Lehigh Football Nation

Thought I was was going to simply shout out a big "Happy Holidays", eh, or talk about the big basketball games yesterday? Although I will spend some time doing both - and I'll also give a thought to some interesting postings for the rest of the year - the first order of business involves a bit of news you may not have heard about. Five days before Christmas, there was a press release from a fledgling network called the America Channel. It stated that they had entered a multi-year agreement to broadcast Patriot League sports starting in the 2007 season. Here are excerpts from the Patriot League press release: The Patriot League has signed a multi-year deal with a new national-sports broadcaster, The America Channel, Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich announced Wednesday. The arrangement, which will begin with the 2007-08 academic year, will bring additional exposure to the Patriot League, specifically in the sports of football, women's basketb...

This picture is a fairly accurate assessment of how I felt after last week's Division I Playoff picks. I mean, really, a Montana/Youngstown State final? Beleive me when I say I took my beating(s) like a man and I'm ready to make another pick. Despite Yosef fans' pleas to have me pick the Minutemen, and ZooMass' requests for me to pick Applachian State, I'll be doing what I always do - breaking down the game, and predicting the winner. So it's not Montana and Youngstown in Chattanooga, TN tomorrow, it's Appalachian State and UMass. A matchup of former champions, the Mountaineers are going for a repeat (having won last year's Championship), while the Minutemen are going for their first championship since 1998. For those Lehigh fans that remember, that was the team that defeated one of the best Lehigh teams ever, ending our season on a 4th-and-goal from the 9 in a 22-16 final. It should be a good game. Both teams only have one loss - UMass to non-play...

Once again, here are my picks for this weekend's football "final four", the Division I Football Championship, the only NCAA-sanctioned national champion for Divsion I football. (P.S. Did you order yourself a Lehigh Football Nation hat recently - a perfect Christmas gift for that Lehigh football fan on your list?) Montana over UMass. It's not easy to pick against UMass, especially after their come-from-behind, denying QB Ricky Santos in the final minute, 24-17 victory. But in a very even matchup, you can't deny the fact that the Griz at home have been absolutely dominating. Holding Southern Illinois to 136 TOTAL yards really made me stand up and take notice. If Montana can shot down Minuteman RB Steve Baylark the same way they stopped Saluki RB Arkee Whitlock - and I have every faith that they can - I don't think QB Liam Coen can carry the Minutemen with his arm. In contrast, Montana QB Josh Swogger and the Montana offense have gotten better, not worse, ...

Finally - FINALLY - I'm getting to congratulate the Lehigh Mountain Hawk Gridders that made the All-Patriot League team this year. PK Jason Leo heads the list of ten Hawks that made the first team - more than any other Patriot League squad. In addition, Leo won Special Teams Player of the Year for his efforts punting and kicking. The complete list of honorees is as follows: 1st Team Offense QB Sedale Threatt TE Landon Maggs OL John Reese OL Jim Petrucelli PK Jason Leo Threatt gets the nod, rightfully in my opinion, for first team QB over Lafayette's QB Brad Maurer and Holy Cross' QB Dom Randolph. Threatt may not have gotten the most yards passing (a solid 2,008 yards), but his passing accuracy (61%, good enough for a 144.66 QB rating) and his abilities as a runner (8 TDs to go with his 14 TD passes gave him 22 on the year) really vaults him ahead of the other two. Next year, it should be awfully interesting to see Threatt and Randolph, who will be returning for their senio...

I know I promised to get to Lehigh Football's All-Patriot League awards, and I have a few awards of my own to give out as well, but with the Lehigh Men's basketball team travelling to Princeton tonight to play the always-tough Tigers, I wanted to give a little preview of the men's basketball, women's basketball, and wrestling teams for this coming week. Tomorrow I'll get to the football accolades, I promise! Men's Basketball After beating the NEC's Central Connecticut State 55-52 last Saturday (on a last-minute shot by G Jose Olivero), Lehigh meets their basketball nemesis tonight when they face Princeton. We may as well call them "daddy" after looking at their overall record against us: 29-2, with our last win coming in 1930. (22 consecutive losses. 22! ) Our super-freshman G Marquis Hall had better be ready to play some defense: the Tigers have been known to launch it from 3-point land a lot this year at a 40% clip. Not to mention the added...

It always seems to come up this time of year, when teams like Montana, Appalachian State, Youngstown State and UMass are playing in the FCS (formerly the I-AA) playoffs. Namely, how come the "Ancient Eight" (pictorially represented to my left) are not in the playoffs? The short answer? They don't want to. I think any Lehigh fan (or Patriot League fan, for that matter) knows what the playoff bid has meant for the conference in terms of football identity. It has been invaluable in giving not only the obvious rivalry game (Lehigh/Lafayette) meaning, but also games like Colgate/Lafayette, Lehigh/Colgate, Fordham/Colgate, and others. You can get an Ivy or NEC education, but only the Patriot League gives you the opportunity to play for a national championship. The Northeast Conference, or NEC, doesn't have an autobid but has been desperately trying to get one. I think they see the instant "street cred" you get from a spot in the playoffs. But more curiously, the I...

The FCS playoffs, second round, have started. My predictions are posted on the College Sporting News website, which you can check here . The big upset prediction? Southern Illinois upsetting Montana. As for TV, you can watch New Hampshire at UMass on CN8 (or watch it live here ), and at 4PM on ESPN2 you can watch Montana State get hammered by Applachian State. (Well, that's what I think will happen.) The Lehigh Women's basketball team is currently on a swing through Ohio. After losing last night to powerful Ohio University 57-40, the Lady Hawks have fallen to a disappointing 2-5 after a 2-0 start (including a surprising win over Syracuse of the Big East). Hopefully 1-5 Akron will prove to be a good chance for a win, whose only win came over Binghamton this year, but the Lady Hawks will have to overcome some woeful shooting from the past few games to get this thing turned around. Predictably, the men dismantled D-III Swarthmore 96-33, which stopped a three-game slide to ...