The UTC team poses for a photo after the Mocs' 31-13 win over the Wofford Terriers on Nov. 8, 2014, at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga. The win netted the Mocs the SoCon championship and a spot in the playoffs.Mocs GlanceUTC (8-3) at FURMAN (3-8)Saturday, 3:30 p.m., Paladin Stadium96.1 FM, American Sports Network TV
All that matters, for now, is that the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team has assured itself a spot in the FCS playoffs. But once Saturday's regular-season finale at Furman is over, should the Mocs win, the focus will be on how high a seed they get.
Beating Furman would give UTC its first unbeaten Southern Conference season and equal the most wins in program history. Mocs coach Russ Huesman believes that resume should be enough to claim one of the top eight seeds and a first-round bye.
But as Huesman added, he has been wrong before in trying to determine the FCS playoff selection committee's logic.
The 11 committee members, made up of one representative from each of the conferences whose champion is an automatic qualifier, will meet Saturday night to determine the bracket, which will be announced on ESPNU Sunday at 11.
This is the second year that Wofford athletic director Richard Johnson has represented the Southern Conference on the committee and while he couldn't go into specifics, he did say that choosing the top eight seeds is every bit as difficult as making the deciding on the last couple of bubble teams to get at-large bids.
"It's a very thorough process with a lot of data at our disposal and a lot of tough choices," Johnson said. "We've had weekly conference calls for the past six weeks and it's been an ongoing process. The amount of hard work and dedication that goes into it, by a lot of people, is amazing.
"We go team by team and case by case to see how each one has played against their schedule. Everything is factored in, injuries, strength of schedule, who teams lost to, it's all part of it. We recognize the gravity of the decisions that are made and our goal is to make sure the best 24 teams are in."
Johnson added that the two national rankings -- FCS Coaches Poll and The Sports Network poll -- have no bearing on where teams will wind up seeded. UTC is currently No. 9 in both polls.
There are numerous college football websites with projected brackets and only one currently has UTC as a top eight seed. That bracket, on collegesportsmadness.com, predicts the Mocs, after a first-round bye, to host the winner of a projected matchup of James Madison vs. Southeastern Louisiana.
Other sites, including Fox's beyondsportsnetwork.com, has the Mocs just outside the top eight but hosting a first-round game against Southeastern Louisiana and then traveling to Jacksonville State for a possible rematch should they win their opener.
The biggest change to this year's FCS bracket is that it expanded to 24 teams, up four from previous years, with 13 at-large bids. Under the new format, UTC would have gotten a bid to last year's playoff.
On the bus ride home from last year's final regular-season game at Alabama, Coach Huesman and the rest of the team were keeping up with late games and trying to figure out whether they would get a bid. Knowing he doesn't have to worry about that this time around, Huesman said earlier this week that if the Mocs win, he'll likely just relax and enjoy watching college football on the ride home from Furman.
"I brought up a couple of things in the team meeting (Sunday)," Huesman said. "One of them was we need this game if we even want a chance at a seed. They understand that. I think the big thing is we want to win so we can maybe get a seed in the playoffs. I also told them it would be pretty cool to be undefeated in the league. They understand all these things.
"It'll be a different feeling on the ride home. If we win then we've done all we can. We've taken care of our business."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.