FB: Middle Atlantic Conference

[jknezek]

What happened to Wilkes? My parents are graduates and the first time W&L made the playoffs we got killed by them in the first round. They were big and fast, and choked in the second round. But since then, they can barely sniff .500. A team that wasn't always great, but was usually good for 7 wins and more wins than losses in conference all of a sudden stunk and stayed bad for more than a decade. 

[jmcozenlaw]

What happened to Wilkes? My parents are graduates and the first time W&L made the playoffs we got killed by them in the first round. They were big and fast, and choked in the second round. But since then, they can barely sniff .500. A team that wasn't always great, but was usually good for 7 wins and more wins than losses in conference all of a sudden stunk and stayed bad for more than a decade.

Tough question to answer. It is not an academic situation (this is not the NESCAC or even the Centennial) so anybody who goes down that path truly has zero clue. I've spoken to a few recent transfers to other (unnamed) MAC schools and the general consensus (at least their take) is that you have a handful, or two, of players who are very serious about playing..........and lifting and getting in the playbook, etc. and many more who just kind of show up. It's almost as if they get up for just two games............King's of course as they are neighbors and the every-other-year-home-Superbowl-game vs. DelVal. Two years ago they beat DelVal 12-7 at home........and finished 1-9. This year, they had DelVal on the ropes in the 4th quarter until the Aggies scored on a pick-six and as the result of another immediate turnover.......and haven't beaten anybody.

There is another matter that was pointed out by an in-the-know, recent addition to the coaching staff (the sharpest in the group will connect the dots) and it also has to do with commitment. Not institutional nor athletic commitment. Just a mindset to want to hit the weight room just a few weeks after the season ends kind of committment. I'm not a huge fan of the offense that Wilkes runs but who am I to say. As an older head, I never want to be a "get off my lawn" type................but tempo can bite you in the keyster when it doesn't work.

[Warren Thompson]

What happened to Wilkes? My parents are graduates and the first time W&L made the playoffs we got killed by them in the first round. They were big and fast, and choked in the second round. But since then, they can barely sniff .500. A team that wasn't always great, but was usually good for 7 wins and more wins than losses in conference all of a sudden stunk and stayed bad for more than a decade. 

Are you old enough to remember the Wilkes teams of the pre-D3 late 1960s/early 70s? They were more than tough (and rumored to have a good many Penn State rejects) and were in the running for the "small-college" version of the Lambert Trophy (was it called the Lambert Cup?).

[Saxon73]

What happened to Wilkes? My parents are graduates and the first time W&L made the playoffs we got killed by them in the first round. They were big and fast, and choked in the second round. But since then, they can barely sniff .500. A team that wasn't always great, but was usually good for 7 wins and more wins than losses in conference all of a sudden stunk and stayed bad for more than a decade. 

Are you old enough to remember the Wilkes teams of the pre-D3 late 1960s/early 70s? They were more than tough (and rumored to have a good many Penn State rejects) and were in the running for the "small-college" version of the Lambert Trophy (was it called the Lambert Cup?).

I am old enough Warren.  It was the "Lambert Bowl" which Alfred won, I believe, for their undefeated 1972 season.  I was there.  No doubt Pep may elaborate.

[jknezek]

What happened to Wilkes? My parents are graduates and the first time W&L made the playoffs we got killed by them in the first round. They were big and fast, and choked in the second round. But since then, they can barely sniff .500. A team that wasn't always great, but was usually good for 7 wins and more wins than losses in conference all of a sudden stunk and stayed bad for more than a decade. 

Are you old enough to remember the Wilkes teams of the pre-D3 late 1960s/early 70s? They were more than tough (and rumored to have a good many Penn State rejects) and were in the running for the "small-college" version of the Lambert Trophy (was it called the Lambert Cup?).

I'm not. But my parents are both Wilkes '71 alums. I think. Might be '70. But my dad remembers those years well. His 4 year roommate was a standout wide receiver on some of those teams.

[tweisman5]

Below are my week 8 predictions and rankings. The spread (-#) is provided by Massey Ratings and the top 25 rankings are from the Hansen Ratings composite. Good luck to everyone this week!

Week 8 Predictions

Albright @ Stevenson (-2.5): Stevenson wins by 3

Leb Val (-12.5) @ Misericordia: Leb Val wins by 13   

Wilkes @ FDU (-7.5): FDU wins by 3

Week 8 Rankings
1. Del Val (7-0, 6-0)
2. Albright (5-1, 4-1)
3. Widener (5-2, 5-1)
4. Stevenson (3-3, 3-2)
5. Lycoming (3-4, 3-3)
6. Leb Val (3-3, 3-2)
7. King's (3-4, 2-4)
8. FDU (1-5, 0-5)
9. Misericordia (1-5, 1-4)
10. Wilkes (0-6, 0-5)

Prediction Record
Last Week: 2-1 (.667)
Season: 25-12 (.676)

[tweisman5]

tweisman - Some have more of an "inside track" to information, but nobody has the market cornered. When Jason states that Wesley will be in the NJAC, it is an opinion, and they probably will be for several years to come. The NJAC, like many other conferences in the Northeast, will undergo changes over time, it's just a matter of how much change and who it affects.

I happen to know, from very firsthand accounts (feasibility studies, fundraising, etc.) that DeSales, Messiah, Arcadia, Eastern and a few other schools have looked at adding football. Most will not (will not name names here). One will. Two might. That's about it. You may very well see that 12 team MAC and a championship game, but not for several years.

This is my opinion, based on facts as I know them, and how the conference shuffle spins down the road is anybody's guess. If anybody, and I do mean anybody thinks they know......they don't.

Jmcozenlaw:

I'm glad to hear your okay after that accident. I enjoy your insightful posts as it seems you are more informed than people realize. I completely understood that nobody truly knows everything unless they are running point on operations, but I was curious to hear either what others opinions are or maybe some inside rumbles they may have heard. It seems like you definitely are closer to those rumblings than others may believe.

I'm not surprised other institutions have thought about sponsoring football, but I'm intrigued to see who would be next to get this conference to 12 members and finally have a conference championship. I'm curious to see the schedule setup for when it does happen. My hunch would be two divisions of six teams. Each team would play the other 5 divisional opponents, a permanent crossover conference opponent, 2 rotational cross division opponents, and a non conference opponent. The final week (Championship Weekend) would match division #1 vs division #1, division #2 vs. division #2, and etc. I believe the Midwest conference does something similar their final week. This ensures every team plays a 10 game schedule with 9 conference games total.

Below is what I think would be a likely divisional setup as it already would follow the conference setup for other sports:

MAC Commonwealth

• Stevenson
• Widener
• Albright
• Lycoming
• Lebanon Valley
• Alvernia

MAC Freedom

• Delaware Valley
• King's
• FDU Florham
• Misericordia
• Wilkes
• 12th MAC Member

What is everyone's thoughts?

Thanks for the well wishes!! Your 12 team breakdown by division is 100% spot on. Alvernia/Albright are neighbors. Lycoming and LebVal are the "a bit more out west teams" and Widener is the "southern" most team to pair up with Stevenson.

The three NEPA schools (Miserables, King's, Wilkes) are obvious. The one NJ team (FDU) is as well from a geographical standpoint. DelVal is obvious in this division along with either Eastern, DeSales, Arcadia...........and a sleeper who would know that I opened my yap as it is a "secret". Shhhhhh!!

Jmcozenlaw

I'm ecstatic to hear that my guess was actually spot on! I'm definitely intrigued now who this sleeper will be. I understand you don't won't to open your mouth who it will be, but are you able to at least mention when we could expect to hear an announcement when this could happen? I'm curious because this would determine how long the conference rolls with 11 teams before we get divisional setups.

[tweisman5]

I didn't get predictions in yesterday, but suffice it to say, I would have been correct in my guesses on 2 of the 3 

- Some notes -
Lyco played a very good first half yesterday, and honestly, I thought WU was in trouble, but WU came out in the 2nd half and dominated, so my worries were for nothing...
Stevenson - Tweis-  now I know why I had that Icky feeling regarding your placement of Stevenson in your rankings (I'll get to that in a bit)...
Del Val dismantled Kings this week...and I was not surprised...They should be the consensus #1 in the East (barring a slip up), and with Leb Val, Misericordia and WU remaining, I don't see that happening.   I (almost) want to take the (long for me) trip to Doylestown to see them in person against WU...Almost.  Maybe I'll wait until the playoffs...

Now - on to the life lesson...
There comes a time where you just have to let go...

Tweis...it's that time.  It's time to acknowledge that it's not just mistakes and bad luck at inopportune times...but to be sure that is somewhat a factor.  The reality, is that Stevenson isn't as good as they have been in the last couple years.  Losing the talent you had, especially on the defensive side of the ball, is not easily replaced.  Stevenson has went from the team pressuring the opponent into mistakes, to the team making the mistake.  That's not bad luck, that's the cycle of MAC football...
Tweis - those of us in the Lyco, WU, Albright counseling circle are here for you brother...pull up a chair!

Random Sunday note...last night a former WU player said to me out of the blue "hey Bman - Cosmo Iacavazzi came up in conversation today"...What a name from the past.  For the younger on this board, Cosmo was part of a Susquehanna team in the late 80's that featured a trio of great players...Todd Coolidge(QB), Al Bucci (WR) and Cosmo Iacavazzi at FB/RB.  That team was dominant in the MAC in the late 80s. 
It got me to thinking, maybe we should do an all-time top 25 in the MAC...something to think about...

Bman

I'll admit that I was bullish on this years squad and will give credit to those who pointed this out. I still believe the best reason for most of these defeats were simply to obvious mental errors that shouldn't occur for a reigning championship program that was built the past few seasons on playing off these mistakes from other opponents. Looking ahead, I'm hopeful these mistakes don't continue and the season is finished out strong to make the MAC-Centennial bowl.

Regards to this week's game against Albright, it may seem weird to pick a team with a better resume to lose. My argument is if you look at both teams, Albright is molded similar to Stevenson, both with good defenses and heavier pass attacks. Nearly all of Stevenson's loses resemble opposition that had good line play on both sides of the ball, a good run offense that runs clock, and capitalizes on opportunities given. I'm actually more worried for next week against Widener than this week against Albright as that Widener defense is a takeaway machine. This week's game will be telling if I'm accurate on my assessment or completely off.

[bman]

Below are my week 8 predictions and rankings. The spread (-#) is provided by Massey Ratings and the top 25 rankings are from the Hansen Ratings composite. Good luck to everyone this week!

Week 8 Predictions

Albright @ Stevenson (-2.5): Albright by 10 ...NOPE, Nope Nope and Nope...not falling for the Stevenson is better than their record indicates argument.  Albright got waxed by Del Val ...but they have a good D and a decent offense.   Stevenson, needs to show they can compete before I take them again...

Leb Val (-12.5)@ Misericordia: Leb Val  by 24     Leb Val has proved their better than their ugly opening game...and that they can score points

Wilkes @ FDU (-7.5): FDU by 14

Bmans's Week 8 Rankings
1. Del Val (7-0, 6-0)
2. Albright (5-1, 4-1)
3. Widener (5-2, 5-1)
4. Leb Val (3-3, 3-2)
5. Stevenson (3-3, 3-2)
6. Lycoming (3-4, 3-3)
7. King's (3-4, 2-4)
8. FDU (1-5, 0-5)
9. Misericordia (1-5, 1-4)
10. Wilkes (0-6, 0-5)

[bman]

I didn't get predictions in yesterday, but suffice it to say, I would have been correct in my guesses on 2 of the 3 

- Some notes -
Lyco played a very good first half yesterday, and honestly, I thought WU was in trouble, but WU came out in the 2nd half and dominated, so my worries were for nothing...
Stevenson - Tweis-  now I know why I had that Icky feeling regarding your placement of Stevenson in your rankings (I'll get to that in a bit)...
Del Val dismantled Kings this week...and I was not surprised...They should be the consensus #1 in the East (barring a slip up), and with Leb Val, Misericordia and WU remaining, I don't see that happening.   I (almost) want to take the (long for me) trip to Doylestown to see them in person against WU...Almost.  Maybe I'll wait until the playoffs...

Now - on to the life lesson...
There comes a time where you just have to let go...

Tweis...it's that time.  It's time to acknowledge that it's not just mistakes and bad luck at inopportune times...but to be sure that is somewhat a factor.  The reality, is that Stevenson isn't as good as they have been in the last couple years.  Losing the talent you had, especially on the defensive side of the ball, is not easily replaced.  Stevenson has went from the team pressuring the opponent into mistakes, to the team making the mistake.  That's not bad luck, that's the cycle of MAC football...
Tweis - those of us in the Lyco, WU, Albright counseling circle are here for you brother...pull up a chair!

Random Sunday note...last night a former WU player said to me out of the blue "hey Bman - Cosmo Iacavazzi came up in conversation today"...What a name from the past.  For the younger on this board, Cosmo was part of a Susquehanna team in the late 80's that featured a trio of great players...Todd Coolidge(QB), Al Bucci (WR) and Cosmo Iacavazzi at FB/RB.  That team was dominant in the MAC in the late 80s. 
It got me to thinking, maybe we should do an all-time top 25 in the MAC...something to think about...

Bman

I'll admit that I was bullish on this years squad and will give credit to those who pointed this out. I still believe the best reason for most of these defeats were simply to obvious mental errors that shouldn't occur for a reigning championship program that was built the past few seasons on playing off these mistakes from other opponents. Looking ahead, I'm hopeful these mistakes don't continue and the season is finished out strong to make the MAC-Centennial bowl.

Regards to this week's game against Albright, it may seem weird to pick a team with a better resume to lose. My argument is if you look at both teams, Albright is molded similar to Stevenson, both with good defenses and heavier pass attacks. Nearly all of Stevenson's loses resemble opposition that had good line play on both sides of the ball, a good run offense that runs clock, and capitalizes on opportunities given. I'm actually more worried for next week against Widener than this week against Albright as that Widener defense is a takeaway machine. This week's game will be telling if I'm accurate on my assessment or completely off.

+K  you have to root for your team!
...me I'm not so optimistic...

[jmcozenlaw]

tweisman - Our bad picks continued last week as I had Stevenson by 34 and you had them by 23.................and LebVal beat them. They need to strap it up and take Albright and Widener to the woodshed at home these next two weeks. As I didn't see the Stevenson @ LebVal game, what the heck happened??? After a mediocre Franklin & Marshall team beat LebVal 51-0 to open the season, I thought that it was going to be another long season in Annville. It looks like the LebVal game at DelVal in 8 days might be a tight slugfest!!

Week 8 Predictions:

Wilkes - 20 @ FDU - 38     Two winless teams playing out the stretch with no defenses and little to no running games. Women's Hoops can't start soon enough at FDU!!
LebVal - 47 @ Miserables - 20     If you beat Stevenson, my preseason #2 last week..........you should whack Les Miserables with the recent momentum by the team in Annville.

Stevenson - 23  Albright - 20    I thought this game would be for the MAC title in the preseason. Based on Stevenson giving DelVal a much better game, I'm going with the home team by a FG.

Eagles - 24     Redskins - 20     The miracle season continues for the team predicted by the "experts" to finish at 7-9 and last in the NFC East. Thank you Cleveland for Carson Wentz!!
Penn State - 30     Michigan - 20     The white out partying has been in full force since yesterday!!

Simba - Where the heck are you??

No way...................did this guy really take Stevenson to beat Albright by a field goal AND FDU to beat Wilkes by 18 points??? Check the scores my friends. He's on fire!!!!!

[bman]

I didn't get predictions in yesterday, but suffice it to say, I would have been correct in my guesses on 2 of the 3 

- Some notes -
Lyco played a very good first half yesterday, and honestly, I thought WU was in trouble, but WU came out in the 2nd half and dominated, so my worries were for nothing...
Stevenson - Tweis-  now I know why I had that Icky feeling regarding your placement of Stevenson in your rankings (I'll get to that in a bit)...
Del Val dismantled Kings this week...and I was not surprised...They should be the consensus #1 in the East (barring a slip up), and with Leb Val, Misericordia and WU remaining, I don't see that happening.   I (almost) want to take the (long for me) trip to Doylestown to see them in person against WU...Almost.  Maybe I'll wait until the playoffs...

Now - on to the life lesson...
There comes a time where you just have to let go...

Tweis...it's that time.  It's time to acknowledge that it's not just mistakes and bad luck at inopportune times...but to be sure that is somewhat a factor.  The reality, is that Stevenson isn't as good as they have been in the last couple years.  Losing the talent you had, especially on the defensive side of the ball, is not easily replaced.  Stevenson has went from the team pressuring the opponent into mistakes, to the team making the mistake.  That's not bad luck, that's the cycle of MAC football...
Tweis - those of us in the Lyco, WU, Albright counseling circle are here for you brother...pull up a chair!

Random Sunday note...last night a former WU player said to me out of the blue "hey Bman - Cosmo Iacavazzi came up in conversation today"...What a name from the past.  For the younger on this board, Cosmo was part of a Susquehanna team in the late 80's that featured a trio of great players...Todd Coolidge(QB), Al Bucci (WR) and Cosmo Iacavazzi at FB/RB.  That team was dominant in the MAC in the late 80s. 
It got me to thinking, maybe we should do an all-time top 25 in the MAC...something to think about...

Bman

I'll admit that I was bullish on this years squad and will give credit to those who pointed this out. I still believe the best reason for most of these defeats were simply to obvious mental errors that shouldn't occur for a reigning championship program that was built the past few seasons on playing off these mistakes from other opponents. Looking ahead, I'm hopeful these mistakes don't continue and the season is finished out strong to make the MAC-Centennial bowl.

Regards to this week's game against Albright, it may seem weird to pick a team with a better resume to lose. My argument is if you look at both teams, Albright is molded similar to Stevenson, both with good defenses and heavier pass attacks. Nearly all of Stevenson's loses resemble opposition that had good line play on both sides of the ball, a good run offense that runs clock, and capitalizes on opportunities given. I'm actually more worried for next week against Widener than this week against Albright as that Widener defense is a takeaway machine. This week's game will be telling if I'm accurate on my assessment or completely off.

Well you were certainly spot on with your picks!

I watched the Albright Stevenson game, so some commentary...Stevenson looked good, although I think when Albright lost their RB Dawson (who at that point had started to run effectively), it really changed the momentum back to Stevenson.  Also, Stevenson ran several swing and screen passes to their left, that Albright no answer for.  In a couple cases there was no one within 15 yards.  Albright's D scheme needed to change and didn't which opened up a lot for Stevenson.   Stevenson also ran the ball much more effectively than I though they would.
All in All, I look forward to see that Stevenson does the rest of the season...some good games coming up.
Unrelated notes.
-  I love the Stevenson broadcast and broadcast team, they do a great job calling the game and the video quality is second to none.  I air play it on to my big screen, and it's like watching a BCS game.   I wish Widener could upgrade their video to that quality...
-  Notes to the broadcast team:  Isaiah Austin is from Sicklerville NJ, however the broadcasters kept calling it Sicklersville...picayune I know, but for us from SJ, it's like a thumb in the kidney.

Also the crew was giving props to the coaches from Timber Creek (a few players in the game are alumni), but I'd be careful there.  The Timber Creek coaches are not very respected in SJ, and in fact, were under fire and potential lawsuits for recruiting kids to play for Timber Creek that weren't eligible.  (you can see one article here: http://highschoolsports.nj.com/news/article/2189179818819085355/prosecutors-office-clears-timber-creek-coaches-in-investigation-but-residency-concerns-turned-over-to-njsiaa/  )   Now, in no way would I expect the crew to know that, but for future reference...

All in all, I will have to think hard on how I would rank Stevenson and Albright in the MAC...much tougher now!

[G-manWU]

What happened to Wilkes? My parents are graduates and the first time W&L made the playoffs we got killed by them in the first round. They were big and fast, and choked in the second round. But since then, they can barely sniff .500. A team that wasn't always great, but was usually good for 7 wins and more wins than losses in conference all of a sudden stunk and stayed bad for more than a decade.

You bring up good memories talking about that 2006 playoff game  I worked for the program as a student in 2005 and 2006; some of the best times of my life!

I still follow the program and have attended four games (Muhlenberg, LVC, Lyco, and Widener) this season. It's been tough to see the current team line up and be almost completely noncompetitive after the first series or two.

I wish I had more insight on the current state of things, but the best I can offer is that I hope the current administration looks at the picture and works to put the program in a better position to win.

Looking back on the 2005/2006 teams, a few factors stand out. One was attitude: many of the players had excellent talent, but it was the grit, the swagger, and the passion to win in each player that put the program on the national stage. Another was not just in-game coaching, but things like position changes. I could show you a depth chart from those seasons and you'd be shocked how many guys started off playing a much different position, only to transition to the roles that led to our greatest success.

I know that many program alums still follow the team, and perhaps the current Colonels could take a few cues from the best Wilkes teams of seasons past. In 2005 and 2006 we knew nothing would be handed to us: it would take maximum effort to conquer the MAC, and the program was able to do that. Hopefully the Colonels get back to that standard soon!

[G-manWU]

"hey Bman - Cosmo Iacavazzi came up in conversation today"...What a name from the past.  For the younger on this board, Cosmo was part of a Susquehanna team in the late 80's that featured a trio of great players....

Bman - when you wrote Cosmo's name, I immediately thought of his Dad from Princeton! I was acquainted with the family back in NJ...did not know the brother, but met dad several times as his daughter and I ran in the same social circles back in high school...Nice blast from the past.

Cosmo Iacavazzi Sr....one of the great athletes from Scranton! The block of road in front of West Scranton High School was renamed in his honor a few years back. I'd put him right behind Mike Munchak and Gerry McNamara in an all-time list of athletes from Lackawanna County.

[G-manWU]

Some of us "old timers" are still lurking...but we don't post often!

Ever since my job change, I will lurk on here about one a week...but since I'm not around the program and don't watch the games, I don't feel like I have much to offer!!

Take care everyone - you never know who's lurking.... 

Sorry to be late Bill, but congrats on the new job...whatever you are doing! You had a great part to play in all of the athletic successes for the Devils in the last several decades. It's good folks like you that help make for a fulfilling and worthwhile experience for so many D3 student-athletes.