Oh, and I am looking very wrong on that Harrisburg squad - a few freshman pick ups leading the way. 

So I may not only have been wrong, but should change tune about Harrisburg for years to come with 30-35 points a night coming from three freshman.

I will move them as well as Keuka up the list and in turn move Cobleskill and Caz down a few notches...in my book at least

Well, agreed that I probably went a little too far trying to prove a point and in the end I probably lost some credibility.  I don't spend enough time posting to count it as wasted time though, this board is a lot of fun to read I probably shouldn't get in to banter...

So in the end, agree to disagree on having an automatic bid.  I think it is good for smaller conferences, just as in Division I.

Man, the worst kind of poster is the one that only talks their team up and then when they struggle, disappear off of the board, it wastes everyones time.  Actually Freddy - you said you can't believe this league has an automatic bid because it is made up of teams that couldn't make it in other conferences.  There are only two teams in this league from another conference and one of them is SUNY IT...so I was pretty sure that was one of the teams you were criticizing so I thought I would point out that in comparison to SUNY IT in SUNYAC play, your team is actually the one that struggled in comparison over the years.  And I didn't only bring up SUNY IT, I also mentioned that your team has lost to "NEAC" schools regularly.    I don't have a team but I know about both conferences.  What if every year when you were losing to D'Youville and Medaille, that the SUNYAC decided that you were not good enough to be in their basketball conference.

As for Morrisville and Cobleskill, they didn't decide to go division III until they became powerful NJCAA teams and the transition was in line with their College's move to four year academic programs.  Wells is a pretty good team already and they have been around for what...3 years.  Who is to say that in a few years, Wells or Cobleskill do not also represent the NEAC well regionally.

Your comment totally got under my skin because 've heard it before - mostly from schools that could not finish better than 2nd place in their conference.  That if the NEAC didn't have an automatic bid, that the extra bid could go to a school from the much, much better conferences so I am happy to point out when each year, the top few NEAC teams would be playoff contenders in all conferences and regularly take down a few regionaly bid contenders each year.  This bid gives those schools a fighting chance in recruiting.  what is the big deal with having an automatic qualifier for these schools with lower budgets, populations and a much shorter history.  The weaker schools aren't winning the conference championship and receiving the auto anyway.

OK enough of the SUNYAC comparison - Fredonia seems to be lost in their own world taking on Davidson this week.

Early on with rosters out and a few games in the bank I thought I would make a run at the rankings:
1. SUNY IT - clear front-runner, I have D. Brown as league MVP after a strong tournament last year and a hot start
2. Wells - seems as though everyone is back, basically a two man show
3. Cobleskill - totally reloaded, playing a tough schedule early on they have some serious size for the league
4. Dallas - I don't know where they will be seeded in the tournament but they are a clear top 4 team to me
5. Keuka - usually a top team they have fallen off a bit, they have some talent though
6. Cazenovia - too young, no go-to scorin threat but a whole lot of size down low and they always grind it out. 
7. Abington - I have a strange feeling about the new psu school in town and they played Millersville (d2) fine and a Neumann squad tough that would be a top half contender in this conference
8. Berks - good team in conference last year can't break the top 7 scoring under 50 points a few times this year
8. Morrisville - their shot at rebranding the college seems to be a flop on the athletic side of things, they were much better off as a juco
9. Harrisburg - seems like the step child in the psu/neac family - they don't seem to have the same commitment as berks and abington

And the more I think about it - SUNY IT has regularly been a better team than FSU.  I see an edge in the series to IT since 02 and that is as far back as I can look.  Last year IT beat a cortland team pretty easily that beat  Fredonia during the year so even though I wont contend that the neac is a better conference than the sunyac, I would gather that SUNY IT is not a failed experiment in basketball.  And most of the schools in the NEAC didn't fail anywhere, this is their only opportunity for a conference and most of the teams recently added sports or took the leap from two-year schools.  Give them a couple of years Freddy.

I for one enjoy the "crossover games" between all conferences and just like the A10 compared to the ACC, it makes for a good story every now and then - and if you asked I bet most NEAC coaches would take your budget, facilities and student pop, plus the phys ed majors in the sunyac over a liberal arts, tech or agricultural school and a part time salary. 

So make sure FSU doesn't fall off of the map again this year, and don't forget the losses over the years to all of those teams you can't believe have their own conference. 

Here is your argument. Two years ago your boys lost to Morrisville, Hilbert and D'Youville in the same season.  Your school pop is 4 x the size, your budget is on average 3-5 x that of these schools.  The price of your school is half.  The SUNY schools in the NEAC have populations centralized in one or two majors so what you see is what you get.   

Your school couldn't compete on the national level either so instead of getting on par with the best teams in your conference you decide to pick on how unfair it is that these smaller schools beat their peer institutions for the #16 seed.

You are bragging about being average - nobody in the NEAC is proclaiming world beater status, just enjoying their experience.  Your current run as a contender in the sunyac will be done within a year or two.  If enjoying it while it lasts means ragging on small schools, go ahead but in two years you'll be back as the 5th best D3 school in Buffalo.

Any insight on the NEAC schools now that practice has started.  Will Wells have eligibility issues and even then it seems like their coach is a good recruiter.  SUNY IT on top...what about Morrisville and Cobleskill, two former JUCO powers in the state that seem to have fallen off since going D3.  I see Caz lost a lot to graduation but it is probably the right time for them to be rebuilding anyway after last year.

The Penn State schools are dedicated to athletics and they don't seem to be losing guys after their soph seasons anymore...any word on a surprise from south of NY.

Quote from: BaseB13 on September 15, 2009, 07:05:27 PM
Do these guys just transfer on a whim without talking to anyone at Cortland?  That would seem pretty bold to leave a program where you're playing all the time without some type of discussion with the coach at the school you're transferring to.  Then again, I don't think you're technically allowed to talk to players at other schools until they've withdrawn from the school or been released...?

Just to answer this question.  NCAA D3 rules are sort of loose here in that a student-athlete at one institution is allowed to contact another institution's coach by simply faxing a one page "self release" form, which gives the athlete and coach x number of days to talk about the prospect of transferring.  The coach or athletic department from said SA's current school does not need to have any knowledge of the self release form being sent and certainly do not need to release the player.  I'm sure this step is often skipped I'm sure but in the end it doesn't really matter if in the end, the player and possible new destination are allowed to talk without the other school knowing.

Good conversation - who wouldn't want to play at Cortland anyway.  I'm not sure what's up with Brockport, I thought they were on the same path with the additions of Rose and Allen last year in line with the transfer trend.

Hearing about another JUCO transfer to SUNY IT.  U-ND's Steve Campbell from Herkimer.  He is another big body for them at 6'7"

I know this is late but on the Cortland - first game outside topic.  I think the average snowfall in the DC area is less than 20 inches.  If you don't know what 140 inches of snow over the winter is like then you really aren't understanding what first day outside means.  I think the Cortland games could have gone either way but those DC schools had to brave some cold weather that they probably practiced in during the 3 days before.  Cortland went from shorts in the gym to baseball pants in 35 degrees.

Salisbury had played 7 games, catholic had played Stevenson 5 days earlier and Mary Washington had played a double header 7 days earlier.  No doubt those were not those schools first day on a field.  On any warm day they could have hit a turf football field or maybe been on their own fields.  I'm assuming yes, probably a lot of cold days that put the DC area indoors but it's a big deal.

Oh good point Dave I didn't see the first OState-Brockport game, or in the boxscores when I was checking.  Twighlight is wooden bat right or am I wrong?  From what I know good set-up but might lead to some extra K's.  Steve has the size for sure, will be very fun to watch as he gets the big SUNYAC starts and if he has a big season you may be very right on his draft status.

I noticed your other post as well - as far as the Reds scout - if that's the same older gentleman who is always at Oneonta games then I wouldn't put too much stock in that.  I'm not sure what his background is but I know the story about the Reds scout at a Oneonta St. game that has been told for years and years.  No offense meant to your guy - great numbers last season but he's not on the level of Tone or Maxwell (who he lost to second time around against Brockport, Maxwell had 10 K's).  I don't see him getting drafted but what do I know.

Oneonta doesn't swing the sticks well enough.  Especially when you're saying I don't know what they have after one main bat.  Cortland beat them the first two times around with Assman and Ratliff and when it mattered, Tone struck out 13 in 6.  Myers is very good and so is Oneonta for that matter.  Juedes is good, Filak is good but they aren't the elite SUNYAC arms.  It's not even close in the regular season and a tournament is anyone's game but double elimination favors C-State.

What's the difference in the staff from last year again?  I'm confused this is a team that was 14-0 in SUNYAC play.

In order by IP - Tone, Ratliff, Blanco, Hooper, Mahay, Assman, Rowlands, Potrikus, Serio and Baker.

Of that group Hooper and Serio combined for 4 starts.  That means from last year's top ten they return 6 from the lowest BAA category and 35 wins.  Big losses but Baker got hit last year, Serio and Hooper were great but this doesn't compare to '07 when they lost Zgorzelski, Dougher and essentially, Jweid for this past season.

Without knowing for sure if Coach Brown brought in a stud to partner with Tone and figuring that Jweid is probably not the same, I still don't see where anyone matches up on paper.  Hey, any given Sunday, I believe in that but to try to get involved in the conversation...

Ratliff out-dueled Shannon at B'Port last year, 7 IP 1 run and threw 4 innings, 1 ER when the two teams met again later in the year and in that game C-State put up ten in 3 innings when Gentzke got the start. Also completely shut down Keystone's lineup.

Don't forget Rowlands picked up wins against Ithaca, Fisher and out-matched Kelley in the Plattsburgh game when Blanco picked up the win.  You're right Butch, Blanco had a huge start against RPI but he was pretty nasty from the way his numbers look.  He's got to fit in somewhere for '09.  Assman can still beat any four seed, especially if its say...Oswego. 

Regular season championship is locked up but as far as the SUNYAC's - Oneonta is the only team with the pitching to match but they can't swing it.  The most important thing and what the last couple posters forgot is that Cortland out hit any team in that conference by a large margin and you can't really think that's going anywhere.

Potrikus is comparable to Filak if you ask me and how does Mahay fit in now that Serio, Baker and Mattes are out of the bullpen.