Dayton vs. Any Top 25 Team

[Rob Iola]

Could Dayton conceivably beat any top 25 FCS team? Maybe not JMU or ASU, but, say, Harvard or SC State or Colgate?

[UNI Pike]

Someone eventually wins the lottery. But then again, eventually we're all dead.

[StrikeJMU]

The only thing Dayton fans would beat at a game against the top 25 is the traffic.

[19Duke97]

I think they could be competitive with the bottom of the top 25, Dayton has a pretty good football history (cousin played for them), but they are small school 1-AA. Winners always compete.

[Franks Tanks]

Dayton could certainly beat Colgate, Harvard, SC State, or even Tenn State and others. Would they be favored? No they wouldnt but Dayton kids know how to win and certainly could pull one out.

[dennisdent]

We'll find out in the playoffs.xrotatehx xrotatehx xrotatehxxbandwagonx

[spdram]

The question is so broad the answer has to be yes, any given saturday!

[bandl]

They could certainly beat NAU, GSU, NDSU.....oooohhhhh, you said any 'Top 25' team...:o

[89Hen]

could = yes
would = idk

[DetroitFlyer]

Of course they could.... Last year, Dayton finished in the top 25 in some of the FCS polls.... A bad loss to Duquesne might be keeping them down this year, but breaking San Diego's 28 game home winning streak was no small feat this past Saturday.... I think Dayton would have a very good chance at beating anyone in the 20 - 25 range today.

[putter]

Of course they could.... Last year, Dayton finished in the top 25 in some of the FCS polls.... A bad loss to Duquesne might be keeping them down this year, but breaking San Diego's 28 game home winning streak was no small feat this past Saturday.... I think Dayton would have a very good chance at beating anyone in the 20 - 25 range today.

Very realistic...

[crusader11]

Of course they could. If the ball bounces their way, they play their best game of the year and their opponent comes out flat they could win. If they played a team in the top 15, however, I say they would really have no shot at winning. A 16-25 team they may win 5% of the time.

[nmatsen]

Why do you ask these questions? All you do is open yourself up to critisisms that you don't want to hear like "you are not even DI" or "everyone would kill you." How many fully funded, Division I teams have you beat in the last five years? Of them, how many have had winning records that year? Have you ever beat a team that has qualified for the playoffs? I don't know, I am just asking. I would guess the answer to all of those questions is "no" or "0". If a team in the top 25 lost to you they do not deserve to be in the top 25 anyway. If you played an 9 game schedule against the MVC you would be 0-9, maybe 1-8. Thats right, I will give you a chance against Indiana State. If that tells you what I think of the PFL. I here they are looking for a couple more D-3 Programs in Wisconsin, maybe you should move your school there. Nevermind, you probably play one of them a year.

[UAalum72]

Why do you ask these questions? All you do is open yourself up to critisisms that you don't want to hear like "you are not even DI" or "everyone would kill you." How many fully funded, Division I teams have you beat in the last five years? Of them, how many have had winning records that year? Have you ever beat a team that has qualified for the playoffs? I don't know, I am just asking.
I guess you missed the dozens if not hundreds of times Detroitflyer has mentioned that they beat Patriot League champion Fordham last year.

[ericsaid]

NO.

[DetroitFlyer]

Why do you ask these questions? All you do is open yourself up to critisisms that you don't want to hear like "you are not even DI" or "everyone would kill you." How many fully funded, Division I teams have you beat in the last five years? Of them, how many have had winning records that year? Have you ever beat a team that has qualified for the playoffs? I don't know, I am just asking. I would guess the answer to all of those questions is "no" or "0". If a team in the top 25 lost to you they do not deserve to be in the top 25 anyway. If you played an 9 game schedule against the MVC you would be 0-9, maybe 1-8. Thats right, I will give you a chance against Indiana State. If that tells you what I think of the PFL. I here they are looking for a couple more D-3 Programs in Wisconsin, maybe you should move your school there. Nevermind, you probably play one of them a year.


I did not start the poll. Dayton defeated Fordham, at Fordham last year. As you may recall, Fordham won the Patriot League and played UMass in the first round. Fordham did not win, but they gave UMass a very good game. No reason to think Dayton would have fared any worse, and reason to think Dayton would have fared better, (considering that Dayton beat Fordham). ABSOLUTELY no reason to think that Dayton would perform any worse in the playoffs than the PL, OVC or MEAC champions in any given season. Those who disparage the Flyers have never seen them play. Those that have seen them play, (Albany, Fordham, San Diego, Yale), pretty much have nothing but respect for the Flyers.

[DetroitFlyer]

Of course they could. If the ball bounces their way, they play their best game of the year and their opponent comes out flat they could win. If they played a team in the top 15, however, I say they would really have no shot at winning. A 16-25 team they may win 5% of the time.


Still have not recovered from the fact that Dayton defeated your conference champion last year.... And Holy Cross could not even win the PL last year. xlolx

[OL FU]

"could" is a very big wordxnodx

[BigApp]

couldn't even beat a bad NEC team. Why would anyone think they could beat a playoff contender?

[crusader11]

Still have not recovered from the fact that Dayton defeated your conference champion last year.... And Holy Cross could not even win the PL last year. xlolx

Do I really need to create a poll asking which team is better: Dayton or Holy Cross?

[bluehenbillk]

ABSOLUTELY no reason to think that Dayton would perform any worse in the playoffs than the PL, OVC or MEAC champions in any given season.

I'm not a believer that Dayton even belongs in a discussion about the playoffs. However, Detroit Flyer makes an excellent point that the 3 leagues he brings up aren't competitive on a national basis come playoff time.

[Appinator]

any given saturday.....

[danefan]

Hard to say what the outcome would be, but it really is hard to say at this point how Dayton would stack up.

You cannot really consider last year's successes when discussing this year's team. Dayton was carried by Kevin Hyong last year, who has since graduated.

Had Dayton not lost Duquesne they would have a much better argument to be a top 30ish team who could realistically play with the top teams in the FCS. The problem is the Duquesne loss. That is a really really really bad loss.

Duquesne is 2-6 with wins only against St. Francis (0-8) and Dayton.
While I would say that Duquense is better than the 2-6 record indicates, that loss is still killer to Dayton.

With that being said, I wouldn't expect anything but a tough game against Dayton from any team. Its the type of program that RARELY gets blown out or out coached no matter how good the opponent is.

[OL FU]

The question as always isn't whether Dayton could beat a top 25 team, they most certainly could. The question generally is should they be ranked with the schedule they play, and the answer is maybe but you better win them all.


Certainly we know they can beat the PL champ. They did it.

If Liberty had remained ranked and if PC can beat Liberty, Dayton can beat Liberty.

There are a number of unranked teams that could beat a top 25 team. That doesn't mean they belong in the top 25.

[WrenFGun]

I don't think there's any doubt that Dayton could beat a team ranked in the top 25. The poll results here seem ridiculous.

[DetroitFlyer]

Do I really need to create a poll asking which team is better: Dayton or Holy Cross?

No reason to do that.... We all know that currently Dayton is a better team than Holy Cross, just like last year!xnodx

[Big Al]

To paraphrase Bill Clinton, it depends on what your definition of "any" is. They have a shot against 16-25, but probably not much of a chance against 1-15.

That said, the PFL deserves an autobid. The NCAA requires they classify in FCS, so the NCAA should give them the same access as any other league.

PS - Before you say it, I would support an autobid for the Great West if they had a few more members.

[crusader11]

No reason to do that.... We all know that currently Dayton is a better team than Holy Cross, just like last year!xnodx

I don't know if you are being sarcastic or not. Do you actually believe that?

[PantherRob82]

Maybe the Ivies, Patriot, SWAC, OVC or MEAC teams.

[roTSU50]

Dayton could certainly beat Colgate, Harvard, SC State, or even Tenn State and others. Would they be favored? No they wouldnt but Dayton kids know how to win and certainly could pull one out.


TSU and SC State would smash UD like a rag doll. UD is barely beating Central State. Get off of it.xnonox

[LehighFan11]

No reason to do that.... We all know that currently Dayton is a better team than Holy Cross, just like last year!xnodx

I'll take Holy Cross.

[danefan]

TSU and SC State would smash UD like a rag doll. UD is barely beating Central State. Get off of it.xnonox


Well, I don't know enough about TSU to comment on that, but to suggest that SC State would "smash UD like a rag doll" just isn't true.

This logic doesn't always work, but its the best we have:

SC State only beat Del State by 6 last week. Del State got handled at home by Central Conn. State at home who lost last week by 13 to a team (Robert Morris) who lost to Dayton by 14. Follow?

Suggesting any team in the MEAC would handle one of the top teams in the PFL is just not supported by fact.

[Franks Tanks]

TSU and SC State would smash UD like a rag doll. UD is barely beating Central State. Get off of it.xnonox

Please-- the MEAC is not very good. Our worst team, Georgetown, beat Howard. Our best teams would handle the best MEAC teams. When was the last time a MEAC squad won a playoff game?

[danefan]

Please-- the MEAC is not very good. Our worst team, Georgetown, beat Howard. Our best teams would handle the best MEAC teams. When was the last time a MEAC squad won a playoff game?


Raise your hand if you league has a team in it that lost to Georgetown.xrolleyesx

[Model Citizen]

Could Dayton conceivably beat any top 25 FCS team?

You people and your world of make believe never cease to amaze me.

[Silenoz]

I figure they certainly "could" beat any of the ranked teams from the SWAC, MEAC, OVC, Patriot or Big South

[Franks Tanks]

Raise your hand if you league has a team in it that lost to Georgetown.xrolleyesx

It is the only recent Patriot - MEAC matchup I am aware of.

[roTSU50]

Please-- the MEAC is not very good. Our worst team, Georgetown, beat Howard. Our best teams would handle the best MEAC teams. When was the last time a MEAC squad won a playoff game?

Howard is the MEAC worst team so that just proves two bad teams play for last place.

[Franks Tanks]

Howard is the MEAC worst team so that just proves two bad teams play for last place.

I am aware of that. The Patriot League hasnt had much sucess recently in the playoffs, but still more then the OVC and MEAC. Face it all of our conferences are a notch below the powers in the SoCon, CAA, Gateway, and the Big Sky and Southland to a lesser extent.

[Rob Iola]

You people and your world of make believe never cease to amaze me.
um, What?

[WildPard]

Having seen Holy Cross once and Dayton twice, I'd pick Dayton. Dayton is more skilled on the line,has much, much better team speed, and is better coached.

[lizrdgizrd]

That said, the PFL deserves an autobid. The NCAA requires they classify in FCS, so the NCAA should give them the same access as any other league.

The PFL could request an autobid from the NCAA. They haven't. They can get an at-large bid just like any other team. xcoffeex

[Big Al]

The PFL could request an autobid from the NCAA. They haven't. They can get an at-large bid just like any other team. xcoffeex

Interesting. I didn't know that. Where'd you learn that from?

[danefan]

Interesting. I didn't know that. Where'd you learn that from?

Its been discussed on here many times. The NEC is the only qualifying conference to request an Auto-bid and be denied. The PFL commish has gone on record saying they wouldn't request an AQ. I can't find the link right now, but I remember it coming up.

[crusader11]

Having seen Holy Cross once and Dayton twice, I'd pick Dayton. Dayton is more skilled on the line,has much, much better team speed, and is better coached.

What game did you see Holy Cross play? And with regard to team speed, how about you go ask UMASS about our team speed.

[Big Al]

Its been discussed on here many times. The NEC is the only qualifying conference to request an Auto-bid and be denied. The PFL commish has gone on record saying they wouldn't request an AQ. I can't find the link right now, but I remember it coming up.

I found several articles talking about how the NEC & Big South are being added as AQs when the format goes to 20 teams. One talked about how they're "now eligible" to request the AQ. What disqualified them previously? I'd be curious to know why the NEC was previously excluded from receiving an AQ.

[WildPard]

Saw HC lose to a pitifully slow and mediocre Yale team while in the NE on a business trip. If you're claiming team speed to even come close to Dayton, you must have left it at home that week or I was watching in slomo. Have you ever seen Dayton? Ask Fordham about their speed and discipline. If they didn't try to mail in the Duquesne game this year, they'd easily be ranked in the top 25. Don't sell them short--I think you'd be very, very surprised at their talent level compared to the other teams in the Patriot League.

[Pard4Life]

Sure Appy beat Michigan.

[Franks Tanks]

Saw HC lose to a pitifully slow and mediocre Yale team while in the NE on a business trip. If you're claiming team speed to even come close to Dayton, you must have left it at home that week or I was watching in slomo. Have you ever seen Dayton? Ask Fordham about their speed and discipline. If they didn't try to mail in the Duquesne game this year, they'd easily be ranked in the top 25. Don't sell them short--I think you'd be very, very surprised at their talent level compared to the other teams in the Patriot League.

Since Detroit Flyer thinks that Dayton would win the PL because they beat Fordham (07 champs), I guess that means a 2-6 Duquesne would win the PFL this year. Same logic.

[danefan]

I found several articles talking about how the NEC & Big South are being added as AQs when the format goes to 20 teams. One talked about how they're "now eligible" to request the AQ. What disqualified them previously? I'd be curious to know why the NEC was previously excluded from receiving an AQ.

The NEC has been qualified to receive an auto-bid since 1999 I belive. They asked and were denied in 2004 or 5 I think.

The NEC was previously excluded because only 8 AQ's were available and according to the Championship Committee, the NEC was #9 in terms of strength. Thus, no AQ.

[WildPard]

Sure Appy beat Michigan.

Pard4Life--let's don't go getting too cocky. The Pards' one big win for the year was just negated when Liberty lost to Presbyterian--an FCS powerhouse for all of one year. Throw out our win at Liberty and what do we have to hang our hat on--a 2 TD loss to powerful Harvard at home???

[WildPard]

Since Detroit Flyer thinks that Dayton would win the PL because they beat Fordham (07 champs), I guess that means a 2-6 Duquesne would win the PFL this year. Same logic.

Frank--I don't drink from the same kool aid fountain as the Flyer. The only point I was trying to get across to Crusader11 was not to sell Dayton short--I've seen them and they're good. Could they win the PL this year or could they have won it last year? I don't think so. Could they compete with and possibly beat some of the top echelon teams? Yes, without a doubt.

[Franks Tanks]

Frank--I don't drink from the same kool aid fountain as the Flyer. The only point I was trying to get across to Crusader11 was not to sell Dayton short--I've seen them and they're good. Could they win the PL this year or could they have won it last year? I don't think so. Could they compete with and possibly beat some of the top echelon teams? Yes, without a doubt.

I havent seen Dayton play. They seem quick and athletic, but that is Holy Cross's game too. Who kowns what would happen in a game, but Fordham is the only commom opponent and we shall see what the Cross does to Fordham.

[UAalum72]

I found several articles talking about how the NEC & Big South are being added as AQs when the format goes to 20 teams. One talked about how they're "now eligible" to request the AQ. What disqualified them previously? I'd be curious to know why the NEC was previously excluded from receiving an AQ.
The Big South was excluded because they didn't have the required six teams together for two years. They will have that in 2010.

The NEC was excluded from an AQ, as stated, because of the smaller playoff field compared to the number of conferences. As far as I know, the only conference in the entire NCAA in any sport not to have an AQ or play-in (that requested one) in a sport that has a championship playoff.