Redlands football team left out of playoffs

The University of Redlands football team will not be going to the playoffs.

The Bulldogs finished a stellar season 8-1, the lone loss coming to Cal Lutheran 24-22 in the first week of SCIAC play. Even that early it looked as if that loss would be costly and it was because the Kingsmen ran the table in the conference to claim the automatic bid. 
In football second place in the SCIAC has historically not been good enough for an at-large bid. In Mike Maynard’s two decades directing the Bulldogs a second place team has not gotten in the playoffs.
Geography hurts the West coast teams when it comes to football. Linfield (Ore.) was the lone representative out of the Northwest Conference. It had a solid second place team too in Pacific Lutheran (8-1), which is ranked nationally, and it didn’t make the playoffs either. So in all likelihood, Redlands probably wasn’t close.
It’s too bad for the 24 Redlands seniors, particularly ones like Dan Selway and Mike Nicolini who have been the backbone of the program in recent years.  At least the Bulldogs went out in memorable fashion with Selway scoring on a 2 yard run with 1:19 left for a 21-17 win over Chapman on Saturday at Ted Runner Stadium.
They gave it their best shot. Now it’s up to Cal Lutheran to represent the SCIAC. 

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