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Post by hcpride on Jan 11, 2023 5:02:17 GMT -5
I really don't get the antipathy toward the PL for HC football....while I couldn't largely care less about most of the PL games save for Colgate (historical purposes) and Fordham (competitiveness/historical/institutional ties).....the PL in football allows us to play an array of OOC foes like the Ivies, CAA schools and FBS programs. I'd much rather be in a league of 7 membahs like the PL than the CAA and playing 1 or 2 OOC teams. It's a perfect fit for HC football imo. The general quality of PL football right now and prospects for improvement going forward are concerns. (It is also true being in a small league means more OOC games and therefore a greater chance to add interest and competitiveness to our schedule.)
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Post by Ignutz on Jan 11, 2023 8:50:25 GMT -5
Crusader-Warrior Cup to replace the Turnpike Trophy? While I have been somewhat against having Merrimack and Bryant on our football schedule, if Merrimack is indeed on the rise, I wouldn't be averse to replacing BU with Merrimack in the PL.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 11, 2023 9:07:17 GMT -5
I think you may be confusing "decision-makers" (assuming you mean the NCAA committee) with random hacks from the Dakotas who post regularly on Any Given Saturday. There's zero evidence that teams have been penalized come playoff selection time, for scheduling Ivies. I find it kind of funny that this year Fordham scheduled 3 CAA teams, beat all of them, and ultimately they received more clout for a close loss to a Patriot League team than they did for going 3-0 against the mighty CAA. That is when you win those games. This is the first time we beat Harvard and Yale in the same season-what would have happened if we lost one and lost to Fordham- one loss a 12-15 seed, lose both and we are watching while a couple of 7-4 teams are playing and we are finished before Thanksgivingdont shoot the messenger I am trying to make sure we understand the implications of our conference affiliation The scenarios you laid out would've been no different had we replaced Yale and Harvard with URI and Maine on the 2022 schedule. I'm guessing what you're getting at is that HC needs to leave the PL and try to join the CAA in all sports. The bad news is that if the school had even one hair of interest in that, they missed the boat a year ago when the CAA completed a recent round of expansion. And the soon-to-be 15-team CAA Football conference is certainly not in need of another football-only affiliate.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Jan 11, 2023 9:14:25 GMT -5
I'm of the belief that the type of schedule we have had the last few years playing at least one FBS school a year whether BC, Syracuse, Army, Navy, Buffalo, etc. that this does not preclude us from having both an entertaining schedule and still have the ability to be national contenders. Yale and Harvard are both challenges and "entertaining" that Crusader fans want to see, well except maybe a couple or three. We've been playing UNH with some frequency and URI will be on future schedules. We've played UConn and UMass for "local" FBS teams. I think the schedule is more than fine. Heck, we have the Ram-Crusader Cup game every year which is everything the Turnpike Trophy isn't. I also expect Colgate will return to a major role not just in the PL but within the FCS. Lehigh as well. For all of us the schedule is pretty good. The question I was attempting to address was the SOS and how it impacts seeding and bids for the playoffs. If we don’t mind a SOS that hurts, that is fine. Any non FBS game we might lose really hurts because NE football and the PL are at best not highly regarded that can change, but it starts with the PL and we all see that is an unlikely event so if they won’t improve as a league and we are committed to stay, then our OOC schedule needs to be strengthened -if seeding is important You're right on target. Going into next season, assuming Fordham steps back a bit with the departure of DeMorat and several key offensive weapons, six of our 11 games might come against teams ranked in the bottom 25% of the FCS. As we saw this past year after a perfect regular season where we beat a decent FBS team and the Ivy champs, that was just good enough for the 8th seed. There's really no margin for error. The shame of it all is that the committee got the seeds wrong. We should have been seeded 6th or 7th...but I can understand why we were slotted at 8.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Jan 11, 2023 9:17:11 GMT -5
I really don't get the antipathy toward the PL for HC football....while I couldn't largely care less about most of the PL games save for Colgate (historical purposes) and Fordham (competitiveness/historical/institutional ties).....the PL in football allows us to play an array of OOC foes like the Ivies, CAA schools and FBS programs. I'd much rather be in a league of 7 membahs like the PL than the CAA and playing 1 or 2 OOC teams. It's a perfect fit for HC football imo. I largely agree. Historically good PL teams (Lehigh and Colgate, and to a lesser degree Lafayette) need to figure things out and get back to where they were not long ago. If they do that, then the PL all of a sudden becomes much more attractive and can be a multi-bid league year over year. Now where are we with fifth-year kids?
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Post by timholycross on Jan 11, 2023 9:29:14 GMT -5
Many dislike HC playing Merrimack and Bryant but those two football programs appear to be ascending to me. Sure, 'Nova, Delaware and W&M have more cachet now, but our neighboring FCS teams aren't tomato cans. Google says Worcester to Orono is 273 mi and four hours and ten minutes driving while Worcester to Lewisburg is 336 miles and five hours and thirty-one minutes driving. Albany and Stony Brook are very reasonable trips (SBU a bit longer due to the boat ride, I guess) and there are a lot of alums on LI. Only remember one meeting ever between HC and those fine institutions.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jan 11, 2023 9:32:49 GMT -5
We played a hoops series with Hofstra in the late 2000's. 4 games I think. The first 2 were the ESPN Bracket Buster and return game the following year.
Can't remember us playing Stony Brook in anything.
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Post by efg72 on Jan 11, 2023 9:37:20 GMT -5
That is when you win those games. This is the first time we beat Harvard and Yale in the same season-what would have happened if we lost one and lost to Fordham- one loss a 12-15 seed, lose both and we are watching while a couple of 7-4 teams are playing and we are finished before Thanksgivingdont shoot the messenger I am trying to make sure we understand the implications of our conference affiliation The scenarios you laid out would've been no different had we replaced Yale and Harvard with URI and Maine on the 2022 schedule. I'm guessing what you're getting at is that HC needs to leave the PL and try to join the CAA in all sports. The bad news is that if the school had even one hair of interest in that, they missed the boat a year ago when the CAA completed a recent round of expansion. And the soon-to-be 15-team CAA Football conference is certainly not in need of another football-only affiliate. I am saying we will need to decide which is more important to us as a school and a football program. If we are attempting to address the SOS issue -- Do we: Keep everything the same with no changes and accept the reality of today Stay in the PL, which is the desired outcome, and build a stronger FCS OOC along with the FBS game or two each year. Attempt to put together a football only conference with Richmond, W&M, Villanova, Fordham, Elon, UNH, Colgate, and Holy Cross and then your FCS OOC schedule can be more regional or local. No right or wrong answer unless SOS is the driver. In the days ahead, a similar question might be before us for other sports
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Jan 11, 2023 9:40:19 GMT -5
We played a hoops series with Hofstra in the late 2000's. 4 games I think. The first 2 were the ESPN Bracket Buster and return game the following year. Can't remember us playing Stony Brook in anything. We had a home and home series with them in FHCSK's lone year and FHCMB's first season. Also played them at Mohegan Sun with FHCBC. Interestingly enough in baseball, we swept a double-header with them the year they made a run to Omaha. 2012?
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Post by sader1970 on Jan 11, 2023 11:07:26 GMT -5
Excellent questions. I'll weigh in:
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Post by bigfan on Jan 11, 2023 11:27:31 GMT -5
Playing Merrimack & Bryant does nothing for our schedule. We should find better opponents, I have talked to many fans and they agree with me.
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Post by timholycross on Jan 11, 2023 11:31:30 GMT -5
We played a hoops series with Hofstra in the late 2000's. 4 games I think. The first 2 were the ESPN Bracket Buster and return game the following year. Can't remember us playing Stony Brook in anything. We had a home and home series with them in FHCSK's lone year and FHCMB's first season. Also played them at Mohegan Sun with FHCBC. Interestingly enough in baseball, we swept a double-header with them the year they made a run to Omaha. 2012? UA was the lone football game, one of a handful in the FCTG era that fit into the Casey Stengel "I seen ways to lose that I didn't know existed" category.
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Post by hcpride on Jan 11, 2023 12:20:05 GMT -5
Playing Merrimack & Bryant does nothing for our schedule. We should find better opponents, I have talked to many fans and they agree with me. Well, this is not exactly a high bar but I’m not sure HC fans are jacked about us taking on the likes of Laffy and Bucknell either. In fact, Merrimack is a far better game nowadays, IMHO.
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Post by purplehaze on Jan 11, 2023 13:34:46 GMT -5
Getting back to Harvard at Polar Park and with a fair assumption of high demand for tickets (we don't have a biz school but) ticket prices should be increased for this one - no more $10-15 tics - minimum $20 and higher for the good locations - it will still sell out
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Post by newman on Jan 11, 2023 13:40:14 GMT -5
Playing Merrimack & Bryant does nothing for our schedule. We should find better opponents, I have talked to many fans and they agree with me. Well, this is not exactly a high bar but I’m not sure HC fans are jacked about us taking on the likes of Laffy and Bucknell either. In fact, Merrimack is a far better game nowadays, IMHO. Don't forget that we got pushed to the edge by Lafayette this year
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Post by cmo on Jan 11, 2023 14:04:36 GMT -5
And they may have cost us a better seed
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 11, 2023 14:24:43 GMT -5
You have to have just the right blend of herbs and spices to cook up a perfect 11-0 regular season. Start taking some ingredients out and putting others in might ruin the dish. I think the 2002 schedule was a masterpiece and 2003 is even better. For those wanting a higher SOS, two FBS tilts will do the trick.
Drop Merrimack to add Elon? No thank you unless Elon Musk is providing a huge guarantee.
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Post by rgs318 on Jan 11, 2023 14:46:55 GMT -5
Well, this is not exactly a high bar but I’m not sure HC fans are jacked about us taking on the likes of Laffy and Bucknell either. In fact, Merrimack is a far better game nowadays, IMHO. Don't forget that we got pushed to the edge by Lafayette this year You say Lafayette "pushed us to the edge." I see it as an HC win and a Lafayette loss. No issue that I can see.
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Post by efg72 on Jan 11, 2023 15:06:31 GMT -5
Excellent questions. I'll weigh in: Sader 1970 I said no right or wrong answer-- Honestly, I take positions on this board to create a discussion and some I believe make sense, others not so much. On this one I think if the PL makes the most sense for the school that is fine-- I would not be opposed to dropping some of our more local and regional games and replace them with two or three of the schools offered in option dealing with a football conference. And yes, we are moving in that direction in terms of the 2024 schedule
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 11, 2023 15:09:25 GMT -5
The scenarios you laid out would've been no different had we replaced Yale and Harvard with URI and Maine on the 2022 schedule. I'm guessing what you're getting at is that HC needs to leave the PL and try to join the CAA in all sports. The bad news is that if the school had even one hair of interest in that, they missed the boat a year ago when the CAA completed a recent round of expansion. And the soon-to-be 15-team CAA Football conference is certainly not in need of another football-only affiliate. I am saying we will need to decide which is more important to us as a school and a football program. If we are attempting to address the SOS issue -- Do we: Keep everything the same with no changes and accept the reality of today Stay in the PL, which is the desired outcome, and build a stronger FCS OOC along with the FBS game or two each year. Attempt to put together a football only conference with Richmond, W&M, Villanova, Fordham, Elon, UNH, Colgate, and Holy Cross and then your FCS OOC schedule can be more regional or local. No right or wrong answer unless SOS is the driver. In the days ahead, a similar question might be before us for other sports Respectfully, the wrong answer might be stabbing our PL partners and co-founders in the back to bolt the league after one brief run in one sport under one life changing coach. While college athletics has devolved into frequent league hopping, the Patriot League has stabilized into one of the more coherent and mutually supportive conferences left. How much is that worth? Is there another conference that wouldn't have been saying to Holy Cross "here's your hat, what's your hurry?" after our overall won loss record across all sports over the last couple of decades? HC has lowered the SOS of the PL consistently in most sports and we are still a valued and welcome charter member. What is that worth?
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jan 11, 2023 16:02:40 GMT -5
Lots of speculation but I just don’t see Holy Cross leaving the Patriot League
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Post by Ignutz on Jan 11, 2023 16:38:05 GMT -5
Not sure where else to post this, and since this thread seems to be the most active right now, an interesting tidbit about a current player:
I learned earlier this afternoon that Damon Donalds, sophomore reserve DL from Tampa, is the eldest son of Byron Donalds, the Florida Congressman who was nominated as an alternative candidate to Kevin McCarthy in last week's Speaker of the House proceedings.
No other commentary, just an FYI for the collective readership here.
Carry on.
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Post by efg72 on Jan 11, 2023 17:18:42 GMT -5
Will swing by his office 😇✝️🏈
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Post by longsuffering on Jan 11, 2023 17:44:09 GMT -5
Not sure where else to post this, and since this thread seems to be the most active right now, an interesting tidbit about a current player: I learned earlier this afternoon that Damon Donalds, sophomore reserve DL from Tampa, is the eldest son of Byron Donalds, the Florida Congressman who was nominated as an alternative candidate to Kevin McCarthy in last week's Speaker of the House proceedings. No other commentary, just an FYI for the collective readership here. Carry on. The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree. The father is an alternate and the son is a reserve. Both great glue guys in their respective organizations.🙂
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Post by gerry on Jan 11, 2023 17:56:00 GMT -5
I might be missing some but I only see five PL vs CAA games with Villanova playing Lehigh and Colgate while Fordham plays Albany and Stony Brook. The other game is Monmouth and Lafayette. Do the New England CAA teams not want to play PL teams or do the PL teams not want to play them, or just a scheduling quirk that none of the three NE CAA teams play a PL team in this particular season? In regards to URI, the play Brown and Bryant annually now in addition to an FBS opponent. The only reason Holy Cross was able to schedule them in 24 and 25 was the 12 game schedule
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