Kind of had a feeling

The Eastern Washington University Eagle football team celebrated senior day last Saturday in Cheney. Fourteen seniors were recognized for their efforts by Eagle Nation followed by a resounding 59-33 victory over rival Portland State.

For Portland State it has been a freefall from two seasons ago (2015) when the Vikings defeated WSU in Pullman and EWU in Cheney on their way to a NCAA football playoff berth.

This year, PSU finished an abysmal season at 0-11. Winless for sure but certainly game as they gave the Eagles everything the hometown team wanted in the first half.

Their upstart freshman QB tossed a Hail Mary pass on the last play of the first half bringing the Vikings within five at halftime.

It could have easily been tied but two missed extra points and an ugly field goal attempt fell far short of the intended target.

Welcome to why a team goes winless. The football bounces funny but never in the direction of the team with a zero in the win column or at least it seems that way.

But a rivalry game usually brings out the best in a team wanting to beat an opponent more than any other. There were several other plays, one of which was a 60-yard touchdown reception made by senior Nic Sblendorio.

The pass bounced off of a Viking DB’s helmet and Sblendorio snatched it out of the air before a PSU safety could knock the ball away from Nic. The Viking teammates collided and Sblendorio was off to the races.

Seriously, defensive plays like that only seem to happen when your team is winless.

Sblendorio finished out the Eagle scoring with what looked a lot like a video game play as Nic bobbed and weaved avoiding tacklers and following blockers scoring on a 74-yard play that probably covered another 25 as he played dodgeball with Portland State tacklers.

That play ended EWU’s scoring at 59 and from that point on the game was decided except for the final score as PSU got in the end zone one more time to take something positive home with them to Portland.

Eastern finished in a three way tie for third place as Southern Utah and Weber State finished as co-champions and were locks into the NCAA playoffs.

At 6-2 and 7-4 with a very tough schedule, the Eagles felt they did all they could to impress the selection committee and make the NCAA playoffs once again.

But on Sunday morning the teams were announced and Northern Arizona (NAU) was chosen instead Eastern.

Why? You know, the announcers on ESPNU asked a member of the selection committee why a couple of teams didn’t make it, but they never asked why NAU and not EWU.

Okay I’m a little biased but the Eagles won their last two games one on the road and NAU lost two of their last three one of those to Montana, which EWU defeated earlier in the season.

Both of those games were on the road. EWU defeated Montana State (MSU) by 12 at home holding the Bobcats to 19 while NAU beat MSU by one at home.

If you look at the games that are comparative the Eags certainly were the better team over the long haul and didn’t limp into the playoffs not playing their best football.

If the selection committee was looking for teams that have a history of winning playoff games then the Eagles were the right choice.

But maybe the committee was looking for teams that played in domed stadiums. Maybe the NCAA is still upset that EWU didn’t bring in more temporary seating a few seasons back when they were playing Montana.

The reasoning? EWU didn’t get any of the gate receipts for the playoff game and adding more seats would have meant more Montana fans and less of a home field advantage. Good reasoning! Oh yeah, EWU won that playoff game.

The next question that someone might ask is, “Is EWU good enough to win a National Championship this year?”

I think there are only a couple of teams that are good enough over the next few weeks to reach that plateau: James Madison University and North Dakota State. But when the playoffs begin there are always upsets.

What really matters is the extra playing and practice time the teams get. That is what helps keep teams sharp and hungry and gets the attention of recruits.

But the Eagles will bounce back, I’m sure.

Am I upset with the selection committee by snubbing the Eagles? I’m not mad but I am disappointed. But I kind of had a feeling that it might play out this way.

By the way, EWU has scheduled NAU in the future when the two teams aren’t playing a conference game. I guess so something like this doesn’t happen again.