East Region Playoff Discussion

[mel]

When you just throw out the term weak in reference to the NEFC.... that is exactly what the NCAA feels about the East.
The entire east needs to get off it high horse and realize the nation has caught up.
The last eastern champion was IC in 91.. none of these teams from these "strong" conferences have really come close... yes the Rowan teams gave us a nice run.  RPI a few years back was nice but unsustained.
The St. John Fisher v MUC three years ago was a surprise.  Once the Mount really prepared for STJ Fish they crushed the cardinal.

The number one thing holding back the east is that most of the schools are private and massively expensive.  Since prop 91 ( no financial aid to special talents) the east has had a hard time.  

So yea, the Weak NEFC got in two but everyone else got beat.  RPI needed to beat Kings Point but got stung.

Odd year

[dlippiel]

So many teams did not take care of business this year in their respective divisions and I think a possible result is two NEFC teams. I think it is absolute bull**** that freakin Curry got in over Montclair and Rowan. Yet we will see just how poor the decision was after next week. I for one am excited to see Curry play. I hope Grassdorf and Co ****ing stomp them into oblivion. Many said this year that Wicks two losses to NEFC teams last year was last year and should be forgotton. Bull****, because I believe those two losses gave a false sense of validity regarding the NEFC. I also believe the loss to Curry gave some confidence to those who selected them ahead of the aforementioned teams. Who knows maybe they will deserve it? We shall see next week. I have to say I highly doubt it though. Let's go Bart, Bombers and Red Dragons.

[pg04]

I believe that the team with the biggest beef, according to what we thought was the criteria is Montclair.  I don't know how an NEFC team got in over NJAC...  They really must just look at wins and losses first...

[HScoach]

Hopefully Ithaca takes care of business and makes the regional final.  Looking forward to another MUC/Ithaca matchup because MUC needs a test somewhere along the line before Salem .

['gro]

D3Football.com's Selection Show Special is broadcasting:

http://www.d3football.com/notables/2008/01/14/1571/post-selection-selection-show.html

or directly into Windows Media Player:

http://win.1.c2.audiovideoweb.com/1c2winlive6881

ah I missed that opening music from playmakers... I AM!

[DanPadavona]

The number one thing holding back the east is that most of the schools are private and massively expensive.  Since prop 91 ( no financial aid to special talents) the east has had a hard time.  

That could be a problem.  But I think the bigger problem is the sheer number of D3 teams competing for talent in the same area.  

Back in 88-91 when IC, Union, and Cortland were true national powerhouses, there was no Utica, Fisher was not relevant, Morrisville was JC, Hartwick had no program, RPI was still weak, and Hobart was mediocre.  Take the best players off of the teams I just mentioned, divide them up between Cortland, IC, and Union, and we will have 3 national powers from NY again.  There are just too many teams dividing the talent up here.

[mel]

Just for fun for those that feel entitled for their teams making the NCAA's

Here is the boxscore from the Rowan (8-2 overall) v Bridgewater State (7-3 overall) game on Sept 6th.

does not seem like a bad matchup at all

Actually if you pull the score off the boxscore you would think BSU wins.
Look at the first downs.
Look at the third down conversions.
Rowan punted 7 times.

Many have their heads in the sand on this thing.
Montclair got beat by a good Kean Team.
Kean crushed Kings Point in Sept.
Kings Point beats RPI.
It is all a big circle.

Read the boxscore below:
                  Team Statistics (Final)
                       2008 NCAA Division III Football
   Rowan University vs Bridgewater State (Sep 06, 2008 at Bridgewater, MA)

                                   ROW      BSC

FIRST DOWNS...................       13       18
 Rushing.....................        9        4
 Passing.....................        3       10
 Penalty.....................        1        4
NET YARDS RUSHING.............      147       67
 Rushing Attempts............       42       39
 Average Per Rush............      3.5      1.7
 Rushing Touchdowns..........        1        1
 Yards Gained Rushing........      172      119
 Yards Lost Rushing..........       25       52
NET YARDS PASSING.............       87      223
 Completions-Attempts-Int....   8-18-0  13-34-2
 Average Per Attempt.........      4.8      6.6
 Average Per Completion......     10.9     17.2
 Passing Touchdowns..........        2        1
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS...........      234      290
 Total offense plays.........       60       73
 Average Gain Per Play.......      3.9      4.0
Fumbles: Number-Lost..........      1-0      4-2
Penalties: Number-Yards.......     6-76     5-30
PUNTS-YARDS...................    7-261    5-143
 Average Yards Per Punt......     37.3     28.6
 Net Yards Per Punt..........     30.9     26.4
 Inside 20...................        1        1
 50+ Yards...................        0        0
 Touchbacks..................        0        0
 Fair catch..................        1        0
KICKOFFS-YARDS................    4-273    2-106
 Average Yards Per Kickoff...     68.2     53.0
 Net Yards Per Kickoff.......     49.0     19.0
 Touchbacks..................        1        0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD.   2-11-0   5-45-0
 Average Per Return..........      5.5      9.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD   2-68-0   3-57-0
 Average Per Return..........     34.0     19.0
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD..    2-0-0    0-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD.    0-0-0    0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards...........        0        0
Possession Time...............    28:17    31:43
 1st Quarter.................     5:55     9:05
 2nd Quarter.................     7:33     7:27
 3rd Quarter.................     4:54    10:06
 4th Quarter.................     9:55     5:05
Third-Down Conversions........  3 of 13  9 of 18
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   1 of 2   1 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      3-4      1-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     5-29     3-21
PAT Kicks.....................      3-3      2-2
Field Goals...................      1-2      0-1

[union89]

A few interesting questions about 'Dem Spicy Boys....

You have to figure that Curry felt their season was over 8 days ago.

Question 1....have they been practicing over the past 9 days?? (probably so)

Question 2....how spirited could those practices have been??  

I have a feeling that DSB were probably just going through the motions feeling that there was a really good chance the season was done.

[vttanker]

When you just throw out the term weak in reference to the NEFC.... that is exactly what the NCAA feels about the East.
The entire east needs to get off it high horse and realize the nation has caught up.
The last eastern champion was IC in 91.. none of these teams from these "strong" conferences have really come close... yes the Rowan teams gave us a nice run.  RPI a few years back was nice but unsustained.
The St. John Fisher v MUC three years ago was a surprise.  Once the Mount really prepared for STJ Fish they crushed the cardinal.

The number one thing holding back the east is that most of the schools are private and massively expensive.  Since prop 91 ( no financial aid to special talents) the east has had a hard time.  

So yea, the Weak NEFC got in two but everyone else got beat.  RPI needed to beat Kings Point but got stung.

Odd year

mel, I don't thin it's the cost of the schools so much as the density of the schools.  Mount Union is a private school that will run you over $30 grand a year.  For example, in Worcester, Mass there are three schools all near each other (Becker, WPI, Worcester State) and a whole bunch close by.  That's a talent drain.  I don't know if that is the real problem, but it doesn't help those teams get better. 

Though I'm an NEFC fan I'm surprised that Curry got it.  More so because no other non-AQ team from the East got it.  By putting Mount Union in the East they're saying the East isn't even good enough to have their own #1 team.  If anything you would think that since Mount Union has to be the best team in the North that they should seed #1 out there and some other team could have been the #1 in the East, even from the North.  This is what happens when the NCAA is engineering what they want for the final four.

[Frank Rossi]

Tonight on "In the HuddLLe," we have a very special show planned.  Joining Frank Rossi and Eric Ren will be:

- NCAA Division III Football Championships Committee Chairman and Defiance Athletic Director Dick Kaiser, to discuss the selection process used to arrive at this year's "Field of 32" released just a little while ago;

- Liberty League Commissioner Timothy Danehy, who will voice his thoughts on the 2008 Liberty League regular season, the selection process and the playoff teams of the League;

- Hobart Fifth-Year Senior Linebacker Jeff Sanders, whose team will make its fifth consecutive NCAA Playoffs appearance next weekend;

- Hobart Head Coach Mike Cragg, who is already hard at work learning exactly who Lycoming is and what got them to the success they've enjoyed this season; and

- Hobart Guru James Baker, who will give us his thoughts and predictions regarding next week's games involving Liberty League teams, including potential ECAC Bowl berths.

Please join us at 7:30pm EST and ask questions for any of our guests in the chatroom.  The link is at http://blogtalkradio.com/LLRecap -- It should be a great show!

[cstate19]

Cortland needs to take care of business at home and then its a dream matchup 20 years later. 

[HURFMUC]

Mounts the closest team to the East thats why the other #1 seed is in the north region

[cstate19]

Quick question.  If IC and Cortland get by their first round matchups will Cortaca tickets be easier to get with the student bodies on vacation and the fact that money would have to be paid for every ticket rather then students getting free ones or will the tickets get that much harder to get?

[HScoach]

If any of you east guys are interested, you're more than welcome to join our OAC Playoff Pick-Em Contest. 

Here's a small taste to peek your interest:

EAST REGION

#8 RANDOLPH-MACON (+54.5) at #1 MOUNT UNION

#5 LYCOMING (+17.5) at #4 HOBART

#6 PLYMOUTH ST. (+30.5) at #3 CORTLAND ST.

#7 CURRY (+35.5) at #2 ITHACA

[pumkinattack]

Wow Coach, that's a lot of confidence in Bart.  I like it.  We'll try to cover the spread.  What's the spread on a MUC-Hobart game?