NEC Championship Game

[Original_RMC]

11/21: St. Francis @ Duquesne Noon Kick-Off
Winner claims NEC title and FCS bid.

[taper]

I really like seeing titles decided in the last week. Not always easy to schedule for that.

[DetroitFlyer]

Pulling for the Red Flash. Chris deserves consideration for coach of the year!

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

We deserve College Gameday!

[UNHWildcat18]

I think St.Francis is going to win. Really wish Bryant won the NEC this year, but they choked against SHU. with the new workout facility and IPF coming I really think they are going to win some recruiting battles this offseason. Do you think the NEC champ will host a game or have to go play at a UNH or colgate or JMU type scenario?

[aceinthehole]

I think St.Francis is going to win. Really wish Bryant won the NEC this year, but they choked against SHU. with the new workout facility and IPF coming I really think they are going to win some recruiting battles this offseason. Do you think the NEC champ will host a game or have to go play at a UNH or colgate or JMU type scenario?

I doubt either team will be able to put together a bid to host. Rooney Field is so small, I don't think they could break even with a sellout unless they charged $35+ per ticket. Playing in the Pine Bowl in Loretto requires travel worse than Hamilton, NY and I don't think they can draw more than 2k for a playoff game.

Will the NEC play the PL for the 3rd year in a row in the first round? Of course I can also see us sent to a CAA team. But with the NEC champ coming from Western PA, it opens up the chance of a game vs the MVFC or OVC.

[DetroitFlyer]

SFUP vs Dayton would be interesting. Play in Dayton.

[RootinFerDukes]

I think St.Francis is going to win. Really wish Bryant won the NEC this year, but they choked against SHU. with the new workout facility and IPF coming I really think they are going to win some recruiting battles this offseason. Do you think the NEC champ will host a game or have to go play at a UNH or colgate or JMU type scenario?

In this scenario, it would be Colgate to JMU and nec winner to unh. That would be a tougher draw for JMU. Also potentially Fordham to either school.
They avoid same season rematches in the first round.

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

SFUP vs Dayton would be interesting. Play in Dayton.

I would be able to attend that game.

[RootinFerDukes]

Unless both Dayton and Saint Francis win bids against CAA, Mvfc or ovc teams, there's 0% chance of that matchup happening.

[downbythebeach]

Anybody going?

[melloware13]

Unless both Dayton and Saint Francis win bids against CAA, Mvfc or ovc teams, there's 0% chance of that matchup happening.
Dayton does have a history of hosting NCAA events, and it's not like Welcome Stadium is that small (about equal to Zable). One interesting possibility (maybe not for JMU fans) could be Colgate-Nova, NEC-Dayton; likely feeding into CAA winner or Il State

[FordhamFan]

It's interesting the amount of northeast(ish) region teams there are this year. You'll have NEC winner, Colgate, probably Fordham, potentially UNH. Somebody will probably get a unique matchup with a midwest or more southern CAA team that isn't that common. That'll be fun

[MTfan4life]

I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but not only is this the NEC championship game...It is also a matchup of the two teams who are second to last and last place in average attendance in the FCS. (125th and 126th place)

Didn't Wagner win the bid to host Colgate a few seasons ago? Even with the small attendance, it seems other schools have put up lofty bids in the past.

[RedFlash]

I will be at Duquesne on Saturday pulling for the Red Flash. It should be an interesting game. I haven't had a chance to see Duquesne play this year, but with home field advantage, I would think that they have to be a slight favorite in this one. And yes, there's no way in the world either NEC team hosts a playoff game. Assume it would be at JMU or Fordham - with my preference, as a fan of either the Dukes or SFU, would be Fordham.

[blackbeard]

I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but not only is this the NEC championship game...It is also a matchup of the two teams who are second to last and last place in average attendance in the FCS. (125th and 126th place)

Didn't Wagner win the bid to host Colgate a few seasons ago? Even with the small attendance, it seems other schools have put up lofty bids in the past.

Congrats to both SFU and Duquesne, nice to see the AQ coming down to the last game and it being played on the field head to head. These attendance numbers are disappointing, and the team just in front of both is Robert Morris is another NEC member from western Pennsylvania. I don't know what that says but it needs improvement if the NEC wants to continue to gain credibility.

Wagner did host Colgate in the playoffs in 2012, beat them 31-20. Then traveled to EWU and played very tough game losing 29-19. Not sure if Wagner put up the bid by itself or if the conference chipped in. There was discussion that the conference aided but that was never confirmed.

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

Saint Francis has a history of losing to scare away fans and then the Big Lion in the valley prevents a sizable fan base from growing. It is an uphill climb.

[RedFlash]

Saint Francis has a history of losing to scare away fans and then the Big Lion in the valley prevents a sizable fan base from growing. It is an uphill climb.

Agreed. This team has been a sub .500 team for a number of years so one winning season won't be enough to turn things around. It also doesn't help to have a home game on the weekend of Fall break when the rest of the 1900 students have fled campus for the long weekend. If they win they could possibly get to 2500 a game, but they also need to seriously improve their stadium ... maybe a real concession stand, better scoreboard, etc.

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

Agreed. This team has been a sub .500 team for a number of years so one winning season won't be enough to turn things around. It also doesn't help to have a home game on the weekend of Fall break when the rest of the 1900 students have fled campus for the long weekend. If they win they could possibly get to 2500 a game, but they also need to seriously improve their stadium ... maybe a real concession stand, better scoreboard, etc.

Complete agree.

Every fan base has their die-hards and when they win, they receive the fair weather flyers. Since, we have been nothing but poor material for years, only the die-hards are there.