FB: Centennial Conference

[MRMIKESMITH]

What is the Centennial tie-breaker?

http://www.centennial.org/Manual/2019-20/sports/Football.pdf

Section IV - Rules Governing Championship
A. Determining the Conference Champion. The Conference champion will be based on the best won-lost record in a single roundrobin season.
B. Ties for First Place. In case of a tie for first place at the conclusion of the regular season, multiple champions will be named.
C. Determining the NCAA Tournament Representative
1. Head-to-Head competition;
2. Results against 3rd place team, 4th place team, etc. until tie is broken;
3. Strength-of-schedule criteria, as determined by the NCAA Championships Committee formula, for all games;
• Opponents' Average Winning Percentage (OWP)
• Opponents' Opponents' Average Winning Percentage (OOWP)
Opponents' Average Winning Percentage (OWP). Take each opponent's regular won-lost percentage against other Division III teams
(excluding the results against the team in question) and average the percentages. To calculate: Team A Schedule is as follows:

The ODAC can be weird so nothing is certain here, but on the surface this would seem to favor Hopkins as Randolph Macon is likely going to have a better W/L year than Lycoming or TCNJ.

It's going to be really weird this year. I agree with R-MC, but Lycoming looks to improve off a year where they lost all 6 of their games by an average of 10 points and if you take away the Susquehanna loss, only 6 points.

[The Mole]

Another attempt to revive some interest in what was a great conference last year with 2 playoff teams (Hopkins & Muhlenberg, as well as three 8 win teams in the Centennial/MAC Bowl challenge--Susquehanna, Ursinus & F&M)

Muhlenberg @ Juniata: Eagles got a huge and surprising W over Ursinus last week. Can they pull off a bigger shocker?

F&M @ Susquehanna: River Hawks fell to Muhlenberg in OT (after beating Hopkins), The Dips need this as they still have Hopkins and Muhlenberg on the slate. Should be the game of the week in the CC

Hopkins @ Dickinson: Red Devils are improved and tough on D, Jays cannot take them lightly

Gettysburg @ McDaniel: Winnable match up for both squads. Green Terror should win but the Bullets will give them a good shot

Ursinus @ Moravian: Grizzlies got trapped by Juniata. can they rebound against the winless Greyhounds?

[The Mole]

A bit of a separation week in the Centennial coming this Saturday:

Muhlenberg @ F&M: Dips got beaten soundly by Susky this past week, can they pull off an upset that would create chaos? Mules are in total control and unbeaten overall and in CC play

Hopkins @ Ursinus: Both are 3-1/2-1 overall. The league losses are very different though--Blue Jays to Susquehanna and Bears to Juniata. Two years ago, Ursinus won this to stop the CC win streak. They have the talent to pull it off again.

Juniata @ McDaniel: Do not look at the records in this one--Green Terror have beaten the two winless CC squads below and a back down to earth Misericordia--BUT they are 3-1. Eagles are just 1-3 with a tough schedule and the aforementioned W over Ursinus--a victory here would be another step in the their improvement.

Moravian @ Gettysburg: Both teams are 0-4. Greyhounds are the better team on paper and have 3 one score losses (by a total of 13 points). Bullets appear improved but may be disappointed Saturday

Dickinson @ Susquehanna: Red Devils are trying to get back to the top tier of the conference and have had to face Muhlenberg and Hopkins already and lost those by a combined 41 points. They still have some work to do-- this would be a statement upset but River Hawks have too much to let that happen (but this is the type of game they have come up short in the past)

[Joe Rockhead]

I appreciate your efforts to bring some interest to the board. Halfway through the season, thanks to a late summer business trip to Virginia, I've had the chance to see 8 of the 10 Centennial teams in action in person, some of them several times.  The only teams I haven't seen yet are Moravian & McDaniel. I probably won't catch one of their games until they play Muhlenberg. (And Moravian-McDaniel was the game closest to my home-go figure) The quality of play in the league is very good overall. Every team I've seen, including Gettysburg, has quality players, but there's a definite hierarchy in the league. Here's my humble assessment at the halfway mark.

Muhlenberg, Susquehanna and Hopkins are a cut above this year.  These are 3 really good teams-deserving of their rankings. Well-coached. Sound in every aspect of the game.  Excellent on defense and great skill players on offense. They've got the 3 best QB's in the league and barring some unusual result these 3 will top the standings in some form at the end of the year.  One, maybe two, of these top 25 caliber teams will be left out of the tournament this year. (There's not a lot that separates these 3 teams) The Muhlenberg-Hopkins showdown in week 8 will likely determine if it's a 3-way tie at the end of the year or a 0-1-2 loss ordering of these 3 teams. If you're just a plain football fan-catch one of these teams in action.

Ursinus is a good team with an excellent QB as well. Their loss to Juniata is more a reflection of Juniata's improvement and Ursinus taking them lightly. Their schedule does them no favors putting Hopkins, Muhlenberg & Susquehanna on their plate in consecutive games. They gave Hopkins quite a scare yesterday (watch the last 1/2 hour of that game https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ursinus/portal.htm?eventId=557050&streamType=video   The Ursinus play-by-play announcer does a great job)  Muhlenberg & Susquehanna will need to pay attention when they play them because they're capable of the upset.

I thought F & M would be better. They also were served up a three week stretch of Susquehanna-Muhlenberg-Hopkins.  I watched Muhlenberg absolutely dismantle them yesterday-as Susquehanna had the week before. Muhlenberg dialed it back in the 2nd half-it could have been much worse. (I wonder if the two F & M guys at the concession stand who said the Mules were overrated before the game have changed their opinion?) They've still got Hopkins and Ursinus in front of them with two losses in the books already. They're still top half of the league in talent-but not up with the top 3.

It falls off pretty quickly from here to the bottom half. Dickinson is vastly improved. They put a scare in Susquehanna last night, but when the game was on the line Susquehanna just put an end to any upset ideas they might have had by quickly scoring and then shutting Dickinson's offense down. Their defense is legit. They've got a couple of play makers on offense-including a good QB, a good RB and a very good WR.  They're just not quite there yet. We'll see when they play F & M in a couple of weeks if they've really made a jump.

I put Juniata next. They've got a couple of receivers who are as good as any in the league. Everybody's got a long bus ride to go see them. This is a pretty good squad. Just not a complete team.  I don't think they're done winning games this year-in fact I think they've got a legitimate shot at .500. Good for them, it would be a nice bounce back from an 0-10 year.

Moravian & McDaniel, like I said, the two teams I haven't seen yet.  McDaniel won a close game between the two. My observations would be based on what I saw last year and looking at results from this year. Not the best way to assess things, but this is likely where they slot in right now (#8 & #9-you pick which goes where).

That leaves Gettysburg. Saw them against Bridgewater. They moved the ball pretty well but just couldn't get it done. Moravian & McDaniel were probably their best shots at a win this year-maybe Juniata, but I don't think so. They're in a tough stretch. I can't figure them out. It's a great school and they do a nice job recruiting. They've got some good players, just not enough. This is a tough league where everybody's at least pretty good. Somebody's got to be at the bottom.   

[The Mole]

BYE WEEK in Centennial this week, Muhlenberg appears the team to beat, but a future date with Hopkins looms. Susquehanna needs to win out and pray for the Jays to knock off the Mules. F&M appears to be down as they have gotten beat up a combined 91-19 the last two weeks to the Mules & River Hawks. They have work to do in order to get a MAC/Centennial Bowl bid. McDaniel is in a logjam of 2-2 CC teams with the Dips, Ursinus and Juniata. Dickinson and Moravian are at 1-3. Gettysburg may struggle to get a W. They have an improved Juniata after the BYE and then Hopkins, Susquehanna, Muhlenberg and the rivalry game with F&M, respectively. Yikes.

Keep an eye on the Red Devils of Carlisle after the BYE. Record says 1-3/2-3 but they have gotten through the gauntlet and lost to the Muhlenberg, Hopkins and Susquehanna trio. Each successive game was a closer score (29, 22 and 7 points). They won't be a picnic for the rest of the CC and will be a factor in determining bowl bids.

[The Mole]

Good assessment JRock. I posted right after you. Ursinus is a dangerous team. Their QB can sling it and they do not lack for talent. I follow them closely as I live close by. The league is as good as it has ever been.

I appreciate your efforts to bring some interest to the board. Halfway through the season, thanks to a late summer business trip to Virginia, I've had the chance to see 8 of the 10 Centennial teams in action in person, some of them several times.  The only teams I haven't seen yet are Moravian & McDaniel. I probably won't catch one of their games until they play Muhlenberg. (And Moravian-McDaniel was the game closest to my home-go figure) The quality of play in the league is very good overall. Every team I've seen, including Gettysburg, has quality players, but there's a definite hierarchy in the league. Here's my humble assessment at the halfway mark.

Muhlenberg, Susquehanna and Hopkins are a cut above this year.  These are 3 really good teams-deserving of their rankings. Well-coached. Sound in every aspect of the game.  Excellent on defense and great skill players on offense. They've got the 3 best QB's in the league and barring some unusual result these 3 will top the standings in some form at the end of the year.  One, maybe two, of these top 25 caliber teams will be left out of the tournament this year. (There's not a lot that separates these 3 teams) The Muhlenberg-Hopkins showdown in week 8 will likely determine if it's a 3-way tie at the end of the year or a 0-1-2 loss ordering of these 3 teams. If you're just a plain football fan-catch one of these teams in action.

Ursinus is a good team with an excellent QB as well. Their loss to Juniata is more a reflection of Juniata's improvement and Ursinus taking them lightly. Their schedule does them no favors putting Hopkins, Muhlenberg & Susquehanna on their plate in consecutive games. They gave Hopkins quite a scare yesterday (watch the last 1/2 hour of that game https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ursinus/portal.htm?eventId=557050&streamType=video   The Ursinus play-by-play announcer does a great job)  Muhlenberg & Susquehanna will need to pay attention when they play them because they're capable of the upset.

I thought F & M would be better. They also were served up a three week stretch of Susquehanna-Muhlenberg-Hopkins.  I watched Muhlenberg absolutely dismantle them yesterday-as Susquehanna had the week before. Muhlenberg dialed it back in the 2nd half-it could have been much worse. (I wonder if the two F & M guys at the concession stand who said the Mules were overrated before the game have changed their opinion?) They've still got Hopkins and Ursinus in front of them with two losses in the books already. They're still top half of the league in talent-but not up with the top 3.

It falls off pretty quickly from here to the bottom half. Dickinson is vastly improved. They put a scare in Susquehanna last night, but when the game was on the line Susquehanna just put an end to any upset ideas they might have had by quickly scoring and then shutting Dickinson's offense down. Their defense is legit. They've got a couple of play makers on offense-including a good QB, a good RB and a very good WR.  They're just not quite there yet. We'll see when they play F & M in a couple of weeks if they've really made a jump.

I put Juniata next. They've got a couple of receivers who are as good as any in the league. Everybody's got a long bus ride to go see them. This is a pretty good squad. Just not a complete team.  I don't think they're done winning games this year-in fact I think they've got a legitimate shot at .500. Good for them, it would be a nice bounce back from an 0-10 year.

Moravian & McDaniel, like I said, the two teams I haven't seen yet.  McDaniel won a close game between the two. My observations would be based on what I saw last year and looking at results from this year. Not the best way to assess things, but this is likely where they slot in right now (#8 & #9-you pick which goes where).

That leaves Gettysburg. Saw them against Bridgewater. They moved the ball pretty well but just couldn't get it done. Moravian & McDaniel were probably their best shots at a win this year-maybe Juniata, but I don't think so. They're in a tough stretch. I can't figure them out. It's a great school and they do a nice job recruiting. They've got some good players, just not enough. This is a tough league where everybody's at least pretty good. Somebody's got to be at the bottom.   

[MRMIKESMITH]

I appreciate your efforts to bring some interest to the board. Halfway through the season, thanks to a late summer business trip to Virginia, I've had the chance to see 8 of the 10 Centennial teams in action in person, some of them several times.  The only teams I haven't seen yet are Moravian & McDaniel. I probably won't catch one of their games until they play Muhlenberg. (And Moravian-McDaniel was the game closest to my home-go figure) The quality of play in the league is very good overall. Every team I've seen, including Gettysburg, has quality players, but there's a definite hierarchy in the league. Here's my humble assessment at the halfway mark.

Muhlenberg, Susquehanna and Hopkins are a cut above this year.  These are 3 really good teams-deserving of their rankings. Well-coached. Sound in every aspect of the game.  Excellent on defense and great skill players on offense. They've got the 3 best QB's in the league and barring some unusual result these 3 will top the standings in some form at the end of the year.  One, maybe two, of these top 25 caliber teams will be left out of the tournament this year. (There's not a lot that separates these 3 teams) The Muhlenberg-Hopkins showdown in week 8 will likely determine if it's a 3-way tie at the end of the year or a 0-1-2 loss ordering of these 3 teams. If you're just a plain football fan-catch one of these teams in action.

Ursinus is a good team with an excellent QB as well. Their loss to Juniata is more a reflection of Juniata's improvement and Ursinus taking them lightly. Their schedule does them no favors putting Hopkins, Muhlenberg & Susquehanna on their plate in consecutive games. They gave Hopkins quite a scare yesterday (watch the last 1/2 hour of that game https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ursinus/portal.htm?eventId=557050&streamType=video   The Ursinus play-by-play announcer does a great job)  Muhlenberg & Susquehanna will need to pay attention when they play them because they're capable of the upset.

I thought F & M would be better. They also were served up a three week stretch of Susquehanna-Muhlenberg-Hopkins.  I watched Muhlenberg absolutely dismantle them yesterday-as Susquehanna had the week before. Muhlenberg dialed it back in the 2nd half-it could have been much worse. (I wonder if the two F & M guys at the concession stand who said the Mules were overrated before the game have changed their opinion?) They've still got Hopkins and Ursinus in front of them with two losses in the books already. They're still top half of the league in talent-but not up with the top 3.

It falls off pretty quickly from here to the bottom half. Dickinson is vastly improved. They put a scare in Susquehanna last night, but when the game was on the line Susquehanna just put an end to any upset ideas they might have had by quickly scoring and then shutting Dickinson's offense down. Their defense is legit. They've got a couple of play makers on offense-including a good QB, a good RB and a very good WR.  They're just not quite there yet. We'll see when they play F & M in a couple of weeks if they've really made a jump.

I put Juniata next. They've got a couple of receivers who are as good as any in the league. Everybody's got a long bus ride to go see them. This is a pretty good squad. Just not a complete team.  I don't think they're done winning games this year-in fact I think they've got a legitimate shot at .500. Good for them, it would be a nice bounce back from an 0-10 year.

Moravian & McDaniel, like I said, the two teams I haven't seen yet.  McDaniel won a close game between the two. My observations would be based on what I saw last year and looking at results from this year. Not the best way to assess things, but this is likely where they slot in right now (#8 & #9-you pick which goes where).

That leaves Gettysburg. Saw them against Bridgewater. They moved the ball pretty well but just couldn't get it done. Moravian & McDaniel were probably their best shots at a win this year-maybe Juniata, but I don't think so. They're in a tough stretch. I can't figure them out. It's a great school and they do a nice job recruiting. They've got some good players, just not enough. This is a tough league where everybody's at least pretty good. Somebody's got to be at the bottom.   

Looking ahead, I think the best bet for the CC to get two teams in is for Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg do to the OOC schedule.

[The Mole]

Coming off the BYE week in the CC:

Ursinus @ Muhlenberg: Friday night game in Allentown. Can the Grizzly QB engineer an upset over the Mules? 'Berg has a pretty good slinger themselves, might be too much to ask

McDaniel @ Dickinson: Red Devils have had a tougher slate, a win they need to show they are over the hump. Green Terrors feel the same way....

F&M @ Hopkins: Could be a long night for the Diplomats. They appear to be down a bit and Homewood is not an easy venue

Susquehanna @ Moravian: River Hawks need to make a statement by taking care of business and avoiding complacency. Greyhounds only W is over winless Gettysburg

Gettysburg @ Juniata: Eagles have made strides and Bullets have not. Anything can happen but if the boys in Huntingdon want to mpve up the ladder, this a a contest they must dominate

[The Mole]

Muhlenberg 45 Ursinus 21--Mules continue to roll

Dickinson 34 McDaniel 0--Red Devils are improving each week

F&M 20 Hopkins 17--huge road win for the Diplomats, essentially knocking Blue Jays out of Pool C

Susquehanna 31 Moravian 7--River Hawks drowned the Hounds

Gettysburg 31 Juniata 28--Eagles shot down by the Bullets in a nice win for the Blue & Orange.

[Joe Rockhead]

Saw two games this weekend. Went to Muhlenberg Friday night. They should play at least one night game every year there. The dome lit up behind the visitor's stands made for a really pretty view.  Good attendance, really nice atmosphere for a game.  Ursinus hung with the Mules for a half, but Muhlenberg was just plain better on both sides of the ball.  The Mule's 98 yard drive near the end of the first half combined with the interception near the goal line in the last minute of the half (After Ursinus advanced 45 yards following 3 consecutive 15 yard penalties on Muhlenberg) took the starch right out of the Bears.  The Mule's QB threw 4 absolutely stunning TD passes. 24 point margin of victory over a pretty good team was impressive.  Susquehanna will need to bring it against the Bears next week. Hopefully Ursinus' #21 is ok. Excellent player. He got taken out by one of his own guys on an interception return-it looked pretty serious.

I almost didn't go to Baltimore on Saturday-almost.  But my lawn mower wouldn't start and my wife said she'd go with me. I can't believe it was the same F & M team I saw Muhlenberg throttle two weeks ago. Two goal line stands by F & M. They made big plays on offense. Two clutch interceptions. Tammaro made some big runs and clutch throws but JHU couldn't convert a 3rd down. Not scoring with first and goal (twice!) was inexplicable.  Exciting game that went down to the last minutes. Really nice afternoon and Homewood is a cool place to see a game too-well worth the price of admission!  (If you don't know, the Centennial schools don't charge admission   but this game would have been worth a couple of bucks) All it cost me was a tank of gas and a nice dinner with my wife down at Fell's Point. Looks like JHU's long Conference Championship/NCAA tournament streak is over-for this year. They'll be back, I'm sure. 

[The Mole]

Joe Rock thanks for the tidbits, surprising but great win for the Dips in Balto. Muhlenberg's QB is a real gamer. Saw him play in HS and he flew under the radar, much to their delight....

This Week...

Gettysburg @ Hopkins: Tough Friday night venue for the Bullets, will be tough to get another W here

Dickinson @ F&M: VERY interesting match-up in this tilt. Red Devils are a tough out, Dips will not take them lightly

Moravian @ Juniata: Eagles got sniped by Gettysburg, Moravian beat the Bullets for their only W.

Ursinus @ Susquehanna: River Hawks are playing well, but need to be wary of Bears QB as Joe Rock pointed out. He has engineered his share of upsets in the past--could be a track meet

Muhlenberg @ McDaniel: Green Terror are not scaring the Mules

[The Mole]

Hopkins 63 Gettysburg 7 not a surprise

Dickinson 17 F&M 10 OT Could be the program turn the corner win Red Devils needed

Moravian 32 Juniata 28 close game between teams with similar records and rosters

Susquehanna 34 Ursinus 0 statement W by the River Hawks

Muhlenberg 49 McDaniel 7 expected stomping by the Mules

[The Mole]

Hopkins @ Muhlenberg: Can the Jays play spoiler to the CC front runner? Should be a good one

Susquehanna @ Gettysburg: Bullets have a major challenge ahead of them with a team battling for a Pool C bid (unless the Mules get tripped twice)

F&M @ Moravian: Dips will try to rebound vs the 'Hounds.

McDaniel @ Ursinus: Teams with 3-4/2-4 slates to battle it out. Bears are probably a little better but got mauled by Susky.

Juniata @ Dickinson: Do the Red Devils read their clippings or take care of business? They are sniffing a MAC/CC bowl bid.....

[The Mole]

Muhlenberg 31 Hopkins 16--boys from Allentown are humming along

Susquehanna 56 Gettysburg 13--River Hawks are playing for Pool C

Moravian 17 F&M 16--Diplomats missed a chip shot FG that could have won it

Ursinus 37 McDaniel 16--though this might have been closer

Dickinson 51 Juniata 21--Red Devils out to prove they are most improved in the CC

[The Mole]

COMING THIS WEEK:

Ursinus @ F&M: teams with identical records (4-4/3-4) battling it out for what could be a bowl knockout game

Dickinson @ Moravian: The visitors can taste a post season bowl with a W here....

Juniata @ Hopkins: the first of 3 games that could be ugly

McDaniel @ Susquehanna: River Hawks need to keep winning and need help for the Pool C bubble

Muhlenberg @ Gettysburg: Mules need to stay healthy, could be over by halftime