Down Year For The CAA?

[cougarpines1]

[quote][Playing Demarco and not Heineke was a huge break for Delaware.

/quote]

Who made that decision?

[ODU89]

GSU will go on to win the championship and ODU will be it's toughest opponent.

Too bad we got paired with them in the 1st round. That should of been the title game!

[State Line Liquors]

There is a lot of football left, and neither of the teams in the ODU vs. GaSo game have/had defenses that appear to be worthy of a championship. It was an entertaining game never the less.

If Maine can continue to play like they did yesterday they have an excellent chance of winning. Theyre better tacklers, particularly in the back 7 on defense than ODU, so they should be able to make at least 3 or 4 stops on downs and maybe force a turnover of two if they can get people in the right place at the right time.

[mlbowl]

Yup...had the same amount of home games as the SoCon...just saying

Only one of our top 2 teams played at home...both the top MVFC and BSC teams played at home.

You are ridiculous GSU lost by 2 td's to that "not top 2 team"

[SeattleGriz]

I don't buy the "down year" argument. I think it disrespects the teams that made the playoffs. 4 of the 5 CAA teams that made the playoffs had to play on the road. It's tough to win on the road in the post season.

ODU and UNH went toe to toe on the road with two of the top teams in FCS. I have no complaint about their efforts.

I am watching the UNH at MSU replay and I have to disagree with the toe to toe part. MSU dominated UNH on both sides of the ball and held them to 190 yards under their average. If it wasn't for MSU trying their best to lose this with stupid turnovers (dumb passes by their QB), they would have won by 14-21 points.

[∞∞∞]

FWIW, ODU did score the most points ever by an opposing team at Paulson Stadium yesterday. Actually, only three times has an opponent scored 40+ at GSU in their history.

ODU-48 (2011)
UTC-45 (2007)
EKU-42 (1990)

[State Line Liquors]

FWIW, ODU did score the most points ever by an opposing team at Paulson Stadium yesterday. Actually, only three times has an opponent scored 40+ at GSU in their history.

ODU-48 (2011)
UTC-45 (2007)
EKU-42 (1990)

Really a very good season for ODU on many levels. A very nice addition to the FCS landscape. The challenge now will be matching the high expectations that such a terrific first year is sure to have created.

[89Hen]

We told you weeks ago the CAA was down this year and some of you still won't admit it.

CAA Quarterfinalists

2004 - 4
2005 - 2
2006 - 2
2007 - 3
2008 - 4
2009 - 4
2010 - 3
2011 - 1

[bluehenbillk]

Many decent teams in the CAA but no great ones & that how conferences typically get measured - so yes, I won't disagree it was a down year for the CAA. 89's stat is hard to argue with.

[CAA Flagship]

Many decent teams in the CAA but no great ones & that how conferences typically get measured - so yes, I won't disagree it was a down year for the CAA. 89's stat is hard to argue with.

I don't think there is any doubt about it. But I am not a believer of the playoffs being the sole indicator. Wild Card teams advance to the Super Bowl and World Series on occasion but that doesn't mean they are better teams. They just won critical games. The way the CAA shook out, there was little playoff experience for the teams that got in. That by itself can diminish the chances of success.

[89Hen]

Many decent teams in the CAA but no great ones & that how conferences typically get measured - so yes, I won't disagree it was a down year for the CAA. 89's stat is hard to argue with.

I don't think there is any doubt about it. But I am not a believer of the playoffs being the sole indicator. Wild Card teams advance to the Super Bowl and World Series on occasion but that doesn't mean they are better teams. They just won critical games. The way the CAA shook out, there was little playoff experience for the teams that got in. That by itself can diminish the chances of success.

Playoff experience is overrated. BTW, if there is no doubt, why are you casting doubts?

[CAA Flagship]

I don't think there is any doubt about it. But I am not a believer of the playoffs being the sole indicator. Wild Card teams advance to the Super Bowl and World Series on occasion but that doesn't mean they are better teams. They just won critical games. The way the CAA shook out, there was little playoff experience for the teams that got in. That by itself can diminish the chances of success.

Playoff experience is overrated. BTW, if there is no doubt, why are you casting doubts?

No casting going on here. I'm just saying that I don't like using only one metric. I think looking at how the whole year played out (lack of many home games for CAA teams in the playoffs) has at least equal weight to the playoff wins/losses.
So let's get on the subject of playoff experience. You think it is overrated? I'm looking at it from a standpoint that, especially this year, CAA teams had to travel to unfamiliar surroundings and play a quality opponent. Other than FBS opponents, CAA teams don't usually do that.

[89Hen]

No casting going on here. I'm just saying that I don't like using only one metric. I think looking at how the whole year played out (lack of many home games for CAA teams in the playoffs) has at least equal weight to the playoff wins/losses.
So let's get on the subject of playoff experience. You think it is overrated? I'm looking at it from a standpoint that, especially this year, CAA teams had to travel to unfamiliar surroundings and play a quality opponent. Other than FBS opponents, CAA teams don't usually do that.

There is no other real metric since we don't have many games against quality opponents outside of the CAA and the playoffs. The great success of the CAA the past few years has been in the playoffs.

I think playoff experience is overrated because first year teams do win and teams with plenty of playoff experience do lose... all the time. Nobody on Maine's team has ever been in a playoff game while this was AppSt's 7th year running. Sam Houston's players have never been in the playoffs. Montana State's players had never won a playoff game before Saturday.

I think you'd have a hard time finding real stats that could back up a claim that playoff experience has a real impact on playoffs. Even if you found that a slightly higher percentage of first year teams lost, you have to take that with a grain of salt. Norfolk State was a first year that lost, but SCSt lost three years in a row, as did Hampton. Doesn't matter how many years you give some teams/conferences... they just aren't going to win, at least not on a regular basis.

[GannonFan]

Many decent teams in the CAA but no great ones & that how conferences typically get measured - so yes, I won't disagree it was a down year for the CAA. 89's stat is hard to argue with.

+1 - some pretty nice teams, but Maine's the only one left who has a chance to prove they are a great team. Everyone else who made the playoffs had nice years but weren't really national contenders.

[89Hen]

BTW, you ODU and Towson fans should be excited about a great season. To come from nowhere and make the playoffs at all is a huge accomplishment. I think everyone with the exception of 93 was rooting for you to do well. You should know that we are some of the biggest conference flag waivers around. It's just that we've been around long enough to see that the CAA wasn't going to be as competitive in the playoffs as it's been the last several years. Conference strength ebbs and flows. It may be back next year, but we will have to wait to see. Now let's just root on Maine.

[CAA Flagship]

BTW, you ODU and Towson fans should be excited about a great season. To come from nowhere and make the playoffs at all is a huge accomplishment. I think everyone with the exception of 93 was rooting for you to do well. You should know that we are some of the biggest conference flag waivers around. It's just that we've been around long enough to see that the CAA wasn't going to be as competitive in the playoffs as it's been the last several years. Conference strength ebbs and flows. It may be back next year, but we will have to wait to see. Now let's just root on Maine.

Absolutely. There is certainly a big difference between basketball and football when it comes to conference flag waiving. Because of the roster size differences, I'm not concerned if a recruit or two decide on another program in football as compared to basketball. Very few football players can take over a game by himself as compared to basketball. So there is no reason to not cheer the conference brethren on.

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