Patriot League Post Mortem

[carney2]

Now that six of the seven teams are hangin' them up for another year, It's time for the post mortem. What the h _ _ l happened?

Before we start, how about the awards?

Offensive Player of the Year: Dominic Randolph, Soph. QB, Holy Cross

Defensive Player of the Year: Marcus Taylor, Senior LB, Fordham

Coach of the Year: Tom Gilmore, Holy Cross

The (few) bright spots of 2006:

Holy Cross makes an unexpected run at the title.

Bucknell gets up off the mat and shows some life.

The imponderables:

Why was the entire league so bad this year against non-conference foes?

What in the world happened at Colgate?

How long will the Lehigh rebuilding program take?

Why can't Lafayette beat an Ivy League team?

Did Fordham really make any progress this year?

Does Georgetown football have a future?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Patriot League posters are pretty vocal on this board. Let's hear from you.

[DFW HOYA]

Why was the entire league so bad this year against non-conference foes?
New coaches in three of seven schools, i.e, new systems to learn.

What in the world happened at Colgate?
Gaps in defense.

How long will the Lehigh rebuilding program take?
Two years.

Why can't Lafayette beat an Ivy League team?
They can, but they play the top half of the league rather than the bottom half. If Laf was playing Dartmouth and Columbia instead of H-Y-P, this probably wouldn't be a question.

Did Fordham really make any progress this year?
Offensively, yes. Defense? Not so sure. Still some gaps in the secondary.

Does Georgetown football have a future?
Of course it does--but questions like this show how how little the rest of the PL fanbase knows about the school. Why wouldn't it have a future with its coaching staff? Georgetown needs impact players, that's all. Georgetown needs impact players which, to date, it either a) can't recruit, b) can't get admitted, or c) can't offer enough aid to. When your team's leading rusher averages 36 yards a game this season, how many games does your team win?

[Lehigh Football Nation]

How long will the Lehigh rebuilding program take?
Two years.


Please tell me that this was Year 1... : smh :

[DFW HOYA]

Please tell me that this was Year 1... : smh :

Yes. It's a two year plan for Coen to get his own recruits and then he'll be ready...just like Georgetown :nod:

[carney2]

[i]Does Georgetown football have a future?
Of course it does--but questions like this show how how little the rest of the PL fanbase knows about the school. Why wouldn't it have a future with its coaching staff? Georgetown needs impact players, that's all. Georgetown needs impact players which, to date, it either a) can't recruit, b) can't get admitted, or c) can't offer enough aid to. When your team's leading rusher averages 36 yards a game this season, how many games does your team win?

The Georgetown argument or defense for its pathetic (sorry, just being honest) football program is getting awfully old. Let us take yet another look:

1. The Georgetown AI (that's Academic Index for those of you who attended my high school) is too high. It prevents the recruitment of good athletes.

As they say in polite circles: bullsquiggle! Come down off of your artificially inflated academic cloud and take a look around. The Georgetown AI is no higher than most of the rest of the Patriot League. In addition, we have all seen the likes of Allen Iverson and Patrick Ewing parading around in varsity Georgetown athletic gear, and we therefore understand that the good folks at the Georgetown Admissions Department are not above throwing up the "Welcome!" sign for (hey, here we go - honesty again) semi-literate morons if there is athletic advantage to be gained.

2. Georgetown does not have enough resources and therefore can't recruit enough athletes.

This argument is akin to me saying

"If I had a million dollars I'd be a millionaire and I'd live like a millionaire."

You say that the rest of the Patriot League - and the rest of I-AA football - does not understand and does not appreciate your position. How could we not? You tell us about it again and again. What we know - what we really know - is that nothing ever changes; nothing gets done. It's the same crap football and the same old song and dance year after year. Get in or get out. Do it or don't. Give us a call if anything ever changes down on the Potomac.

[DFW HOYA]

Throwing Allen Iverson's name around may be the weakest argument on this thread. This is the Patriot League's requirements at issue here, not the Big East.

The league enforces academic bands for recruiting. Georgetown's SAT-I bands are the highest of any PL school, with Colgate second. (For illustration purposes, the middle 50% of the overall Georgetown admissions pool for SAT math & verbal scores is 1350-1510. At Lafayette, it's 1200-1380.) When schools remain outside a band of recruits, that affects what talent is available to recruit onto the field in August. I don't claim it's the only impediment to success, but it is one to overcome.

[ngineer]

There will be plenty of question marks for most teams. Bucknell and Holy Cross have shown they must be contended with next year. Lafayette, Colgate and Lehigh will all be dealing with replacing various components of teams that all had sub-par years. Fordham and Georgetown should improve, but I don't see enough significant improvement to get them beyond the bottom two rungs.

[carney2]

There will be plenty of question marks for most teams. Bucknell and Holy Cross have shown they must be contended with next year. Lafayette, Colgate and Lehigh will all be dealing with replacing various components of teams that all had sub-par years. Fordham and Georgetown should improve, but I don't see enough significant improvement to get them beyond the bottom two rungs.

And, you might add, no one gives the appearance at this point of being heads and shoulders above the others, nor do any of them appear to be threats to work their way up the ladder of the Top 25. Someone may surprise. I have my eye on two possibilities.