If you're a member of the CAA, you've been floored by the sudden disappearance of Northeastern and Hofstra football, causing a scheduling mess for 2010 and a sudden worry about the "Northeast Four"'s continued inclusion in the league.
If you're a member of the Patriot League, you have to be worried about the makeup of the teams that were terminated: private schools that both looked like prime candidates for Patriot League inclusion at one time or another.
If you're a member of the NEC, you're looking forward to your autobid in the FCS playoffs starting in 2010, but you're worried about the lack of forward momentum on scholarships - and the growing gap between the top (Albany, Central Connecticut State) and bottom (St. Francis). (More)
And if you're a member of the Ivy League, you're worried that despite a new
For sure it's a challenging atmosphere out there. But challenging atmospheres also lead to opportunities - ones that the Patriot League could, with a little creativity, use to become a better, more secure league.
It will require new vision, throwing out old ideas, and embracing new ones. And they're worth considering. (And you don't need to be Superman to implement them, either.)
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The core of the Patriot League consists of eight private schools: American, Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Lafayette and Navy. In football, we have two associate members: Georgetown and Fordham. All are private, extremely selective institutions. All agree to an academic index to ensure that all athletes are representative of the rest of the class. And in football - for now, anyway - agree to have all athletes go through a needs test before getting financial aid.
In the CAA, there are four schools - UMass, Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire - that are far away from the core of the rest of the league. None are full members of the CAA: UMass and Rhode Island are part of the Atlantic 10, and Maine and New Hampshire are a part of America East.
They are all public schools. They are worried about travel costs - on the record. And they also offer the Patriot League an extraordinary opportunity.
What if the Patriot League extended an invitation to Maine and New Hampshire?
Granted, in order to get to that point, a lot would have to happen. The Patriot League were to come to a decision on football scholarships and (likely) make an adjustment to the bands of the Academic Index. They'd quite possibly lose Georgetown or Bucknell as a result (maybe to compete in the Pioneer Football League as non-scholarship programs). And they'd have to overcome the perception that public universities and the Patriot League model are incompatible.
But don't laugh. With scholarships, it may not be the huge adjustment for these two schools that you might think.
In terms of public schools, they graduate their athletes. New Hampshire was publicly commended for their football teams' APR rate (979) for the second consecutive year, putting them in the same honor roll as the Ivy League and many Patriot League schools. Maine (969) isn't far behind - so they both have a history of taking athletes that are representative of the rest of the class. And when they get to Cowell and Orono, they graduate.
There would be more benefits for UNH and Maine in the form of a much more regional schedule. No more flights or long bus trips to Virginia. They'd gain bus trips to Holy Cross and Fordham every year - and would retain Pennsylvania as a valuable recruiting area. Costs would be reduced - and, with scholarships, they could continue to play FBS schools for paydays as well.
As for the Patriot League, it would be a coup in terms of shoring up football. Nine high-academic members in football, even with a large number of affiliates (four), would squash all doubts that they are are not serious about football. Fordham, presumably, would enthusiastically sign up for a full-scholarship Patriot League with an Academic Index since that's in effect what they're doing now.
The fact that both new schools would be playoff participants the last two years would also speak volumes as well as to the "football seriousness" of the new Patriot League. Even if Georgetown and Bucknell decided to pursue a different football option, the new league would be strengthened significantly.
The Maine/New Hampshire rivalry game - the "Battle for the Brice/Cowell Musket", mentioned prominently during ESPN's broadcast of the Oregon/Oregon State game this year -would also fit in perfectly with "Rivalry Week" in the Patriot League. A new branding opportunity would present itself, with a rivalry that dates from 1903 and who will play each other in 2010 for the 100th time. (As far as I'm concerned, the more century-long rivalries, the better.)
It could also make the Patriot League more of a magnet for schools that aren't currently attracted to the League - perhaps in the form of a Duquesne or a Villanova - down the road. I'd bet that such a move would worry the the NEC and CAA, as a resurgent Patriot League would be seen as eying their best football teams. And not just affiliates, either.
The Ivy League may not like the idea of adding Maine and New Hampshire to a full-scholarship Patriot League - though they may have to look at the geography and say, well, who will Harvard and Dartmouth play out-of-conference? If Maine, UNH and Holy Cross all are Patriot League schools, Dartmouth's closest non-full-scholarship opponent would be Central Connecticut State (2 hours and 33 minutes from Hanover), and after Marist (3 1/2 hours away), things get really dicey.
There's even a chance that New Hampshire and Maine might leave their all-sports conference, America East, to join the Patriot League - which could become a Northeast force that stretches (potentially) from Washington, DC to Orono, ME.
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Admit it: after reading this, you just thought "Puh-leeze! There is no way the Patriot League is doing that! Why would they sully their Ivy-esque brand with them?"
And I fully expect the anonymous posts to flow in, claiming that UNH and Maine are unworthy to be a part of the Patriot League because of some level of "impurity" that no school - not least the existing members of the Patriot League - can claim in every sport.
But if Patriot League presidents aren't thinking about opportunities like this, they're crazy.
Maine and UNH are strong private institutions with solid academics - they'll never be confused with Alabama or Florida. They have a need for a Northeast, scholarship league. Why wouldn't the Patriot League office be trying to come up with ways for them to be a part of their League? Why wouldn't the Patriot League be trying to find a way to share the Patriot League model with a new type of school - because the number of private, Northeast, Division I institutions sponsoring football are becoming fewer and farther between?
I'd sure as heck be sending out feelers.
A potential issue might be how UNH and Maine would fit in with the Patriot League's academic index. Their total admissions profile not as selective as Patriot League schools (which makes sense, since they're both public universities) - but their football teams, like those in the Patriot League,recruit nationally. New Hampshire's team last year only had 17 athletes from the state of New Hampshire, and Maine had only a slightly higher number, 21.
Considering this reality, could UNH's and Maine's be assigned an academic index based on the class average of their "out of state" admissions numbers? I have to believe that their SAT/GPA numbers for out-of-state applicants would resembles Fordham's, though I'm not sure.
Would the league be able to look at their academic index and give a thumbs up to an idea like this?
It would require creativity, a desire to extend the model to public institutions, and an acknowledgment that the the status quo for the Patriot League simply won't work in the long term. Is there the will to even consider such an arrangement?
In the business world, the most creative, dynamic businesses who take advantage of opportunities are the ones that usually stick around after recessions - and are great successes. The Patriot League presidents, once again, have a golden opportunity to ensure that their league is surviving, not dying. They'd be well advised to take it - or, at a bare minimum, be thinking about it. Even just an indicator that high-academic public universities are under consideration for expansion would be a positive step towards protecting and improving the Patriot League brand.
Comments
To your credit, it appears you are at least thinking about creative solutions, whereas the PL leadership gives no indication that it is also doing so.
Lastly, I don't think the Towson experiment is looked upon that well by the league, despite the need to hold its nose and affiliate with them.
The PL is a great league with quality schools. The only fly in the ointment is how football, the most expensive of sports, is to be treated. It provides good competition with like-minded institutions and allows for schools to stretch themselves against D-I competition to the extent they want.
No offense taken to Anon #2's "idiot" reference (I have been called worse), my comment was not intended to address the issue of admission of PUBLIC to compete in the Patriot League. However, since raised by Anon #2, it should be noted that the admission of public institutions is a legitimate issue of concern, not one of mere snobishness. Diluting the overall academic competitiveness of the Patriot League institutions would also tend over time to dilute Lehigh's regional and national academic reputation. This dilution might also overtime jeopardize our longstanding arrangement of scheduling three Ivy League schools per season.
I love football as much as the next guy, whether it be Patriot League, BCS or NFL. Consequently, I am not weighing in one way or the other on which way Alice and Lehigh's Trustees should address these types of issues, but they are real and do impact every Lehigh graduate and student. The academic reputation of our university is not merely a "snobbish" concern. A legitimate examination of the deviation of the academic entrance requirements of any instiution (public or private) seeking to join the Patriot League from the high academic admission standards maintained by Patriot League schools cannot be dismissed.
"I fail to see how associating with some high quality public universities would affect Lehigh's 'academic standing'."
Well stated in my opinion.
The "future" of the league is pretty simple. Stay the course and risk losing relevence because even the Ivies have recruiting advantages (athletes), or boldly move toward the recruitment of better athletes, even if the ultimate risk is to lose Ivy affiliation.
Right now, the Ivies, head to head appear to have recovered against PL squads. I can recall the sour grapes from the elitists when the PL (especially Lehigh) was regularly pounding them head to head in football.
The affiliation with the Ivy League benefits PL because we seem closer to them as a result. That's what Likins and others wanted in 1985. The Ivy League likes the marriage in football because as they suspected, in the long run, they will dominate because of their incredible advantages as far as recruiting goes. They see guaranteed wins; we are affected because as playoff participants, we are judged as weak because we play the Ivy League instead of "quality" opponents out of conference. Since the Ivy League is too pure for playoffs, all they care about is looking good and guaranteeing wins.
Scrap the pretense, permit fifty scholarships (25 financial, 25 merit based athletic) and drop the Ivies if that's the way it must be. Keep Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell and Colgate together and assume that the assiciates never really wanted to strongly commit to begin with. Explore new additions whether they be public ot private.
Move on.
Big Fan
Big Fan
By Mike Kuhns
Record Sports Writer
January 14, 2010
Dan Cason scored 20 touchdowns last fall for East Stroudsburg South.
The senior wide receiver might be one of the biggest catches among area players for a college football program.
"It's a big honor to be recognized as one of the top receivers in the state," said Cason, who was named to the Pennsylvania Football News All-State team last week. "We worked hard, me, Robbie and everyone else."
Quarterback Robbie Moyer delivered the passes to Cason and the receiver didn't disappoint. At 6-foot-3, 180 pounds, Cason's ability to beat receivers with his speed and size was obvious.
Cason had nine games in which he caught two or more touchdowns.
"The young man was very disciplined in his route running and he was an excellent blocker," said ES South coach Ed Christian. "A lot of times on pass plays he would fake a block and take off and put himself in good position."
Cason caught 57 passes for 1,084 yards as a senior. He plans on playing college football at either Holy Cross or Colgate in the fall. Christian also said that if either school falls through, Penn State would love to have him as a non-scholarship player.
Why isn't Lehigh in the running for a player in their own backyard? And at a position they need help with.