{"id":8206,"date":"2015-11-22T15:17:13","date_gmt":"2015-11-22T20:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=8206"},"modified":"2015-11-22T15:18:31","modified_gmt":"2015-11-22T20:18:31","slug":"jmu-earns-5-seed-for-fcs-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=8206","title":{"rendered":"JMU Awarded 5 Seed for 2015 FCS Playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V40g8kL-IcE\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe JMU Dukes are going dancing. We all knew JMU had done enough to earn a bid to the 2015 FCS playoffs. We just didn&#8217;t know who&#8217;d they&#8217;d face first. The FCS Playoff selection committee made it official this morning and granted the Dukes the 5th seed. With the seed, the Dukes earned a bye next week and the right to host a home game next week. They&#8217;ll face the winner of the match-up between the CAA&#8217;s own New Hampshire Wildcats and Colgate from the Patriot League. Here are a few quick thoughts on the bracket.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Heck of a Draw<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We like this draw. JMU entered this weekend with an outside shot at a seed, pending a win over Villanova and a couple of other breaks. The Dukes got both the win and the breaks they needed. They used an opportunistic performance from the defense to defeat Nova, then were fortunate to have 5 teams ranked above them lose. The combination cleared the path to a seed. And the Dukes didn&#8217;t get just any seed, they got a great draw. UNH and Colgate both had fine seasons and are definitely not pushovers, but several of the other seeded teams face far more intimidating opponents in round 2. If JMU is fortunate to win its opener, having McNeese State as the other seed in it&#8217;s bracket ain&#8217;t bad. The McNeese defense has been stellar, but they didn&#8217;t exactly play a murderers row.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Screen_Shot_2015-11-22_at_11.26.51_AM.0.png\"><img data-attachment-id=\"8207\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?attachment_id=8207\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Screen_Shot_2015-11-22_at_11.26.51_AM.0.png?fit=742%2C663\" data-orig-size=\"742,663\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"FCS playoff bracket\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Screen_Shot_2015-11-22_at_11.26.51_AM.0.png?fit=300%2C268\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Screen_Shot_2015-11-22_at_11.26.51_AM.0.png?fit=742%2C663\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-8207\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Screen_Shot_2015-11-22_at_11.26.51_AM.0.png?resize=609%2C544\" alt=\"FCS playoff bracket\" width=\"609\" height=\"544\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Screen_Shot_2015-11-22_at_11.26.51_AM.0.png?w=742 742w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Screen_Shot_2015-11-22_at_11.26.51_AM.0.png?resize=300%2C268 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 609px) 100vw, 609px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>Always Be Closing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The committee clearly penalized teams who couldn&#8217;t close out the regular season. It seemed to be a case of not who you lost to, but when you lost, that ultimately bit some teams. Fellow CAA teams William &amp; Mary and Richmond both must be kicking themselves. Had either one won out the past two weekends, they might have taken the 5th seed (or snuck into the top 4). Richmond lost to Nova last weekend and things were all set up for the Tribe. Defeat the arch rival Ticks and a seed was theirs. Instead, they coughed up an L and now need to win next weekend for the right to play a rematch against Richmond. Likewise, late losses by Coastal Carolina and South Dakota state proved costly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Strong Showing for the CAA But&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Getting four teams in the playoffs is a great accomplishment for the CAA. Doing it in a year when its arguably two best players (Vad Lee and John Robertson) go down with season ending injuries is even better. There are plenty of bubble teams unhappy right now, but the CAA&#8217;s Towson has a legit gripe. The Tigers won five of their last 6 ball games and managed to finish 7-4. Yet, they&#8217;ll be sitting at home watching as a 6-5 Western Illinois squad gets to play Dayton in round 1. Ultimately, the Tigers&#8217; loss to lowly Elon cost them. Had they won that, they would have finished 8-3 and been a lock. So 4 teams from the CAA is terrific, but it could have been even better.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fjmusportsblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D8206&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;height=80\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;\" allowTransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The JMU Dukes are going dancing. We all knew JMU had done enough to earn a bid to the 2015 FCS playoffs. We just didn&#8217;t know who&#8217;d they&#8217;d face first. The FCS Playoff selection committee made it official this morning and granted the Dukes the 5th seed. With the seed, the Dukes earned a bye [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[449,224],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10983,"url":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=10983","url_meta":{"origin":8206,"position":0},"title":"Needs Is Not the Right Word Here","date":"June 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Wants and needs. They're different things. Of course that doesn't stop people from using \"needs\" to describe things that are nothing more than wants. We want football season to arrive, we don't literally need it to. So we stumbled upon this throwaway list of 10 best nonconference games in FCS\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/streamers-J.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3290,"url":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3290","url_meta":{"origin":8206,"position":1},"title":"Dukes Knock Off EKU to Advance","date":"November 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"JMU went on the road today and captured a thrilling 20-17 win over Eastern Kentucky to advance to the second round of the FCS playoffs. \u00a0Cameron Starke hit a 35 yard field goal into the wind as time elapsed to complete the Dukes' comeback and send EKU packing. It was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/starke-J.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3257,"url":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3257","url_meta":{"origin":8206,"position":2},"title":"Dukes Make the Playoffs!","date":"November 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Holy hell, this weekend turned out to be blogging gold here at JMUSB HQ!\u00a0 So as not to bury the lead, the Dukes destroyed UMass Saturday, a slew of other games broke their way, and they made the FCS Playoffs as an at-large team.\u00a0 But then we found out they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/2011-Bracket-300x258.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3263,"url":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3263","url_meta":{"origin":8206,"position":3},"title":"Playoff Predictions: JMU vs Eastern Kentucky","date":"November 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Alright folks, the Dukes open the 2011 FCS Playoffs on the road (Ed. note: take a deep breath) this Saturday against the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels. The Dukes won their last 2 in convincing fashion to get to 7-4 and secure a bid. The Colonels also were 7-4 which was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/rp_primary_playoffs1120.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4627,"url":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4627","url_meta":{"origin":8206,"position":4},"title":"Prediction Contest: JMU vs Nova","date":"November 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It's that time again and I'm pretty sure we all know the drill by now. JMU has a huge (no understatement) game on the road against a dangerous Villanova team on Saturday. Drop us a comment letting us know who will win and what the final score will be. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11771,"url":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=11771","url_meta":{"origin":8206,"position":5},"title":"2021 FCS Playoffs Round of 16: Southeastern Louisiana at JMU","date":"December 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"And just like that, the last ride in the FCS playoffs is here for the Dukes. And while we don't want to admit it, that's a scary prospect for fans. Obviously we all have hopes of going out a winner in Frisco in a rematch with Sam or Villanova in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Tucker_Dorsey_Diamonte_SH.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8206"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8206"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8210,"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8206\/revisions\/8210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}