FB: Liberty League

[jmcozenlaw]

I'm James but I can't take any credit for the mock selection show. A family commitment made me unavailable so it was all Frank, Pat and Greg (aka Wally Wabash).

We're back on with Duey Naatz tonight live looking at the brackets and such at 7:15pm at www.inthehuddlle.com

James - I will be sure to tune in when my Eagles will be beating the Packers (probably wishful thinking on my part) about midway through the fourth quarter!!

............I could have sworn there was a fourth voice along with Pat, Frank and Greg. I must have been hearing things at 1:30am

[Bartman]

Hobart vs. Ithaca on Saturday, should be a great first round game . The E8 board seems to be counting this as an Ithaca  win already , based on the strength of the conference comparison. I think Hobart should put in an "unintended" fake field goal play and use it whenever necessary... worked for Cortland. This board seems to have died compared to last year...anybody out there??

[Bombers798891]

Hobart vs. Ithaca on Saturday, should be a great first round game . The E8 board seems to be counting this as an Ithaca  win already , based on the strength of the conference comparison. I think Hobart should put in an "unintended" fake field goal play and use it whenever necessary... worked for Cortland. This board seems to have died compared to last year...anybody out there??

Give me a break. We're not counting it as a win. Until we saw your name, we thought we were going to mount or Wesley. It's simply true that ithaca has a much better chance to advance than we thought we would

[XREDDRAGON77]

Xred is proud to say that he coached both Hobart's Tyre Coleman and Ithaca's #2 Josh Oliver when they played together at Poughkeepsie High! Shifty RB v standout Dlineman. Should be a good game!

[Bartman]

Hobart vs. Ithaca on Saturday, should be a great first round game . The E8 board seems to be counting this as an Ithaca  win already , based on the strength of the conference comparison. I think Hobart should put in an "unintended" fake field goal play and use it whenever necessary... worked for Cortland. This board seems to have died compared to last year...anybody out there??

Give me a break. We're not counting it as a win. Until we saw your name, we thought we were going to mount or Wesley. It's simply true that ithaca has a much better chance to advance than we thought we would

OK , Ithaca obviously has a better chance to move thru the bracket than going to Alliance or Dover in a first rounder, but I don't think that was really a possibility despite 3 losses.  Ithaca won the game that mattered against SJF ( again) and the E8 has strong creds so a 5 or 6 "cede" (realize there are no official cedes)was reasonable and proximity to Geneva is a plus.. I do like the bracket as the first two games are tough but winnable for all the teams in the mini bracket including JHU and even Rowan. Any team that comes thru those 2 games should be ready to give Wesley a game(like Hobart 2011 first round;Wesley 35-28 over Hobart even with our 2nd string QB)

[lewdogg11]

A lot of Ithaca people saying Hobart is a good match-up this weekend for them, and i don't disagree, but it's also a good match-up for Hobart.  I think the winner of this game has a really good chance to get to Wesley and give them he!!.  Hobart has been playing to the level of their opponents all year, which they kind of do every year.  I don't think Ithaca is 'better' than Hobart.  Hopefully Hobart can go out there and take care of business.  Let's show the LL still has some mojo.  Of course, if Hobart wins, it will turn into Ithaca not being the best team in the E8, but losing to them would be much worse. 

 

[Jonny Utah]

A lot of Ithaca people saying Hobart is a good match-up this weekend for them, and i don't disagree, but it's also a good match-up for Hobart.  I think the winner of this game has a really good chance to get to Wesley and give them he!!.  Hobart has been playing to the level of their opponents all year, which they kind of do every year.  I don't think Ithaca is 'better' than Hobart.  Hopefully Hobart can go out there and take care of business.  Let's show the LL still has some mojo.  Of course, if Hobart wins, it will turn into Ithaca not being the best team in the E8, but losing to them would be much worse. 

Ithaca is a solid, well coached football team with a great defense and a conservative offense.  They try to wear you down, and if they don't make mistakes, will keep the game close against any team.  I think the key to this weeks game vs. Hobart, is about how they can respond to last weeks strange heartbreaking loss on a broken play.

To be fair, Ithaca is the best team in the E8, they deserved the title, but did beat an SJF team without their best WR.  I think you can compare the E8 to like an SEC, with Ithaca being an LSU, and SJF being Alabama.  Hobart is like Florida State, playing at home against an LSU team with 3 loses, but talent to beat them.  So Hobart is probably favored to win by 3? I think that's a safe line.

[Bombers798891]

OK , Ithaca obviously has a better chance to move thru the bracket than going to Alliance or Dover in a first rounder, but I don't think that was really a possibility despite 3 losses.  Ithaca won the game that mattered against SJF ( again) and the E8 has strong creds so a 5 or 6 "cede" (realize there are no official cedes)was reasonable and proximity to Geneva is a plus.. I do like the bracket as the first two games are tough but winnable for all the teams in the mini bracket including JHU and even Rowan. Any team that comes thru those 2 games should be ready to give Wesley a game(like Hobart 2011 first round;Wesley 35-28 over Hobart even with our 2nd string QB)

I think Wesley might be the top team in D-III this year. I do not like anyone's chances against them.

Excited for Hobart-Ithaca. Two teams that should be playing each other in the regular season. Lot of pressure on both teams to hold up the conference. An Ithaca loss knocks the E8 conference champ to 7-4. A Hobart loss means a 10-0 LL team last in consecutive years to a multiple-loss E8 school.

I have no idea what to expect from Ithaca. The defense has been fantastic in the last four weeks, allowing just 39 points.

But the offense just has no playmakers on it anywhere, and it shows in the playcalling and inability to execute.

Ithaca's once-feared special teams was decidedly pedestrian all year before imploding against Cortland

Prediction: Hobart 23, Ithaca 10. The Statesmen dominate the line of scrimmage and wear down the Bombers as the game progresses.

[jmcozenlaw]

OK , Ithaca obviously has a better chance to move thru the bracket than going to Alliance or Dover in a first rounder, but I don't think that was really a possibility despite 3 losses.  Ithaca won the game that mattered against SJF ( again) and the E8 has strong creds so a 5 or 6 "cede" (realize there are no official cedes)was reasonable and proximity to Geneva is a plus.. I do like the bracket as the first two games are tough but winnable for all the teams in the mini bracket including JHU and even Rowan. Any team that comes thru those 2 games should be ready to give Wesley a game(like Hobart 2011 first round;Wesley 35-28 over Hobart even with our 2nd string QB)

I think Wesley might be the top team in D-III this year. I do not like anyone's chances against them.

Excited for Hobart-Ithaca. Two teams that should be playing each other in the regular season. Lot of pressure on both teams to hold up the conference. An Ithaca loss knocks the E8 conference champ to 7-4. A Hobart loss means a 10-0 LL team last in consecutive years to a multiple-loss E8 school.

I have no idea what to expect from Ithaca. The defense has been fantastic in the last four weeks, allowing just 39 points.

But the offense just has no playmakers on it anywhere, and it shows in the playcalling and inability to execute.

Ithaca's once-feared special teams was decidedly pedestrian all year before imploding against Cortland

Prediction: Hobart 23, Ithaca 10. The Statesmen dominate the line of scrimmage and wear down the Bombers as the game progresses.

GO WESLEY.................make the East proud!!!!

Show the rest of the country that we can play good football in the East

[lewdogg11]

Good assessments Utah and Bombers.  Anyone who has played at Hobart in November likely knows that Hobart does have a very good home field advantage and I think that will come into play here.  I like Hobart by 10+ but not a huge scoring game.  Something in the 20-28 to 7-14 range.

[ITH radio]

Last night on the show I predicted 25-17. Statesmen haven't been blowing anyone out of late. I hope they have another gear for the playoffs b/c last two weeks have been sloppy. Do think it'll be a physical, defensive game.

[Jonny Utah]

Good assessments Utah and Bombers.  Anyone who has played at Hobart in November likely knows that Hobart does have a very good home field advantage and I think that will come into play here.  I like Hobart by 10+ but not a huge scoring game.  Something in the 20-28 to 7-14 range.

We played at Hobart in 1996 in one of the coldest games I had ever been a part of.  If you look at the two schools, one of them is at the southern tip of a large finger lake, on the top of a hill, while the other is at the top of an adjacent finger lake, on a flat surface in flat farm country.  I've played a Hobart twice (1994 and 1996), and Hobart seemed to have a lot of wind at that field in both of those games that I played. 

[Bombers798891]

Of course, if Hobart wins, it will turn into Ithaca not being the best team in the E8, but losing to them would be much worse. 

Turn into? A quick glance at the top 25 pretty much shows you that, oh yeah, Fisher's ranked ahead of them,

Besides, what do you expect us to say if Hobart wins? Congratulations on doing what three teams with a combined record of 16-14 already accomplished this season? Great job proving you can do what Frostburg State did first? Way to hand unranked Ithaca their fourth loss of the season?

[Jonny Utah]

Of course, if Hobart wins, it will turn into Ithaca not being the best team in the E8, but losing to them would be much worse. 

Turn into? A quick glance at the top 25 pretty much shows you that, oh yeah, Fisher's ranked ahead of them,

Besides, what do you expect us to say if Hobart wins? Congratulations on doing what three teams with a combined record of 16-14 already accomplished this season? Great job proving you can do what Frostburg State did first? Way to hand unranked Ithaca their fourth loss of the season?

If Hobart beats Ithaca, they will have beaten a good football team, that may have gone undefeated in 4 or 5 other d3 football conferences

[Bombers798891]

If Hobart beats Ithaca, they will have beaten a good football team, that may have gone undefeated in 4 or 5 other d3 football conferences

Who cares that they'd go undefeated in 4 to 5 other conferences? They'd miss the playoffs in more than that.

Are they good? Yeah, about as good as a 7-3 team usually is. But there's also nothing on that team that a 10-0 Hobart shouldn't be able to handle