Lehigh Football Nation

Late this past Friday, at a time that is popular for dumping unpleasant news, Bucknell president John Bravman , well, dumped some unpleasant news on an unsuspecting public. Like all the schools of the Patriot League, Bucknell prides itself as being one of the most selective schools in the country.  Not just anyone can get in; you need to be near the top of your class. So it came as a shock to me, and plenty of others, when Mr. Bravman dropped the bombshell that Bucknell had reported false SAT and ACT averages for a seven year stretch from 2006 to 2012. It was a shocking admission that makes one ask the question: Why?

You won't find the news in any major newspaper or any official source of Patriot League information. But news coming out of Fordham head coach Tom Masella's "Meet the Recruits" event on March 3rd has exploded onto the Patriot League message board community. While the reality of coach Masella's comments has not been verified, what is certain is that Fordham football supporters were told in no uncertain terms that Fordham laid down the gauntlet to the Patriot League leadership concerning scholarship football. Two different message board postings have been the source of these revelations. First came the following from Fordham's message board : Fordham has told the PL we want scholarships instituted leaguewide by June 09 .. If the PL balks we are prepared and going independent for 2010 season. then find a new home for 2011 and beyond. this is not hearsay, the FU Head Coach and the administration has sat down with PL commissioner Carol Femovich... Masella (HC)...

As you may or may not know, I'm on vacation this week and I wrote this blog posting sometime last week. By now we will know a clearer vision of the Patriot League title race. Either Colgate or Lafayette will have one loss. Bucknell will either be effectively reduced to the role of spoiler by Holy Cross - or Holy Cross will have been shockingly upset by the Bison, adding another team to the playoff mix. And Georgetown will either wreck Lehigh's season, or Lehigh will win this week and move on to "Hate the 'Gate" weekend on South Mountain. But I still wanted to get out a "Sunday's Word" this week, and so I am doing so now. It's a familiar topic, the "academic index", or A.I. But the changes to the academic index haven't been really explained in any sort of media outlet. I talked with the Patriot League commissioner this week about the changes that are in effect for football (and basketball) as of this incoming recruiting class....

Next Thursday, the Patriot League will be hosting their 2008 Football media day, and as always I couldn't be more excited. It's one more indicator that kickoff for the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (at home September 6th versus Drake, 12:30pm) is right around the corner. I thought for a Friday before media day it might be a good idea to post some of the big Patriot League questions going into the 2008 season. 1. How will Fordham do in 2008 with the bullseye on its back? Oddly for a team who is a returning champion with so many returning players (including junior QB John Skelton ), some publications are hesitant to pick the Rams to win the whole thing (in fact, Phil Steele picks them 4th). Why? Is it simply because it will be harder the second time around? Will Forhdam's spread offense be easier to solve when teams are more prepared for it? Or are folks just putting a lot of stock in the defending Patriot League champions' losses to Dayton of the PFL and Bucknell last y...

The Patriot League just issued the following statement : Center Valley, Pa. - The Patriot League Council of Presidents endorsed and finalized a set of recommendations for revising the League's academic index to provide more consistency in the application of the index and internal equity among member institutions. The revisions will go in place for student-athletes that will enter Patriot League institutions in the fall of 2009. "The Patriot League is committed to being the ideal home for outstanding student-athletes," said Bucknell University President Brian C. Mitchell, Chair of the Council of Presidents. "These recommendations provide a higher level of consistency and clarity that strengthens not only the League but also the programs of every one of our member institutions." The revised index will also enhance admissions and athletic competitiveness of programs externally while maintaining the integrity of the League's founding principles. Included in th...

As Patriot League fans, it seems like many discussions about our league end up with a discussion about the "place of athletics" at our universities. It's a by-product of the rules that our schools have chosen to follow in terms of athletics, following in the footsteps of the Ivy League to ensure academic standards. What I haven't seen before, though, is a published discussion about these issues with the difference-makes in a college administration. This forum in the Holy Cross alumni magazine winter issue does just that with Holy Cross' president (Fr. Michael C. McFarland, S.J.), influential vice-presidents (like Frank Vellaccio), the athletic director (Dick Regan) and a host of other people. The fascinating four-page look at athletics, including a frank discussion of football scholarships, is a must-read for many reasons, not least because it articulates the thoughts of the person whose decision matters the most in Rev. McFarland. I'd encourage you to read a...

Yesterday over at the Big Green Alert blog Bruce released a riveting Q&A with Chris Lincoln, author of the riveting book " Playing The Game " about the cutthroat world of Ivy League recruiting. It's a highly recommended read. They talk about a plethora of subjects: the "Amaker Affair", next year's retirement of the executive director of the Ivy League, Jeff Orleans, and the new aid policies being put in place by Harvard and Yale. Of most interest to followers of the Patriot League is this juicy question: Whether it's a love-hate thing is debatable, but The Patriot League and Ivy League definitely have a relationship. Will this give the Ivies the clear upper hand and if so, would you anticipate the Patriots would finally add football scholarships? Adding football scholarships is expensive. At $45,000 a year per student-athlete, that’s $1.8 million a year for 40 players, $2.7 million a year for 60 players. How will Lehigh alumni feel about that? What...

Right now, the Ivy League is grappling with what it wants to be in the world of football. Three articles written this past week illustrate the issues they are facing: two detailing the "aid race" concerning new Ivy League admissions policies, and the other detailing one person's view on intercollegiate sports and the Ivy League's role in it. As a Patriot League fan, I feel it's always important to see what the Ivies are doing since (for better or worse) the Patriot League seems to follow the lead of the Ivy League in terms of policies such as the Academic Index. With the Patriot League mulling a change to their AI to make it more similar to the Ivy League's flavor of AI calculations, it's worth seeing the debate happening amongst the Ivy League sports writers. Start with these excellent articles by the Daily Pennsylvanian concerning " The Great Divide " and the Columbia Spectator on " Financial Aid Issues May Influence Ivy League ": S...

Just a quick post to mention that I will be releasing something at the College Sporting News more deeply on this subject. Call this a "teaser" for that article if you must, but here is some information that should whet one's appetite: The results of this study involved the Academic Index (or AI) only - the changes to this formula that were announced on Wednesday do not include any sort of aid reform for football in terms of athletic scholarships. Having said that, the possibility of athletic scholarships in football are still a subject "under discussion." The discussion about the AI (which encompasses all Patriot League sports) and athletic aid (which, in this case, only involves football) are two different discussions. I think it's important to make that distinction here. I think it is very fair that the discussion about reform of the AI and any decisions on athletic scholarships for football be separate discussions, since one affects all sports through...

Today at Noon, the Patriot League office issued the following statement in regards to "revisions to academic policies" : Center Valley, Pa. - The Patriot League Council of Presidents endorsed a set of recommendations for revising the League's academic index with the objective of providing more consistency in the application of the index and internal equity between member institutions. The actions will also enhance admissions and athletic competitiveness of programs externally while maintaining the integrity of the League's founding principles. ... The Presidents' actions were based on a series of recommendations with respect to the calculation and application of the academic index. Those principles will now be reviewed for fine-tuning and implementation by an advisory group made up of athletic directors, admissions representatives and the League's policy committee. The Presidents will review and finalize the comprehensive plan during their June meeting for ad...

One thing that the long offseason affords me is the opportunity to look at things like Lehigh's 2006 self-study report and some of the academic numbers in there. And taking a fresh look at them certainly raised my eyebrows. Lehigh's sports teams this year have been struggling more than usual. Men's soccer, a year removed from a magical season including wins in the NCAA tournament, ended this year with a whimper. The men's wrestling team, usually in the Top 25, is unranked. The President's Cup standings put us, amazingly, in sixth behind the service academies. That begs the question, posed by LUFan in one of the forums : "Is it a coincidence that all the sports or struggling, or could it be that the academic standards are going through the roof and all the athletic programs are paying the price?" It's a good question, which prompted me to take a look at the self-study and if this could be the case. Are standards affecting all sports (except, perh...

During the football season I frequently do a mash-up of the press releases regarding Lehigh's games and give my own commentary. At this time of year in the Lehigh Valley, though, sometimes the coverage gets lost in the spectacle of Musikfest and the day-to-day goings on at Eagles Training Camp at Lehigh . (Both of which are free admission, by the way - my wife, son and I went to both on Sunday and had a fantastic time.) As I wait for the full text of Sedale's media day speech to become available somewhere, I offer a mash-up of the media day events and the big league news that came out of there. One of the issues I have was that too many local papers didn't even have a proper write up of the event. (The Utica Observer-Dispatch has to take the cake for the smallest-ever press release on the event - and that's more than New York City, Washington, DC, the Worcester Telegram-Gazette, and Daily Item, Bucknell's local paper, had!) It's a real shame - and they ac...

It's becoming more and more clear that Patriot League schools aren't the only schools among the intellectually elite institutions that are having the debate about athletic recruiting and academics. This article from the San Francisco Chronicle treads a lot of the same ground I did in my "New Realities" blog postings and the College Sporting News article , even though the subject matter is the long-term survival of Stanford in the Pac-10. If anything, it shows that the subjects being tackled by the Patriot League in regards to academic indexes and institutional control are hardly unique to our league. From the article: "They can't keep raising the bar,'' said Dave Tipton, a former All-America defensive tackle at Stanford who served as an assistant coach there for 18 years under five head coaches. He said the admissions standards for football players are "markedly'' higher than they were 10 years ago. "Hopefully it will go back ...