First 'playoff' game is Saturday

The Penguins must win their regular-season finale to qualify for the postseason.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The NCAA I-AA playoffs begin Saturday for Youngstown State and Western Kentucky when they square off Saturday in the Penguins' regular season finale at Stambaugh Stadium.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
For both teams the scenario is an easy one. Win and you play again, lose and get ready for next season.
Both teams come into the game riding two-game losing streaks, and both teams have lost to the same teams, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois.
In the driver's seat
The Salukis are in the driver's seat in the Gateway Conference with a 5-1 record. Southern Illinois would win its third straight conference title with a win over a red-hot Northern Iowa team Saturday.
A Northern Iowa victory would leave the Gateway title in a three-way tie with the Panthers, SIU and the winner of the YSU-Western Kentucky game.
Northern Iowa would get the automatic bid since it beat the other teams involved and the other two would have to rely on an at-large selection.
YSU athletic director Ron Strollo feels very confident the Penguins would get a bid if they beat Western Kentucky.
"Talking with people on the selection committee we've found out that they currently have us sitting in the No. 15 position for the 16-team field," Strollo said.
"A win over Western Kentucky would only move us up," he added. "Not into a top-eight seed position, but probably around No. 10-to-No. 13 spot."
Regardless whether there is two or three teams chosen from the Gateway, Strollo feels the Penguins will be on the road for the first round of the playoffs.
"If there are three teams selected from the Gateway and we're No. 3, then I think we'll probably head east for the playoffs, probably a game against UMass or Lehigh," he said.
There are eight automatic bids that will be announced Nov. 20, representing the champions of the Gateway, Atlantic 10, Big Sky, MEAC, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern and Southland conferences.
The final eight selections will be at-large teams and there is a good possibility that three conferences -- Gateway, Atlantic 10 and Southern -- all could get three teams into the playoffs.
Two eligible conferences, the SWAC and the Ivy League, will not participate in the playoffs. The SWAC has a conference championship Nov. 26 (the same day as the first round of the playoffs), although their No. 2 teams could qualify, but not likely. The Ivy League does not participate in postseason play.
mollica@vindy.com