FB: Empire 8

[AUPepBand]

It's not often you get a piece of reality spelled out on an online message board. +K Bombers

Yeah, Bombers always has been a straight shooter. Calls 'em like he sees 'em and he's got keen eyesight. +K Bombers

[Bombers798891]

The reality is that our conference still has a better shot to do it than any other eastern region conference.  Except for now with Wesley and company moving into the NJAC.  You cited some examples but I didn't say we are perfect, just the best chance to knock off an east paper tiger.  Like in 2007 yeah sure we had a couple teams lose but Fisher made it to the 3rd round that year.  Just look at the records in the playoffs:

NJAC:  26-21 and the vaaaast majority of those came from Rowan who was more than legit back in the day.  No gripes there. 

E8:  19-17
LL:  13-19
NEFC: 3-18
ECFC:  0-5
MASCAC: 0-1 and counting
MAC: 21-18....I guess they can debunk what I'm saying here.  But I just feel like we're stronger than them haha.  Plus that was one of the undefeated teams that a limited Fisher team beat back in the year of the Kramer. 

So if you take out the Rowan outlier years that carried that record to above .500 then all of the other conferences are below .500 with the exception of the MAC.  So nobody is perfect but we still have had the best chance in the past.

Re the bolded part: You know we can't do that right?

I get what you're saying in general. Ultimately I think we could go down a giant rabbit hole with this. Not all playoff games are created equal and heck, some of these wins came from teams that aren't in the same conference anymore. Should we get credit in 2015 for Salisbury's 2011 playoff run? Does Cortland's 2008 belong to the NJAC or to us when we're talking about who's conference is good now? Does the NJAC get stronger immediately since they have Wesley?

[boobyhasgameyo]

Only taking out the Rowan outlier years because I qualified them as a legitimate contender and the best the East has had since Ithaca was winning national championships (when did Widener do it?). 

Agreed on the rabbit hole.  But I was speaking up until this season.  I'd think the NJAC takes the mantle with top overall team with Wesley.  Wesley actually will take care of a lot of this anyway.  No undefeated due in part to an easy schedule team is going to get through the "east" region (I know they don't characterize by location anymore but you know what I mean) without playing Wesley.  Who has been a level above any E8 team the past decade. 

[bman]

Only taking out the Rowan outlier years because I qualified them as a legitimate contender and the best the East has had since Ithaca was winning national championships (when did Widener do it?).

1977 and 1981  Right around the same time you were winning them...

[boobyhasgameyo]

Only taking out the Rowan outlier years because I qualified them as a legitimate contender and the best the East has had since Ithaca was winning national championships (when did Widener do it?).

1977 and 1981  Right around the same time you were winning them...

I'm only an Ithaca supporter if they are in the playoffs and Fisher is not.  Fisher won a national club championship in football back in the day.  But in the D3 world.....zippo. 

[fisheralum91]

BTW they won the club championship when I was there.....
Feeling was ....well.....meh.....
Then came the introduction to d3....
Hello doormat...

But on to a better topic.....
Honestly who picked the whole Fisher uni Helmet thing....
Its driving me nuts

[AUPepBand]

BTW they won the club championship when I was there.....
Feeling was ....well.....meh.....
Then came the introduction to d3....
Hello doormat...

But on to a better topic.....
Honestly who picked the whole Fisher uni Helmet thing....
Its driving me nuts

With law enforcement personnel in many places at "stand down," perhaps the fashion police have joined them?

[AUPepBand]

Quiet week on the boards. Pep's picks for Saterday's games in the Empire 8:

St. John Fisher 28 at Buffalo State 24. Were Kyle Hoppy playing, this might be the other way around. Fisher seems to be getting its legs. Bengals struggling to find their way after losing Hoppy.

Ithaca 31 at Utica 21. Bomber defense and special teams prevail against the Pioneers, who can put up some numbers...against anyone but Ithaca.

Cortland State 45 vs. Hartwick 13. Red Dragons too strong for the Hawks, who will hang around for 30 minutes.

Alfred 34 vs. Morrisville State 31. It's Homecoming at Yunevich Stadium and Pep has a dilemma as his alma mater Mustangs take on his beloved AU. Pep was toying with the idea of wearing green on one side, purple on the other. The AU AD said the most green Pep could wear would be underwear and socks. Pep's gone shopping.

Brockport State 55 vs. Alfred State 6. Golden Eagles miss a PAT but this one doesn't cost them the Homecoming game.

On Saxon Warriors!
Go Mustangs!

[Bengalsrule]

First home game of the season today.  Bengal faithful are excited and the look on our players faces this week was 1 of  " I can't wait for Saturday to get here". Saw a lot of them at Tuesday's volleyball game vs Nazareth and they are ready for football " post Hoppy". Brought up JV qb just in case.

A win would sure feel good today!!

Go BENGALS!!!

[NED3Guy]

Pep- They should treat you like Army / Navy game treats the president when he has to root for both teams.

Spend first half on AU side, be walked to midfield at halftime by members of the AU student body, get passed off to Morrisville at midfield, and enjoy the second half surrounded by green.

Should be a good one.

[Bengalsrule]

Good win for my Bengals.  Qb gets injured in the game but his time it's not a Buff State qb. Hoping the Fisher qb gets better after the crushing blow by Andrew Cleveland !  Aaron Ertel started the season as the 3rd string qb. Today he looked every bit of a starter. Good to see all the defensive players get some action ( starters pulled after 3 quarters), even if it did cost us a shut out with 46 seconds left.

Enough about this game, now it's the Cortland Red Dragons coming to town. Cortland plays in every conference that Buff State plays in (football , basketball, track and field, soccer etc.)  That game needs no hype! Cortland and Brockport games, in any sport, are a special time at 1300 Elmwood Ave.

Go BENGALS!

[jmcozenlaw]

I shudder at the thought of the wrath of the Fisher posters after this one!! Ouch!!

[middlerelief]

wow what a win for Utica over Ithaca -- great game.

[Bengalsrule]

Cortland and Hartwick in Overtime.  42 all!!

[Upstate]

Safe to say but Fisher is probably the worst team in the conference this year...

Other teams 3rd string QBs are light years better than SJF starter...

Offensive line couldn't block a good high school DL...

Defensively they over pursue, they can't tackle and can't cover...

The punting on 4th down while down 30-0 was telling, just a bad team this year...

4-6 or 5-5 would be a miracle right now...