Toughest Patriot League Schedule for 2012?

[carney2]

Since they play each other, I'm only listing the OOC games here:

BUCKNELL
@ Marist
@ Delaware
Cornell
@ Harvard
Bryant

COLGATE
@ Albany
@ South Dakota
Sacred Heart
@ Stony Brook
@ Yale

FORDHAM
Lock Haven
@ Villanova
Cornell
@ Columbia
@ Cincinnati

GEORGETOWN
@ Davidson
Wagner
Yale
@ Princeton
Brown

HOLY CROSS
New Hampshire
Brown
Dartmouth
@ Harvard
@ Wagner

LAFAYETTE
@ William & Mary
Pennsylvania
@ Robert Morris
Princeton
@ Yale

LEHIGH
Monmouth
@ Central Connecticut
Princeton
@ Liberty
Columbia

I'm having trouble ranking them. Everyone has a tough game or two and each also seems to have a cupcake or two. Here's one curmudgeon's attempt to sort it out:

1. Bucknell. Delaware and Harvard more than offsets the crap on this list.
2. Fordham. Cincinnati is the single toughest opponent on any of these schedules. If 'nova can get their mojo working again, maybe this is the toughest, even with a D-2 game.
3. Holy Cross. New Hampshire and Harvard moves this schedule into the top 3
4. Lafayette. William & Mary and Penn would almost tie Holy Cross, but Robert Morris and Princeton are downers.
5. Georgetown. Some OK names, but not some OK football.
6. Colgate. Stony Brook and Albany and then...
7. Lehigh. Liberty and not much else. Princeton AND Columbia - how low can you go?!

[hebmskebm]

I'd say Colgate because of 1. Only 1 home game 2. Travel to South Dakota, who beat a Big 10 team two years ago 3. Two playoff teams in Albany + SB

[Fordham]

good analysis carney but I agree with heb that you seem to have overlooked SD on 'gate's skid.

I have to say, very impressive OOC imo for the PL overall. Is this as much of a bump up as I'm making it out to be versus prior years or is it comparable?

Note: I could be getting my SD's messed up. Perhaps it' s"State" I have on the brain and SD not too formidable. I started to look it up and then realized I really don't care that much and if I'm wrong it will be pointed out.

[DFW HOYA]

Rankings by average Sagarin ratings of 246 Div. I teams, with Lock Haven being assigned 247 for these purposes:

1. Holy Cross (average opponent rating: 161.6)
2. Colgate (169.2)
3. Bucknell (172.2)
4. Fordham (178.0)
5. Lafayette (203.8)
6. Georgetown (206.4)
7. Lehigh (207.8)

[TheValleyRaider]

Note: I could be getting my SD's messed up. Perhaps it' s"State" I have on the brain and SD not too formidable. I started to look it up and then realized I really don't care that much and if I'm wrong it will be pointed out.

South Dakota went 6-5 last year, beating Minnesota in 2010. This will be their first season as a playoff-eligible Division I team, and will be in the Missouri Valley Conference. It's a long way out to Vermillion, but the Coyotes are going to be no slouch

[TheValleyRaider]

Having a go at it...

1. Colgate - 4 road games is no picnic, with 2 full scholarship teams (SB and SD), 2 playoff teams (SB and Albany). Yale is a question mark with the new coach, but not terrifying. And then there's Sacred Heart
2. Bucknell - Delaware and Harvard tough. Bryant not bad. Cornell and Marist not so much
3. Holy Cross - UNH and Harvard is a nice pair. Brown at home not bad either, though Dartmouth and Wagner aren't scaring anyone
4. Lafayette - W&M and Penn is a nice pair. Robert Morris is an intriguing game, and it's on the road. Yale similar, but Princeton not so great
5. Lehigh - Liberty and CCSU is a good pair of road games. Princeton, Columbia and Monmouth should not be that difficult though
6. Fordham - Cincinnati is the best team on anyone's schedule, but Lock Haven is probably the worst. At Nova will be tough, but they're not the national contenders of 2008-10. Cornell and Columbia? Yeah...
7. Georgetown - Brown could be competitive in the Ivy League. Otherwise, if the Hoya turnaround is more than 1 season, they should be in good shape OOC

[carney2]

Not buying the Colgate argument, but perhaps my positioning as no. 6 might be out of line. We're talking about South Dakota here, not South Dakota STATE. The Coyotes

2011: 6-5 played and lost to Air Force and Wisconsin
2010: 4-7 beat Minnesota
2009: 5-6 played no one of national significance

Other Patriot League teams are playing tougher opponents without getting on a plane. Try Delaware, Cincinnati, William and Mary, Harvard to name only a few.

[ngineer]

Agreed on the Princeton and Columbia lowbrow, however, Princeton is 'traditional'...as I believe for the 'pards. Why Columbia...who knows other than we haven't played them for about 15 years. CCSU away is not an easy game, and while we should beat Monmouth, they're not 'chopped liver'. Liberty the only 'marquee' game. That should be an interesting trip.

[Franks Tanks]

Rankings by average Sagarin ratings of 246 Div. I teams, with Lock Haven being assigned 247 for these purposes:

1. Holy Cross (average opponent rating: 161.6)
2. Colgate (169.2)
3. Bucknell (172.2)
4. Fordham (178.0)
5. Lafayette (203.8)
6. Georgetown (206.4)
7. Lehigh (207.8)

Lock Haven is one of the worst teams in D-II. They lost almost 40 games in a row, so their "true" ranking would be about 350, or right at the bottom of D-II. Fordham already has two very tough games with Cincy and Nova, so can't knock them too much with the Lock Haven cream puff.

Colgate has the best schedule per the rankings but they lack a marquee game such as Delaware, Nova, or William & Mary. I fully understand USD is a good team, but it wont get Gate' alums excited.

Also I do think Cornell will finally be pretty good next year. They should be a more difficult match than Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, and perhaps even Yale. Good things are finally happening in Ithica!

[darell1976]

Not buying the Colgate argument, but perhaps my positioning as no. 6 might be out of line. We're talking about South Dakota here, not South Dakota STATE. The Coyotes

2011: 6-5 played and lost to Air Force and Wisconsin
2010: 4-7 beat Minnesota
2009: 5-6 played no one of national significance

Other Patriot League teams are playing tougher opponents without getting on a plane. Try Delaware, Cincinnati, William and Mary, Harvard to name only a few.

South Dakota is very tough at home. They beat Eastern Washington in 2011 who was coming off of a National Title in 2010. The Yotes do have a new coach so whether or not they will be the same team is anyone's guess.

[aceinthehole]

I'd say Colgate because of 1. Only 1 home game 2. Travel to South Dakota, who beat a Big 10 team two years ago 3. Two playoff teams in Albany + SB

Agreed, Colgate is the toughest. Lots of road games, scholarship/playoff teams ...

Lafayette is pretty tough as well - 3 on the road and none are pushovers, Penn and Princeton at home are solid matchups.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Colgate
Holy Cross
Bucknell
Fordham
Lafayette
Georgetown
Lehigh

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Lehigh's OOC schedule isn't that bad imo.

Liberty and CCSU are two quality road games. I'm assuming it will be at night game in Lynchburg which will certainly raise the stakes.

Princeton is a long time local rival and always provide a tough test. For whatever reason they seem to play their best game of the year against Lehigh.

Monmouth, at Goodman, is the perfect opener. Decent team but should be over by the 4th....

I don't understand Columbia other than it better be a win. Lehigh last played the Lions in 1999 and won 63-13.

The perfect schedule for Lehigh imo would be 2 Ivies (rotate Harvard, Penn, Yale and Princeton), 2 NEC's (1 good, one bad; scheduled win) and a high quality CAA (UD, UNH, JMU, Richmond, Nova etc). They could rotate out one of the NEC's for a FBS or another elite FCS game every 3-4 years.

[Bogus Megapardus]

I don't understand Columbia other than it better be a win.


Columbia is more of a Lafayette rival than a Lehigh rival, but the Lions quit playing us a couple of years ago, due apparently to their version of "The Curse." Lafayette and Columbia gave been playing since 1884 and the Lions have never - EVER - won a game in Easton in nearly 130 years.

Some of the Pard faithful tend to enjoy reminding them of that fact, from time to time.

[carney2]

Agreed on the Princeton and Columbia lowbrow, however, Princeton is 'traditional'...as I believe for the 'pards. Why Columbia...who knows other than we haven't played them for about 15 years. CCSU away is not an easy game, and while we should beat Monmouth, they're not 'chopped liver'. Liberty the only 'marquee' game. That should be an interesting trip.

Yada, yada, yada. The ChickenSquawks are taking a stroll down to the bakery this fall to load up on cupcakes.

[carney2]

Columbia is more of a Lafayette rival than a Lehigh rival, but the Lions quit playing us a couple of years ago, due apparently to their version of "The Curse." Lafayette and Columbia gave been playing since 1884 and the Lions have never - EVER - won a game in Easton in nearly 130 years.

Some of the Pard faithful tend to enjoy reminding them of that fact, from time to time.

But then the geniuses of Morningside Heights traded Lafayette, a school that just doesn't seem to have their heart in this football thing, for Lehigh who was Top 10 in the country last year.

[frozennorth]

i expect sb to be one of the top fcs teams next year, and albany and sd are no slouches. On the colgate has the hardest schedule bandwagon, in other words.

[Engineer86]

1) Colgate
2) Bucknell
3) Fordham
4) HC
5) Lafayette
6) Lehigh
7) Georgetown - stop the free passes just to take a shot at Lehigh's schedule.

We better win the PL cause to me on paper our schedule is a hard sell for an at large even at 10-1 or 9-2. Thankfully I am not on the committee ;)

[LUHawker]

But then the geniuses of Morningside Heights traded Lafayette, a school that just doesn't seem to have their heart in this football thing, for Lehigh who was Top 10 in the country last year.

That's Top 5, Bogie. :D

[ngineer]

Yada, yada, yada. The ChickenSquawks are taking a stroll down to the bakery this fall to load up on cupcakes.

Just so long as they're "sprinkled" with five wins...(;-)

[ngineer]

1) Colgate
2) Bucknell
3) Fordham
4) HC
5) Lafayette
6) Lehigh
7) Georgetown - stop the free passes just to take a shot at Lehigh's schedule.

We better win the PL cause to me on paper our schedule is a hard sell for an at large even at 10-1 or 9-2. Thankfully I am not on the committee ;)

One never knows until the season is played out. CCSU could be one of the top teams in the NEC and Liberty- a tough away venue-may be in the top 20 range again. Many of the "powers" of FCS have regularly scheduled D-II schools and other 'unknowns' and not had it held against them. All depends who beats who...and WHEN in the season. Early toe stubs don't seem to get counted as much as late season missteps. Plus, the ol' "what have done lately" line comes into play as we've built up decent capital the past two years. But winning the League certainly is most important.

[RichH2]

Just my 2 cents..Gate seems to have the strongest OOC. LU intelligently scheduled a lighter OOC with the graduation of Lum and the Front 7 on D.

[Engineer86]

Just my 2 cents..Gate seems to have the strongest OOC. LU intelligently scheduled a lighter OOC with the graduation of Lum and the Front 7 on D.

I agree with this. Keeping the wins at a high level going into scholarships is important. Al Davis had a point. Just win Baby!

[van]

But then the geniuses of Morningside Heights traded Lafayette, a school that just doesn't seem to have their heart in this football thing, for Lehigh who was Top 10 in the country last year.

Lions just trying to upgrade their schedule with better competition, this trading pards for engineers.

[ngineer]

Just my 2 cents..Gate seems to have the strongest OOC. LU intelligently scheduled a lighter OOC with the graduation of Lum and the Front 7 on D.

A lot of scheduling is limited to whose available for certain dates and not by design.

[RichH2]

A lot of scheduling is limited to whose available for certain dates and not by design.

True enuf, whether by design or happenstance, a lighter OOC good for next season as we break in lots of new faces. My hunch is thst AD did limit his options to weaker teams as best he could

[Go...gate]

It did not occur that Colgate had scheduled two (actually three, if you count the Engineers) of 2011's play-off participants. What is interesting is that Colgate has returned, at least for next season, to its tradition of scheduling a limited number of home games (4). I can remember when we played 11 games in a season and only had two at home.