Patriot League Pre-Season Poll

[DFW HOYA]

No surprises, unless you consider that Georgetown finished out of last place for the first time in eight years.

1. Lehigh, 58 points (8 first-place votes)
2. Colgate, 55 (6 first-place votes)
3. Holy Cross, 38
4. Lafayette, 36
5. Georgetown, 19
6. Bucknell, 16

http://www.patriotleague.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080211aab.html

[crusader11]

That's a surprise. I'd say this poll looks just about right. Although, I am surprised how many first-place votes Colgate received; I thought there would be more of a disparity between them and Lehigh.

[Franks Tanks]

Pretty much what I expected. Colgate and Lehigh at the top, although I am not as sold on Colgate as others. Holy Cross and Lafayette in the middle with a chance to challenge if things go well for either team. I also agree with the Georgetown over Bucknell pick. The Bison were perhaps as bad as ever last year.

[Bogus Megapardus]

I think the poll is just right.

Were Fordham eligible, where would it go? I'd put the Rams second, behind Lehigh but above Colgate. You can't factor in Fordham's brutal non-conference schedule, of course, but I think they beat everyone in the league but Lehigh.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

I thought Lehigh would have a little bigger gap but overall the poll looks good.

Colgate likely will be a solid Top 25 team this year. They get Lehigh at home which certaintly helps. A lot will depend on how much help Eachus gets. If they find some blanace on "O" and the defense improves the Raiders could be very good. Ultimately, i think they go 8-3/9-2 which earns them a spot in the playoffs. The PL gets two teams in this year.

Lafayette 6-5, they're one year away
Holy Cross 7-4, win the games they should lose the ones they should
Georgetown 5-6, i saw potential last year
Bucknell 2-9, going to be ugly until the new staff can get things together

[LUHawker]

I thought Lehigh would have a little bigger gap but overall the poll looks good.

Colgate likely will be a solid Top 25 team this year. They get Lehigh at home which certaintly helps. A lot will depend on how much help Eachus gets. If they find some blanace on "O" and the defense improves the Raiders could be very good. Ultimately, i think they go 8-3/9-2 which earns them a spot in the playoffs. The PL gets two teams in this year.

Lafayette 6-5, they're one year away
Holy Cross 7-4, win the games they should lose the ones they should
Georgetown 5-6, i saw potential last year
Bucknell 2-9, going to be ugly until the new staff can get things together


Agree with your assessment in general. While you are likely to catch some flak for suggesting that the PL gets 2 teams in the playoffs this year, I think there is a good chance of that happening. Colgate has a very favorable schedule and if they take care of business, could easily be 9-2. I expect Lehigh to be 9-2/8-3 and win the league. A win against Liberty for the MHawks would put them in good stead for a bid even if they don't take the PL autobid. LC should not have the outhouse season this year that they posted last year. Fordham could actually be very good but they tend to trip up. I am not convinced that Gtown has turned the corner, so I think 4 wins is more likely; I think they caught a couple of teams by surprise early in the season and then wilted. I think Bucknell could be a 3-4 win team as well, but still battling Gtown for the last spot in the league.

[TheValleyRaider]

Generally agree about the surprisingly thin gap between Colgate and Lehigh. I'd feel better if the key position being replaced wasn't QB, but there you have it. Early season game at HC looms large, in my mind, as a Crusader win hurts the 'Gate and maybe gives that team the confidence/positioning to join the title fray

Colgate and Lehigh seem like potential playoff teams right now, but the chances of getting both in are signficantly aided by the 20 team field

Fordham, in my mind, would be right around HC and Lafayette, either 3rd or 4th. Their defense was pretty rough last year, though granted the one time I saw the Rams was when Colgate manhandled them in November. There might be more there than I'm expecting

[TheValleyRaider]

Let's make sure we also point out the individual honors

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Nate Eachus, Colgate (Sr., RB)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Mike Groome, Lehigh (Sr., LB)

Any thoughts there? Eachus shouldn't be a surprise, any thoughts on Groome? Or maybe others deserving of mention?

[Bogus Megapardus]

Let's make sure we also point out the individual honors

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Nate Eachus, Colgate (Sr., RB)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Mike Groome, Lehigh (Sr., LB)

Any thoughts there? Eachus shouldn't be a surprise, any thoughts on Groome? Or maybe others deserving of mention?

I just close my eyes and shake my head every time that Nate Eachus touches the ball. I know that the Pards simply have no consistent answer for him. Groome I think we can handle, but Eachus is just at another level in the PL.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Hard to ignore Groome given his numerous preseason All-American honors. I can't see anyone else that really challenges him.

Don't forget about Spadola, he's gotten a lot of preseason pub as well. Eachues, Groome, Spadola are all elite players.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

I just close my eyes and shake my head every time that Nate Eachus touches the ball. I know that the Pards simply have no consistent answer for him. Groome I think we can handle, but Eachus is just at another level in the PL.

Lafayette didn't do so well against Groome last year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h06_RCoM51o

[Franks Tanks]

Eachus should be defensive player of the year as well. He allows Colgate to keep the ball for 40 minutes a game and keeps the D off the field!

Groome is very good, and a the best choice I can muster right now as well.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Lafayette didn't do so well against Groome last year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h06_RCoM51o

Thanks a great clip, GLTO. It sort of sums up the Pards' frustrations last season. Lafayette's OLine knew that Groome was coming through the A-gap but there was not a freakin' thing we could do about it.

[DFW HOYA]

Thanks a great clip, GLTO. It sort of sums up the Pards' frustrations last season. Lafayette's OLine knew that Groome was coming through the A-gap but there was not a freakin' thing we could do about it.

As was this one in the home opener (Laf led 21-7.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QyX2FjSXdU

[Bogus Megapardus]

Speaking of video clips, I just found this - a Lehigh fan's iPhone video of last year's Rivalry game. It's probably the most accurate video I have ever seen of what a Lafayette-Lehigh game looks like from a typical fan's perspective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF-iXGfOYzk&NR=1

Say what you want about the Patriot League, but I think there are very few FCS schools that that have anything on us in terms of game-day atmosphere. App State, McNeese, Delaware, Montana - maybe. But I think the news of the death of the PL is somewhat premature.

[Bogus Megapardus]

As was this one in the home opener (Laf led 21-7.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QyX2FjSXdU

That's the one where I paid $70 for two "Coke Zone" tickets. I saw every demoralizing minute of the Hoyas' newfangled no-huddle offense that afternoon, from the best seats in the house, as the Pards fell in the first of many!

The unlimited free buffet was merely a quantum of solace.

[Bogus Megapardus]

OK, one more clip - Lafayette tailgate on March Field. The historic venue for Lafayette football and the origins of the sport itself. This is where Jim Thorpe, John Heisman, Parke Davis and Fielding Yost stood, even before Fisher Field was constructed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J0LTx2_KH8&feature=related

It's put to good use these days in honor of these greats, wouldn't you say?

I maintain that Patriot League football not only is not "dead," but it has plenty going for it. I'm sorry if Georgetown can't see fit to provide its fans and students with this type of atmosphere. Georgetown looks down on the PL and Hoya football as some sort of "second tier" student activity. Not our fault.

Like I say, imagine how fast Georgetown or Holy Cross would erect first-class facilities were they invited to become Ivy members. DFW, Sader87 and other detractors would have no difficulty whatsoever doing things "the Ivy way" in that circumstance.

[aceinthehole]

I don't think anyone is denying that Lafayette, Lehigh, and Colgate are still very vibrant and relevant on the national scene.

But when you look at Fordham, Georgetown, and Holy Cross and their place in the league, it's very hard to have an optimistic attitude about the LEAGUE itself.

Football isn't dead at ANY of the PL schools; however you can't ignore the very serious challenges facing the Patriot League's continued sponsorship of the sport. Football will continue at all of these schools well into the future, but it is the PL "brand" of football that is being questioned.

[crusader11]

Football will continue at all of these schools well into the future, but it is the PL "brand" of football that is being questioned.

Agree.

I'd argue that Holy Cross has had a resurgence onto the national scene in the past five years or so thanks in large part to Dominic Randolph.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Ace - we have no other choice. We can't become a part of the NEC because of the academic index and the scholarship probation. Although the PL itself was created during a meeting on Alexander Street, we all know that there will be no invitations to anyone to join Ivy. We can't become part of the PFL because we'd have to abandon the grant-in-aid system and end our scholarship equivalencies.

The only option is to (a) bring in new members - even current D-III members - which can meet the AI and adapt the PL funding formula, or (b) allow football scholarships at some level which will facilitate new membership (including NEC or even CAA poaching). No existing FCS colleges seem to be interested in joining a status quo Patriot League. That means the PL has to change, or that others interested in PL membership must change.

Someone will blink first, I'm sure - but I think that the PL has the institutional wherewithal to suffer such a blink or three in the near term. We will survive (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBR2G-iI3-I), I assure you.

[aceinthehole]

Moved to correct thread

[aceinthehole]

Discussed on different thread.

http://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?87953-LFN-Will-There-Be-Another-25-Years-of-Patriot-League-Football

Thanks ;)