The committee has also said on field performance matters. Honestly, I dont have a dog in the fight but let's not kid oueselves; the decision is, and always has been, about money. It's about which match-ups will draw the most viewers and generate the most money.

Remember when the argument was that they couldn't have a playoff because the "student athletes" would miss too much school and all the I-AA fans were calling BS. The fact is, the teams and the NCAA make tons of money off those bowl games. They had to find a way to keep them and still have a playoff.

It is going to get better next year.

FCS 2nd-round playoff attendance:
Delaware @ Montana: 20,580 (UM Photo)
N Dakota St @ Montana St: 17,247
Mercer @ S Dakota St: 10,171
Chattanooga @ Furman: 8,117
So Illinois @ Idaho: 9,224
Sac State @ South Dakota: 6,288
Richmond @ UAlbany: 2,652
Youngtown St @ Villanova: 2,105 pic.twitter.com/JNVCF0NAMj

— FCS Football (@FCS_STATS) December 3, 2023

20,000 in a Montana snow storm. Now, THOSE are football fans! That game was fun to watch on ESPN+.

(I remember when a good SFA playoff team went up there and got embarrassed in similar weather many years ago.)

SFA Jack Fanatic said:

---

20,000 in a Montana snow storm. Now, THOSE are football fans! That game was fun to watch on ESPN+.

(I remember when a good SFA playoff team went up there and got embarrassed in similar weather many years ago.)

---

In fairness the embarrassment might have had something to do with the night before the game…

Scotty Walden headed to UTEP.

TallTexan said:

---

Scotty Walden headed to UTEP.

---

Great hire by UTEP. It's always kind of confused me how a school with that much money and great facilities has struggled in football for so long. A lot of people have said El Paso is a hard city to recruit to, which I can kind of see, but it's honestly not a bad city, and has a ton of stuff for young people specifically. The UTEP campus is also really nice.

I hope the best for him, but that place has been a black hole for coaches for decades now.

NCAA president Charlie Baker sent a letter today to Division I members proposing a new tier of Division I membership for the highest resourced schools.
Here are the highlights of enhanced benefits for athletes that would be allowed. pic.twitter.com/gK0eztHBe4

— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) December 5, 2023

God I hope this doesn't happen. The FCS will only suffer from it.

One of my coworkers(former UH player) made a point about this I never thought of. This seems like they're actively trying to keep the G5 schools out of the playoffs since now with the auto bids it makes it where a G5 will make it every season.

Looks like a lot of empty seats at SDSU/Villanova game. Are the Jackrabbit fans so used to winning that they don't show up at a quarter final game?

SFASawmillGuy said:

---

God I hope this doesn't happen. The FCS will only suffer from it.

One of my coworkers(former UH player) made a point about this I never thought of. This seems like they're actively trying to keep the G5 schools out of the playoffs since now with the auto bids it makes it where a G5 will make it every season.

---

Many of the NIL coalitions are just fronts for the universities already. They P5 schools were probably going to peel off even if the NCAA did nothing. I agree, I hate it.

Montana with absolutely outstanding OT playcalling to beat the Bison and punch their ticket to Frisco.

Game set for the national title! Montana vs South Dakota State!

Side note horribly telegraphed final play by NDSU to lose the game.

And to think when your program ends the season at 11-4 and a loss in the semi-finals, you had an off season.

Jerry Kill is stepping down as the head coach at New Mexico State.

Former UNLV head coach and current NMSU wide receivers coach has been promoted to head coach.

20 New Mexico State players have since entered the portal.

https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/sports/college/nmsu/2023/12/23/nmsu-football-head-coach-jerry-kill-stepping-down-espn-report/72021589007/