Seldom poster, but continuous lurker of this forum... First, let me congratulate the Maryville Fighting Scots and the Hampden Syndney Tigers on winning their respective conferences to receive an automatic bid to this years D3 playoff championship. Here are some of my random thoughts/questions regarding this Saturday's matchup between the Fighting Scots and the Tigers:

(1) I am going to show my age with this, but, Hampden Syndney was the site of my last Football Road Game as a Fighting Scot in 1999. Which, by the way, was a 13-3 victory for the Fighting Scots. Hopefully that is a good omen...And, The Fighting Scots finished that season the following week with a victory against those Wasps from E&H to finish the season with a 7-3 record...

(2) We have all heard fans of each of these respective conferences debating for several years about which conference was stronger. Well, on this upcoming saturday we are going to get a one-time shot at bragging rights for whichever conference champ wins.

(3) One question that needs to be asked is, "How is each of these teams going to respond after their respective games last weekend?" For examples: The Fighting Scots traveled to Huntingdon and lost to a good, but not as good as they usually are, Huntingdon team. I feel that one must remember that games between those two teams have always been great. And, each of those teams know almost everything about the other given their history and the fact that Coach Rader was an assistant at Huntingdon for so many years. While that lose may have hurt, I feel that it can be used to help focus and humble a young team that has never ever been in the position that it is in at the present time. On the flip side, The Tigers traveled to Ashland to compete in "The Game" and returned victors. Will that combined with the unexpected opportunity to host a first round game lead to a slight bit of overconfidence for the Tigers? Who knows? I certainily hope so 

(4) While we all know that this game is going to hinge on the Tigers passing attack versus the Fighting Scots rushing attack, I feel that in order for the Fighting Scots to be victorious there are a couple of things that must happen. First, I feel that the Scots need to receive the opening kick and either score first, or at the very minimum establish field position early. Second, the Fighting Scots MUST win the turnover battle. CNU proved that the best way to beat the Tigers is to turn them over. Third, the Fighting Scots must not have any more special teams breakdowns. Those will get you beat against good teams, which at this point, everyone is. Fourth, I feel that it is important that the Scots gameplan must mirror the things that have gotten them to this point. Don't fix things that aren't broke.

(5) As great as it would have been for the Fighting Scots to have been able to win last week and have the shot at hosting, I feel that being on the road may actually play into the Scots favor since they have never been in this position before. I always felt as a player it was much easier to focus the week of, night before, and day of an away game. Especially, one that is an overnight trip.

(6) Given this matchup, I am 100% sure that each team and its fans feel that this is a winnable game for each of the respective institutions. It's not like the ODAC champ or the USAC champ was shipped to Belton or Alliance  I feel that this matchup is great for the schools and the conferences that they represent. On this train of thought, I have read all about the criteria regarding the selection of the brackets and where each team is placed. One question that I have not heard is that maybe the selection committee saw this as an oppportunity, given the results in the South and East last weekend, to ensure that one of these conference champs make it to the second round

(7) Win or lose, I am extremely proud of my Fighting Scots!!!

(8) I look forward to others comments and posts leading up to the matchup this saturday.

Fellow D3 football and ODAC fans, please check out my post on the USAC board with my thoughts regarding this weekends matchup between the Tigers and Fighting Scots. I look forward to reading everyone else's thoughts...

Seldom poster, but continuous lurker of this forum... First, let me congratulate the Maryville Fighting Scots and the Hampden Syndney Tigers on winning their respective conferences to receive an automatic bid to this years D3 playoff championship. Here are some of my random thoughts/questions regarding this Saturday's matchup between the Fighting Scots and the Tigers:
(1) I am going to show my age with this, but, Hampden Syndney was the site of my last Football Road Game as a Fighting Scot in 1999. Which, by the way, was a 13-3 victory for the Fighting Scots. Hopefully that is a good omen...And, The Fighting Scots finished that season the following week with a victory against those Wasps from E&H to finish the season with a 7-3 record...
(2) We have all heard fans of each of these respective conferences debating for several years about which conference was stronger. Well, on this upcoming saturday we are going to get a one-time shot at bragging rights for whichever conference champ wins.
(3) One question that needs to be asked is, "How is each of these teams going to respond after their respective games last weekend?" For examples: The Fighting Scots traveled to Huntingdon and lost to a good, but not as good as they usually are, Huntingdon team. I feel that one must remember that games between those two teams have always been great. And, each of those teams know almost everything about the other given their history and the fact that Coach Rader was an assistant at Huntingdon for so many years. While that lose may have hurt, I feel that it can be used to help focus and humble a young team that has never ever been in the position that it is in at the present time. On the flip side, The Tigers traveled to Ashland to compete in "The Game" and returned victors. Will that combined with the unexpected opportunity to host a first round game lead to a slight bit of overconfidence for the Tigers? Who knows? I certainily hope so 
(4) While we all know that this game is going to hinge on the Tigers passing attack versus the Fighting Scots rushing attack, I feel that in order for the Fighting Scots to be victorious there are a couple of things that must happen. First, I feel that the Scots need to receive the opening kick and either score first, or at the very minimum establish field position early. Second, the Fighting Scots MUST win the turnover battle. CNU proved that the best way to beat the Tigers is to turn them over. Third, the Fighting Scots must not have any more special teams breakdowns. Those will get you beat against good teams, which at this point, everyone is. Fourth, I feel that it is important that the Scots gameplan must mirror the things that have gotten them to this point. Don't fix things that aren't broke.
(5) As great as it would have been for the Fighting Scots to have been able to win last week and have the shot at hosting, I feel that being on the road may actually play into the Scots favor since they have never been in this position before. I always felt as a player it was much easier to focus the week of, night before, and day of an away game. Especially, one that is an overnight trip.
(6) Given this matchup, I am 100% sure that each team and its fans feel that this is a winnable game for each of the respective institutions. It's not like the ODAC champ or the USAC champ was shipped to Belton or Alliance I feel that this matchup is great for the schools and the conferences that they represent. On this train of thought, I have read all about the criteria regarding the selection of the brackets and where each team is placed. One question that I have not heard is that maybe the selection committee saw this as an oppportunity, given the results in the South and East last weekend, to ensure that one of these conference champs make it to the second round
(7) Win or lose, I am extremely proud of my Fighting Scots!!!
(8) I look forward to others comments and posts leading up to the matchup this saturday.

P.S. "Panther Guy" Those are some pretty serious accusations. I just do not believe that Maryville would do anything that does not follow the model of D3 athletics and the respective NCAA rules. I know that Lagrange has certainly had a difficult period as of late, and that you have had a family member play at Maryville. Which you have never stated that your stepson graduated from Maryville. And, that you have a current son playing at Lagrange. I just hope that all of these circumstances has not allowed you to post such serious accusations that may ultimately just be commonplace scuttle.

Good luck today Fighting Scots... Win the title outright. Tough battle against an always very good Hawks team

Congrats to the Fighting Scots... If TLU doesn't make the playoffs, I think the ODAC champ should be the team that gets shipped to Texas. Again, happy to see my Alma mater receive a playoff bid.

Thank You to all that have served to protect our Country. Also, please remember those who we cannot thank in person, due to their providing the ultimate sacriface for our Country. To my Dad- Semper Fi

Good luck to the Wittenberg Tigers today against Trine. I am good friends with the D- coordinator at Witt, and would love to see the great season continue.

May God Bless all that have served or are currently serving to keep us free. A special Thank You to my Dad for all that he had to endure while actively serving in the Marine Corp.

does anyone know if CNU doees Live Video Streaming of ots home games? Thanks.

Good Luck to everyone's favorite team this season. May they play injury free and good, clean, well- played football. I would love to see the Conference be strong from top to bottom.

Thank You to all who have served or are currently serving to protect the freedoms that we all enjoy.

Just want to say Thank You to all that have served or to all that are currently serving this great country. You are appreciated.

Congrats to both Huntington and Lagrange for having such fine seasons. It is awesome to have such good and classy rivals for us here at Maryville. As a fan I certainly look foward to playing ya'll in the future. As Maryville has made the transition to the USA South conference, we lost some long time traditional rivals such as E and H, Sewanee, etc. By adding ya'll and being able to keep Centre on our non- conference schedule, it has created some good games that certainly prepare us for competition in the USA South. Hope you have a great off- season. And good luck to Lagrange if they make the play-offs.

What a great season in the USA South. For the first time since I have been following the league, it seemed as is there was more parity than ever before. Congrats to CNU for winning the conference, and good luck in the playoffs. It seems that there will be several teams that have the chance to really be scary good next season if the have great off- seasons and can fill holes by recruiting. I have said it before and will say it again, I really believe that CNU has raised the bar for everyone else, and that the road to being the conference champ runs through CNU. With that being said, I think that there are about three or four different teams that could finish atop the conference next season. Lets all rally behind CNU during the playoffs, if they have a strong showing it justs gives the whole conference more national credibility.

Old Blackbird,
Check the Maryville athletics site, they have the links for the audio broadcast as well as video streaming.