While the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was getting knocked around by Auburn last week, other Football Championship Subdivision teams were playing games that affected their NCAA playoff possibilities.
For the Mocs (5-4, 4-2 Southern Conference), their mission is clear and straightforward: Beat Samford on Saturday and No. 4 Wofford next week and hope a 7-4 record against a tough schedule is enough to earn them an at-large bid.
“Obviously right now we know if we lose we’re out of it and won’t be playing in postseason play,” Mocs coach Russ Huesman said. “I bet there’s 20 or 25 teams out there in the same boat we’re in right now.”
Only one team has already earned a spot in the 20-team playoff field. Robert Morris has won the Northeast Athletic Conference, which has one of the 10 automatic bids.
Elsewhere in the FCS, teams are still fighting for conference titles and at-large bids. The top three teams in both major FCS polls – Appalachian State, Jacksonville State and Villanova – lost last week, which opened some conference races a little but likely didn’t affect the at-large hopefuls much.