So the list continues with what was the most disappointing conference from 2017. The Patriot League is basically an Ivy League clone with all the schools being private, really hard to get into, upper level schools with really the only difference being just the fact they aren't all Ivy League schools. Only a few years ago did the conference begin to offer scholarships to football players and before 1997 was like the IVY League and didn't participate in the FCS playoffs. Oh and lets not forget it has the longest and arguably the best rivalry in college football, more on Lehigh and Lafayette in a bit. But for now we start with the first of a muddled tier of conferences where any of them could easily be placed between 6-10.
Placement Reasoning
Overall this is a conference that, at it best, rivals the best of the mid-card of conference in the FCS and could be argued is better than the NEC, OVC, etc. But when you factor in a disastrous 2017, the Patriot League falls short of those other conferences. Now that isn't meant to say that the conference is bad or at the level of the first three teams but when you go 7-28 in non-conference action in 2017 it doesn't make the best impression on other teams. And not to add salt to the wound but only one team outscored its opponents in 2017 and had three teams that didn't score 200 total points during the season. Yes, 2017 is a mulligan season the Patriot League but man that shot slice in a hurry
2017 Recap
So I won't continue to recap the bad for the conference cause it does get worse. I mean, it wasn't all bad for the conference. You had probably the offense you didn't know about in Lehigh which averaged over 35 points a game, ended up winning the conference, and having two All-Americans. One of those All-Americans, Junior RB Dom Bragalone, comes back for another bite. Colgate was the best team record wise but a loss to Lehigh meant they would be staying at home in 2017. The rest of the league was...well what you expect from a league that had a rough non-conference slate. Now I will say probably the best PBP call came from this conference and probably the country, god do I love local PBP teams. It is simply priceless. (starts at the 7:00 mark)
Playoff/National Championship Contenders
So while the overall records may not show it, every team is pretty closely bunched together. Only Georgetown really hasn't shown much to say they are a contender for a Patriot League title. It does them no favors they still don't offer scholarships and with the rest of the conference offering 60, the gap will grow
The Favorite
Colgate
The Raiders have to be kicking themselves after last year as that midseason lost to Lehigh not only kept them from the playoffs, probably kept them from hosting a game and could even think a sneaky run was in the cards. The good news is that pretty much everyone is back. The bad news is that the schedule is tricky and could knock them out of the race early if they don't get out the blocks well. But at the end of the day, baring injury, this is the team to beat and could be a top team period. If, they win 9-10 games a playoff run is in the cards but like most teams in this tier, the brackets have to break properly for a national championship run. Only the 2003 team (I will always despise them) has past the second round in the FCS playoffs
The Contender
Lehigh
So I said in the recap, Lehigh had one of the most high powered offenses in the country and the have both their QB and All-American RB returning for one more run. That would be the good...the bad is while they were one of the best offenses in the country, they were bottom five in almost every defensive category. If it can be improved to even a top 100 defense (that's how bad it was) then the possibility of the Mountain Hawks winning its third straight conference title are high. And lets not get into Lehigh's chances for a national championship, the defense would have to do a complete 180 and I don't see that big of an improvement.
The Sleeper
Bucknell
If you haven't seen the YouTube clip you really should. But aside from that, the Bison are pretty much the reverse of Lehigh. They have a great defense, although a few key pieces will need to be replaced, but it seems like the drop off wont be very significant. What will be they key to a potential title and playoff birth is if the offense can improve. Just like Lehigh, even the slightest improvement to around 20 points a game will help in its chances.
Teams to add/subtract
This one is tough, because of its IVY League like status as private, upper tier schools, the pool of potential teams to add is really small. For this I may go a bit out of the box but hey the wheels are turning for potential fits. Now for what to subtract...well that's a lot easier
Adding Johns Hopkins and New Haven
If ever there was a more intriguing fit it is the BlueJays. The fit would be pretty natural as the facilities would be up the standards of the rest of the conference although you could argue the basketball arena would have to expand capacity. And some adjustments to the field turf (maybe) would be nice. The only thing that could keep this from being the perfect fit would be in the lacrosse team would be able to change conferences. But since this is a hope a dream, I say make it so!
New Haven falls into the same realm of natural fit with some tweaks needed, upgrading the gym (larger capacity) and the baseball/softball field (just stands and maybe a better scoreboard) would make things look better. And the Chargers have probably the coolest looking field on the East Coast and top 5 in the country.
Subtract Georgetown (to the Pioneer League)
This one is pretty self explanatory...the gap between the Hoyas and the rest of the Patriot League is growing at a rapid rate and if they aren't careful this could easily turn into a bottom 5 team in the country. The good news is they have some players that can't keep that from happening in the near future but Georgetown needs to decide on its future soon and would be smart to head to the non-scholarship conference
Best/Worst
Admittedly, this is one of my favorite parts about these whole write ups. Some of these stadiums/uniforms/nicknames have unique qualities that make them standout. And the Patriot League is no different, but as we will soon run into with some of the selections, a standout will not be an easy choice. Hey, at some point we would run into the cookie cutter or just really nice looking places to play football
Stadium
Best - Goodman Stadium (Lehigh)
Ok, this really was a tough call but the nod goes to the stadium housed in Bethlehem, Pa. What set this apart from the others is the view. No disrespect to Colgate or Lafayette, but the view as you look at to the scoreboard at Lehigh is tough to beat anywhere. The "U" bowl shape with that view is pretty close to perfection
Worst - Cooper Field (Georgetown)
Sigh...this makes the list for what it is now plus what it could be. Right now it looks like a high end field that gets shared with the university and about 20 local high schools. For some reason the construction stopped a few years ago only part way finished and, outside some bit n pieces, not much has been done to finish. So when you see what it is and what it should be, there is no second guessing putting this as the worst (still better than Indiana St)
Logo and Nickname
Best - Georgetown Hoyas
Come on...was there any real doubt? Ok maybe Colgate has a cool logo but hard to go against something so recognizable even if basketball is the reason why we know it
Uniforms
Playoff/National Championship Contenders
So while the overall records may not show it, every team is pretty closely bunched together. Only Georgetown really hasn't shown much to say they are a contender for a Patriot League title. It does them no favors they still don't offer scholarships and with the rest of the conference offering 60, the gap will grow
The Favorite
Colgate
The Raiders have to be kicking themselves after last year as that midseason lost to Lehigh not only kept them from the playoffs, probably kept them from hosting a game and could even think a sneaky run was in the cards. The good news is that pretty much everyone is back. The bad news is that the schedule is tricky and could knock them out of the race early if they don't get out the blocks well. But at the end of the day, baring injury, this is the team to beat and could be a top team period. If, they win 9-10 games a playoff run is in the cards but like most teams in this tier, the brackets have to break properly for a national championship run. Only the 2003 team (I will always despise them) has past the second round in the FCS playoffs
The Contender
Lehigh
So I said in the recap, Lehigh had one of the most high powered offenses in the country and the have both their QB and All-American RB returning for one more run. That would be the good...the bad is while they were one of the best offenses in the country, they were bottom five in almost every defensive category. If it can be improved to even a top 100 defense (that's how bad it was) then the possibility of the Mountain Hawks winning its third straight conference title are high. And lets not get into Lehigh's chances for a national championship, the defense would have to do a complete 180 and I don't see that big of an improvement.
The Sleeper
Bucknell
If you haven't seen the YouTube clip you really should. But aside from that, the Bison are pretty much the reverse of Lehigh. They have a great defense, although a few key pieces will need to be replaced, but it seems like the drop off wont be very significant. What will be they key to a potential title and playoff birth is if the offense can improve. Just like Lehigh, even the slightest improvement to around 20 points a game will help in its chances.
Teams to add/subtract
This one is tough, because of its IVY League like status as private, upper tier schools, the pool of potential teams to add is really small. For this I may go a bit out of the box but hey the wheels are turning for potential fits. Now for what to subtract...well that's a lot easier
Adding Johns Hopkins and New Haven
If ever there was a more intriguing fit it is the BlueJays. The fit would be pretty natural as the facilities would be up the standards of the rest of the conference although you could argue the basketball arena would have to expand capacity. And some adjustments to the field turf (maybe) would be nice. The only thing that could keep this from being the perfect fit would be in the lacrosse team would be able to change conferences. But since this is a hope a dream, I say make it so!
New Haven falls into the same realm of natural fit with some tweaks needed, upgrading the gym (larger capacity) and the baseball/softball field (just stands and maybe a better scoreboard) would make things look better. And the Chargers have probably the coolest looking field on the East Coast and top 5 in the country.
Subtract Georgetown (to the Pioneer League)
This one is pretty self explanatory...the gap between the Hoyas and the rest of the Patriot League is growing at a rapid rate and if they aren't careful this could easily turn into a bottom 5 team in the country. The good news is they have some players that can't keep that from happening in the near future but Georgetown needs to decide on its future soon and would be smart to head to the non-scholarship conference
Best/Worst
Admittedly, this is one of my favorite parts about these whole write ups. Some of these stadiums/uniforms/nicknames have unique qualities that make them standout. And the Patriot League is no different, but as we will soon run into with some of the selections, a standout will not be an easy choice. Hey, at some point we would run into the cookie cutter or just really nice looking places to play football
Stadium
Best - Goodman Stadium (Lehigh)
Ok, this really was a tough call but the nod goes to the stadium housed in Bethlehem, Pa. What set this apart from the others is the view. No disrespect to Colgate or Lafayette, but the view as you look at to the scoreboard at Lehigh is tough to beat anywhere. The "U" bowl shape with that view is pretty close to perfection
Worst - Cooper Field (Georgetown)
Sigh...this makes the list for what it is now plus what it could be. Right now it looks like a high end field that gets shared with the university and about 20 local high schools. For some reason the construction stopped a few years ago only part way finished and, outside some bit n pieces, not much has been done to finish. So when you see what it is and what it should be, there is no second guessing putting this as the worst (still better than Indiana St)
Logo and Nickname
Best - Georgetown Hoyas
Come on...was there any real doubt? Ok maybe Colgate has a cool logo but hard to go against something so recognizable even if basketball is the reason why we know it
Worst - Bucknell Bison
So this isn't here because of the nickname...yes it is a bit of a common one but still, calling yourself the Bison is pretty cool. The reason why Bucknell falls to the bottom is because of the logo. While having an L with ur mascot in the middle is a bit bland, it pales in comparison when the logo doesn't look like the animal your nickname suggest. I'm sorry but when you look at it all you see is a lion with horns. And even if you don't the fact that I just got you to look at and second guess it means it should be here
Best - Colgate
These are simple yet awesome. The way the school colors are used and blended work so well. And as you can see both can be used as the dominate color and have the same affect. And if you are wondering about the old fashioned white ones, even then everything flows effortlessly. It was a welcomed upgrade over uniforms of old
Worst - Lehigh
Speaking of old, everything about this is straight forward and to the point. No need for flash n dash. Just school colors, simple blocked lettering and there ya go. I swear it does work for some schools but for most its just bland and nothing to write home about. Oh and an honorable mention to Bucknell who follows the same trend but does just enough to make it a inch better
2018 Outlook
So this season is all about redemption for the League. To suggest it will be as bad collectively as it was last year would be a stretch but for the seven schools an improvement on the 7-28 non-conference record (29 losses if you include the playoffs) in necessary if they want to avoid a second straight year of a sub .500 conference champion. Unfortunately, the schedule doesn't do the league many favors. League favorite Colgate as they have to go to New Hampshire, William & Mary, and Furman within the first five weeks of the year and end the year at Army, that could be 0-4 right there. It doesn't get much better for the rest of the conference.
The probable likelihood is that we end up seeing a similar result as last year though a different team may end up getting the automatic bid. This is going to be something to see...is it possible another sub .500 team makes the playoffs?
Up next is a conference similar to the Patriot League but reminds me more of a poor mans SoCon...coming soon #9, the NEC
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