FB: Conference of New England

[Upstate]

So Salve ripped into Endicott yesterday.  And the tweets from the powers above were leaning that they still won't be ranked.  That's unbelievable!

Nice Job Coach Chesney and his team.  You deserve better.

Your conference does not have a real strong reputation for putting out quality teams. To get ranked a team from your conference is going to have to go 10-0 in the regular season and then win a playoff game.

Do that and then they'll get ranked.

[Yanks 99]

So Salve ripped into Endicott yesterday.  And the tweets from the powers above were leaning that they still won't be ranked.  That's unbelievable!

Nice Job Coach Chesney and his team.  You deserve better.

Man...cry me a river.

Look...you will see from some posts above that Salve is starting to win me over.  I am seriously considering voting for them this week for my top ten in the East Region Fan Poll.  Salve is the ONLY NEFC team to schedule even a relatively tough non-conference schedule, and they won two games this season against respected programs (Union and Montclair State).

However...here is reality check.  You beat a 1-3 Union team by three points with a 4th quarter rally...a Union team who got destroyed by Utica (Utica who will not be in my ERFP top ten and whose only loss is to nationally ranked Hobart).  You beat a 2-2 Montclair State team by 9 points whose only 2 wins are against two perennial cellar dwellers in Morrisville and William Patterson who have a total of one win between them.  You beat a 2-2 Fitchburg State team...a team that lost to freaking Becker!!!  Even Endicott is only 2-2.

Being serious for one moment...what "better" does Salve "deserve".  I mean...I am making the assumption that you are talking regional rankings here and not national rankings (because that would be absolutely crazy).  But who does Salve "deserve" to be ranked ahead in the region?  Seriously...what team being ahead of Salve in the rankings is an abortion of justice here?  I will throw out about 10-15 teams...you tell me who they should absolutley be ranked ahead of:

- Salisbury (nationally ranked and only loss to nationally ranked Wesley by 10)
- St. John Fisher (undefeated and nationally ranked with wins over two tough South Region teams in W&J and Thomas Moore)
- Hobart (undefeated and nationally ranked)
- Widener (undefeated and nationally ranked)
- RPI (undefeated with a big one over Alfred)
- Alfred (only loss to RPI, and just beat Buff State who the week before beat #1 UWW)
- Ithaca (undefeated and also beat Union in a close game like Salve)
- Buffalo State (2 losses...but also two huge wins against national #1 UWW and Cortland)
- Cortland (only one loss to Buff State in week one)
- Rowan (undefeated against Division III opponents, only loss is to a Division II school in Merrimack)
- Brockport (only loss to Kean and wins over Buff State and Lycoming)
- Lycoming (only loss to Brockport, with wins over one-loss Lebanon Valley and Albright)
- Albright (only loss to Lycoming and a win over Kean)
- Lebanon Valley (only one loss to Lycoming, and with a ten point win over Montclair)
- Utica (only loss to nationally ranked Hobart, and destroyed Union in a head to head match up)

There may be one or two that you can argue that Salve should absolutely be ranked ahead of...but no one here is screwing over Salve.  You want more respect...make some noise in the NCAA playoffs.  Play someone in the NCAA tough and down to the wire, even if you lose.  Win a game that you aren't supposed to in the NCAA's.  But arguing over that you aren't ranked, or ranked high, after 3-4 weeks because you are undefeated in the NEFC is crazy.  By that measure, I could have argued that Hartwick should have been reginonally ranked heading into this past weekend against Fisher...which would have been crazy because you have to base it off who they play/beat and how those teams are doing overall this season.

[dlippiel]

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Very well said. Dlip, like Yanks is pulling for Salve and they are growing on him. Yet it is important, at least to those of us who really get into D3 football, that one attempts to keep some realistic perspective regarding where there team sits in regards to it's region and the nation as a whole. Salve just needs to keep doing what they are doing and things will work out.

[pg04]

A win over Endicott really isn't a signature win and probably not going to move Salve any closer to the top 25 than they were. Likely the only thing that gets them in the poll is running the regular season and having a lot of attrition in the teams already in the top 25.

[mattvsmith]

+K to Yanks 99. Preach it, brother! The Rev had similar complaints about what I perceived was my team being slighted in the rankings back about 2055-2006-ish. Nowadays, I'm kind of glad the rankings didn't come easily. Makes me prouder of my team to know how much effort they had to put into the program to reach the level they are at now. If the ranks had come when I wanted them instead of when Hobart deserved them, I'd be constantly disgruntled. As it is, I'm thrilled to be ranked 13th, and I'm very hopeful for an even better NCAA performance this year than last.

It's hard. Transforming programs into national contenders is not for the faint of heart. If real change is made, the ranks will come naturally and there will be no need to worry about them.

[fulbakdad]

First, Salve isn't my team.  Just one I'm following.  My team js in the MWC.......

[fulbakdad]

Second, Wesley lost so isn't that a double wammy on Salsbury?.  Third, this is the same poll that keeps giving. Votes to NESCAC teams that play fewer games and NEVER play out of conference!

[pg04]

Wesley lost to the #2 team in the nation. What is your point? Salisbury losing to Wesley shouldn't drop them completely out of the poll. Wesley with one loss >>>> Salve undefeated. And the NESCAC team isn't in the top 25 either.

[fulbakdad]

Amherst recieved the same number of votes as Salve in your poll.....

[pg04]

So? Now you are making distinctions about 3 points? Amherst will never move any further than that really because of the reasons you mention. Most pollsters will not vote a NESCAC team. However, as an aside, most who have witnessed Nescac have said they are good and that means probably would beat most of the NEFC. Also, it isn't my poll. It is run by this site which aI have nothing to do with.

[Upstate]

Second, Wesley lost so isn't that a double wammy on Salsbury?.  Third, this is the same poll that keeps giving. Votes to NESCAC teams that play fewer games and NEVER play out of conference!

2-14

You know what that is?

That's the NEFC's winning percentage in the playoffs.

You guys want respect?

Do something instead of losing 87% of your playoff games.

[fulbakdad]

I'm curious.  Have you watched any NESCAC games?  While they would probably do well against the lowere NEFC teams, i don't believe they would against the upper ones.  They aren't as deep.  But we'll never know because they never will play out of thier conference.  Again,  this isn't my conference.  I just watch cuz of those i met while on recruiting visits.  I watched i believe 6 NESCAC games on our venture.

Additionally,  Salve is a much better team this year than they were two years ago when we were looking.  I guess we'll see how they do in the future.  I just get very frustrated with many posters on this site.  At times there are those that think there are only a handful of good teams. 

[pg04]

I have not watched any NESCAC. Just going on info from other people that have posted about it. Some who seem much less biased than you for some reason.

[Upstate]

At times there are those that think there are only a handful of good teams.

There's a lot of good teams in the east, just none from the NEFC.

The NEFC conference champ is a .500 team AT BEST in the MAC, NJAC, E8 and LL.

[pg04]

By the way, the person(s) voting for Amherst could very well also have put Salve on their ballot too. We don't know.