Playoff Seeds and Homefield Advantage on the Line in Florida
Playoff Seeds and Homefield Advantage on the Line in Florida
Florida’s DIAA league comes to a key moment as the final weekend of the result season looms this coming weekend.
The key result here is whether Florida State can secure the first-round by into the semifinals. Really all the Seminoles need to do is get a close loss or even just four tries and they beat out Central Florida. A tie would do it too. But at 5-0 you can bet FSU is looking for a perfect 6-0. Either way, Florida State is favored to do the job over North Florida and take 1st.
Central Florida is guaranteed the #2 seed after beating Florida Atlantic 49-12. Aaron Liberti opened the scoring with a try for UCF only to go off injured, but the Knights kept up the pressure and Flyhalf Caleb Goertzen scored two tries and converted seven for 24 points in the win.
That made UCF 49-12 and secured a home 1st-round playoff game.
All of the teams enter the playoffs, but playing it home is an advantage so there's still a chase for those coveted spots. North Florida, win or lose, should host because they are a comfortable nine points ahead of Florida and South Florida. So the question really comes down to whether Florida International can hold on to fourth.
FIU won a big game 31-22 over Florida last weekend. That bumped them to 2-3 and dropped the Gators to 1-4. This week FIU plays 1-4 Florida Atlantic, while Florida and South Florida face off. The winner of Florida vs USF will be the one hoping for a stumble by FIU in order to clinch that home playoff spot. FIU just needs a tie or two bonus points (or a win, of course) to clinch 4th, but a bad day at the office could see someone else slide past.
Florida Atlantic, putting aside this past weekend's result, is no guarantee. While going 1-4 they have actually won two games, but had to forfeit one of those (and they forfeited a game that was a loss, hence the -2 in the Bonus Loss column).
| Florida DIAA | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | PTS |
| UCF | 5 | 1 | 0 | 206 | 139 | 67 | 5 | 0 | 25 |
| FSU | 5 | 0 | 0 | 172 | 79 | 93 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| UNF | 3 | 2 | 0 | 106 | 107 | -1 | 4 | 0 | 16 |
| FIU | 2 | 3 | 0 | 135 | 147 | -12 | 3 | 0 | 11 |
| FLA | 1 | 4 | 0 | 111 | 156 | -45 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| USF | 1 | 4 | 0 | 109 | 165 | -56 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| FAU | 1 | 4 | 0 | 103 | 149 | -46 | 1 | -2 | 3 |
So the playoff scenario probably look like this:
1st-Round Bye (barring a big surprise): Florida State
FAU at Central Florida
loser of UF v USF at North Florida
winner of UC v USF at FIU (but possible the hosting is flipped)
