Lafayette 5-6 IN playoffs

[89Hen]

I wouldn't count on it, and I'm not sure what UD has to do with this, they are not in the playoffs. Don't belong there. LC doesn't either.

If you win your conference you get in the playoffs. That is the way it is for every sport in every division of the NCAA where the NCAA sponsors a tournament.

Quit crying like a bitch. You sound like Clenz.

That would imply I'm upset that LC got in and UD didn't. NEITHER belong. As a I-AA fan of 40 years, I'm offended that crappy teams have infiltrated the playoffs.

[Franks Tanks]

Maybe if we had an OOC schedule filled with team like Wagner, Jacksonville and Delaware State we would've done a little better.

Why do you need the easy OOC schedule when you alrady have the easy in conference schedule you went 5-1 against?

And like 89 said, no UD fan is saying we belong - we don't, we're not very good. We're just able to admit it.

That is not the point.

In fact our OOC schedule was decent. 9-1 Harvard, 8-2 Princeton, W&M and another playoff team in Sacred Heart who went 10-2.

The point is, which you chose to ignore, is that Lafayette is a much different team now. We have a freshman QB who is completing 80% of his passes. Early in the year we had a kid completing 50% of his passes and throwing 3 picks a game. If we played our schedule over again 7 or even 8 wins is likley.

We beat Fordham and Lehigh these last 2 weeks. Lehigh beat UNH. Fordham beat Nova, URI and Temple. This is obviously a different team than the one that went 0-5 OOC, even though the schedule was decent.

[Franks Tanks]

If you win your conference you get in the playoffs. That is the way it is for every sport in every division of the NCAA where the NCAA sponsors a tournament.

Quit crying like a bitch. You sound like Clenz.

That would imply I'm upset that LC got in and UD didn't. NEITHER belong. As a I-AA fan of 40 years, I'm offended that crappy teams have infiltrated the playoffs.

This is of course impossible to prove, but LC is ny no means the worst team in the playoffs.

Also what does it matter to you? That is why the best teams get a bye. Do you hate the NCAA tournament because a team from the CAA, who 95% of the time has no chance to do anything in the tournament, makes the field?

[89Hen]

Why do you need the easy OOC schedule when you alrady have the easy in conference schedule you went 5-1 against?

And like 89 said, no UD fan is saying we belong - we don't, we're not very good. We're just able to admit it.

That is not the point.

In fact our OOC schedule was decent. 9-1 Harvard, 8-2 Princeton, W&M and another playoff team in Sacred Heart who went 10-2.

The point is, which you chose to ignore, is that Lafayette is a much different team now. We have a freshman QB who is completing 80% of his passes. Early in the year we had a kid completing 50% of his passes and throwing 3 picks a game. If we played our schedule over again 7 or even 8 wins is likley.

We beat Fordham and Lehigh these last 2 weeks. Lehigh beat UNH. Fordham beat Nova, URI and Temple. This is obviously a different team than the one that went 0-5 OOC, even though the schedule was decent.

I thought all games counted and we didn't rely on speculation on how they would do if they played again.

[89Hen]

Do you hate the NCAA tournament...

With 24 teams... yes. But hate is a strong word because it's still a hell of a lot better than what I-A has, but the field at 16 was good. This is not.

[Franks Tanks]

That is not the point.

In fact our OOC schedule was decent. 9-1 Harvard, 8-2 Princeton, W&M and another playoff team in Sacred Heart who went 10-2.

The point is, which you chose to ignore, is that Lafayette is a much different team now. We have a freshman QB who is completing 80% of his passes. Early in the year we had a kid completing 50% of his passes and throwing 3 picks a game. If we played our schedule over again 7 or even 8 wins is likley.

We beat Fordham and Lehigh these last 2 weeks. Lehigh beat UNH. Fordham beat Nova, URI and Temple. This is obviously a different team than the one that went 0-5 OOC, even though the schedule was decent.

I thought all games counted and we didn't rely on speculation on how they would do if they played again.

What is your point?

I am illustrating that Lafayette's circumstance is very unusual this year, but we are playing much better than we did at any point earlier in the year, and we just beat 2 quality teams.

[Franks Tanks]

Do you hate the NCAA tournament...

With 24 teams... yes. But hate is a strong word because it's still a hell of a lot better than what I-A has, but the field at 16 was good. This is not.

Sorry, I meant the NCAA basketball tournament. You could have a reasonable NCAA men's basketbal championship tournament with 32 teams, but many teams who won their conference or could've made a run would be left out.

You also realize that Lafayette makes the field back in the 16 teams days as well right?

[89Hen]

With 24 teams... yes. But hate is a strong word because it's still a hell of a lot better than what I-A has, but the field at 16 was good. This is not.

Sorry, I meant the NCAA basketball tournament. You could have a reasonable NCAA men's basketbal championship tournament with 32 teams, but many teams who won their conference or could've made a run would be left out.

You also realize that Lafayette makes the field back in the 16 teams days as well right?

Apples and oranges on bball vs football tourneys. The opening round in bball is for TV and to give out participation medals.

Yes, LC still makes it in the 16 team field, but I think the expanded field this year exacerbated the issue for me. Butler, Sacred Heart, SC State, Jacksonville St, etc... do not belong IMO.

[JoltinJoe]

Patriot should lose their auto and not be allowed to have Fordham get an at large. This is bullshit. If Lehigh were to get an at-large, I may stop watching I-AA football. Lafayette lost to Sacred Heart, Penn, Princeton, Harvard, Colgate and got trounced by W&M. They do NOT belong in the playoffs.

Fordham beat every CAA team they played this year and would have beat Delaware by about three touchdowns. In fact, Fordham would have gone undefeated (with a BCS win) but for one game when the best player in the FCS was out with an injury. Without a doubt, Fordham was the best team in the East this season.

[JohnStOnge]

Fordham beat every CAA team they played this year and would have beat Delaware by about three touchdowns. In fact, Fordham would have gone undefeated (with a BCS win) but for one game when the best player in the FCS was out with an injury. Without a doubt, Fordham was the best team in the East this season.

Do I sense hyperbole?

[JoltinJoe]

Fordham beat every CAA team they played this year and would have beat Delaware by about three touchdowns. In fact, Fordham would have gone undefeated (with a BCS win) but for one game when the best player in the FCS was out with an injury. Without a doubt, Fordham was the best team in the East this season.

Do I sense hyperbole?

Not at all. The CAA was nothing to write home about this year.

[JoltinJoe]

Sorry, I meant the NCAA basketball tournament. You could have a reasonable NCAA men's basketbal championship tournament with 32 teams, but many teams who won their conference or could've made a run would be left out.

You also realize that Lafayette makes the field back in the 16 teams days as well right?

Apples and oranges on bball vs football tourneys. The opening round in bball is for TV and to give out participation medals.

Yes, LC still makes it in the 16 team field, but I think the expanded field this year exacerbated the issue for me. Butler, Sacred Heart, SC State, Jacksonville St, etc... do not belong IMO.

You do realize the PL would get two teams in this year in a field of 16?

[93henfan]

Without a doubt, Fordham was the best team in the East this season.

[JoltinJoe]

Without a doubt, Fordham was the best team in the East this season.

Yea, enjoy the CAA kool-aid.

[93henfan]

Yea, enjoy the CAA kool-aid.

It's tasted better than Patriot League kool-aid, well, pretty much forever.

40-0

[JoltinJoe]

Yea, enjoy the CAA kool-aid.

It's tasted better than Patriot League kool-aid, well, pretty much forever.

40-0

Was that the score of the Maine/Delaware game at the half? Or the score of the Navy/Delaware game at the half?

[93henfan]

It's tasted better than Patriot League kool-aid, well, pretty much forever.

40-0

Was that the score of the Maine/Delaware game at the half? Or the score of the Navy/Delaware game at the half?

No, that was the score of the 2003 National Championship Game.

Delaware 40 - Colgate 0

Complete mismatch. Largest margin of victory and only shutout in the history of the I-AA/FCS CG. The Patriot League was not ready for primetime. More recently, UD blasted Lehigh in the playoffs. Patriot League teams are chicken soup for the non-Patriot fans' souls in the playoffs.

But anyway, back on topic, you say that Fordham is the best team in the east this year. We'll know within four or five weeks. Check back.

[Vidav]

Was that the score of the Maine/Delaware game at the half? Or the score of the Navy/Delaware game at the half?

No, that was the score of the 2003 National Championship Game.

Delaware 40 - Colgate 0

Complete mismatch. Largest margin of victory and only shutout in the history of the I-AA/FCS CG. The Patriot League was not ready for primetime. More recently, UD blasted Lehigh in the playoffs. Patriot League teams are chicken soup for the non-Patriot fans' souls in the playoffs.

But anyway, back on topic, you say that Fordham is the best team in the east this year. We'll know within four or five weeks. Check back.

Our 2001 Championship should have been a shutout as well.

[NorthHen]

Has this been printed here yet.......?

Prior to the Fordham game, it was pretty well an accepted premise that Frank Tavani was on his way out.

Then.......out of the blue....who shows up? KC KEELER!!!! Articles suddenly appear in the Allentown Morning Call and Easton Express...one written by Keith Groller, Lafayette-hater Morning Call Sports Editor.

KC working for NFL films....learning from the best... .keeping a file on everything he's learning by watching film and doing games on ESPN6 (or 5 or "whatever"). "I'm pretty much doing the same thing Matt Millen is doing" KC modestly announces. Picture of the family included in the article (photo credit says "provided by KC Keeler")
Groller pronounces Keeler as the best coach currently out of coaching.

Keeler, of course, sees a program about to enter a new scholarship era....playing a schedule he always dreamed of.

So......Lafayette kids are smart....they see the vulture circling College Hill.

Pull off major upsets over Fordham and Lehigh.

Loyalty to their coach turned the season around.

Thanks KC..... now peddle your ego somewhere else.

[JohnStOnge]

To me the most important principle is that as many teams as possible completely control their own destiny. That's the automatic bid. Don't know what can be done about Independents but there aren't many of them. Lafayette is an example of why I like the system. Whether people THINK they should be in the playoffs or not doesn't matter. At the start of the season they knew that if they did a certain thing, if they won their conference, they were automatically going to be in. And they did what they had to do. They're in.

If a conference meets the criteria for being FCS it should have an automatic bid. There should be no such thing as, "Yes you are an FCS conference and meet the criteria established for doing that but we don't THINK you're strong enough to have an automatic bid" And now there isn't. That, to me, is good. If people are concerned about conferences being too weak they should re-examine the criteria for being a FCS conference.

And once you have automatic bids 11 and even potentially 13 spots are taken. That leaves 11 to 13 at large bids. At 20 teams in the tournament you would have 7 to 9. I guess that's OK. But I think 11 to 13 is better and going below 7 to 9 would be too far. Right now a 16 team tournament with 11 automatic bids would leave only 5 at large berths and if for some reason the SWAC and Ivy would decide to start participating it'd be 3. That's be way to few.

[JoltinJoe]

Was that the score of the Maine/Delaware game at the half? Or the score of the Navy/Delaware game at the half?

No, that was the score of the 2003 National Championship Game.

Delaware 40 - Colgate 0

Complete mismatch. Largest margin of victory and only shutout in the history of the I-AA/FCS CG. The Patriot League was not ready for primetime. More recently, UD blasted Lehigh in the playoffs. Patriot League teams are chicken soup for the non-Patriot fans' souls in the playoffs.

But anyway, back on topic, you say that Fordham is the best team in the east this year. We'll know within four or five weeks. Check back.

Oh, ancient history. I thought we were talking about this year, and you were speaking about a team that gave up 62 points to Maine and 51 points to Navy, but its posters were saying last week that their team was in the playoffs, and Fordham was "in trouble." I call it the "CAA Delusion."

Fordham led the Lambert Trophy voting all season, until it lost a single game without Nebrich at QB, and is currently second in voting behind Towson. The Rams would have run the table with Nebrich. And I think we will know in two weeks, because Fordham's round of 16 match up is at Towson. Towson lost to Delaware ( ) so I'm pretty sure Fordham's got a shot to win that game.

During your time frame, incidentally, Fordham has thumped one CAA champion from the playoffs, and gave another a great run for the money. 1-1 against the CAA champ in the playoffs during that time. Hardly "chicken soup."

And Fordham has shown this year that the PL with scholarships will ultimately be a much better league than the CAA.

[93henfan]

Beauty of the playoffs: put up or shut up

[JoltinJoe]

Beauty of the playoffs: put up or shut up

Of course, there is some truth to that. A playoff game is a harsh judge who doesn't consider all of your evidence, but just the evidence you can bring forward that day. And anything can happen to any team, most notably one or two critical injuries -- and, poof, you're done.

The Giants beat the Patriots in Super Bowls two times in the past five years, but I'd be the first to admit that New England was actually the better team over the course of both seasons. But the Giants took home the hardware both times and the Pats had to shut up.

Fordham was the best team in the East over the course of this season. I think they can prove that in the playoffs, but you never know what's going to happen. Fordham deserved a seeding, but playing a first-round game they should win might be a blessing in disguise. The last time the Rams had a bye week, they came out sloppy against Holy Cross and, while marching up and down the field, turned the ball over early, falling behind 23-7 within a quarter and a half. They finally found their game legs and went on a 25-0 tear before HC tacked on a late TD, for a 32-30 win.

Fordham won't be able to do that to a quality team, so I welcome the Sacred Heart game, because it should keep us game fresh and, if we lose to Sacred Heart, then we weren't going to win in the round of 16 either.

Realistically, though, any Eastern team is going to have its hands full with the teams from the other regions. Being realistic, Eastern FCS football this season wasn't the equal of other regions. The East teams are fortunate that brackets were done regionally. Take a look at NAU's draw. They could be one and done, but in the East, I think NAU would breeze into the quarters before being really tested.

[GannonFan]

And Fordham has shown this year that the PL with scholarships will ultimately be a much better league than the CAA.

How so? Fordham beat a non-playoff, barely .500 CAA team in the first week of September, at home, by 3 points, on a night where that CAA team turned it over 6 times. I'm not sure how that equates then to the extrapolation of being "a much better league than the CAA". The sample doesn't appear to be very representative of your conclusion.

[89Hen]

If a conference meets the criteria for being FCS it should have an automatic bid.

There's the problem IMO.