FB: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

[victorybell_57]

anybody have any insight on the other hcac teams besides msj, fc, and defiance?

i keep mixed things about hanover and nothing about the other teams. how do they all look?

[dc_has_been]

Football!  Just saying it puts a smile on my face.    Can't wait to get the season started.  I think it will be an interesting season inside the HCAC.  I'm still convinced it will either be Franklin or MSJ to take top honors, but I do feel DC will be the team that spoils it for one or they other.  Bluffton did it to us in 2000.  

SaintsFan- wasn't TMC picked fourth in the preseason poll?  I would have thought 2nd or 3rd myself, but Waynesburg & Thiel are tough to overlook even though they each had a disappointing seasons last year.

Well, hopefully Manchester can get the HCAC off to a good start by beating Tri-state & the rest will follow in their nonconference action in the openning weeks.

Victory- If you got to the hearltand conference site you can get a little info from the preseason write up.

[Adam Sayer]

Just some interesting Games in September to get the college football season off and going:

September 1st:

Appalachian State at Michigan

Georgia Tech at Notre Dame

Tennessee at California

September 6th

Oregon State at Cincinnati

September 8th

Miami (FL) at Oklahoma

Buffalo at Temple (Toilet Bowl)

Boise State at Washington

South Carolina at Georgia

September 13th

West Virginia at Maryland

September 15th

Tennessee at Florida

Notre Dame at Michigan

Ohio State at Washington

Arkansas at Alabama

September 20th

Texas A&M at Miami (FL)

September 22nd

Georgia at Alabama

Michigan State at Notre Dame

September 29th

Auburn at Florida

Maryland at Rutgers

[Adam Sayer]

Big/Important HCAC Games:

September 1st

TMC at Hanover (Game #1 in the Jim Hilvert Era at TMC)

September 8th

Franklin at Wabash (Possibly the BIGGEST game of any HCAC team)

October 6th

Hanover at Mount Saint Joe (Always a physical brawl)

October 13th

Franklin at Mt. St. Joseph (90% chance of determining HCAC championship)

October 27th

Defiance at Mt. St. Joseph (IF MSJ beats FC, this game gets more interesting)

November 3rd

Defiance at Franklin (If FC beats MSJ, this game gets more interesting)

November 10th

Franklin at Hanover (If FC comes in needing a win for the HCAC title, this will be one of the best D3 games of the 2007 season)
   
Thomas More at Mt. St. Joseph (Jim Hilvert returns)
 

[70_dc_alum]

September 1st:

Appalachian State at Michigan

this one caught my eye on my flight up to chicago this morning looking through Lindy's preseason mag.  that ASU offense is fun to watch and the QB is sick.  if UM does nto come to play that could eb the upset of the century and provide Has_been with somehtign he has been looking for "lloyd carr's head on a platter"

[victorybell_57]

i agree that appy st is good. i am not buying that they have a snowballs shot in hell of beating the university of michigan though.

[Adam Sayer]

3-6 Ball State went toe to toe with 9-0 Michigan in the Big House last year. I think ASU is a better team than BSU and if Michigan is thinking of using ASU as a warm up game, they will be beaten.

Anyone ever been to St. Simons Island? I'll be heading down there with my mom. Need some stuff to do.

[victorybell_57]

ok, but ball st is a IA football program. Appy st. is IAA. Division II teams often play IAA teams and play them well. There is a huge gap in talent from IAA to IA. while i love watching app st play, michigan can call them a warm-up, scrimmage, 7 on 7, flag, jv team and still easily coast to sound victory. imagine going from playing USC and all their talent, to a IAA team. from somebody who has seen these levels of play at a close, in your face level, i would say both sides involved know it's a scrimmage.

it is way different when you play a mac team, and even they don't compete. they'll be boise state in ten years, but not now.

[tricksnaps56]

Hanover has roughly 85 players coming into camp this year.  They have a decent QB or at least I think he has some potential.  It might be a long year.  On a side note, the fun police at HC kicked one of the fraternities off of campus which is a shame since they always had a heavy football player membership.  New guys can come on over across the street to Phi Delt though, former home of HC football legends such as Kevin O'Donahue, Tarrik Wilson, Brett Dietz, and of course, yours truly.

[formerd3db]

ok, but ball st is a IA football program. Appy st. is IAA. Division II teams often play IAA teams and play them well. There is a huge gap in talent from IAA to IA. while i love watching app st play, michigan can call them a warm-up, scrimmage, 7 on 7, flag, jv team and still easily coast to sound victory. imagine going from playing USC and all their talent, to a IAA team. from somebody who has seen these levels of play at a close, in your face level, i would say both sides involved know it's a scrimmage.

it is way different when you play a mac team, and even they don't compete. they'll be boise state in ten years, but not now.

vbell:

For the most part, you are right.  However, what you describe is not always true.  You forget that people said that about Central Michigan when they beat Michigan State two years in a row.  I can guarantee you that was no fluke.  On occasion also, the MAC teams do beat a Big Ten team.  In fact, Joe Tiller was quoted as saying about 4 years ago or so that Big Ten teams shouldn't be playing MAC type teams due to the ramifications of potentially getting beat.  IMO, that's ridiculous - if they are so good (which, of course, they usually are), then they should beat the heck out of the MAC teams.  No reason not to have those games scheduled for non-conference games - even if a Big Ten team loses, they still have a chance at gaining a bowl game if they rebound, and especially with the proliferation of bowl games at present.  Yet, I agree with you in your analogies about the various levels playing each other - the majority of time, the upper level teams will win.  However, it is great when the others pull an upset on occasion.  I always root for the underdog   Just MO 

[SaintsFAN]

now THIS is more like it....

hasbeen,

I saw where they were picked 4th in the PAC.  I think alot of that has to do with the changes at TMC....new staff, replacing some key defensive players and OL.  I think the returnees will be ready and with a group of great freshman, the future is bright.  Back to this season....the Saints have a QB/RB tandem they are excited about...we'll see what happens on September 1st at Hanover. 

tricksnaps,

welcome back.  hopefully the "fun police" won't be deterring our drinking at the season opener.   Have you seen Wells recently?  Married with child...can't say I saw that coming. 

sayer,

looks like MSJ might have the last week circled on the calendar?  maybe a star or two as well?  As I said above, I'm looking forward to what this staff is able to do this year.  It is going to be a big change not seeing Coach Hallett on the sideline. 

Did someone mention Manchester winning against an out of conference opponent?  wow...that would open some eyes, even if it is Tri-State. 

I think your darkhorse/spoiler in the HCAC this year is going to be Hanover.   I think Defiance lost too much D in their defensive line, and jury is still out on the offense.  They've taken some drastic measures putting Taylor in charge of the O, and I think this may lead to the pressing to make plays as they are trying to get away from.  Hanover is going to be out to earn respect and that I think wins them 7 games this year....but not enough to win the HCAC. 

[Adam Sayer]

I still disagree. Troy started off a couple years ago 2-0 beating 2 nationally ranked teams. Now they were DI and not DI-AA...BUT they had just made the switch a year or two previous.

When Marshall made the switch, they continued to have success playing DI ball and throwing players like Randy Moss, Chad Penington, and Byron Leftwich to name a few into the NFL.

Just because you play DI-AA doesn't mean you don't have talent to compete with DI. Troy and Marshall had DI-AA players on their rosters when they started playing DI games and still had successful years. There's a 95% chance Michigan will win. However, if ASU can play with them and gains confidence, this could be a nail biter and it wouldn't suprise me if Michigan lost.

Speaking of Michigan. Is anyone else drinking the Chad Henne Kool-Aide? He's been an average QB at Michigan for 3 years and now he's a Heisman hopeful? He's the 3rd best position player on his team.

[Adam Sayer]

I'm the biggest OSU fan on this board and I am stating bold and loud. Ohio State is not a top 10 team as they are ranked pre season. They should be in that 15-20 range. This is what I hate about DI football. OSU is ranked 10th for one reason. Recent success. 55-9 the last 5 years. Take out the 2004 year they are 47-5 (.903 win percentage). SICK!!!

Here's OSU's schedule:

09/01 YSU 
09/08 Akron 
09/15 at Washington
09/22 N'western 
09/29 at Minnesota 
10/06 at Purdue 
10/13 Kent St 
10/20 Mich St 
10/27 at Penn State 
11/03 Wisconsin
11/10 Illinois
11/17 at Michigan

It is VERY possible with the ease of this schedule, that they will be 11-0 going to Michigan.  And we all know Jimmy Tressel is 5-1 against Michigan beating them when he shouldn't have and beating them when he should have. The toughest game before Michgan will be Wisconsin at the Horseshoe 10 weeks into the season. Washington will be tough but Ty Willingham is still in the building years there. OSU can be 12-0 at the end of this campaign.

Is what this will do, if it happens, will screw mid-majors like Boise State, Utah, etc. who have great seasons and can't get into a BCS bowl or National Championship game. I would like it for more than the obvious reasons because it will put more pressure on bringing a playoff to DI football.

***Please note OSU does have USC, Cal, and Miami (FL) on the schedule for home and homes in the comming years. This easy non conference schedule is just a fluke and oddly enough, happend an at extremely opportuned time.***

[victorybell_57]

"For the most part, you are right.  However, what you describe is not always true.  You forget that people said that about Central Michigan when they beat Michigan State two years in a row.  I can guarantee you that was no fluke.  On occasion also, the MAC teams do beat a Big Ten team."

100% correct. I think the MAC has really good football and some really good teams. I also think the MAC could give some of the larger conferences a run for their money. CMU had a quality program and they won. Miami has had great years. The MAC is good football!!! The Big Ten is really about OSU, Michigan, Penn St, Wisconsin. The other teams in the Big Ten haven't earned my respect to say they can whip on the little MAC teams. Heck, they even give the big ones some serious games. IMO they should do away with the BCS conferences because they are not doing the other conferences justice. Who is to say that CMU or BOISE ST can't win against a big time team? am i to believe that Kansas and Indiana can give them better competition than CMU, Boise St, Bowling Green, etc?

My only argument is that IAA is a big jump. Those teams that jumped up had planned accordingly and had the DI players in place. Usually they will recruit with that in mind, and that's part of their selling points to get the better players. However, in recent years this has happened:
A few D3 teams have POUNDED some very good D2 teams and some D2 teams have beaten some IAA's. I am not talking about the IAA non-scholly's either.

20 years ago I would have said you are crazy. But with the scholarship reductions, you have finally seen the shift in college football where the former little guys can get the players they need to compete on the national scene. It has taken some time to work it's way out, but it has been great for college. IMO the college football game would be improved dramatically by getting rid of the BCS tag and allowing the teams to recruit the same players. we all know that when FSU or USC or OSU recruits, the BCS and the national title is part of their selling points. Take that away and every team can say they will have an opportunity to play for the national championship. The scholarships evened out has helped, but they are still hampering the nonBCS conferences with the BCS tag. If that happens, you will see many more of the non traditionals competing. i am really pulling for the playoff system because i think it will finally level the playing field in DI to a truly fair system of play. then i guess the recruiting will come down to stadium size, tradition, starting a tradition, and the ever growing arms race in football ammenities to attract these athletes.

[SaintsFAN]

victory,

it doesn't count if the Big 10 team in question was coached by John L. Smith!

sayer,

I truly believe that Kentucky State is going to beat the Buckeyes this year...wait...thats Kent State?  OK. 

honestly, I think all the offense they lost is going to catch up with them early on.  They'll lose twice and beat up on Ann Arbor, again.