Empire 8

[FisherDynasty]

No I agree, its just a projection. I think they will win enough games to get an automatic bid though even if they get upset in the e8 tourny.  They should break top 25 ranking once or twice throughout the season and should get enough wins for an auto bid.  The rest of the region is bad enough it will make it even easier to get an auto bid this year.  they lost an athletic guard that started as a freshmen and pizzelli a solid bing man to injury last year and is not on the team this year.   I think Utica, Stevens, Fisher, Naz, and RIT and Hartwick will be all fighting for the other 3 spots and will knock each other off throughout the year.  I think Ithaca will go down once or twice in league play as well.  I think they are good but not unbelievable.  I think Stevens will do well, Fisher will find a way, Naz and Utica will be tough, I think RIT is too young and Hartwick, well i think they will be solid and win a lot of home games but may still not be there yet.  Naz in reality still should be the 2nd best team they just have the worst coach and dont play defense.

[FROMAFAR]

TO ALL MY POST BUDDIES, HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING, THANKS FOR KEEPING ME WELL ADVISED ON THE E-8, AND LISTENING TO MY CHATTER...MAKES IT FUN.........  PROBABLY OFF THE AIR UNTIL NEXT WEEK......  ENJOY  

[bamm]

Fisher isn't so great this year, must be a down year for the region!  Ugh.

Ithaca and Naz are both really talented.  How good they can be we don't know, but that Bombers squad really could be quite good. 

Hamilton, Oswego, and Geneseo all look quite solid. 

A change at the top doesn't mean the top got worse.

[Cyclone0205]

Quietly the boys down in Hoboken continue to dominate "quality"  (I mean that loosely...as in awful) Atlantic Region competition.  24 point win over FDU-Florham last night.  I often wonder why they left the region when they could be guaranteed a tourney spot given how much better they've gotten and how far the NJAC has fallen off. 

Then again, their men's soccer team moved to the Empire 8 and is now playing in the Final Four this weekend.  Guess that's good for the E8!


Gray with 22 again last night.  Any knowledge on if he's going to end up being the school's all-time leading scorer?  The way he's played the past 2 years, I figured he'd have to be close considering Stevens used to be bad.


Early season I'd have to put Ithaca #1 in the conference, and Stevens at #2.  Anyone else agree/disagree?

[FisherDynasty]

change at the top doesnt necessarily mean down year for region but the top teams usually have the best teams and it takes that caliber to go far in ncaa.  Not sayin other schools don't have it but just dont see a lot of very strong teams yet.  Most teams have losses already.  Naz is 0-2? against nothing great, looking at the box score they only have 3 contributors, seems to be another above average but  not great year coming ahead for them.  UofR is very down, bport has 2 losses, plattsburgh lost a lot.  I think geneseo, oswego and hamilton could all be good like i said cant fully tell if theres any ringers out of SUNYAC yet.  that being said still down in general last few years there have been 3-6 teams hitting top 25 throughout the region this year im not sure if htere will be more than 2 if there is 2. 


Cyclone have to agree so far with youer #1 and #2 early season rankings.

[buck1053]

Great win for Fisher over Bport the other night.  Maybe they won't be so bad after all, they are going extremely small and will cause some matchup problems.  Looks like BPort only has 3 good players in Parrish, Harris, and Wilkes.  Still with those 3 Bport would be in top 4 of E8.  Look as if the entire region is down this year versus the past.  Naz looks to have lost a few players either due to quiting, dropping out, or injuries but they onl have 3 good players in Dehimer  and the 2 McAdams.  That being said looks like Fisher has a shot at getting in top 4 in the league this year with no dominate teams besides Ithaca.  Ithaca is finally old have a big 3 and good role players.  I think they are the strongest team (too early to tell fully if any suny schools are going to be really godo this year) in the region excluding NYU.  UofR is way down this year due to all of their losses.  looks to be a lot of parity in the region this year so should make for a somewhat interesting year, however, I dont see a lot of damange being done in the NCAA.  I think Ithaca will have the best shot and will advance past 2nd round to the sweet 16 but doesnt have the tournament experience to advance further than that unless they get paired with another team from upstate NY.

It's true UofR lost a lot in the offseason, but they always seem to reload, not rebuild. And they are 2-1 right now, with the loss coming at the hands of Ithaca in the Yellowjackets tourney championship by nine points. They also rolled over Naz last night, beating them by 17, courtesy of a 12-point edge in the second half. Of course, Naz is 0-3, but the 9-point loss to IC could say something, especially if the Bombers are the favorite to win the E8.

BTW, thought Naz would get a lift from AU's lone standout last year, Ellis Walsh, but saw he scored five points and grabbed seven rebounds in 17 minutes against UofR last night, also committing five fouls. The five he scored last night were his first five of the season.

[FisherDynasty]

We'll see how UofR does in their conference compared to normal.  I bet they dont get in the top 3.  Naz is typical Naz and going to be worse than last years team with the loss of canori, tyler smith, bizelli and rajon. I think Ithaca is good and would be be able to give a typical UofR team a good game if not be able to knock them off.  I think this is Ithaca's year as ive been saying for the past 2 years when they were younger.  There is no way UofR is close to what they were in past years though with their losses.

[buck1053]

We'll see how UofR does in their conference compared to normal.  I bet they dont get in the top 3.  Naz is typical Naz and going to be worse than last years team with the loss of canori, tyler smith, bizelli and rajon. I think Ithaca is good and would be be able to give a typical UofR team a good game if not be able to knock them off.  I think this is Ithaca's year as ive been saying for the past 2 years when they were younger.  There is no way UofR is close to what they were in past years though with their losses.

I know UofR is down, my response was in reference to the comment about them being way down. When I think of way down, I think of below .500, and they definitely won't be in that territory. They definitely lost some firepower, and if their team of last year had played this year's Ithaca team, it wouldn't have been a nine-point win for the Bombers. I do still think, though, that the Yellowjackets will be the best team in Rochester, even if it's not up to their usual standards of the past few years.

[e8bballfan]

change at the top doesnt necessarily mean down year for region but the top teams usually have the best teams and it takes that caliber to go far in ncaa.  Not sayin other schools don't have it but just dont see a lot of very strong teams yet.  Most teams have losses already.  Naz is 0-2? against nothing great, looking at the box score they only have 3 contributors, seems to be another above average but  not great year coming ahead for them.  UofR is very down, bport has 2 losses, plattsburgh lost a lot.  I think geneseo, oswego and hamilton could all be good like i said cant fully tell if theres any ringers out of SUNYAC yet.  that being said still down in general last few years there have been 3-6 teams hitting top 25 throughout the region this year im not sure if htere will be more than 2 if there is 2. 


Cyclone have to agree so far with youer #1 and #2 early season rankings.

Wow...Now Naz is 0-3 despite all the local coverage from the D & C as the area team to beat. I actually checked out St Mary's website to see how they were and they reached the Sweet 16 last season and the other team Naz lost to also went to NCAA's. Not sure how much firepower they lost but looks like Naz didnt play teams that were "nothing great."

Also, Bport loses to Fisher? Big games from Ozell & Newman from looking at the box score. I also noticed their other big Dan Evans was not in the box score - anything up there? Bport lacks the depth the used to have and Sherrod Harris used to make them go...

Should be an interesting year. Everyone have a nice Thanksgiving Holiday!

[Ethelred the Unready]

We'll see how UofR does in their conference compared to normal.  I bet they dont get in the top 3.  Naz is typical Naz and going to be worse than last years team with the loss of canori, tyler smith, bizelli and rajon. I think Ithaca is good and would be be able to give a typical UofR team a good game if not be able to knock them off.  I think this is Ithaca's year as ive been saying for the past 2 years when they were younger.  There is no way UofR is close to what they were in past years though with their losses.

I don't think they were top 3 last year with their seniors.  This team is very young and is going to be pretty teriffic before too long.  And if you look at the box score from the Ithaca game you'll notice that statistically it was a very even game.  This year Ithaca benefits from having that senior leadership and experience and you should all enjoy it.  As for giving UR a good game or beating them, this years Ithaca team wouldn't come within 20 points of last years UR team, IMO.

[owen]

Am I the only one that noticed? Elmira beat Cortland last night. Not in hockey but in basketball, men's basketball!!! I thought it must be a typo so double checked it. It seems to be true.

Has the world gone mad? Nothing makes sense anymore.

[d3lifer]

Hartwick College picks up its fourth win this season improving to 4-1 in the early season with an 80-76 win over Vasser College on the road. Cocozziello gets 28 points and 8 rebounds while the freshman point guard Blazek gets 14. A pretty good week all in all for the Empire 8 conference.

Note: Hartwick beat Keuka college last night 74-55.

[with age came?]

In mentioning teams from the region who have the potential to crack the "top 25" I think St Lawrence should be included. They beat a pretty good Middlebury team last night by double digits. Liberty league apparently had a pretty good night (see the Magicman's post).  Hamilton will always be tough, and Clarkson sneaks out a 1 point win over Plattsburgh but neither team played really strong.  Good close game though. Ithaca may appear to be the strongest but Hamilton & SLU and maybe even the Potsdam Bears (senior laden and looked good in win over Clarkson) could challenge the top 25.  Do not think UofR will this season, (they will have too many league losses though they still may well be 1 of the best teams in this area) challenge top 25.

[Ethelred the Unready]

In mentioning teams from the region who have the potential to crack the "top 25" I think St Lawrence should be included. They beat a pretty good Middlebury team last night by double digits. Liberty league apparently had a pretty good night (see the Magicman's post).  Hamilton will always be tough, and Clarkson sneaks out a 1 point win over Plattsburgh but neither team played really strong.  Good close game though. Ithaca may appear to be the strongest but Hamilton & SLU and maybe even the Potsdam Bears (senior laden and looked good in win over Clarkson) could challenge the top 25.  Do not think UofR will this season, (they will have too many league losses though they still may well be 1 of the best teams in this area) challenge top 25.

UAA is having an odd year so far.  Chicago is 0-4 and Brandeis is 0-3, which for a pre-season #9 is not so good.  I agree that UR will not likely crack the Top 25 this year.  I think they may be too young to play with the consistent intensity needed once the conference season starts.  But they are a talented group of youngsters and are going to win some games on ability alone.

As for SLU and Middlebury, I thought I read on the NESCAC page that tMiddlebury was without their leading player for the game.  Not to take anything from SLU, cuz it's still a solid win for them

[gobombers15]

Am I the only one that noticed? Elmira beat Cortland last night. Not in hockey but in basketball, men's basketball!!! I thought it must be a typo so double checked it. It seems to be true.

Has the world gone mad? Nothing makes sense anymore.

I did see that. Seems Hartwick and Elmira may be competitive this year. And how about Cortland? A lot of people had them pegged as the top team in the SUNYAC. Not looking that way right now.