Western Pa. college football
Duquesne looking for playoff berth Will Duquesne University become the first non-scholarship school to qualify for the NCAA I-AA football playoffs?
The Dukes (10-0, 7-0) will find out this weekend, as the 2002 regular season comes to a close.
The only obstacle between Duquesne and a perfect season is Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference foe Fairfield (5-5, 5-2). And the Dukes have the advantage of playing at home.
“Fairfield is maybe the toughest team in our league, other than us,” said Duquesne coach Greg Gattuso.
Duquesne became only the second NCAA Division I-AA Mid-Major program to break into the Division I-AA Major rankings this week, debuting at No. 24 in The Sports Network Poll and No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
“It’s a great thing, but the only thing that really matters is where we are at the end of the season,” said Gattuso. “We still have games left.”
All Division I-AA programs are eligible for the Major playoffs, but no mid-major team has ever qualified because conventional wisdom says that a mid-major school would be overwhelmed by a major school in a playoff game.
“Look at the Cinderella teams in the NCAA Division I basketball tournament,” said Gattuso, who feels his team would be competitive in a playoff game. “That’s what makes March Madness so great. Wouldn’t it be something if a Duquesne team would win a game in the playoffs?
“There’s a misconception about Mid-Major football. It’s better than you think. Top teams in each level can compete up. We think we could compete against scholarship teams in a one-game playoff situation. I don’t know if we could over a season.”
Duquesne has already earned a berth to the ECAC Bowl, which will be held Nov. 23 at the home site of the Northeast Conference champion.
Indiana (10-1, 6-0), No. 6 in the American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division II rankings, clinched a playoff berth with last week’s 34-28 overtime thriller at Slippery Rock.
The win also earned the Indians a second consecutive outright Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division title. They shared the title with Slippery Rock in 2000.
But the win was costly to both teams, as five Indiana and four Slippery Rock players have been suspended for one game by the PSAC for an incident that occurred after the game, pending an appeal.
Indiana has completed its regular season schedule, which means the suspensions must be served when the Indians play in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
The four players from Slippery Rock will sit out this week’s season finale at Clarion.
Slippery Rock (6-4, 3-2), Clarion (7-3, 3-2), and Shippensburg (5-5, 3-2) are tied for second place, but at least one will lose this week since Slippery Rock plays Clarion. Shippensburg plays at California (6-4, 1-4).
Washington & Jefferson (7-2) will have to wait until Sunday to see if it qualified for the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Presidents play at Buffalo State (1-8) in their regular season finale.
A loss to No. 7 Hanover had apparently knocked Washington & Jefferson from playoff consideration, but the Presidents’ hopes of attaining an at large bit were improved when Hobart, Brockport State, and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps all lost last week.
The final game of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference schedule has Westminster (5-4, 3-1) playing host to Waynesburg (5-3, 2-2). Westminster can finish second outright in the conference with a win. A loss would leave the Titans tied with Waynesburg and Thiel for second.
Allegheny (4-5, 3-3) concludes its North Coast Athletic Conference schedule with a game at Ohio Wesleyan (5-4, 3-3).
Carnegie Mellon (5-4, 1-2) is at home for its final University Athletic Association Conference game against Rochester (1-8, 0-3).
Robert Morris (3-6, 2-4) concludes its disappointing season with a Northeast Conference game at St. Francis, Pa. (1-8, 0-6).
Mercyhurst (2-8, 1-8) is at home for its Great Lakes Athletic Conference finale against Hillsdale (3-7, 3-6).
Juniata (5-4, 4-4) concludes its Middle Atlantic Conference schedule with a game at Lycoming (5-3, 5-3).
Geneva (5-5, 2-3) caps its Mid-States Football Association Mideast League schedule with a home game against Urbana (1-9, 1-4).