Ufan, great summary of the game. Good luck to the Dutchmen( I can't change ) the rest of the way . I know this was a tough loss for Coach Drach against his old team but his deception on the TD pass and the couple of power sweeps were classic Drach plays.

Tight game at the Boz as Hobart offense struggles but defense smothers Union when it counted today. Hobart defense is maturing every game . The starting LBs are all Freshmen and 2 other starting DBs are Freshmen. We lose only 2 Senior starters  on Defense next year. I think we'll be in good shape next year but the offense needs improvement as we lose EJ Taylor.
   This year, the LL will come down to the Ithaca- RPI game and my money is on RPI despite their early season struggles. Well , Hobart now has the easy part of the schedule and can fine tune and develop the underclassmen to give them important experience for next year.

Quote from: IC798891 on October 09, 2026, 04:17:49 PM

Quote from: Machiavelli on October 09, 2026, 02:51:28 PMIt's literally still a 3 team race to win the conference, but....well, Ithaca is just a sexy name I guess. I loved it in Road Trip.

It's literally still four undefeated teams in the conference but....well, it's easier to complain about other people's biases rather than admit our own I guess.

I sense some serious Yellowjacket fear for tomorrow

Conference Ranking are updated for 2026, and the LL remains at #14 with the signature OOC win Hobart over Brockport(wow that's our best?) The article praises Ithaca as the likely conference champ. The LL was treated kindly in this evaluation IMO, and I think the race is wide open and there is plenty of time for the eventual champ to improve their squad for the NCAA playoffs.

Quote from: Bartman on October 07, 2026, 11:59:55 AMHobart hosts Ithaca at Cozzens Field today, a must win for these teams that want to keep up with the Saints. Hopefully the Statesmen will keep cooler heads and minimize cards today.

Hobart misses a penalty kick that would have made the difference. Ithaca makes a direct score on a beautiful corner kick, as Hobart ties it up for the draw with 8 minutes to go.

Hobart hosts Ithaca at Cozzens Field today, a must win for these teams that want to keep up with the Saints. Hopefully the Statesmen will keep cooler heads and minimize cards today.

Quote from: Machiavelli on October 06, 2026, 08:08:30 AMMaybe I HAVE gone crazy and I SHOULD delete my account....I just realized I'm quasi-defending Mt. Union...

Mach, I'm truly concerned about you😂

PICKS for WEEK SIX(26-6 on season including the wrong bonus pick against Cortland last week)

RPI.       56.    Buff. State.    10.   Sliderulers accumulating stats all day in Buffalo

Union.     24.    Hobart.         27.   Hobart salvages an upset win at the Boz with a late FG

Rochester  10.    Ithaca.         37.   Bombers swat away the Yellowjactets

SLU.       63.    Hilbert.         7.   Saints take their turn at the Pinata

RPI, Union and Ithaca getting ready for some big games in the next few weeks. Ithaca will continue to be the only LL team to get votes in the poll.       

Quote from: Machiavelli on October 04, 2026, 03:18:16 PM

Quote from: IC798891 on October 04, 2026, 02:16:01 PMHere's how the LL Top 3 breaks down

Union: 3 wins over teams with a combined record of 2-13, 2 losses to teams with a combined record of 8-1
RPI: 3 wins over teams with a combined record of 6-9, 2 losses to teams with a combined record of 8-2
Ithaca: 4 wins over teams with a combined record of 5-17, 1 loss to a team that is 1-3

None of the teams have a good win unless you're buying WPI at 4-1.

WPI has beaten:
0-5 UNE
1-4 Husson
3-2 Coast Guard
1-3 Norwich

Personally, that's a no from me. So IMO, we're parsing losses.

There's no way to put RPI over Union based on losses. Cortland is objectively a better loss than Utica, and there's no way losing 45-10 to Brockport is better than a loss OT to Susquehanna.

So it's Union ahead of RPI. What to do with Ithaca? One less loss, but it is, by far, the worst loss. And, the lousy 2nd half vs. Hobart means that they narrowly escaped with a win over a team RPI easily handled.

Thus, we have:

1. Union
2. RPI
3. Ithaca
4. Hobart
5. Rochester
6. St. Lawrence
7. Buffalo State
8. Hilbert

Your breakdown makes sense on paper. But recent games, momentum and history play into my thoughts. It's all speculation at this point, but just so my thoughts are clear, there it is.

I agree with Machs rankings, I can only say although Hobart laid an egg in Troy and played sloppy against Ithaca, there is no question that the better team Hobart played was RPI. I'm hoping that the team pulls it together against Union because right now we are just trying to get to third place in the LL and a decent Bowl game. I think since we are playing at the Boz , Union is beatable, but we'll have to play all four quarters for once this year. Of course Rochester is 2-0 in the Ll and we are 0-2 , so no assumptions made until the games are played. I think the league title will come down to the Shoes game and Ithaca needs to improve a lot before Cortaca, because Cortland beat a very good Utica squad.

Good summary by IC. Hobart played a very sloppy first half with bad passing and undisciplined play. They came out in the second half finally realizing the season was on the line and they played much better on defense, made some good throws and EJ never ever gave up with another 100 yard game. But the sloppiness continued with a critical unsportsmanlike deep in Ithaca territory that pretty much handed the game to the Bombers. You just can't do that. Hobart had enough talent to win this game and exposed the Ithaca Bombers weaknesses but just ****ed it up and ended a chance for the LL title. The BOZ juice wasn't enough today.
   Good luck to Ithaca who persisted today, and to RPI and Union for your opportunity to win the LL title .Hobart plays Union at the BOZ and am optimistic that we can prevail but not if we keep shooting ourselves in the foot with dumb penalties.

The Saints get 14 first downs against Union in a 49-7 loss last night, which shows improvement.
 Hobart has confirmed that QB Aidan Conrath will not be available today( he has shown great promise but can't stay on the field). Last year at Butterfield he started 9-10 in passing only to go down with a season ending injury. Backup QB Jeremy Weiss had a nightmare game against RPI last week, so hopefully the preparation this week will be evident. Hobart's back is up against the wall and they need to find the secret sauce from 2 years ago when they had 2 glorious goal line stands that led to a win over the Bombers and eventually a LL title.
I am realistic about the odds but the BOZ magic can never be discounted. It's beautiful football weather for a LL upset.

Quote from: Caz Bombers on October 02, 2026, 11:38:31 AMthe way I heard it was the LL recruited Bard as opposed to Bard actively seeking admission. When RIT and Ithaca applied together the LL was delighted to have RIT and didn't want IC at the time. The ADs were very much opposed to Bard and correctly so.

The league members won't kick anyone out but people who know things have told me Bard coaches and AD are extremely tired of having their heads bashed in all the time; they basically have a PIF for themselves but  if it doesn't work out in a few years they will look for alternate conference arrangements.

RIT  bringing  back football works for me, I'll start the rumor!

Quote from: tony/troy on October 02, 2026, 09:58:35 AM

Quote from: Bartman on October 02, 2026, 08:05:05 AMNice contributions by Tony troy and stlawus. One idea I like that stlawus put forth is saying good bye to Bard and replacing them with St. John Fisher as a full member. It helps the LL football issue(no disrespect to Hilbert but they need to find another home or Buff State can swap with Fisher and return to the E8) and Fisher is competitive in all sports. As far as Ithaca, they've totally lifted the LL profile in sports , I just hate that we can't beat them in football at Butterfield, so it sucks to be reminded of that every other year.

St. John Fisher is not a bad idea at all. However, just wonder if enough uppity institutions (one of which i follow) or very progressive liberal arts institutions would ever vote yes in sufficient numbers to having a religious institution in their conference as a full member.

Remember that St. Lawrence is not named after a saint. It is named after a river.

Good point. Hobart produced more Episcopal Church Bishops(30) than any other college since Bishop John Henry Hobart founded Geneva College in 1822. Hobart is now "loosely affiliated"and the current President is a good "Boston Catholic", so Fisher has Hobart's vote. 

Nice contributions by Tony troy and stlawus. One idea I like that stlawus put forth is saying good bye to Bard and replacing them with St. John Fisher as a full member. It helps the LL football issue(no disrespect to Hilbert but they need to find another home or Buff State can swap with Fisher and return to the E8) and Fisher is competitive in all sports. As far as Ithaca, they've totally lifted the LL profile in sports , I just hate that we can't beat them in football at Butterfield, so it sucks to be reminded of that every other year.

WEEK FOUR PICS generated after running my LLC today::

RPI.       70.       Hilbert       7.     Hilbert needs their new stadium

Union.     42.       SLU.          10.    Saints find the end zone....once

Rochester. 47.       Buffalo State  7.    Yellowjackets  dominate

Ithaca.    35.       Hobart        24.    Hobart falls to 2-3 and 0-2 in LL

I think Hobart is going to come out and leverage the home field for a half, but Ithaca is just the better team this year. I hope I am wrong, but I'm not expecting it.I'm more optimistic about Union next week.
Bonus Pick:

Cortland.     28.       Utica.        31.    I think Utica is the best team in the region, but they will have to earn it Saturday