East Region Fan Poll

[union89]

I think some people might have a bias against RPI because they seem to go out of their way to play a weak non league schedule.  Ithaca does not do that and I think people give them an edge in the early polls because of that.  And again, early polls dont mean much.

Really? Cortland game aside (they are going to play each year) St. Lawrence and Frostburg aren't top notch competition. Union and Widener are meh. And they lost to Union.

'Gro,
Do you have an actual point here, or did you light your own personal drinking lamp at 2:22:44pm on a Monday??

Are you actually comparing RPI's OOC schedule to Ithaca's over the past few years??  I have not been one to come on here and bash RPI's scheduling practices, but what in the Wide, Wide World of Sports are you talking about??

I think it's pretty simple science.  Union ****in blows.

I understand that part.....but this is really between Ithaca and RPI....

What do we know about both teams?  Ithaca beat up on St. Lawrence which everyone expects then loses to Union.  Union was supposed to be so-so, but now we think they are good...and they lose to Muhlenburg(1-2) who we think is really strong, but then who gets killed by Gettysburg(1-3).  Ithaca then goes and beats Widener(2-1), who was really good in 2001 and 2002, but struggled to beat Curry, who also looks dookie...

RPI shuts out Endicott as expected.  Sneaks by Utica, and beats a previously undefeated WPI.

So, that brings us to the common opponent theory...Utica...RPI beats Utica by 3...the masses say 'RPI sucks, they only beat them by 3'.  Then Ithaca wins by the same margin, and it turns into 'Utica must be much improved'.  

Pour me that blue kool-aid.

No argument at all with all you said.....earlier, I thought 'Gro insinuated that Ithaca's OOC schedule is not much better than RPI's OOC schedule over the past few years.

If this is indeed what 'Gro was stating, I think 'Gro has been mixing 3 parts Grain Alcohol to each 1 part Purple Drank......

['gro]

Gro's point is that some people look at the D3 landscape with bomber blue shaded glasses (they sound cool and if you guys have any extra pairs let me know).


_{Best Seller Since 1979}

Gro will not deny that their OOC schedule is weak, and they don't play a 10th game i.e. a 3rd OOC game.  But like Gro said before besides Cortland IC's schedule isn't all that great... Dr. Lew does a good explanation of that. Union is "Meh" because they beat Ithaca (no longer as grand an accomplishment as they like to think) then lose to the Mules, then pull a win against U of R out of their arse.  And U of R hung with SJF the week before, but no one knows how good SJF is this year either.

I guess "Meh" means "can't tell a god damn thing about this team"


_{Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue}

[union89]

Gro's point is that some people look at the D3 landscape with bomber blue shaded glasses (they sound cool and if you guys have any extra pairs let me know).


_{Best Seller Since 1979}

Gro will not deny that their OOC schedule is weak, and they don't play a 10th game i.e. a 3rd OOC game.  But like Gro said before besides Cortland IC's schedule isn't all that great... Dr. Lew does a good explanation of that. Union is "Meh" because they beat Ithaca (no longer as grand an accomplishment as they like to think) then lose to the Mules, then pull a win against U of R out of their arse.  And U of R hung with SJF the week before, but no one knows how good SJF is this year either.

I guess "Meh" means "can't tell a god damn thing about this team"


_{Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue}

Union & Widener are still much better than Endicott & Utica on a consistent basis.  Most years, I would say that St. Lawrence is better than RPI's two opponents as well.

I totally agree with Utah, even for an RPI guy........to compare these two OOC schedules over the past few years is very 'homerish'.

['gro]

So last year still counts?  If that's the case RPI beat Alfred, and therefore should be the #1 team in the east

Like I said, RPI's schedule is not great. Utica actually helps.  All I'm trying to say is St. Lawrence and Frostberg are dookie.

[Knightstalker]

So last year still counts?  If that's the case RPI beat Alfred, and therefore should be the #1 team in the east

Like I said, RPI's schedule is not great. Utica actually helps.  All I'm trying to say is St. Lawrence and Frostberg are dookie.

KS has RPI number 1 in his poll this week.  KS also keeps thinking it is an odd numbered year and RPI seems to do good things in odd numbered seasons.

[Jonny Utah]

Gro's point is that some people look at the D3 landscape with bomber blue shaded glasses (they sound cool and if you guys have any extra pairs let me know).


_{Best Seller Since 1979}

Gro will not deny that their OOC schedule is weak, and they don't play a 10th game i.e. a 3rd OOC game.  But like Gro said before besides Cortland IC's schedule isn't all that great... Dr. Lew does a good explanation of that. Union is "Meh" because they beat Ithaca (no longer as grand an accomplishment as they like to think) then lose to the Mules, then pull a win against U of R out of their arse.  And U of R hung with SJF the week before, but no one knows how good SJF is this year either.

I guess "Meh" means "can't tell a god damn thing about this team"


_{Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue}

Union & Widener are still much better than Endicott & Utica on a consistent basis.  Most years, I would say that St. Lawrence is better than RPI's two opponents as well.

I totally agree with Utah, even for an RPI guy........to compare these two OOC schedules over the past few years is very 'homerish'.

I didn't want to imply that Ithaca has a great schedule or that they even go out and play the best possible teams.  I just think RPI doesn't get the benefit of the doubt because they specifically look for bad teams to play for nonleague games and that might irk some pollsters.   

[maxpower]

Let's just call the schools and organize an Ithaca-RPI showdown at a neutral site (Utica maybe?) on a Wednesday or something. How hard can it be?

[theoriginalupstate]

Question RPI all you want but look at what happened to SJF when they took their schedule from "OK" to "challenging"...

[maxpower]

Is it just the schedule Upstate? Last year you had losses to Mount and Salisbury, sure, but without losses to Hartwick (for the 2nd year in a row) and Alfred you're still in the playoffs.

[theoriginalupstate]

Is it just the schedule Upstate? Last year you had losses to Mount and Salisbury, sure, but without losses to Hartwick (for the 2nd year in a row) and Alfred you're still in the playoffs.

Why go out looking to get your head kicked in?

They were doing just fine in the playoffs when scheduling Kings, Mount Ida, Brockport and Rochester...

It's one thing to schedule a tough game or two vs another conference in the region but it's another to schedule the biggest dog in the country and a decent sized dog from the South on top of the E8 schedule...

BTW, this team is ravaged with injuries right now to the point that it's honestly not even funny on how many starters are hurt right now...

[AUPepBand]

Not to change the subject, but this one time in Band Camp....   

[union89]

Question RPI all you want but look at what happened to SJF when they took their schedule from "OK" to "challenging"...

Fisher also went from a very good team to a very mediocre team.....which I think is the real point.

[Pat Coleman]

So, that brings us to the common opponent theory...Utica...RPI beats Utica by 3...the masses say 'RPI sucks, they only beat them by 3'.  Then Ithaca wins by the same margin, and it turns into 'Utica must be much improved'.  

Pour me that blue kool-aid.

You may want to consider that it wasn't the fact that they did it to Ithaca, but the fact that they did it twice in a row.

[dlippiel]

You cannot call RPI's OOC schedule anything but weak year in and year out. This year being a bit of an exception because of Utica coming in as a much improved team then in the past. Dlip believes that Utica will continue to improve year in and year out which will help with RPI's SOS. Yet the question seems to be does this schedule help or hurt them? Seemingly dlip feels it has done a little bit of both. Overall though RPI is undefeated in 09 with W's over pitifull Endicott, pulling one out of their arse against Utica, and an impressive W on the road at WPI. For dlip, if RPI wins on Sat they will definitely be in his top 2 in his week #6 poll, with heavy consideration for #1.

[lewdogg11]

You cannot call RPI's OOC schedule anything but weak year in and year out. This year being a bit of an exception because of Utica coming in as a much improved team then in the past. Dlip believes that Utica will continue to improve year in and year out which will help with RPI's SOS. Yet the question seems to be does this schedule help or hurt them? Seemingly dlip feels it has done a little bit of both. Overall though RPI is undefeated in 09 with W's over pitifull Endicott, pulling one out of their arse against Utica, and an impressive W on the road at WPI. For dlip, if RPI wins on Sat they will definitely be in his top 2 in his week #6 poll, with heavy consideration for #1.

I'll be the first to tell you that RPI's OOC schedule is laughable.  I don't want Mt. Union on there, but a Hartwick, Alfred, Ithaca, Widener, etc would be  nice to compliment Utica.  And you're right, it helps AND hurts them.  It helps them get to the post-season a little more easily, but then it hurts them in rankings, and it hurts them in the post season, other than the ECAC's, because they can't jump that hurdle of mid-tier teams, and perhaps the 'Staff' isn't quite sure how to win that big game.  They did it once in '03, but I was there, and it was a 2-man show.

All I can say about Fisher is, now, atleast they know their place in the scheme of things, and have an idea what is needed to be in that top-tier and maybe even how to get there.  They may have had some tough year's recruiting, or just don't have it all together, but they have an idea of how far off they are.

I come in here b!tching about RPI rankings every year, and it's a 50/50 shot really when all is said and done, if they are that good or not, because it's true, no one really knows at this point.  But, they HAVE won all 3 games, and all 3 opponents aren't THAT bad this year, and other teams HAVE dropped the ball a bit, so they deserve a little bit of a look from someone.