Around the Nation board

[K-Mack]

A new wave of feedback coming this week, but here's that one I promised last week:

Keith,

I just wanted to thank you for not only the props in your 10 Best column today (Sep.
17), but also for a couple shout-outs you gave the Pacific Northwest.  I didn't
actually see this until I had a flood of emails come in from friends around the
area, but it's always nice to hear someone remember the guys that didn't win it all.
 I will say, however, that you are exactly right - I left the game with no regrets.
I thank you again for throwing that out there.

I hope you have great rest of the week, and keep an eye on my 'Cats this year.  They
look like they might have something special again based on what I saw last weekend
against the Cowboys.  There was chemistry there I haven't seen in 5 years.  I know
it was only game 1, but coming from someone who knows what it's like to trust your
team, there was a lot of trust out there on Saturday.

Thanks again Keith,

Tyler R. Matthews

[wildcat11]

A new wave of feedback coming this week, but here's that one I promised last week:

Keith,

I just wanted to thank you for not only the props in your 10 Best column today (Sep.
17), but also for a couple shout-outs you gave the Pacific Northwest.  I didn't
actually see this until I had a flood of emails come in from friends around the
area, but it's always nice to hear someone remember the guys that didn't win it all.
 I will say, however, that you are exactly right - I left the game with no regrets.
I thank you again for throwing that out there.

I hope you have great rest of the week, and keep an eye on my 'Cats this year.  They
look like they might have something special again based on what I saw last weekend
against the Cowboys.  There was chemistry there I haven't seen in 5 years.  I know
it was only game 1, but coming from someone who knows what it's like to trust your
team, there was a lot of trust out there on Saturday.

Thanks again Keith,

Tyler R. Matthews

Awesome!  Ty is a great person and Linfield is lucky to still have him involved with the 'Cats (doing Color on most of the broadcasts this season).  Go 'Cats!

[K-Mack]

Hey, was reading this kinda-cool story on Harvard's first homecoming, until I got to the D3 cheapshot and stopped on principle.

But can anyone tell me what the joke is actually supposed to mean? There are no Ivy/D3 rivalries, and if he was gonna take the Columbia shot, why not just leave D3 out of it? I think I'm missing what it was even supposed to accomplish, and not because I'm bitter

JIMMY GOLEN
 AP Sports Writer

  CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard gave football the forward pass, the scoreboard, the uniform and the concrete stadium.

 Sometimes, though, the school can be a little slow in getting around to things.

 The nation's oldest university, which has been handing out homework since 1636 and handing off footballs since 1874, will host its first homecoming this fall, a potential new tradition designed to attract alumni to campus in years that The Game is played at Yale.

 “I think fan support would increase from those who might otherwise have chosen to do one of the many things Cambridge (and) Boston have to offer on a fall Saturday,” Harvard sports information director Kurt Svoboda said.

 Most schools, especially those in the nation's mascot and marching band midsection, long ago discovered homecoming as an opportunity for alumni to catch up with their old drinking buddies, update their sweatshirt collection and perhaps drop off a few bucks at the development office on their way back out of town.

But neither Harvard nor Yale has ever felt the need for such an occasion, in part because The Game has served the purpose so well since 1875. (Princeton is the only other Ivy League school without a homecoming.) No trumped-up rivalry with a cupcake from Division III — after all, Columbia can only play so many road games — could compete with the nation's longest-lasting rivalry.

[Ron Boerger]

All I can think of is that some schools will schedule a less-than-challenging opponent on Homecoming so as to ensure a W.  In his uneducated opinion, any D3 opponent must represent the epitome of a cupcake.  If Mount Union or another premiere D3 school ever had the chance to take on an Ivy, Ms. Golen might learn something.  Either that or he's dumb enough to think Columbia is a D3, or he equates Columbia's level of play to a D3 school because he thinks they totally suck, or ... ?

[K-Mack]

I see what you/he are saying ... no weak homecoming opponent that they're pretending is a tough game.

Poorly executed at best.

[AO]

Thanks for making the UMAC #1!!!  It's been a long road this season starting out ranked #27 in Kickoff, but with the south back in the fold and Presentation being added, the UMAC should continue to remain at the top of the pack for years to come.

[K-Mack]

Thanks for making the UMAC #1!!!  It's been a long road this season starting out ranked #27 in Kickoff, but with the south back in the fold and Presentation being added, the UMAC should continue to remain at the top of the pack for years to come.

+1 k

(speaking of long roads)

[Wabash Fiji]

I do not understand why Case Western Reserve is ranked so high.... They have an EASY schedule, and their wins have not been that impressive. Wabash should be ranked higher than Case.... especially because Wabash has a tougher schedule (because of Wittenberg) and the fact that Wabash has eliminated Case from the playoffs for the past 2 years... just a thought

WAF!

[wally_wabash]

To be fair, Wabash hasn't played anybody yet either.  Case has the fish stringer game against Wooster next weekend and Wabash gets Wittenberg the week after.  We're all excited, WF.  Be patient, friend...It'll sort itself out. 

[Wabash Fiji]

Yes, I agree... We have not played anyone either. I just believe we are the better team.... guess we'll have to knock them out for the 3rd year in a row!

WAF!

[Ralph Turner]

    

Re: Front-page surveys
« Reply #158 on: Yesterday at 08:41:06 pm »
   
Which Triple Take category does Bethel fit best this week?
None of the above:   26.1%
Game of the Week:   25.8%
They'll be on your radar:   25.5%
Upset special:   21.6%

333 votes

As I looked at the distribution of the votes from the previous Front-page Survey, this has to be the most random distribution of votes that I can recall.

[PA_wesleyfan]

  K-Mack how long did they keep you in the press box after the game? Sorry I missed you but I have been told that you sounded great doing the commentary

[K-Mack]

I do not understand why Case Western Reserve is ranked so high.... They have an EASY schedule, and their wins have not been that impressive. Wabash should be ranked higher than Case.... especially because Wabash has a tougher schedule (because of Wittenberg) and the fact that Wabash has eliminated Case from the playoffs for the past 2 years... just a thought

WAF!

To be fair, Wabash hasn't played anybody yet either.  Case has the fish stringer game against Wooster next weekend and Wabash gets Wittenberg the week after.  We're all excited, WF.  Be patient, friend...It'll sort itself out. 

Yes, I agree... We have not played anyone either. I just believe we are the better team.... guess we'll have to knock them out for the 3rd year in a row!

WAF!

Well since you're posting here and not on Top 25, I assume you're asking me ... I have the two pinned together in the top 25 pretty much since the start of the season, with Wabash one spot ahead. I think they were 14/15 this week ... I guess not all that far from 10/11.

Honestly I don't think either of you play the caliber of opponents of a lot of the teams in the top 10, and even if you go unbeaten, I'm going to have a hard time moving you up higher than teams with similar records but playing against better competition.

... If I had to guess why so high, I think a lot of these early rankings seem to be a reaction to where teams start off the season, and some kind of belief that you can't drop a team from 10th to out of the poll on a single loss. I don't really function that way, I try to re-evaluate everything as often as I can.

So if Case starts the season, say, 18th, and then eight teams ahead of them lose a game in the first five weeks, does that automatically make Case the 10th best team in the country? That's the question we have to ask ourselves.

To be quite honest, there are cases like Bethel at 2-2 with a last-second loss to No. 4 Wheaton and a two-point loss to No. 6 St. John's where Case and Wabash and Washington & Jefferson haven't played (and won't play) one team that good. Ohio Northern is 2-2 with losses to No. 1 Mount Union and No. 13 Otterbein (I think). Millsaps' losses are by a hair to Mississippi College and DePauw.

Winning games is the ultimate goal, but strength of schedule is a difficult thing to evaluate, and it's important to keep in mind when comparing teams. On one hand you can only play the teams you schedule. But on the other, I'm not necessarily going to reward a team for being 4-0 against a much-less challenging schedule than someone else is 3-1 against.

And then there's this Pat-ism ... it's not who you lost to, it's who you beat.

I could go on ...

cc: top 25 thread

[DutchFan2004]

You raise a great point Keith.  I do have a question about this though.  Not knowing and not following the other regions like you gurus in the know.  Does Hardin-Simmons being ranked so high for preseason really rate being a quality win with the record they now have?  At 1-4 with only a win over a 2-3 team can you call that a quality win this year.  I am not saying that HS is a slouch but when you talk of quality wins would a win over HS this year be a quality win.  I don't know the particulars on why HS is not playing up to the way they were expected to play.  Just curious on why or how you look at things.  To me a win against a quality program is not always a quality win as the program can have a down or rebuilding year.  Such as the Dutch experienced last year.  Just like to hear what your thoughts are. 

[Wabash Fiji]

I totally get what you are saying... I don't think Wabash is a top 5, or even top 10 team. I think they fall somewhere around 13-15. I understand that they really don't have much competition because of a weak division... I was just curious why Case was always edging them out...