FCS Playoffs 2018: Underdogs steal show in quarterfinals

While the FBS waits for its postseason, the FCS playoffs is down to its final four. Let’s review the quarterfinal action from across the country.

FBS football was largely on a bye week, with the only game on the calendar the traditional Army-Navy game in Philadelphia. Fans prepared to see which quarterback from a Power Five conference champion would receive the Heisman Trophy at the Downtown Athletic Club in Manhattan, and 78 teams prepared for their trip to a bowl game this year.

After the College Football Playoff replaced the Bowl Championship Series in 2014, it has only become more apparent that a larger playoff is an eventuality at the highest level of the sport. From two teams to four teams, the field will grow sooner or later once schools recognize the money available and the increased suspense of expanding the field.

While people try to hem and haw about whether an expanded playoff would have a deleterious impact on academics, we already have plenty of proof showing how a larger playoff in college football can fit around an academic calendar. The best example is right below the FBS at the level that contests the only definitive NCAA-sanctioned college football national championship at the Division I level.

This weekend, eight of the top teams in the FCS battled in the quarterfinals for the right to reach the final four. Let’s break down the four contests from Friday night and Saturday before taking an initial look at the semifinal pairings.