FB: Southern Athletic Association

[BerryCollegeFan]

I saw this Birmingham event notice:

The Magic City Classic is being played at Legion Field in Birmingham this Saturday and their kickoff will be at 2:30PM, which is only 30 minutes after our kickoff will begin. Please keep this in mind and allow yourself extra time to get to the game and avoid traffic. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Have a great day, Taylor Medeiros

[jknezek]

I saw this Birmingham event notice:

The Magic City Classic is being played at Legion Field in Birmingham this Saturday and their kickoff will be at 2:30PM, which is only 30 minutes after our kickoff will begin. Please keep this in mind and allow yourself extra time to get to the game and avoid traffic. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Have a great day, Taylor Medeiros

The Magic City Classic is a huge deal around Legion Field, and BSC is not far away. So yeah, that is a legitimate concern for how long it will take you to get on campus. It won't affect anything once you get on campus, but I could see traffic on I65 and I20/59 plus the surface streets being crowded.

[Ron Boerger]

Ten years ago today, and I was there:  https://twitter.com/d3football/status/923969358669471745

[Ralph Turner]

Ten years ago today, and I was there:  https://twitter.com/d3football/status/923969358669471745

Requiem in pace, History Major!

Many memories of the activities our families shared!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHbzQoXuxdU

[Mr. Ypsi]

WOW, just WOW!!  Has anyone tried to count how many laterals there were, or how many players touched the ball?

Kudos to the OC who drew up that play!

[Pat Coleman]

15 laterals -- well-documented on that, but perhaps you're trolling.

[Mr. Ypsi]

15 laterals -- well-documented on that, but perhaps you're trolling.

Since I was unfamiliar with that ending until today, I had not encountered that count.  Whatever my faults, you surely know that trolling is not among them.  I tried to count, but constantly lost track; several times I thought the play had ended before it actually did.

[Ron Boerger]

15 laterals -- well-documented on that, but perhaps you're trolling.

Since I was unfamiliar with that ending until today, I had not encountered that count.  Whatever my faults, you surely know that trolling is not among them.  I tried to count, but constantly lost track; several times I thought the play had ended before it actually did.

Here's a diagram the local daily did enumerating the laterals.   

http://www.trinitymiracle.com/mysa-20071029sports.pdf

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity puts 600+ yards on visiting Hendrix, but four turnovers and two short missed FGs were too much to overcome as the visiting Warriors hold on for a 38-35 win (after leading 21-7 at half).  The Tigers were driving for the win before being intercepted deep in Warrior territory.

A tip of the hat to the Warriors fan who wanted to fight me solely for sitting on the east side of the stadium, where my brother and I have sat without issue for the last 15 years. 

[Pat Coleman]

What did you think of this play, Ron?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAqFQN18CFg

[Ron Boerger]

Oh, I was pretty disgusted at the time, but it was a great play; did not realize they were brothers!  They had another after a TU DB picked off Thompson and had a decent return going, knocking the ball out of the DBs hands straight into the mitts of one of their OLs.

Thompson is a fine QB with excellent touch and accuracy.  He's also a strong guy who escaped several sacks and bought more time for his receivers to get open, such as on the last 40 yard bomb to a wide open Spainhour after getting out of the grasp of several Tiger defenders.

[BerryViking92]

9-0 and up to #17.  And thanks to Hendrix for hanging on and beating Trinity.

[jknezek]

This is kind of a wag just going by what's available right now in terms of SOS and who I think might be ranked. Obviously the CC tangle unravels a bit depending on who gets ranked, and some of those teams still play. Same with CWRU and CMU and Westminster and CMU and W&J. Hard to ignore H-SC's SOS, I'm not sure CNU gets ranked in the East right now though and 2 losses is a tough pill to swallow at this point in the season.

That being said, CWRU gets credit for being undefeated, but not over HSU losing to UMHB. Same with W&J. Unless CMU gets ranked. If CMU sneaks in instead of Shenandoah, then I would bump W&J up over HSU being 1-0 RRO. If W&J is 0-0, I think HSU claims that third spot.  Centre's SOS is going to come down, but for now it looks good, and you are pairing that with a loss to my theoretical 2. That's not a bad resume. Not enough to get over an undefeated CWRU, but second best among the 1 loss teams. Ursinus over JHU right now on H2H. F&M not far behind. Hard to ignore F&M's SOS, but the loss to JHU slots them below the Blue Jays. You could push Ursinus behind JHU and F&M on SOS, but that ignores a big H2H. Luckily Ursinus and F&M still play. Shenandoah gets the 10 spot because Hobart could be ranked in the East and their SOS is significantly better than the other possibilities.

1) UMHB (2-0 RRO South and West, 5 SOS)
2) Berry (1-0 RRO, 60 SOS)
3) HSU (0-1 RRO, 47 SOS)
4) W&J (0-0 RRO, 197 SOS)
5) CWRU (0-0 RRO, 234 SOS)
6) Centre (0-1 RR, 55 SOS)
7) Ursinus (1-0 RRO, 194 SOS)
8) JHU (1-1 RRO, 30 SOS)
9) F&M (0-1 RRO, 17 SOS)
10) Shenandoah (0-1 RRO East, 104 SOS)

Other possibilities
CMU (0-1 RRO, 201 SOS)
Huntingdon (0-0 RRO, 142 SOS)
Westminster (0-1 RRO North, 206 SOS)

Long Shots
H-SC (0-2 RRO West and East, 8 SOS)

Just to give the newbies a chance to see how quickly all this can change. Above is what I posted late last week. If I'm doing it today, it looks more like this:

1) 7-0 UMHB (2-0 RRO South and West, 28 SOS) -- see the SOS movement from one game?
2) 8-0 Berry (1-0 RRO, 76 SOS) -- SOS will continue to fall. to hold this position they need Centre to stay ranked
3) 5-1 HSU (0-1 RRO, 35 SOS) -- Big SOS jump. Might jump Berry if Berry loses the RRO result
4) 7-0 W&J (1-0 RRO, 151 SOS) -- Big SOS jump, gained an RRO with CMU, but not enough to jump HSU
5) 7-0 CWRU (0-0 RRO, 234 SOS) -- no movement
6) 6-1 JHU (1-0 RRO, 40 SOS) -- SOS drop, lose a RRO result. Moved up on SOS
7) 6-1 F&M (0-1 RRO, 30 SOS) -- SOS drop, but still moved up. Below JHU on H2H
8) 6-1 Centre (0-1 RR, 74 SOS) -- Big SOS drop, drop in the rankings
9) 7-1 CMU (0-1 RRO, 216 SOS) -- enter the rankings. SOS will improve with last 2 games
10) 5-1 Huntingdon (0-0, 98 SOS) -- SOS improvement and one loss moves them in, but no RROs makes it a weak position


Dropped Out
Ursinus (1-0 RRO, 158 SOS) -- 2 losses and pretty much out of contention for CC AQ. RRO result might have them sit 10th still
Shenandoah (0-0 RRO, 120 SOS) a loss, losing Hobart as an RRO, and an SOS drop. Triple whammy

Long Shot
Westminster (0-2 RRO North and South, 142 SOS) -- big SOS game, got another RRO result, but not the one they needed

Third time -- the big difference here is Hendrix sneaking in at 10. Considering they weren't even in my long shots before it's surprising, but with 2 RROs and a monster SOS, it's hard to ignore them in favor of anyone else. A huge boost to Berry's chance to host, Centre's shot at an at-large, and a hit to JHU's limited chance to host if it blocks W&L from getting ranked. Hendrix is a dead team walking, meaning they have no chance at making the field, so while they would be the correct choice given the criteria, it's possible the committee would look elsewhere for that 10 spot to maybe a projected ODAC champion. I'd also say with games against Rhodes (3-5) and Millsaps (3-5) ahead, Hendrix won't hold this monster SOS. Westminster's SOS, despite their impressive losses, would be a non-starter for me for a spot here, though giving that spot to Westminster would improve W&J's chances to host and Case's chances to get in. With Case and Westminster playing this weekend, however, that wouldn't really have a long term effect.

One other note as we approach the first regional rankings, with the now defunct once ranked always ranked, these preliminary rankings just don't matter. It's entirely possible the committee will take the easy way out and just go by record the first week, moving HSU down below the undefeated teams. It's a cop out but would save time, especially for something that has no meaning when they sit down and do the important ranking at the end of the season.


1) 8-0 UMHB (2-0 RRO South and West, 41 SOS) -- SOS keeps moving down
2) 9-0 Berry (2-0 RRO, 114 SOS) -- SOS has plummeted, but an extra RRO win has them looking good to host
3) 6-1 HSU (0-1 RRO, 35 SOS) -- Big SOS jump. Might jump Berry if Berry loses the RRO result
4) 8-0 W&J (1-0 RRO, 163 SOS) -- Meandering SOS doesn't help
5) 8-0 CWRU (0-0 RRO, 235 SOS) -- SOS should start moving up with last couple games, but Wash U hurts
6) 7-1 Centre (1-1 RR, 76 SOS) -- SOS held steady and picked up an RRO with Hendrix. Huge for at large chances, especially if CWRU loses one of their last 2
7) 7-1 JHU (1-0 RRO, 17 SOS) -- Big SOS gain. If W&L keeps winning, JHU's SOS will be ok. Jumped by Centre on Hendrix moving in
8) 7-1 F&M (0-1 RRO, 94 SOS) -- SOS dropped like a stone
9) 6-1 Huntingdon (0-0 RRO, 128 SOS) -- no RROs and a weak finish. Their SOS will continue to fall
10) 5-2 Hendrix (0-2 RRO, 13 SOS) -- who sees this coming? But a huge boost to Berry and Centre if they can hold position


Dropped Out
7-2 CMU (0-1 RRO, 206 SOS) -- tough loss to a good team

Long Shot
Westminster (0-2 RRO North and South, 142 SOS) -- big win but winning robs them of the RRO result
6-2 W&L (0-1 RRO, 54 SOS)
5-2 Shenandoah (0-0 RRO, 141 SOS)

[Ron Boerger]

HX's remaining games against 3-5 Rhodes, 3-6 Sewanee will take care of the SOS. 

[jknezek]

HX's remaining games against 3-5 Rhodes, 3-6 Sewanee will take care of the SOS.

Rhodes and Millsaps. And yes, I put that in the paragraph at the top. But I'm doing this on a week by week and not trying to look at projections.