FB: Liberty League

[Bartman]

THE FINAL REGULAR SEASON RESULTS

Total Winning Picks: Bartman(me ), edges out Ice Bear by one pick 42 out of 49(85.7%)

Highest Percentage(Minimum of 5 weeks) UFAN Bill goes 4-0 in last week to edge out Jersey 42 with 89.7% (26 for 29)



Participant                           Wins per week.                               Total.             Percentage



ICAlum(the instigator).      5/6/5/-/3/3/4/-/-/-/1                             27/33*.           .818
UnionPalooza.                   7/5/-/4/2/3/4/4/3/2/2                            36/42.             .857
Bartman.                          6/7/5/5/2/2/4/3/3/3/2                            42/49.             .857
Ice Bear.                          6/6/4/5/2/3/4/3/3/3/3                             41/49.           .837
Jersey 42.                        6/-/-/5 /-/-/-/4/3/2/3                               23/26            .885
Machiavelli                       -/5/6/5/3/2/4/3/3/2/3                              36/42.           .857
Oline.                              -/4/-/-/2/- /4/3/3/3/2                               21/28.            750
IC798891.                       -/-/5./-/-/0/-/-/- /-                                      5/7.            .714
UFAN.                              -/-/-/4/2/3/3/4/3/3/4                               26/29.            . 897    .
Tecmobowler                                                                                       3/4.           .75

* no selection for the first  Friday night  game was made

[tony/troy]

ECAC Bowls:

Utica vs Hobart at the BOZ 

Widener vs. RPI at Troy

Brockport vs Carnegie Mellon

Merchant Marine vs. Washington & Jefferson

LL gets two great games to defend the Conference. I think these 4 games might be better than some of the first round NCAA match ups.

Weirdest damned pairings (Brockport at Carnegie Mellon, Utica at Hobart, Merchant Marine at Washington and Jefferson and Widener at RPI) I have ever seen at least on what appear to be sensible "seedings" based on won lost records with ties broken by strength of schedule. It appears the committee simply paired "seeds" one and two, then three and four, then five and six, then seven (RPI) and eight against each other with the lower "seed" always traveling. Looks like they punished the higher achievers with a tougher game and rewarded lower achievers with easier games. What sense does that make???

Were these weird pairings done to save money?? Nope!!! The way they did it results in 1,040 miles traveled lasting a total of 16 hours (longest trip 6:20) requiring three overnight of hotels and meals for a traveling party of 70 or so.

Instead, pairing Brockport at Carnegie Mellon (same), Washington and Jefferson at Hobart (or vice versa), Widener at Merchant Marine (or vice versa) and RPI AT Utica (or vice versa) would have only resulted in 860 miles traveled lasting a total of 13 hours (longest trip 5:00) requiring only two overnight of hotels and meals for a traveling party of 70 or so.

Point is if any of these guys on this committee are in the financial planning and advising business, absolutely do not hire them to handle your money!!!

Other than that point I have no reason to complain as I get another game just 4 miles from my home. Needless to say, I saw no logical way that could ever happen.

As for the game itself, we get an opponent from a much lower ranked conference (13th while the Liberty League is 6th out of 28). Personnel wise they only average 2.9 per carry on the ground against our good but not great against good teams run defense that allows 3.3 per carry. Passing wise, their all year starter only completes under 52% of his passes in a lesser league while RPI's learning on the job freshman QB is just under 60% in the Liberty League.

While games are played by people on fields and not on paper or computers, this does appear to be a made to order opponent that a win should be expected against assuming the home team is motivated for what is generally considered a secondary bowl.

[Jonny Utah]

ECAC Bowls:

Utica vs Hobart at the BOZ 

Widener vs. RPI at Troy

Brockport vs Carnegie Mellon

Merchant Marine vs. Washington & Jefferson

LL gets two great games to defend the Conference. I think these 4 games might be better than some of the first round NCAA match ups.

Weirdest damned pairings (Brockport at Carnegie Mellon, Utica at Hobart, Merchant Marine at Washington and Jefferson and Widener at RPI) I have ever seen at least on what appear to be sensible "seedings" based on won lost records with ties broken by strength of schedule. It appears the committee simply paired "seeds" one and two, then three and four, then five and six, then seven (RPI) and eight against each other with the lower "seed" always traveling. Looks like they punished the higher achievers with a tougher game and rewarded lower achievers with easier games. What sense does that make???

Were these weird pairings done to save money?? Nope!!! The way they did it results in 1,040 miles traveled lasting a total of 16 hours (longest trip 6:20) requiring three overnight of hotels and meals for a traveling party of 70 or so.

Instead, pairing Brockport at Carnegie Mellon (same), Washington and Jefferson at Hobart (or vice versa), Widener at Merchant Marine (or vice versa) and RPI AT Utica (or vice versa) would have only resulted in 860 miles traveled lasting a total of 13 hours (longest trip 5:00) requiring only two overnight of hotels and meals for a traveling party of 70 or so.

Point is if any of these guys on this committee are in the financial planning and advising business, absolutely do not hire them to handle your money!!!

Other than that point I have no reason to complain as I get another game just 4 miles from my home. Needless to say, I saw no logical way that could ever happen.

As for the game itself, we get an opponent from a much lower ranked conference (13th while the Liberty League is 6th out of 28). Personnel wise they only average 2.9 per carry on the ground against our good but not great against good teams run defense that allows 3.3 per carry. Passing wise, their all year starter only completes under 52% of his passes in a lesser league while RPI's learning on the job freshman QB is just under 60% in the Liberty League.

While games are played by people on fields and not on paper or computers, this does appear to be a made to order opponent that a win should be expected against assuming the home team is motivated for what is generally considered a secondary bowl.

I'm guessing they want a few things.  One is different regions playing teams from other regions.  Another is having the best teams play each other and the home team isn't a factor.  The ECAC doesn't want blowout games or 1v8 matchups.  I tend to agree with them there. 

[Machiavelli]

ECAC Bowls:

Utica vs Hobart at the BOZ 

Widener vs. RPI at Troy

Brockport vs Carnegie Mellon

Merchant Marine vs. Washington & Jefferson

LL gets two great games to defend the Conference. I think these 4 games might be better than some of the first round NCAA match ups.

Weirdest damned pairings (Brockport at Carnegie Mellon, Utica at Hobart, Merchant Marine at Washington and Jefferson and Widener at RPI) I have ever seen at least on what appear to be sensible "seedings" based on won lost records with ties broken by strength of schedule. It appears the committee simply paired "seeds" one and two, then three and four, then five and six, then seven (RPI) and eight against each other with the lower "seed" always traveling. Looks like they punished the higher achievers with a tougher game and rewarded lower achievers with easier games. What sense does that make???

Were these weird pairings done to save money?? Nope!!! The way they did it results in 1,040 miles traveled lasting a total of 16 hours (longest trip 6:20) requiring three overnight of hotels and meals for a traveling party of 70 or so.

Instead, pairing Brockport at Carnegie Mellon (same), Washington and Jefferson at Hobart (or vice versa), Widener at Merchant Marine (or vice versa) and RPI AT Utica (or vice versa) would have only resulted in 860 miles traveled lasting a total of 13 hours (longest trip 5:00) requiring only two overnight of hotels and meals for a traveling party of 70 or so.

Point is if any of these guys on this committee are in the financial planning and advising business, absolutely do not hire them to handle your money!!!

Other than that point I have no reason to complain as I get another game just 4 miles from my home. Needless to say, I saw no logical way that could ever happen.

As for the game itself, we get an opponent from a much lower ranked conference (13th while the Liberty League is 6th out of 28). Personnel wise they only average 2.9 per carry on the ground against our good but not great against good teams run defense that allows 3.3 per carry. Passing wise, their all year starter only completes under 52% of his passes in a lesser league while RPI's learning on the job freshman QB is just under 60% in the Liberty League.

While games are played by people on fields and not on paper or computers, this does appear to be a made to order opponent that a win should be expected against assuming the home team is motivated for what is generally considered a secondary bowl.

I'm guessing they want a few things.  One is different regions playing teams from other regions.  Another is having the best teams play each other and the home team isn't a factor.  The ECAC doesn't want blowout games or 1v8 matchups.  I tend to agree with them there.

Completely agree with Utah here. I'd much rather see these less common matchups than friggin RPI vs. Utica and Hobart vs. Brockport. LL plays E8 enough and those matchups are tired and old. I feel like MMA is gonna get absolutely destroyed though. I wouldn't have been psyched if RPI got a draw like that. I'd rather they put the boots to Widener and really add proof of how bad some of these other conferences are.

[Bartman]

Just happy to have a home post season game. That hasn't happened since 2016 when Mount Union traveled to Geneva for a first round game(yup, you read that right). Hobart had it tied 21-21 late in the third quarter until the Raiders pulled away winning by 38-21. That was our last NCAA appearance . Bowl games since then:

   2019 NY State Bowl.....Hobart 30.    Cortland  10
   2021 ECAC Bowl.         Hobart 21.    Westminster 3
   2022 ECAC Bowl.         W&J.   35.     Hobart 18

I would have loved to have another crack at W&J, a Carnegie Mellon challenge, or a Widener matchup, but hunting for Moose from the home platform will do just fine this year.

[UfanBill]

Just happy to have a home post season game. That hasn't happened since 2016 when Mount Union traveled to Geneva for a first round game(yup, you read that right). Hobart had it tied 21-21 late in the third quarter until the Raiders pulled away winning by 38-21. That was our last NCAA appearance . Bowl games since then:

   2019 NY State Bowl.....Hobart 30.    Cortland  10
   2021 ECAC Bowl.         Hobart 21.    Westminster 3
   2022 ECAC Bowl.         W&J.   35.     Hobart 18

I would have loved to have another crack at W&J, a Carnegie Mellon challenge, or a Widener matchup, but hunting for Moose from the home platform will do just fine this year.

It just occurred to me Utica at Hobart essentially is the New York State Bowl. Would have been better if it was Brockport vs Hobart but the ECAC needed an opponent for CMU..

[Ice Bear]

I love to see teams from different regions play each other. I am always in favor of that. Obviously ECAC games can be hard to measure because there may be a lack of motivation/cohesiveness going on for each team. I like to think that these games, especially when between teams from differing regions/leagues provide some motivation to make one's league/region look good. Maybe that's just a fan thing and not a player thing?

I am very interested in the MMA game. While I am in agreement that they will most likely get taken to the woodshed I'd like to see them do well. I like those guys. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

I'm gonna add a x3 or x4 or x5 on the posts saying that ECAC pairings are not about seeding teams or pairing the highest-ranked vs. lowest-ranked teams, but just about having some fun matchups against teams that otherwise would not regularly appear on your schedule.   It's just a good chance for two good teams that didn't quite make the dance to get a bonus game, so let's make them good bonus games if we can, or at least interesting for some other reason. I'd much rather see us (CMU) against Brockport (or any other LL / E8 / New England team that we have not played in >10 years) than against someone we do occasionally knock heads with (like for you guys...there are enough Empire 8 vs. LL matchups on a regular basis, better to set these so everybody plays someone a little outside their usual footprint). 

In the ECAC bowls from my time onwards, we (CMU) have played Gettysburg, Waynesburg (before joining the PAC), Bridgewater State, Salisbury, Muhlenberg, and Brevard.  That's cool!  Haven't even repeated an opponent's conference other than 2007 Gettysburg and 2017 Muhlenberg both being from the Centennial.  Don't know that we would ever play just about any of these teams otherwise.

As Ice Bear said, the level of motivation for these teams certainly varies...my personal experience, it was the last football game I would ever play, and there was something interesting about that finality to it.  Whatever the outcome it would be the last time I would ever suit up (cheesy as it can be, but I stood on the field with family & friends for a long, long, long time after the game just knowing that once I walked into the locker room and took off my jersey & pads, it was really over and I'd never wear them again).

[UfanBill]

The Liberty League has announced it's All League teams...https://libertyleagueathletics.com/news/2023/11/14/liberty-league-unveils-2023-football-awards-and-all-league-teams.aspx

[Bartman]

PLAYOFF PICKS....

Brockport.      14                 CMU.         21.       BPORT can't muster enough offense to win this one

USMMA.          14.                W&J.         31.       The Presidents leave the Mariners adrift

Widener          10.                RPI.          28.        The Sliderulers take the measure of the Pride and prevail

Utica.             20.                Hobart.      24.        Statesmen pullout a close one as the Moosemeat is tough

Union.            27.                DelVal.       17.        The Garnets have more than enough charge for this one

Cortland.        35.                Endicott.     17.        The RedDragon offense munches on  bird meat

Ithaca.           27.                Springfield.  10.        The Bombers defense is stout against The Prides Option

I really think the LL got some good quality matchups . Going 4-0 with a few more games will only help the ranking of the League. Good luck to everyone this weekend, and hopefully Ithaca and Union will have another Saturday or two  to put on the pads.

[Oline89]

CMU 28 Bport 14      Tough road trip

W&J 35 MM 7           Blowout 1 of the weekend

RPI 31 Widener 7      Blowout 2 of the weekend

Hobart 28 Utica 13    Closer game, but Boz homefield advantage is real

DelVal 35 Union 24    Really pulling for the Garnet here, just worried that the long trip to PA favors the Aggies

Cortland 42 Endicott 35   Tough draw for the Dragons, but E8+IC is character building

IC 31  Springfield 6     One dimensional offense will be shut done by the IC front 7

[Machiavelli]

CMU 28 Bport 14      Tough road trip

W&J 35 MM 7           Blowout 1 of the weekend

RPI 31 Widener 7      Blowout 2 of the weekend

Hobart 28 Utica 13    Closer game, but Boz homefield advantage is real

DelVal 35 Union 24    Really pulling for the Garnet here, just worried that the long trip to PA favors the Aggies

Cortland 42 Endicott 35   Tough draw for the Dragons, but E8+IC is character building

IC 31  Springfield 6     One dimensional offense will be shut done by the IC front 7

Pretty much in agreement here, but I think Union beats the NCAA darlings:

CMU - 24
Bport - 17

W&J - 52
MM - 10

RPI - 28
Widener - 10
Just can't really bank on RPIs offense with the unknowns. But I think they should still win handily.

Hobart - 24
Utica - 20
I think Hobart grinds this one out.

DelVal - 17
Union - 31
Union SHOULD win this one, but if the offense lacks execution like last week, they could open the door.

Cortland - 42
Endicott - 38
Believe it or not, this one is my coin toss of the week. Could go either way, could be a blowout. I'm gonna say a close shootout.

IC - 35
Springfield - 10
Shouldn't even be a game. Hopefully Ithaca brings the noise. Springfield is vastly overrated.

[Garnet]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_ttGusOyco&list=PLn5YNtMeVB4fbWItX2j2nDoXjF4ICttak&index=8

The ceremony was last night.  This is the video introduction.

[Bartman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_ttGusOyco&list=PLn5YNtMeVB4fbWItX2j2nDoXjF4ICttak&index=8

The ceremony was last night.  This is the video introduction.

Thanks Garnet for posting this recognition for Ali Marpet to the Westchester County, NY Hall of Fame. I watched Ali play against my High School(Bronxville) and he was pancaking guys who ended up playing for Yale and Boston College. I couldn't believe he came to Hobart. He grew from a 245 pound Freshman to the best lineman (if not player ) in the history of D3Football. He ate everything that wasn't nailed down to get to 305 pounds.At the same time he was always working out in the weight room and playing basketball to keep his agility. He was a leader and NEVER gave up a sack but was an even better run blocker. I attended his PRO day held at the BOZ and the 10 scouts that showed up couldn't believe his speed and agility for a 300+ lineman. He could have lost 50 pounds and been a great TE, great hands, agility and would have been the best TE blocker in the league. Ali visited the team before the RPI game this year and provided his typical low key intensity telling them that focus and drive will get you to your goals and win in the game today and in life. He left the pro game because he accomplished everything he wanted to Super Bowl and ProBowl starter. Hobart was so lucky he chose the school and he is THE example of what D3 sports can produce a great student athlete that will keep contributing and giving back to all of the communities he is a part of. One of his communities is the Jewish community that I'm sure he will support in any way he can in these troubling times.Congratulations and Thumbs UP Ali.

[XREDDRAGON77]

Hobart also had a stud in Tyre Coleman on the D Line! I had the pleasure of coaching him in HS! The kid was a monster on the field and all around great kid! And to think,  alongside him on the same HS D Line was a guy that went to play at UConn!