Division I-AA’s playoff system is set up to keep

controversy at a minimum by letting its teams decide who’s the best on the field.

But, if the Eastern football team loses at Jacksonville State Saturday and Eastern Kentucky wins at Tennessee State, the Panthers, EKU and JSU will all finish 7-1 in conference. And then, the Ohio Valley Conference’s automatic bid to the postseason will be out of the players’ hands – it’ll be in the OVC commissioner’s hands.

The OVC announced its plans for breaking the potential three-way tie Tuesday. Each team’s logo will be printed on a sheet of paper and placed in unmarked envelopes. OVC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher will draw one envelope from a box 15 minutes after the Eastern Kentucky game, sending one team into the postseason.

If all three teams finish 7-1, they each would have wins over the rest of the OVC’s teams, nullifying the initial tiebreak procedures.

If the tie occurs, the draw will take place in the athletics offices at Jacksonville State. It would be the first time in OVC history there was a three-team tie at the top.

Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said he isn’t concerned with the tiebreak procedures – he’s concerned with the Gamecocks (6-4, 6-1 OVC).

“It’s just the way it is, and you’ve got to live with it,” he said. “We understand what the circumstances are, and we’re just trying to prepare to play a great football team.”

While Jacksonville State head coach Jack Crowe declined to comment on the tiebreak, the third coach in the mix, Eastern Kentucky’s Danny Hope, said he thinks there’s a better way to decide who goes to the playoffs and who goes home.

“I don’t like leaving it up to chance,” he said.

Hope said he’s in favor of a system that weighs multiple statistical figures with things like schedule strength and road winning percentage. And the team with the strongest composite rankings would earn the conference’s berth.

Eastern Kentucky (6-4, 6-1) will send a representative to Jacksonville State, and Hope said he has an idea who it should be.

“We’re looking for a leprechaun,” he said.

The odds of Hope getting his wish and finding a leprechaun rival the odds of a three-way tie of this nature occurring.

The odds of three teams finishing 7-1 in a nine-team conference are 32,781 to 1, according to one math professor’s calculations.

But with a Panther loss and an EKU win, a new set of odds become relevant. Eastern (8-2, 7-0) would have a 1-in-3 chance of heading to the playoffs.

Eastern Associate Athletic Director for Development John Smith said if the Panthers’ card weren’t drawn, it’d be a letdown.

“If we don’t make the playoffs, as great of a season as it’s been, it’s going to put a damper on the season,” he said. “You’re going to have a bunch of disappointed players, you’re going to have a bunch of disappointed coaches and you’re going to have a bunch of disappointed fans.”

If the Panthers win either their game with Jacksonville State or the OVC draw, Eastern could host its first playoff game since 2001.

To host a first round Division I-AA playoff game, a school must pledge $30,000 to the NCAA. The cost for a second-round game is $40,000, and the cost to host the semifinals is $50,000.

And Smith said hosting a first round game would be most challenging.

“The hardest one to meet is the $30,000 one because the students are gone,” Smith said. “We’re really going to have to hustle to sell tickets. Will our athletic department make any money off it? No.”

Smith spent 11 seasons on the Panther sidelines as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach, and he knows there are good reasons to host a game.

“It’s the pride of having it,” he said. “It helps to play at home for your team. “

And the dividends can spill into the postseason.

“It puts you as one of the top-16 teams in the country when you go out and recruit,” Smith said. “Kids like to play for winners.”