Yes, definitely looking ahead to Saturday. In fact, I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for a little over a month, since I decided I was going to spend Week 11 at the Union/RPI game. I have to be in the northeast on Sunday to do the selection show on ESPNews and felt this was easily the best use of my time on Saturday. Expect a photo gallery Sunday at some point from the game.
Top 25 team most likely to get upset: It’s not fair to pick Union — even though Union is in the Top 25 and RPI is not, I think they’re pretty evenly matched, plus it’s a rivalry game, which makes it unfair to pick. Thiel is a consideration, so is Rowan and Delaware Valley. Augustana is possible. So is either IIAC team. Going with Coe, I guess.
Top 25 team most likely to have the game in hand by 10:00 of the first quarter: Linfield. Next question.
Tiebreaker most likely to need a slide rule: Keep an eye on that MIAA. If Albion doesn’t beat Olivet and the right other things happen, it could get kind of messy.
Rivalry foreclosed: This weekend will be the last great Secretaries’ Cup game, between Kings Point and Coast Guard. The “Little Army/Navy Game” will move to September next year because Coast Guard is bailing out of the Liberty League. Talk about taking the life out of a rivalry game. Imagine Michigan and Ohio State playing in Week 2?
Why do they have their number? Frostburg State has dealt Salisbury some puzzling losses in recent years, in Regents’ Cup play. (The two Division III state schools in Maryland have a trophy game.) In 2002 and 2003, Frostburg (6-5, 4-5) stuck a fork in some pretty good Salisbury teams (9-2, 7-2). It can happen again. Would like to see if Salisbury’s Dustin Johnson can get a medical redshirt year, though. Once upon a time you could get a medical redshirt if playing four games of a 10-game football season. Otherwise, his college career is done.
Don’t go away mad, just … Anyone notice the midseason cancellation of the Lawrence/Macalester game? Lawrence needed the date to make up its conference game against Illinois College, which was postponed after an IC soccer student-athlete drowned on campus. Ignominious end to Dennis Czech’s coaching career.
Worst predictions ever: Hmm, so someone predicted F&M would go 10-0. (Yeah, someone who writes for this site.) The Diplomats need a win Saturday against Gettysburg to finish 5-5. The quarterback whom we were told “dominated” the Centennial last year has completed just 42% of his passes and thrown four TDs compared to 11 interceptions. Yay, hyperbole. Guess dominated is a relative term — he completed 48% of his passes last year. Must be something in the water — the local paper apparently wrote a story today under the headline “Diplomats on Brink of Dream Season.” Guess “nightmare” was too big to fit in the space. No seriously, here’s the story. If I were editing that story, I’d have said something like “Diplomats Hope to Salvage Season.”
That’s all I got. Now over to Gordon.
A few years ago, I was at a Binghamton (N.Y.) Mets Double A baseball when I noticed a concessionaire with an Ithaca College keychain. Our conversation went something like this.
Me: The Bombers, eh? Did you go to Ithaca?
He: (lighting up) Yeah! I go there now! It’s great. Did you go there?
Me: No, but I broadcast Cortland sports and know the schools are close to each other.
He: (decidedly less happy) Oh. Cortland Sucks.
End of conversation. ‘Tis the weekend for rivalries that inspire hostility toward people you don’t even know.
As noted out front, a lot of the traditional rivalries have an added dose of intensity given their playoff implications.
Union-RPI for the Dutch Shoes and the Liberty League title. Wabash-DePauw for the Monon Bell and playoff seeding or, in the Tigers’ case, the playoffs period. Even Cortland-Ithaca could have postseason implications beyond the Cortaca Jug. If Montclair beats Rowan and Cortland gets the NJAC’s AQ, wouldn’t the Red Dragons like to have a win over IC so a potential rematch in the playoffs could be on their turf?
Here are the rest of my two-cents (plink, plink) on rivalry weekend.
Wish You Were Here: I feel like I need to see the Monon Bell clash to complete the tour of famed Division rivalry games (Amherst-Williams, Cortland-Ithaca, Wabash-DePauw). Maybe “The Game” between Randolph Macon and Hampden-Sydney should be on that list, too. This would be a fun year to cross the first off the list of sites to see.
Don’t Sleep on this one: Curry and Fitchburg State meet for the NEFC crown tomorrow. Check out Treavor’s blog entry on the big game this week. He tells a neat story about a burning shoe.
In other news, Dewey beats Truman: Maybe you caught a reference on the front page last week to Albion clinching the MIAA title with their win over Alma. Do you know how much of that statement was false? Olivet. Read those last two sentences out loud and they’re funnier. Or not. Olivet (4-2) can create tiebreaker scenarios that make my head hurt if they can beat Albion (5-1) this week.
Most Likely Top 25 Team to lose: Any team in a rivalry game, even if it’s a newer one, could lose. Let that be a warning to Delaware Valley, Rowan, Ithaca and Wabash. HSU and Augustana also finish the season with tough tests in TLU and Wheaton.
Super Ridiculous Pick of the Night: The Lycoming Warriors write a storybook ending to Frank Girardi’s coaching career by beating Susquehanna. The legendary coach gets his 250th win by finishing the season with five straight victories.
Let me be clear – I don’t have insider information that Coach Girardi will retire after this year. And I don’t think he “should” retire if he doesn’t want to. Lyco’s inspired play shows he’s still got the magic. This is just a hunch on my part. And seeing as I haven’t nailed a “super ridiculous pick” yet, take it for what it’s worth.
If you can get to any games tomorrow, it’ll be a special chance to see many seniors finish a major part of their lives by playing what is likely their last game. I’ve seen it several years now and it still moves me. Be on hand to cheer these kids if you can.
Doubt that HSU will be seriously challenged by a TLU squad that has fallen below .500 and has lost its starting QB to injury. It’s too bad Sean Salinas will end his career in street clothes – he was a big part of TLU’s unexpected success the last couple of years.
ok to seriously think RMC can play close to HSC is crazy. Well n/m because HSC has a weak D and has been very over-rated all year. I would love to see this upset.
That’s one of those throw-out-the-record-books rivalry games. To seriously now know that is crazy.
Headline in the Albany Times Union:
SHOES CALL FOR BIG FEAT
Today is D Day in Schenectady. The biggest game ever between Union and RPI for the Dutchman Shoes Trophy starts at 1:00 P.M. By 4:00 P.M. clarity will be the order of the day. Too bad the winner will not meet Trinity to find out just how good they really are.
Ok…I was the one who predicted F&M to go 10-0…was it terrible…yes, but in hindsight.
At the beginning of the season…10-0, 9-1 was a realistic expectation for this team. 8-3 last year (their best record in at least six years, two wins over playoff teams, and two of their three losses coming by a total of nine points. Combine that with the fact they lost four starters total…and played a similar non-conference schedule this year…it wasn’t that off base.
Now, I did opine that some could have concerns at F&M over the coach’s desire to jump ship and his well-publicized attempts to move down to D1-AA. Maybe those concerns manifested in some respect.
Regardless, that article is a joke. One could say almost as much of a joke as my predicting F&M to be 10-0…but at least I had some details to support such a prediction…whereas Halloran and the Dips have had anything but a “Dream Season.”
Really…who writes, about any team, that a 5-5 year, after 8-3, is a dream season.
quote rbrockwell
“HSC has a weak D and has been very over-rated all year”
pot, meet kettle…says pot “you’re black”
for those that don’t know, rbrockwell’s team, ferrum, got a dose of reality today getting shellacked 44-7 by cnu – i hope ferrum represents the usasac better than that in the playoffs, but let’s be real – ferrum certainly has a suspect defense and while they haven’t been over-rated ALL YEAR, it’s obvious that they have been overrated since they were named the #2 ranked team in the south region – the 2nd best team in any region shouldn’t lose 44-7 at home to a 6-4 team – at least hsc has a win against a playoff team (jhu)
OK, TLU did defeat HSU, but they did it with their starting QB Salinas playing the game. 🙂
Well let me just start out by saying I was upset by how Ferrum came out today. It was like they did not care if they were there. It was turnover after turnover and mistake after mistake. CNU just outplayed Ferrum….period. I am just going to suck up the rest of my pride and not respond to monarchfan’s comment. I just hope Ferrum shows up next week, the effort was just not there today…….
quote rbrockwell
“and not respond to monarchfan’s comment”
why not? you and other fc fans have been aggressively lobbying for some respect for ferrum all year, even going so far as emailing top 25 voters…do you still think fc is a top 25 team? are they even the best team in the usasac?
I dont think there is a question that Ferrum is the best in the USA South. Ferrum did not come to play. Congrats to CNU they simply outplayed Ferrum. I still believe Ferrum is a top 25 team and Ferrum Fans would back my up 100% on that. The SID gave Ferrum the Conference Trophy before the game started. Actually this hopefully will wake up the panthers and they will play with some passion next week against Wesley(a team which won by a point last year). I think this coming week will be a hard fought game between to quality teams, with the panthers pulling out the win. I just dont like the week after matchup for either team though.