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Bad Day for the Patriot; Weekend Predictions

It was a good thing Lehigh didn't play this weekend, as the Patriot League got spanked in all 6 contests. It's the first time that I remember it ever happening. I went to see Lafayette lose a heartbreaker to a team which is forecast to be a middle-of-the-pack Ivy team in Princeton. Colgate got "upset" by a middle-of-the-pack (I'm being generous) Dartmouth team, 26-21. (How do you beat UMass, yet lose to Dartmouth and Central Connecticut State?) Bottom-feeder Columbia put Fordham at 0-3. Brown spanked Georgetown. Cornell spanked Bucknell. Holy Cross surprised most by playing nationally-ranked Harvard tough, but they still lost 31-21.

From this surprising development, Lehigh now has to have an even bigger target on their backs. With all these losses, it is highly unlikely that any Patriot League team other than Lehigh would qualify as an at-large team for the I-AA playoffs unless one of them takes the Patriot league championship - which would require thay they beat Lehigh.

Surprisingly for a bye week, Lehigh jumped in the national polls. At #13 in the Sports Network and ESPN/USA Today polls, and #12 in the Any Given Saturday poll, clearly voters think Lehigh is still one of the best teams at the national level. Every opponent from now on will think of us as "nationally-ranked Lehigh". That means, no rest; no weeks off. This coming week we go to scholarship school VMI, as they take a shot at us.

Last week I went a respectable 17-7. This includes going 3-3 in "Patriot League Black Saturday", and having 4 suprising losses in the I-AA Top 25, so overall I'm not too disappointed.

Really Right: James Madison 65, Delaware St. 7. Real score: JMU 63, Delaware St 10. 5 points off - I can live with that.

Should Have Been Right: Columbia 23, Fordham 17. Fordham has four - FOUR - chances to tie it up, including 2 shots in the last 4 minutes. Three turnovers, and one missed execution on a fake punt, and they blow it. These guys had ample chances to get it to overtime. If so, Fordham 31, Columbia 28, doesn't look too bad.

Was I Ever Wrong!: Rhode Island 49, William & Mary 28. Obviously I was surprised, as was the rest of I-AA nation, that the Tribe couldn't hold the hitherto anemic Rams to less than 7 TDs. It's not really missing the game, which I predicted to be W&M 27, URI 17. It's missing the scope of the loss, the skill of URI, and the poor defense of W&M.

Look for my Lehigh/VMI preview this Wednesday.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Chuck, I love what ya do, but please stop putting Lehigh plays scholarship yadda yadda this week. It makes it seem like we have an inferiority complex or something.
Anonymous said…
Im going to agree with the last poster. Though LU doesnt have official scholarships, if they want you there, they can get you there. Our players are as good as the elite A 10 teams, I believe that has been proven time and time again. Nobody wants to hear the scholarship crap anymore.

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