Patriot League 2018 - way way way to early

[Colgate Raider Redux]

We will more than likely lose very badly to BC this year....I don't think a single Holy Cross alumnus will be upset about it.

It is what it is...with roster restrictions, no formal red-shirting policy, admissions restrictions etc etc....the days of vying for an FCS national title are in the past for the Patriot League.

The occasional game against historic rivals like BC, Syracuse, UConn etc are much more exciting to HC alums/fans (of a certain age perhaps) than the hope of a deep run in a very 2nd-tier/flawed playoff system.

I agree with Lehigh TU owl’s premise, expressed via multiple posts, that PL FB teams need to improve their O.O.C. performance. Improved O.O.C. performance bolsters credibility and refines the PL niche as well as that of individual PL FB Programs. His related premise that PL FB teams should have clear objectives for evaluating FBS games’ outcomes deserves some elaboration.


THAT SAID, Lehigh TU owl’s cold W-L stats don’t provide a broad perspective on what distinguishes the genesis of different PL institutions FB scheduling. Nor does it explain the varied inclusion of FBS games by different PL institutions.


The decades and years immediately preceding the PL’s embrace of FB schollies featured an ebb and flow of some PL institutions’ support for athletics/football. During that time, there had been an on going debate in the national collegiate world about the impact of athletics on the brands of colleges. During this period some PL schools maintained long term though-irregular series with FBS schools. In these cases, these schools became “FBS” when college football was divided into the predecessors of the FCS and FBS. Other PL schools had/have limited ongoing series with FBS schools. The case can be made that maintaining tradition with micro-regional FBS rivals adds significant value to the FB enterprise and the school brand. I can’t quantify the difference to individual institutions’ brands between a tradition-based FBS game and a random FBS game. With that in mind, generalizations about the wisdom of individual PL schools’ choices about O.O.C. opponents need to be more nuanced.


I’ve included the actual historical record of opponent series of four PL schools: Lehigh, Colgate, Holy Cross and Fordham. As a Colgate alum with actual FB playing experience, the nuances of FB traditions are significant to me. It's especially significant as we celebrate Colgate’s 200th year in 2019, https://200.colgate.edu




LEHIGH: Series with Opponents P.14
https://static.lehighsports.com/cust...ok%2073013.pdf


COLGATE: Series with Opponents ( P: scroll down 28 pages after the cover )
https://s3.amazonaws.com/gocolgatera...8/Football.pdf


HOLY CROSS: Series with Opponents P 104
http://www.nmnathletics.com/fls/3310...268.1498867218


FORDHAM: Series with Opponents P 126
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/...nt/Records.pdf