Penguins again shunned for playoffs

Youngstown State finished the season 8-3, but was not selected for the final 16.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- For the third time in the past 10 years, the Youngstown State football team was bypassed for the NCAA Division I-AA football playoffs despite having an 8-3 record.
The Penguins sat patiently Sunday watching the I-AA selection show carried by ESPN News in the DeBartolo Stadium Club which was packed with YSU fans.
Even when it came down to the final two teams to be announced, the Penguins still believed they would be in the field.
Not until the University of Lafayette was named as the final team in the field did the Penguins realize they had been left out again.
Third time in 10 seasons
The Penguins had been bypassed in 1996 and again in 2001 with 8-3 records, but those seasons they had played two Division II teams and were credited with only six Division I-AA victories.
This season, the Penguins' only Division II game was the season opener with Slippery Rock, so they had reached the required seven I-AA win plateau.
"I was 95 percent sure we were going to get in," a disappointed YSU head coach Jon Heacock said.
The Penguins finished in a three-way deadlock for the Gateway Conference championship. The two teams tied with them -- Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois -- qualified. Both those teams defeated the Penguins in regular-season play.
"I'm really disappointed in the disrespect for our conference," Heacock said. "The strength of our conference this year was unbelievable. We had as many as five teams ranked in the polls most of the season.
Out of their hands
"There is always a doubt when you leave the results in the hands of others, but I felt pretty good about our chances going in," Heacock said.
"We had the opportunity to erase any doubts and all it would have taken is a win in one of those two games we lost in the conference," Heacock said. "The automatic bid is the only way you can ever be assured of getting a spot in the playoffs.
"You just can't leave things in somebody else's hands and feel secure about it," Heacock said.
Lafayette's win over Lehigh on Saturday was the deciding blow for the Penguins. It enabled the Patriot League to get two teams into the playoffs as Colgate was the conference champion.
Top seeded
New Hampshire was the top seed in the playoffs and will entertain Colgate in the opening round.
Appalachian State was the No. 2 seed and will host Lafayette, meaning that Colgate and Lafayette were the 15th and 16th teams selected.
The other seeds included undefeated Hampton at No. 3 which will host Richmond and No. 4 seed Texas State which will host Georgia Southern.
The other four games includes Gateway's automatic seed Northern Iowa playing host to Eastern Washington, Montana hosting Cal Poly, Eastern Illinois hosting Southern Illinois and Furman playing at home against Nicholls State.
First-round action will be played Saturday and the first three rounds will be played on campus sites. The championship game is set for Dec. 16 at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn.
mollica@vindy.com