Eastern Collegiate Football Conference

[Jonny Utah]

Randomly checking Anna Maria's schedule this year and their past history.  Why are they scheduling Union and RPI in the same season and why are they playing them at all?

[Pat Coleman]

Randomly checking Anna Maria's schedule this year and their past history.  Why are they scheduling Union and RPI in the same season and why are they playing them at all?

It's probably a marriage of convenience. Anna Maria's conference lost Mount Ida (closed) and Husson (moved to the CCC), while the LL has four non-conference dates to fill as well.

[NED3Guy]

That's gotta be the reason. Anna Maria is an easy day trip to the Capitol region so it's a budget friendly game for all involved.

Union and RPI both get a "bench emptying" game on the schedule (good for retention and player development) and the AMCATS get to play a couple of high level opponents (good for recruiting?).

Also worth noting that AMCAT coach Mulrooney played at Stony Brook while Union Coach was an assistant there.... So that might play a part in things as well.

In any event, good for the AMCATS, trying to raise the bar a bit. At the end of the day non conference games for teams in the ECFC are meaningless. Might as well play some higher level teams and expose your team to the calibur of play you're aspiring to.

[Jonny Utah]

That's gotta be the reason. Anna Maria is an easy day trip to the Capitol region so it's a budget friendly game for all involved.

Union and RPI both get a "bench emptying" game on the schedule (good for retention and player development) and the AMCATS get to play a couple of high level opponents (good for recruiting?).

Also worth noting that AMCAT coach Mulrooney played at Stony Brook while Union Coach was an assistant there.... So that might play a part in things as well.

In any event, good for the AMCATS, trying to raise the bar a bit. At the end of the day non conference games for teams in the ECFC are meaningless. Might as well play some higher level teams and expose your team to the calibur of play you're aspiring to.

I'm just looking at their history and they've never had anything go right for them at all.  Just seems like playing RPI and Union might hurt the program rather than help anything.  Pat C's explanation makes sense however so I guess it is what it is.

[NED3Guy]

Power Rankings:

1) Dean - Games with Nichols (L), West Conn (L), Salve (L), Kean (TBD) to open the season will likely leave Dean looking for win #1 as they enter into league play. As long as Watts is healthy they'll have a chance to beat everybody in the ECFC. He's a stud and they have some weapons around him that others in the ECFC do not. Simply put, they are the team to beat.

2) SUNY - Trending downward despite having one of the only two wins so far for an ECFC team this year. 45-0 loss to Kings Point was bad, but the 551 to 147 yardage disparity is a bit alarming. William Paterson this weekend won't make things any easier. We won't really know much about his team until October 12 vs Dean.

3) Alfred State- Moving on up...I picked the right week to jump on the Alfred State bandwagon last week....close-ish loss to Hartwick followed by a 27-21 win at Rochester moves them up the ECFC power rankings this week. They got out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter before being outscored 21-7 in the second. Neither team scored in the second half. Telling stat of the game: Alfred State putting up 290 yards on the ground while holding Rochester to just 76 yards. I know Rochester is in rebuilding mode and that they are likely to be the bottom of the Liberty League again this year, but that was a HUGE win for Alfred State. Brockport this weekend will be a different kind of beast, but the Blue Bulls (or whatever they are) have done enough in the opening month of the season to be considered in the running for the ECFC this year.

4) Castleton - Trending downward....Ranked 4th by default, but haven't done much to make us think they're any better than the 4-6 block of teams. Losses to Plymouth, Fitchburg and University of New England have not left anybody thinking that Castleton is ready to take a step forward. The loss to Fitchburg is particularly bad, as FSU has given up 100 points in it's two losses, yet Sparty could only score 10 against them. Vermont battle with a 3-0 Norwich team awaits the Spartans this weekend. In a rivalry game with a trophy on the line, I guess anything can happen...but it probably won't. After a 2-8 season last year, an 0-4 start to this season will have many Spartans scratching their heads heading into bye week.

5) AMCATS -Topic of discussion earlier this week for the schedule they're playing this year (Union and RPI). In a league where almost every team will be entering league play without a win, why not pick a few big dogs to go against. AMCATS losing to Union and RPI probably does more for their team morale than losing to Fitchburg or UNE (see above). Can Coach Mul keep the juice this team had all off season and summer, and turn it into something special as the 'CATs enter league play? Time will tell but this program is trending upwards no matter what the record says right now.

6) Gall U -Never know much about these guys early in the season due to them playing down south with their OOC games. Next week the AMCATS will play Apprentice and we'll have a common opponent between GU and AMC to do the compare and contrast thing that we all love to do. These guys stay at the 6 spot until we get a better look at them.

Conference teams are 2-15 so far this season with Kean, RPI, Norwich, William Patterson, Brockport and Greensboro as opponents this weekend. I know nothing about Greensboro, but I know the rest of the ECFC is in for a tough weekend.

Bye week for most next weekend (AMC and Alfred State have games) then it's on to ECFC play. Somebody on the list above is getting an AQ. Will be fun to follow this conference as they start playing each other.

[Ice Bear]

Power Rankings:

1) Dean - Games with Nichols (L), West Conn (L), Salve (L), Kean (TBD) to open the season will likely leave Dean looking for win #1 as they enter into league play. As long as Watts is healthy they'll have a chance to beat everybody in the ECFC. He's a stud and they have some weapons around him that others in the ECFC do not. Simply put, they are the team to beat.

2) SUNY - Trending downward despite having one of the only two wins so far for an ECFC team this year. 45-0 loss to Kings Point was bad, but the 551 to 147 yardage disparity is a bit alarming. William Paterson this weekend won't make things any easier. We won't really know much about his team until October 12 vs Dean.

3) Alfred State- Moving on up...I picked the right week to jump on the Alfred State bandwagon last week....close-ish loss to Hartwick followed by a 27-21 win at Rochester moves them up the ECFC power rankings this week. They got out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter before being outscored 21-7 in the second. Neither team scored in the second half. Telling stat of the game: Alfred State putting up 290 yards on the ground while holding Rochester to just 76 yards. I know Rochester is in rebuilding mode and that they are likely to be the bottom of the Liberty League again this year, but that was a HUGE win for Alfred State. Brockport this weekend will be a different kind of beast, but the Blue Bulls (or whatever they are) have done enough in the opening month of the season to be considered in the running for the ECFC this year.

4) Castleton - Trending downward....Ranked 4th by default, but haven't done much to make us think they're any better than the 4-6 block of teams. Losses to Plymouth, Fitchburg and University of New England have not left anybody thinking that Castleton is ready to take a step forward. The loss to Fitchburg is particularly bad, as FSU has given up 100 points in it's two losses, yet Sparty could only score 10 against them. Vermont battle with a 3-0 Norwich team awaits the Spartans this weekend. In a rivalry game with a trophy on the line, I guess anything can happen...but it probably won't. After a 2-8 season last year, an 0-4 start to this season will have many Spartans scratching their heads heading into bye week.

5) AMCATS -Topic of discussion earlier this week for the schedule they're playing this year (Union and RPI). In a league where almost every team will be entering league play without a win, why not pick a few big dogs to go against. AMCATS losing to Union and RPI probably does more for their team morale than losing to Fitchburg or UNE (see above). Can Coach Mul keep the juice this team had all off season and summer, and turn it into something special as the 'CATs enter league play? Time will tell but this program is trending upwards no matter what the record says right now.

6) Gall U -Never know much about these guys early in the season due to them playing down south with their OOC games. Next week the AMCATS will play Apprentice and we'll have a common opponent between GU and AMC to do the compare and contrast thing that we all love to do. These guys stay at the 6 spot until we get a better look at them.

Conference teams are 2-15 so far this season with Kean, RPI, Norwich, William Patterson, Brockport and Greensboro as opponents this weekend. I know nothing about Greensboro, but I know the rest of the ECFC is in for a tough weekend.

Bye week for most next weekend (AMC and Alfred State have games) then it's on to ECFC play. Somebody on the list above is getting an AQ. Will be fun to follow this conference as they start playing each other.

Ice Bear says what a great write up.

Ice Bear gives K.

[NED3Guy]

What a week in the ECFC!!!!

While I always made the point of saying that the non-conference slate these teams played left us all with no clue how things would shake out; I will eat some crow because my "Power Ranking" was thrown into disarray after this week. Here's how I see things now:

1) Dean (beat SUNY. Holds the top spot)

2) SUNY (despite loss to dean, I think this team is about to click)

T3) AMCAT U-  (21-20 win on the road vs ALF STATE - SEE BELOW)

T3) A State-  (Looking at the box score it sounds like a crazy ending. AMCATS scored with 1:39 left in game to make it 20-12 ALF State...AMCATS go for 2 and get it...now down 20-14 with 1:39 to go AMCATS kickoff, use timeouts effectively and force a third and five...ALF Fumbles on that play and AMCATS take over on the -40 with 1:10 to go and no timeouts, down 6...score game winning TD / PAT with 9 seconds left....Instant classic???)

5) Gall U (Battled back from 21-7 on the road in Vermont...allowed go-ahead TD in OT, but missed PAT by Sparty gave them a chance. Gall took full advantage of that chance and picked up their first W of 2019)

6) Castleton (0-5 on the season and only ECFC team yet to win in 2019. After 2-8 2018 campaign the Spartans are 2-13 in their last 15 games. Spartans look to get on track with a trip to the bronx (SUNY) this weekend.) 

This list will change a lot in the coming weeks, as I don't think any team in the league goes unbeaten or winless in ECFC play...

I'll get more in depth with my rankings later in the week as I gather some info about the games played last weekend and look ahead at what's to come.

[ITH radio]

Dean winning by 18 really surprised me. The crazy thing is even with the loss SUNY can still make the NCAAs if they win out bc Dean would be ineligible as a new program and the Committee would have to go with the 2nd place team as the A.

[MRMIKESMITH]

Dean winning by 18 really surprised me. The crazy thing is even with the loss SUNY can still make the NCAAs if they win out bc Dean would be ineligible as a new program and the Committee would have to go with the 2nd place team as the A.

Wow, that is crazy. I would of thought they would have added an at-large bid.

[NED3Guy]

Dean winning by 18 really surprised me. The crazy thing is even with the loss SUNY can still make the NCAAs if they win out bc Dean would be ineligible as a new program and the Committee would have to go with the 2nd place team as the A.

Wow...so Dean could be the ECFC Champion, but SUNY (or whoever the second place team ends up being) would get the conference's AQ due to Dean still being in a transition year from JUCO?

If that's true (and coming from the ITH guys we're pretty sure it is), the ECFC is a six team league of which only 5 teams are eligible to go to the NCAA's....meaning every team has a 1/5 (20%) chance of playing in the NCAA tournament this year?

[Inkblot]

Wow...so Dean could be the ECFC Champion, but SUNY (or whoever the second place team ends up being) would get the conference's AQ due to Dean still being in a transition year from JUCO?

If that's true (and coming from the ITH guys we're pretty sure it is), the ECFC is a six team league of which only 5 teams are eligible to go to the NCAA's....meaning every team has a 1/5 (20%) chance of playing in the NCAA tournament this year?

Yep. And SUNY Maritime is the only team in the conference that has a chance to win six games in the regular season (which is unlikely, because that requires beating the HCAC front-runner).

[ITH radio]

Exactly - more on that in our Wk 6 recap show coming out a bit later today

[Ice Bear]

What a week in the ECFC!!!!

While I always made the point of saying that the non-conference slate these teams played left us all with no clue how things would shake out; I will eat some crow because my "Power Ranking" was thrown into disarray after this week. Here's how I see things now:

1) Dean (beat SUNY. Holds the top spot)

2) SUNY (despite loss to dean, I think this team is about to click)

T3) AMCAT U-  (21-20 win on the road vs ALF STATE - SEE BELOW)

T3) A State-  (Looking at the box score it sounds like a crazy ending. AMCATS scored with 1:39 left in game to make it 20-12 ALF State...AMCATS go for 2 and get it...now down 20-14 with 1:39 to go AMCATS kickoff, use timeouts effectively and force a third and five...ALF Fumbles on that play and AMCATS take over on the -40 with 1:10 to go and no timeouts, down 6...score game winning TD / PAT with 9 seconds left....Instant classic???)

5) Gall U (Battled back from 21-7 on the road in Vermont...allowed go-ahead TD in OT, but missed PAT by Sparty gave them a chance. Gall took full advantage of that chance and picked up their first W of 2019)

6) Castleton (0-5 on the season and only ECFC team yet to win in 2019. After 2-8 2018 campaign the Spartans are 2-13 in their last 15 games. Spartans look to get on track with a trip to the bronx (SUNY) this weekend.) 

This list will change a lot in the coming weeks, as I don't think any team in the league goes unbeaten or winless in ECFC play...

I'll get more in depth with my rankings later in the week as I gather some info about the games played last weekend and look ahead at what's to come.

Ice Bear is very happy for the AMCATS. What a huge win!

Ice Bear says kids must have gone ****ing ape ****! Well earned. 

[NED3Guy]

Week 2 of ECFC play. Last week showed that every team in this league is capable of beating (or being beaten by) every other team. As much as I pointed out the lack of competitiveness between the ECFC and their non league opponents this season; it's fun to have a league where every game is a toss up.

Power Rankings heading into week 2 (ECFC record)-

1) Dean (1-0)
2) SUNY (0-1)
T3) AMCAT U (1-0)
T3) Alfred State (0-1)
5) Gall U (1-0)
6) Castleton (0-1)

Alfred @ Gall - I think Alfred goes down to DC and comes away with the W. Two teams who had polar opposite finishes to their week 1 games. Gall battled back late, forced OT, allowed a TD, watched Castleton miss an extra point, then scored and made their PAT to win. Alf- As mentioned earlier in the week lost in crazy fashion to AMC after leading for all but the final 16 seconds of the game. I see the AMC loss as a learning experience for a program finding their way, and expect the Blue Bulls to rebound nicely...Alfred State 35 - Gall 24

Dean @ AMC - The only ECFC match-up this week putting 1-0 teams against each other. I honestly wish I could be at this one, as I think it's going to be a great atmosphere with two programs who play with a lot of emotion. I think the AMCATs are going to be flying high being 1-0 in conference play for the first time ever (I think??), but Dean has more depth and the best player in the league in QB Watts. When all is said and done, I think he is the difference maker....Dean 42 - AMCATS 28 (Watts ECFC POTW)

ECFC GAME OF THE WEEK-
Castleton @ SUNY - the #1 and #3 teams in the preseason coaches poll find themselves both sitting at 0-1 heading into this game. At one point in time it could be argued that this game would / could be the defacto ECFC championship game (due to Dean's NCAA - JUCO transition status). This game will still be a high stakes game, as the winner finds themselves at 1-1 and right in the mix, but a loss would put the loser 0-2 and (based on our predictions) alone at the bottom of the standings. As has been mentioned before; a one loss team still has a shot at winning the league (especially if that loss was to Dean). A 1-4 SUNY team who had the ball for almost 40 minutes and still lost to Dean last week vs an 0-5 Spartan team that is coming off a rivalry loss at home to Norwich, a bye week and an OT homecoming loss to Gall U....One of these teams has the chance to change the path of their entire season with one game. SUNY has only scored 24 points in their last 4 games and the Spartan defense has some serious play makers on the field. #93 Chris Rice will live in the SUNY backfield all game. Because of that I'm saying Spartans 21 - SUNY 17 (Rice ECFC DPOTW)

[NED3Guy]

Well, I'm done thinking I have any clue what will happen in ECFC games the rest of the way.

My apologies to Gallaudet and their 590...yes 590 rushing yards, for not believing in them last week. After the OT win on the long trip to VT, I really expected them to lay an egg vs Alfred State last weekend. WOW was I wrong. 623 yards of total offense, with 590 (average of 9.4) on the ground.

I also need to apologize to SUNY- After seeing the SUNY offense struggle for the last month, I thought for sure the Castleton D would give them issues. Instead, it's the SUNY D that causes problems; holding Castleton to just 74 yards on the ground and 3 of 12 on third downs.

2-0 Dean at 2-0 Galludet this weekend will be the big one in the ECFC; but due to Dean's non AQ status this year the Amcats v SUNY game (both 1-1) will have some ECFC playoff implications as well. The winner of that game will be in control of their own destiny (along with Gall U) for the #2 spot in the ECFC and inherited AQ should Dean win the league. 0-2 Castleton heads to 0-2 Alfred State in a battle for the top of the bottom.

I'll post again this week with game predictions but here's a look at our ECFC power rankings as of today:

Power Rankings heading into week 3 (ECFC record)-

1) Dean (2-0)
2) Gall U (2-0)
3) SUNY (1-1)
4) AMCAT U (1-1)
5) Alfred State (0-2)
6) Castleton (0-2)