Atlantic Central Football Conference/Independents

[@d3jason]

Nothing to gain for DelState in playing Wesley. a win the and it's expected, lose and it's embarrassing.

Conference info will be announced in early March .

[Teamski]

Nothing to gain for DelState in playing Wesley. a win the and it's expected, lose and it's embarrassing.

Conference info will announced in early March .

Thanks for the heads-up!  We await with baited breath! 

-Ski

[crufootball]

Nothing to gain for DelState in playing Wesley. a win the and it's expected, lose and it's embarrassing.

Conference info will announced in early March .

Does Wesley usually like to "tease" announcements like this?

[PA_wesleyfan]

  This is not Wesley's announcement to make. 

[Teamski]

  This is not Wesley's announcement to make. 

Yeah, one thing about football is that information withheld is usually done for a good reason.  My guess here is that there are probably quite a few details not ironed out or ratified as of yet.   This should be interesting!

-Ski

[thewaterboy]

Heard that Justin Sottilare is headed to Germany to play football for the Franken Knights in April. Shane McSweeny is also planning on suiting up here in a month or so for the Lehugh Valley Steelhawks of the IFL.

[wesleydad]

now that it is officially announced this is great for wesley.  having a strong conference to play in and still have the players needed for the school financially, albeit, a little less is great.  no more looking for teams to play and the travel for them and me to see them play got much shorter.  very strong at the top with wesley, salisbury, and rowen.  cnu will have to play up some but will be tough for anyone.  really exciting to me.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Agree, wesleydad.  I think this is great for all parties.

[jknezek]

No one has mentioned what I find most interesting about this. Now all 4 "regions" such as they are, have a power team. UWW in the West, Wesley in the East, UMU in the North and UMHB in the South. The North and West also have supplemental teams like Linfield and North Central and whoever wins the MIAC, an area where the South and East will still have some catching up. However, I could see the top 4 being more regional again after this shuffling. Of course, since the tourney has gone less regional for the top seeds its been more fair in my opinion, but this allows for the possibility of Regional 1 seeds and still maintaining that "fairness".

[D3MAFAN]

No one has mentioned what I find most interesting about this. Now all 4 "regions" such as they are, have a power team. UWW in the West, Wesley in the East, UMU in the North and UMHB in the South. The North and West also have supplemental teams like Linfield and North Central and whoever wins the MIAC, an area where the South and East will still have some catching up. However, I could see the top 4 being more regional again after this shuffling. Of course, since the tourney has gone less regional for the top seeds its been more fair in my opinion, but this allows for the possibility of Regional 1 seeds and still maintaining that "fairness".

I think historically this supplemental thing would be correct, but as the playoffs has become less regional, especially in the second round. I would say the East has some very good teams that can hold their own on any given Saturday (i.e. St. John Fisher, Salisbury), even the south last year showed me that you can never count a team out (Johns Hopkins and Huntingdon).

[jknezek]

No one has mentioned what I find most interesting about this. Now all 4 "regions" such as they are, have a power team. UWW in the West, Wesley in the East, UMU in the North and UMHB in the South. The North and West also have supplemental teams like Linfield and North Central and whoever wins the MIAC, an area where the South and East will still have some catching up. However, I could see the top 4 being more regional again after this shuffling. Of course, since the tourney has gone less regional for the top seeds its been more fair in my opinion, but this allows for the possibility of Regional 1 seeds and still maintaining that "fairness".

I think historically this supplemental thing would be correct, but as the playoffs has become less regional, especially in the second round. I would say the East has some very good teams that can hold their own on any given Saturday (i.e. St. John Fisher, Salisbury), even the south last year showed me that you can never count a team out (Johns Hopkins and Huntingdon).

That's certainly true. SJF has had two really good playoff runs, Salisbury had one, JHU had one, but it was a while ago. Huntingdon wasn't in the playoffs last year. But by supplemental I mean teams with the talent level to sniff a title. I don't think there is another team in the South or East that has that ability right now, whereas there are teams out West and North that are one or two plays or players away.

[D3MAFAN]

No one has mentioned what I find most interesting about this. Now all 4 "regions" such as they are, have a power team. UWW in the West, Wesley in the East, UMU in the North and UMHB in the South. The North and West also have supplemental teams like Linfield and North Central and whoever wins the MIAC, an area where the South and East will still have some catching up. However, I could see the top 4 being more regional again after this shuffling. Of course, since the tourney has gone less regional for the top seeds its been more fair in my opinion, but this allows for the possibility of Regional 1 seeds and still maintaining that "fairness".

I think historically this supplemental thing would be correct, but as the playoffs has become less regional, especially in the second round. I would say the East has some very good teams that can hold their own on any given Saturday (i.e. St. John Fisher, Salisbury), even the south last year showed me that you can never count a team out (Johns Hopkins and Huntingdon).

That's certainly true. SJF has had two really good playoff runs, Salisbury had one, JHU had one, but it was a while ago. Huntingdon wasn't in the playoffs last year. But by supplemental I mean teams with the talent level to sniff a title. I don't think there is another team in the South or East that has that ability right now, whereas there are teams out West and North that are one or two plays or players away.

My mistake , I was thinking of Hampden-Sydney last year in their thriller against Linfield.

[Teamski]

Now that is an EPIC announcement!  Formulating one of the nation's strongest conferences (IMHO) is no mean task, no doubt.  I am thrilled to finally see Wesley land a real home for once.  I do have an issue with the roster cap as it could leave talent slipping through the cracks.  Yeah, the 25 player JV roster will help, but it still is a big hit considering that 185+ players show for summer practice.  Only time will tell if it has a significant affect on the team in the long run.

It will be AWESOME to see the shorter trips for the team.  Man, those bus rides to South Carolina, Ohio, Maine, Georgia, and Alabama (from Atlanta) were tough to say the least.  This will definitely help Wesley's travel budget in a BIG way.  I will miss the myriad of teams Wesley played throughout the years from the NIAA to DI-AA, though.  Seeing how well Wesley matched up to each division was a unique experience.  I remember oogling DII North Greenville's stadium (beautiful!) and walking away from the game really impressed with how well Wesley did against a far financially superior team.   That was fun!!   Another memorable game was at Husson.  Wesley trounced that team (while trying not to in the process) and yet their attitude throughout was incredible.  Not once did their morale break and the teammates were clapping each other off the field right up to the end of the game.  That was incredibly touching.  And then there was the difficult game at Walsh where despite adversity at its toughest, the team came together to play a splendid game in the Hall of Fame stadium. Of course taking out young DI-AA UNC Charlotte and Charleston Southern teams certainly added to the lore.

Now to see how Wesley deals with playing familiar teams each and every year.  No doubt, it will be a tough trip.  If the Salisbury games are any clue (along with the infamous Montclair State, Kean and Rowan games) Wesley will have to earn every victory.

-Ski

[DE Wesley Fan]

Like the rest of you, I'm thrilled to see us in a conference again - especially such a quality one.  However, I am a bit bummed to only get one non-conference game per year.  While I know it's been tough to finance all the road trips and dig up teams to play, it's also been pretty awesome to visit so many different places.   Have to believe those were good experiences for the players, even as exhausting as they must sometimes have been.  I know they were great fun for me and we got to see places we'd otherwise never have gone.  But all things must change, and it sounds like this is great for Wesley in the long term.  Not to mention I'm sure players' families will appreciate having games closer to home. 

[thewaterboy]

Did some digging.... UMHB and Birmingham-Southern do not have Wesley scheduled for this season. Only game I can find Wesley has for sure is UNC-Charlotte on November 15.