For the third straight season, the Bears will be a playoff team. The thrilling 49-47 victory over Western Carolina in Cullowhee last Saturday gave Mercer its second consecutive SoCon championship and automatic
bid into the FCS postseason. Until 2023, the program had never seen a playoff game. Now? They’ll be getting ready to host one again. While they have a spot locked up, though, Mike Jacobs’ team still has plenty to play for over the next two weeks. Here’s what’s still on the line for Mercer as it gets ready for one more league game (Chattanooga) and a non-conference finale with Auburn.
A Top Eight Seed
It’s no secret that securing one of the bracket’s top eight seeds is of the utmost importance for teams’ national championship aspirations. In fact, the last time a team that didn’t receive a first round bye made it all the way to the big game was in 2016 when Youngstown State made its run. Under the current playoff model with the top eight seeds receiving first-round byes, 21 of the 22 national title game participants were one of those seeds and all 11 national champions in that span were a top eight seed.
Last year, Mercer received its first top eight seed in school history and it was by no coincidence that the Bears also made it to the quarterfinals for the first time ever. It certainly seems as though getting one of these top spots, though, is going to be a difficult task this year. The crop of teams vying for a bye is crowded, especially with undefeateds out there like Harvard, Tennessee Tech and Lehigh that could all get that nod if they run the table. Mercer will not be unbeaten so they will need to really impress in their final two games to make their case. That means beating Chattanooga this weekend and doing so handedly paired with a strong showing against Auburn in Jordan-Hare.
Home Games
While it is virtually impossible that the Bears receive a top two seed and get granted homefield advantage throughout the duration of the playoffs, there is still a very real chance that they could get home games into the quarterfinals. A bye week would come with an automatic home game in the second round but, if Mercer were to somehow land as a top four seed, they would be guaranteed another game in Macon if they get past the second round. The road to that happening is, admittedly, a long one but it is technically possible at this point.
The Bears would need to beat Chattanooga soundly and probably pull off a stunner against the Tigers on November 22. That would not only give them a final regular season record of 10-1 but a win over an FBS team to close out the year would most definitely work in their favor in the eyes of the committee. Even in that scenario, though, they probably would need outside help in the form of losses from either Montana, Montana State (and one of these two will have one after they meet), North Dakota State and/or Lehigh who was ranked #4 in the committee’s last rankings reveal. If all of these stars align, though, it is not out of the realm of possibilities.
Of course, another way that Mercer can keep playing at home is if upsets happen elsewhere once the playoffs begin. The higher seed will always host until the national championship game so even if they do not grab one of the top four seeds, if lower seeded or unseeded teams win on their side of the bracket, the Bears will keep on playing at home.
