Indiana State jumped out to a 12-0 lead. In fact, a loss would have been NDSU’s seventh straight conference defeat in the Fargodome.
Bohl, now with an 8-14 Missouri Valley record, was not only thankful for the win but thankful for next week’s bye.
“I want to thank athletic director Gene Taylor and commissioner Viverito for the scheduling,” Bohl said, directing his postgame news conference comments to Taylor and Viverito, sitting a few feet away. “With so much parity in this league, it’s great to get a win. We were on the ropes. To have a bye at this time … we can certainly use it.”
What the Bison have going for them during this mad rush for a playoff berth is their 5-3 overall record and their win over Kansas. Home wins over Southern Illinois and South Dakota State and a win at Missouri State would give the Bison an 8-3 record that would look pretty good to the selection committee.
“We’re just trying to get to the next week,” Bohl said. “We realize everybody is still in it.”
Including Indiana State – which now owns a 2-2 league record and 4-3 overall record.
The Sycamores’ road to the playoffs isn’t easy either, with home games against SDSU and Northern Iowa and road games against Youngstown State and Southern Illinois.
“Our eyes are on winning the conference,” said Indiana State head coach Trent Miles. “You could never say that at Indiana State before … probably forever.”
One big reason for the amazing turnaround is quarterback Ronnie Fouch. At this time last year, Fouch was filling in for an injured Jake Locker at the University of Washington. Knowing his time would be limited with a healthy Locker, Fouch opted to leave Washington – where Miles used to be the running backs coach.
“Yeah, we are making history, but we want more than that,” said Fouch, who very well could be Indiana State’s most-prized transfer since Larry Bird. “That’s what I came here to do, to win a conference championship.”
With all the improvement and parity, some think winning a conference championship may be the only way for a Missouri Valley team to get into the playoffs. All this parity had the league’s selection committee representative a bit worried even three weeks ago when he made a call to Viverito.
“Patty, I’m starting to get nervous,” he said to Viverito. “Are we all going to end up 4-4? We need some separation.”
“Oh, it’s early,” Viverito tried to assure him.
Three weeks later?
“It’s still wild,” Viverito said.
Improvement is the buzz word in the Missouri Valley Football Conference this fall. Unfortunately for the league, it may not improve its chances to get more teams in the playoffs.
By: Kevin Schnepf, INFORUM
Improvement is the buzz word in the Missouri Valley Football Conference this fall. Unfortunately for the league, it may not improve its chances to get more teams in the playoffs.
“It’s nuts,” said league commissioner Patty Viverito, who was in the Fargodome on Saturday to watch North Dakota State keep its playoff hopes alive with a 27-15 win over Indiana State.
Bison coach Craig Bohl, who has been clamoring for week-to-week improvement since fall camp started, saw his defense get better. Realistically, the defense only allowed two field goals against an Indiana State team that was averaging 51 points during its previous three-game winning streak.
The most dramatic improvement has come from Indiana State – a team which one year ago at this time was ending its notorious 33-game losing streak. A win Saturday would’ve put the Sycamores in a tie for first-place in the Missouri Valley – a league in which six of the nine teams already have two conference losses.
Northern Iowa took first place from Western Illinois – which with Indiana State are two of the nation’s most improved teams.
“In my 26 years in this league, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Viverito said. “I have always bragged about the depth of this league, but not teams one through nine. It certainly makes for interesting and exciting games, but when it comes selection time for the playoffs, it’s going to make it tough on ourselves.”
When the Football Championship Subdivision expanded the playoffs from 16 to 20 teams this year, Viverito thought her league would deserve more than two playoff teams.
“Well, now … two would be nice,” she said of the wacky conference season.
Who would have thought a powerful program like NDSU would be sitting in last place at this point of the season? That’s what was staring the Bison in the face when Indiana State jumped out to a 12-0 lead. In fact, a loss would have been NDSU’s seventh straight conference defeat in the Fargodome.
Bohl, now with an 8-14 Missouri Valley record, was not only thankful for the win but thankful for next week’s bye.
“I want to thank athletic director Gene Taylor and commissioner Viverito for the scheduling,” Bohl said, directing his postgame news conference comments to Taylor and Viverito, sitting a few feet away. “With so much parity in this league, it’s great to get a win. We were on the ropes. To have a bye at this time … we can certainly use it.”
What the Bison have going for them during this mad rush for a playoff berth is their 5-3 overall record and their win over Kansas. Home wins over Southern Illinois and South Dakota State and a win at Missouri State would give the Bison an 8-3 record that would look pretty good to the selection committee.
“We’re just trying to get to the next week,” Bohl said. “We realize everybody is still in it.”
Including Indiana State – which now owns a 2-2 league record and 4-3 overall record.
The Sycamores’ road to the playoffs isn’t easy either, with home games against SDSU and Northern Iowa and road games against Youngstown State and Southern Illinois.
“Our eyes are on winning the conference,” said Indiana State head coach Trent Miles. “You could never say that at Indiana State before … probably forever.”
One big reason for the amazing turnaround is quarterback Ronnie Fouch. At this time last year, Fouch was filling in for an injured Jake Locker at the University of Washington. Knowing his time would be limited with a healthy Locker, Fouch opted to leave Washington – where Miles used to be the running backs coach.
“Yeah, we are making history, but we want more than that,” said Fouch, who very well could be Indiana State’s most-prized transfer since Larry Bird. “That’s what I came here to do, to win a conference championship.”
With all the improvement and parity, some think winning a conference championship may be the only way for a Missouri Valley team to get into the playoffs. All this parity had the league’s selection committee representative a bit worried even three weeks ago when he made a call to Viverito.
“Patty, I’m starting to get nervous,” he said to Viverito. “Are we all going to end up 4-4? We need some separation.”
“Oh, it’s early,” Viverito tried to assure him.
Three weeks later?
“It’s still wild,” Viverito said.
