Chuck B.

Here's my thought as to who the 20-team field will be.

First, the seeds.

[B]Appalachian State[/B], despite losing to FBS Florida handily today, wins the No. 1 seed since Delaware could not hold on against Villanova in a 28-21 instant classic. (The win by the Wildcats, incidentally, puts them right into an at-large bid.)

[B]William & Mary[/B], CAA champions, are the No. 2, thanks to their resounding 41-3 win over Richmond.

[B]Montana State[/B] is the No. 3, thanks to their 21-16 win over Montana in the 110th "Brawl of the Wild".

And No. 4 belongs to [B]Stephen F. Austin[/B], whose convincing 36-13 victory for the "Chief Caddo" trophy also seems to have given the Lumberjacks a seed as well.

The No. 5 seed seems destined to be [B}Delaware[/B]'s, despite the loss today. As at-large teams go, two last-second defeats to top teams is an extremely strong resume, and a tiny bit better than the other teams in the field.

The at-large teams I'm picking to be:
[B]Delaware (9-2)
Eastern Washington (9-2)
Wofford (9-2)
New Hampshire (7-4)
Villanova (7-4)
Jacksonville State (9-2)
Georgia Southern (7-4)
Western Illinois (7-4)
South Carolina State (9-2)
Liberty (8-3)[/B]

It seems like [B]North Dakota State[/B] seems like the odd team out versus Liberty, my last team in. Why? I think it comes down to two things: both the Bison and Flames have an FBS win, and the Flames won their last game and only lost the autobid due to the fifth tiebreaker. I refuse to believe the NCAA will punish Liberty for doing their best to win their game handily - giving the autobid away to Coastal Carolina - to lose the playoffs on a tiebreaker.

In contrast, the Bison lost their last game against Missouri State and frankly don't have a quality win on their schedule.

With those teams, here's my stab at the brackets:

[B]Mountaineer Bracket
First Round[/B]
Robert Morris at Liberty
[B]Second Round[/B]
First Round Winner vs. No. 1 Appalachian State
Villanova at Northern Iowa

[B]Tribe Bracket
First Round[/B]
Coastal Carolina at South Carolina State
[B]Second Round[/B]
First Round Winner vs. No. 2 William & Mary
Wofford at Jacksonville State

[B]Bobcat Bracket
First Round[/B]
Western Illinois at Southeast Missouri State
[B]Second Round[/B]
First Round Winner vs. No. 3 Montana State
New Hampshire at Eastern Washington

[B]Lumberjack Bracket
First Round[/B]
Bethune-Cookman at Georgia Southern
[B]Second Round[/B]
First Round Winner vs. No. 4 Stephen F. Austin
Lehigh at No. 5 Delaware