FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[wesleydad]

A fitting end to a ho hum NJAC season.  The best team, well by record at least, gets crushed by Hopkins.  The NJAC was filled with average teams.  No one would threaten the top teams in the nation and it showed today.  The regular season was fun as on any given day almost anyone could beat anyone.  A long way away from being competitive nationally.

[MRMIKESMITH]

Good game Frostburg, I know you guys didn't come out on the the winning in. But good luck in DII, continue to get better. Regarding the rest of the NJAC, there are a lot of young teams on the rise. Happy Holidays to all. NJAC will be back...

[02 Warhawk]

A fitting end to a ho hum NJAC season.  The best team, well by record at least, gets crushed by Hopkins.  The NJAC was filled with average teams.  No one would threaten the top teams in the nation and it showed today.  The regular season was fun as on any given day almost anyone could beat anyone.  A long way away from being competitive nationally.

Totally agree. I would go as far as to say the East is filled with average teams. Brockport being ranked 4th in the country (and getting a number 1 seed over SJU) turned out to be a joke. Same with Frostburg being a top 10 team.

[MRMIKESMITH]

I think teams will be much improved next year and excited the way the bracket was setup.

[MRMIKESMITH]

A fitting end to a ho hum NJAC season.  The best team, well by record at least, gets crushed by Hopkins.  The NJAC was filled with average teams.  No one would threaten the top teams in the nation and it showed today.  The regular season was fun as on any given day almost anyone could beat anyone.  A long way away from being competitive nationally.

Totally agree. I would go as far as to say the East is filled with average teams. Brockport being ranked 4th in the country (and getting a number 1 seed over SJU) turned out to be a joke. Same with Frostburg being a top 10 team.

I would disagree, we may not have that many A to A+ teams but there are bunch of Above average teams.

[Caz Bombers]

how are we possibly not yet understanding that our region has precisely zero "A to A+ teams" and also precisely zero that would make a top team from the Midwest or Texas leave its starters in the game after halftime.

Out there is Bama/Clemson/ND. We are the Sun Belt. I don't know how we got here and I hope to hell it doesn't stay like this but here we are, my dudes.

[02 Warhawk]

how are we possibly not yet understanding that our region has precisely zero "A to A+ teams" and also precisely zero that would make a top team from the Midwest or Texas leave its starters in the game after halftime.

Out there is Bama/Clemson/ND. We are the Sun Belt. I don't know how we got here and I hope to hell it doesn't stay like this but here we are, my dudes.

100% agree. I think the abundance of D3 teams in the east prevent one team from being a contender. Way too much recruiting competition.

[thewaterboy]

how are we possibly not yet understanding that our region has precisely zero "A to A+ teams" and also precisely zero that would make a top team from the Midwest or Texas leave its starters in the game after halftime.

Out there is Bama/Clemson/ND. We are the Sun Belt. I don't know how we got here and I hope to hell it doesn't stay like this but here we are, my dudes.

100% agree. I think the abundance of D3 teams in the east prevent one team from being a contender. Way too much recruiting competition.

Wesley?

[02 Warhawk]

how are we possibly not yet understanding that our region has precisely zero "A to A+ teams" and also precisely zero that would make a top team from the Midwest or Texas leave its starters in the game after halftime.

Out there is Bama/Clemson/ND. We are the Sun Belt. I don't know how we got here and I hope to hell it doesn't stay like this but here we are, my dudes.

100% agree. I think the abundance of D3 teams in the east prevent one team from being a contender. Way too much recruiting competition.

Wesley?

Meh. Never made it past the semis and have been known to embarrass themselves against the big boys. they haven't been very dominant of late.

[wesleydad]

how are we possibly not yet understanding that our region has precisely zero "A to A+ teams" and also precisely zero that would make a top team from the Midwest or Texas leave its starters in the game after halftime.

Out there is Bama/Clemson/ND. We are the Sun Belt. I don't know how we got here and I hope to hell it doesn't stay like this but here we are, my dudes.

100% agree. I think the abundance of D3 teams in the east prevent one team from being a contender. Way too much recruiting competition.

Wesley?

Meh. Never made it past the semis and have been known to embarrass themselves against the big boys. they haven't been very dominant of late.

Well, if you go buy that standard, I think only 4 or 5 teams have made it past the semis in the last 13 years so that would mean there are really only 2 big boys and a few others who got to play against them.  So the big boys are Mount and UWW, with UMHB, Oshkosh, and St. Thomas almost big boys since they made it past the semis once or twice and then the rest of D3.

[bleedpurple]

how are we possibly not yet understanding that our region has precisely zero "A to A+ teams" and also precisely zero that would make a top team from the Midwest or Texas leave its starters in the game after halftime.

Out there is Bama/Clemson/ND. We are the Sun Belt. I don't know how we got here and I hope to hell it doesn't stay like this but here we are, my dudes.

100% agree. I think the abundance of D3 teams in the east prevent one team from being a contender. Way too much recruiting competition.

Wesley?

Meh. Never made it past the semis and have been known to embarrass themselves against the big boys. they haven't been very dominant of late.

Well, if you go buy that standard, I think only 4 or 5 teams have made it past the semis in the last 13 years so that would mean there are really only 2 big boys and a few others who got to play against them.  So the big boys are Mount and UWW, with UMHB, Oshkosh, and St. Thomas almost big boys since they made it past the semis once or twice and then the rest of D3.

I know it's easy for discussions to get reframed as they go, and I'm not trying to do that here.  But the easiest way for me to think about the "A , A+" thing is to look at potential legitimate number one seeds who could at least have the ability to upset the biggest of big boys on "any given Saturday" and has the talent to make it likely to be a good game.  Obviously, it could change to a degree year to year.  In my book, the one team in the east that meets this criteria is Wesley. It seems to me, the talent they get is superior to the other east teams.  But that's why their results are often disappointing/puzzling to me. But on talent alone, I would stick them in there as dangerous.

[wesleydad]

how are we possibly not yet understanding that our region has precisely zero "A to A+ teams" and also precisely zero that would make a top team from the Midwest or Texas leave its starters in the game after halftime.

Out there is Bama/Clemson/ND. We are the Sun Belt. I don't know how we got here and I hope to hell it doesn't stay like this but here we are, my dudes.

100% agree. I think the abundance of D3 teams in the east prevent one team from being a contender. Way too much recruiting competition.

Wesley?

Meh. Never made it past the semis and have been known to embarrass themselves against the big boys. they haven't been very dominant of late.

Well, if you go buy that standard, I think only 4 or 5 teams have made it past the semis in the last 13 years so that would mean there are really only 2 big boys and a few others who got to play against them.  So the big boys are Mount and UWW, with UMHB, Oshkosh, and St. Thomas almost big boys since they made it past the semis once or twice and then the rest of D3.

I know it's easy for discussions to get reframed as they go, and I'm not trying to do that here.  But the easiest way for me to think about the "A , A+" thing is to look at potential legitimate number one seeds who could at least have the ability to upset the biggest of big boys on "any given Saturday" and has the talent to make it likely to be a good game.  Obviously, it could change to a degree year to year.  In my book, the one team in the east that meets this criteria is Wesley. It seems to me, the talent they get is superior to the other east teams.  But that's why their results are often disappointing/puzzling to me. But on talent alone, I would stick them in there as dangerous.

I agree with that.  And yes the results for Wesley during their runs to the quarters and semis were disappointing.  They did compete on several occasions and were close, but just as often played their worst game of the season.  Currently I do not believe Wesley could upset any of the big boys.  This season was weird, losing 4 games by 5 points, but top tier teams or those who can challenge top tier teams don't lose 4 games.

[02 Warhawk]

how are we possibly not yet understanding that our region has precisely zero "A to A+ teams" and also precisely zero that would make a top team from the Midwest or Texas leave its starters in the game after halftime.

Out there is Bama/Clemson/ND. We are the Sun Belt. I don't know how we got here and I hope to hell it doesn't stay like this but here we are, my dudes.

100% agree. I think the abundance of D3 teams in the east prevent one team from being a contender. Way too much recruiting competition.

Wesley?

Meh. Never made it past the semis and have been known to embarrass themselves against the big boys. they haven't been very dominant of late.

Well, if you go buy that standard, I think only 4 or 5 teams have made it past the semis in the last 13 years so that would mean there are really only 2 big boys and a few others who got to play against them.  So the big boys are Mount and UWW, with UMHB, Oshkosh, and St. Thomas almost big boys since they made it past the semis once or twice and then the rest of D3.

Wesley has been -by far- the most successful team the east has had over the past 15 years or so. I guess the shockingly blowout losses to UWW and mount are still relatively fresh in my mind. On the flip side they have gave mount a couple of good games over the years. So I don't think they've been too far behind the D3 elite when Wesley'a At their best.

[thewaterboy]

how are we possibly not yet understanding that our region has precisely zero "A to A+ teams" and also precisely zero that would make a top team from the Midwest or Texas leave its starters in the game after halftime.

Out there is Bama/Clemson/ND. We are the Sun Belt. I don't know how we got here and I hope to hell it doesn't stay like this but here we are, my dudes.

100% agree. I think the abundance of D3 teams in the east prevent one team from being a contender. Way too much recruiting competition.

Wesley?

Meh. Never made it past the semis and have been known to embarrass themselves against the big boys. they haven't been very dominant of late.

Well, if you go buy that standard, I think only 4 or 5 teams have made it past the semis in the last 13 years so that would mean there are really only 2 big boys and a few others who got to play against them.  So the big boys are Mount and UWW, with UMHB, Oshkosh, and St. Thomas almost big boys since they made it past the semis once or twice and then the rest of D3.

Wesley has been -by far- the most successful team the east has had over the past 15 years or so. I guess the shockingly blowout losses to UWW and mount are still relatively fresh in my mind. On the flip side they have gave mount a couple of good games over the years. So I don't think they've been too far behind the D3 elite when Wesley'a At their best.

I'd say they are up there historically. The past few years... not so much. They have only really been blown out 3 times. All semifinal games.

05: UWW L 58-6
06: UWW L 44-7
09: Mount L 24-7... was 10-7 heading into the 4th quarter... then Cecil Shorts happened.
10: UWW L 27-7... again 10-7 until 3:25 in the 3rd.
11: Mount L 28-21... after going through Linfield and UMHB to get there.
13: Mount L 62-59...Quarterfinal game.
14: Mount L 70-21... Most embarassing game IMHO.
15: Mount L 56-35... had multiple chances to make it a 1 score game in the 4th quarter. Wouldn't exactly call it a blow out.

[HScoach]

As a Mount guy, I always thought Wesley had the talent and speed to be a legit threat but wasn't fundamentally sound enough to seal the deal.  Plenty big and fast enough, but didn't play particularly crisp or looked to be well coached.   Not as sloppy as Rowan back in the day, but they always seemed to be more physically gifted than they played.

By contrast I thought SJFisher was the opposite.   A decent physical team that played much better than their individual parts.   Clean, crisp play but lacking the difference making athletes to compete with Mount.  Wheaton from the North was always that way too.  These were teams that would play hard, sound football for 60 minutes but as long as Mount didn't get careless they'd pull away late.  Wesley on the other hand would oscillate back and forth between implosion or great.  Sometimes from play to play or drive to drive.