Lehigh Football Nation

I love the NCAA tournament, usually. I play in the office pool, but more than just that, I emotionally get involved with the games.  Yes, that's not an exaggeration.   Emotionally involved.  I stand up and yell at the TV set for teams located in places I've never visited, becoming hoarse for schools I didn't attend, cheering for Cinderellas I didn't know existed a month before. Like most of America, I have fallen in love with the underdog narrative - the plucky, underdog story we've all seen in Hoosiers and Little Giants and countless good, bad, and terrible sports movies over the last fifty years. And as a fan of my alma mater, Lehigh, I guess I live this underdog story on a near-daily basis.  Lehigh is almost always the "smaller school" in all their NCAA athletics contests, whether it's wrestlers going against the semi-pros of Penn State and Iowa, or the football team going against the 100+ scholarshipped players of Yale or Princeton. Th...

It's that time of the week where I share with you your weekly Lehigh fan viewing guide for Week 11 of the college football season. But for Lehigh fans, though, with the kickoff of the winter sports season, there's a lot more than just that. Tonight, men's hoops kicks off vs. Minnesota in an attempt to ruin Richard Pitino 's head coaching debut; women's hoops kicks off vs. Niagara, with Matt Markus on the call;  for LehighSports.com; and after Holy Cross is wrestling's first meet of the year vs. Bucknell. To take any of it in here are the links: Friday, 7:00 PM WBB: Lehigh at Niagara: Audio at WLVR.org Video via Niagara/Sidearm Sports Live Stats Friday: 8:00 PM MBB: Lehigh at Minnesota: Audio at ESPN Lehigh Valley Video via ESPN3 Live Stats Saturday, 12:30 PM, Football: Holy Cross at Lehigh: Audio at LehighSports.Com Video via Patriot League Network Live Stats Saturday, 5:00 PM, Wrestling: Bucknell vs. Lehigh: Audio at ESPN Lehigh Vall...

During the football season, I've gotten in the writing habit of picking a "Sunday Word", and using it to describe what happened the previous week. I've been slack in getting this going this preseason, but the only possible word that can perfectly summarize this Lehigh football offseason is " pro ". The NCAA's big ad campaign for years now has been that "most athletes go 'pro' in something other than sports".  And for the great majority of Lehigh athletes, year-in and year-out, this is still true. But this offseason we've seen an unprecedented number of Lehigh athletes trying their hand at 'pro' ball - and Lehigh fans everywhere couldn't be more thrilled or excited.  There are a lot of "pro" adventures to follow for Lehigh fans right now, and it's damned exciting stuff.

(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Chris Steppig/NCAA Photos, Pool/The Kansas City Star) In all honesty, I blame myself for making my wife disillusioned with the Butler Bulldogs. All week I had been talking "Butler"-this, "Butler"-that around my house.  Crooning about the small school that could, the private school with decent academics that graduates its athletes.  I even went with the "Rocky" references, of all things, comparing UConn's introductions to Appollo Cree's parade into the Spectrum.  Forget the fact I spent a lot of years in Connecticut.  I wanted Butler to win, bad, and so did my wife. With about eight minutes to play, the love of my life could stand no more.  "They're throwing the game!", she said as F Matt Howard missed his umpteenth point-blank shot.  "How can you miss that many shots?  They're losing on purpose!" I lasted only a little longer than she did in the 53-41 defeat, but Butler's disappointi...

For the men's basketball team, the dream of a repeat trip to the NCAA tournament was dashed in Sojka pavillion in a surprise snow in rural Lewisburg, PA. But for the Lady Hawks, the march for a three-peat continues tonight at home in a matchup that most might have pegged in the preseason for the finals, not the semifinals. The red-hot Lady Hawks, winners of ten straight, look to advance to the Patriot League championship game for the third straight year. And also - just like last weekend's quarterfinal match vs. Lafayette - it allows the Lady Hawks to once again avenge one of their toughest - and lopsided - home losses in recent memory during the regular season. (more)

Lehigh's wrestling and men's basketball teams have one mission this weekend: to travel to the cow pastures in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania and silence Sojka. And no, I don't mean the Polish jazz musician, either. Bucknell's Sojka Pavillion will be hosting two huge events this weekend that are of interest to Lehigh fans: the 107th EIWA Wrestling Championships (which will determine the Lehigh wrestlers that will go on and compete in the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, PA), and Lehigh's win-or-go-home game against the Bucknell Bison in the semifinals of the men's Patriot League basketball tournament. It's going to be a "deluxe" weekend out in the cow pastures they call Lewisburg, PA for Lehigh fans.  Their goal will be to allow the locals to hear the mooing in the pastures - and keep Sojka's home fans in stunned silence for 72 hours. (more)

Patriot League basketball is fun - and terrifying - because it all comes down to winning three games in March. The first of these games is tonight, where the Mountain Hawks could be playing their final game at Stabler Arena one way or another against Navy. Whether you head to Stabler to provide a true home-court advantage to the Mountain Hawks, listen to the game with Matt Kerr and Greg Falkenbach on ESPN 1230 and 1320, or you catch the game on Patriot League All-Access , you'll be taking part in the most terrifying game of the season - unless Lehigh wins, where you'll get to do it all over again on Sunday. (more)

Isn't it supposed to be basketball season? Well, yes, it is.  It still very much is.  Lehigh's men's and women's basketball teams close out their respective regular seasons this weekend - and we'll find out where they end up seeded in the Patriot League tournament. But for the first time in a long time around these parts, however, it's also the beginning of a new football era as well. On Saturday in Reading, PA, the newest member of the IFL, or Indoor Football League, will be facing off against the Reading Express.  That's the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, who will be headlined by a certain Lehigh football star named LB Matt Cohen . (more)

It's usually called "March madness", but for the Lehigh men's basketball team it might as well be called "February Madness". "The Rivalry" on the hardwood, of course, would be a big deal even if both teams were winless going into this so-called winter month, with Madness-like temperatures outside possibly reaching 70 degrees. But with Bucknell and American, in effect, locking up the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the Patriot League tournament in March, this weekend's game, televised nationally on CBS College Sports this Sunday at 2:00 PM Eastern, will have gigantic implications for the incredibly valuable No. 3 seed.  The winner will have the inside track at the No. 3 seed, a home game in the first round of the playoffs, and a fighting chance to play in the championship.  The loser could be the No. 5 seed or worse, playing on the road in the first round and facing a very, very uphill climb at a shot at the Patriot League championship. It's ...

In a twist to the famous proverb "revenge is a dish best served cold," an icy, cold, possibly snowy weekend looks poised to have Lehigh's winter sports teams offer sweet revenge against American, the school that has bedeviled the Mountain Hawks and is rapidly becoming a winter sports rival. Before I get to the men's and women's basketball teams, however - who got the better of Lehigh the first Patriot League weekend of the year - it's worth noting that American has something else, too: a squad that head coach Mark Cody took from being on the brink of collapse into one that has produced an NCAA champion ( Josh Glenn , in 2007) and has become a Top 25 powerhouse in EIWA as well.  The Eagle wrestling program sits at No. 18, while Lehigh sits at No. 11. That means the path of all three Winter Sports titles this weekend goes through American. And, by definition, through the small, friendly, raucous confines of tiny Grace Hall at 1PM on Sunday. (more)

So you're sitting there reveling in the fact that Lehigh wrestling just knocked off the No. 1 program in the country last night .  You see that Lehigh women's basketball got back on it's winning ways this Wednesday with a dominant win over Colgate , while Lehigh's men's team slipped to 1-3 in the Patriot League with their big slip at Colgate . It's a big weekend in the Lehigh Valley, with both hoops squads facing off against "that school in Easton".  It's always a big deal to beat the Leopards in all sports, and a sweep this weekend would be particularly gratifying - especially on the men's side. In a weekend filled with "Rivalry"-themed exploits, though, there's another national showcase for Lehigh Athletics that should not be on the TV - or DVR.  It's the East-West Shrine Game in Orlando, Florida, and - for Lehigh fans - OL Will Rackley will be the focal point of the NFL Network broadcast at 4:00 PM. (more)

In most circumstances, a 10-7 record in basketball - with five of those losses to the top 75 teams in the country, in terms of RPI - would be a reason for celebration in Bethlehem. But for the Lady Hawks, who are two-time defending champions of the Patriot League and seemed in December to be oh-so-close to becoming a team capable of an upset in the NCAA tournament, the situation is very, very different. First came the humbling home loss to American, 64-51 - on Lehigh's home court.  Losing at Stabler Arena?  That almost never happens. But then came the nip-and-tuck game at Navy this past Wednesday, where the game ended with an offensive foul called on F Courtney Dentler with eleven seconds left (no, really, when was the last time you saw THAT happen in a Division I basketball game?), and a choice to shoot a two instead of a three at the end of the game meant that the Midshipwomen pulled off the "upset", 63-62 . In a year where Sue Troyan 's Lady Hawks seemed ...

I found myself saying after this weekend focusing on one positive thing that happened for my teams this weekend: "Well, at least it wasn't Lafayette that performed the double-sweep on Lehigh this weekend." Lehigh's basketball sweep against American was only part of the story, however. In a Wild Card weekend where my defending Super Bowl champion Saints had their hearts broken by a head coach ( Pete Carroll ) that did his best John Calipari impersonation to flee USC in a swirl of NCAA sactions, and ultimately won the game after " off the field thug " RB Marshawn Lynch on Saturday, and a Sunday when QB Michael Vick underthrew a TD pass to secure an excruciating 21-16 defeat at the hands of the Packers, the theme of the weekend would unquestionably be one of collapsing leads and repeated shots to the stomach. (more)

Contrary to popular belief, I am not employed in any capacity by the Patriot League or Lehigh Athletics, though sometimes it must seem like I am. But there were two Patriot League championships clinched by teams from Lehigh this weekend, not just the the co-championship clinch by the Mountain Hawk football team this weekend at Fitton Field in Worcester. A surprising turn of events in the Patriot League women's soccer tournament meant No. 3 seeded Lehigh, after upsetting top-seeded Army 1-0 Sunday afternoon , won the Patriot League championship and got to their first-ever NCAA tournament. It caps off an extraordinary year for Lehigh Athletics in general - most of whom play this weekend, too. (more)

It shouldn't be much of a news item, really, but as the NCAA released their Academic Progress Rate numbers this year it was no surprise to see Patriot League schools all over the honor list . Gushes the press release, "For the fifth consecutive year, Yale University had the most teams (24) recognized, followed by Dartmouth College (22) and the University of Pennsylvania (20). By conference, the Ivy Group had the most number of teams honored (135), followed by the Patriot League (90) and the Big East Conference (70). " Today, the NCAA released the full data for their APR numbers; not only the numbers from last year, but the four-year averages which the awards are based. Let's take a moment to look at the numbers for football and men's basketball for the Patriot League - and then compare them to the rest of Division I athletics. (more)

Taking advantage of a holiday weekend - and a 5:00PM start for the women's game - I hustled my family into the car on a frigid Saturday afternoon to make my pilgrimage to Stabler to take in a women's/men's basketball doubleheader featuring my Mountain Hawks. After pulling into the parking lot, we walked into Stabler as a physical, emotional Akron team started to really take it to the flat Lady Hawks, who was playing their third basketball game in five days. The 6-6 Zips, who just fell to Temple 55-43 a few days ago, surged to a 23-14 lead after Akron senior G Ayla Guzzardo stole the ball from junior G Erica Prosser to convert an easy transition basket. (more)

Being a rabid Lehigh sports fan during the holidays can be challenging, especially if you want to have any semblance of a normal home life. With time off my day job to celebrate Christmas - and dealing with the inevitable down-time that is necessary after a grueling four months of football coverage - covering all the goings-on foe Lehigh's winter sports, the final awards for Lehigh's football team and commentary on the wider football world is surprisingly tough, sometimes, to cover. (Add to that the the success this year of the NFL's Eagles and Saints, the Red Sox getting John Lackey and probably losing Jason Bay, and there's more opinions I have than time to post.) Add to that the fact that it's a different world from last with Facebook and Twitter entering the mainstream and the increasing expectation that they are a robust, often-updated tools for fans to use. For the football fan, tomorrow will probably provide a Lehigh mention on ESPN during their broadcast of...

Lehigh returns to the hardwood this weekend after a twelve day layoff for final exams. On the men's side, the 3-5 Mountain Hawks (Real Time RPI: 198) have the quintessential trap game against 2-6 Dartmouth (Real Time RPI: 311) tonight at 7:00 PM at Stabler Arena (that will also be broadcast online courtesy of Yahoo! Broadcast). LU65 on the Lehigh Sports Forum has done such a good analysis of the game, I'm just going to reprint it here: There can never be a "must win" game in OOC play, right? Well, this one comes close. Lehigh has dropped its last three (one excusably to Dayton, one we could have had against Columbia in well played game and the other a truly awful effort in a 19 point loss to Stony Brook) after winning three in a row and beginning the year with two other losses to solid programs in Richmond and Rider. Now, it's time we got back on track and formed an identity - especially on defense - against a team who was picked to finish at the bottom of the I...

Senior LB Matt Cohen can now add something else to his trophy case: all-American . Cohen becomes Lehigh’s first First-Team All-America since 2004 when DL Tom Alfsen and TE Adam Bergen garnered the accolade from various outlets. Cohen, who is a three time All-Patriot League selection, is just the 14th player in Patriot League football history to be named to the Walter Camp All-America Team, which is voted upon by the head coaches and sports information directors of the FCS schools. Cohen was one of three linebackers from around the nation named to the Walter Camp All-America Team, joining J.C. Sherritt of Eastern Washington and Brandin Jordan of Southern Illinois. A native of Allentown, Cohen led the Patriot League in sacks (9.0) and tackles-for-loss (13.5) marking the second consecutive season he has accomplished that feat. A business supply major, Cohen was the first Mountain Hawk to win a major award from the Patriot League since PK Jason Leo in 2006 and the first Lehigh playe...

There's so much going NCAA championship action on right now that it's almost impossible to cover it all right now. But sure as heck I'm going to try. The NCAA Championships in St. Louis, MO started this morning , with the seven Mountain Hawk qualifiers all wrestling in the first session of competition. And already it's looking very, very promising for Lehigh as unseeded junior 141 lb Seth Ciasulli had a surprise fall against No. 11-seeded Cody Cleveland out of UT-Chattanooga in the morning session and then disposed of Anthony D'Alie out of Eastern Michigan. Junior 184 lb David Craig , seeded No. 8, also took care of business against Virginia's Rocco Caponi. No. 12 seeded senior 149 lb Trevor Chinn advanced after a forfeit by Virginia Tech's Peter Yates, while three qualifiers will try to earn all-American status through the losers' bracket: sophomore 174 lb Alex Caruso, junior 133 lb Matt Fisk , and junior 165 lb Matt Galante . Freshman heavyweight...