FB: Middle Atlantic Conference

[kate]

At the half, your prediction looks right.

[kate]

Huge Congratulations to King's for winning yesterday and heading to that second round, and also, huge congrats to FDU for winning their game in the MAC/CC challenge!   

[Pat Coleman]

Gagliardi Trophy Finalists Show going live at the top of the hour:
https://www.d3football.com/notables/2024/12/gagliardi-finalists-show

[PBR...]

DelVal's 2025 Schedule is out... Tougher games will be home this year. 

https://athletics.delval.edu/sports/football/schedule

[Pat Coleman]

Del Val's schedule has been on D3football.com since April 8.

[PBR...]

Yes but not here, why I posted it here.

[HansenRatings]

Just posted on Twitter: 2025 Conference Preview

Already since I've posted this, I've been informed that Osman Kamara has transferred from King's. The next man up for defensive returners is McCabe Piavis (DL) from Alvernia.

(right click and open in new tab for better resolution)

[jmcozenlaw]

I looked at the two deep from the DelVal vs. Hampden-Sydney game this weekend last year and the Aggies have lost 33 out of that top 44 (HS has about 72% of their top 44 back). This should be an interesting game as a result.

As far as the MAC is concerned, the Aggies lost their top 2 QB's, top 3 RB's, 5 out of their six top WR's and 2 of their starting OL. On the defensive side, they lost all of their defensive line, their two stud LB's (one moved up to D2 Assumption) and both safeties.

As I predicted the Aggies MAC streak to end last season, this is another year for a handful of teams to be able to pick them off. I think the Aggies will always be in the hunt, but the days of undefeated MAC seasons for a handful of consecutive years is over in my opinion, for many reasons.

I'm looking forward to a great year and hope to see a few people on the board in addition to Kate.

[jmcozenlaw]

I looked at the two deep from the DelVal vs. Hampden-Sydney game this weekend last year and the Aggies have lost 33 out of that top 44 (HS has about 72% of their top 44 back). This should be an interesting game as a result.

As far as the MAC is concerned, the Aggies lost their top 2 QB's, top 3 RB's, 5 out of their six top WR's and 2 of their starting OL. On the defensive side, they lost all of their defensive line, their two stud LB's (one moved up to D2 Assumption) and both safeties.

As I predicted the Aggies MAC streak to end last season, this is another year for a handful of teams to be able to pick them off. I think the Aggies will always be in the hunt, but the days of undefeated MAC seasons for a handful of consecutive years is over in my opinion, for many reasons.

I'm looking forward to a great year and hope to see a few people on the board in addition to Kate.

I'd say that I had a good call above regarding the HS game...........but quite a bit of the information has come to me from the inside of the program. From those who have been around for close to 20 years, this might be the worst Aggies roster since before the turnaround under G.A. Mangus in 2003. The scariest part is that most of the Aggies starting 22 yesterday are seniors. While this is a young team overall, it's not young with offensive and defensive starters. If you are going to be average or worse, play the young guys and see what you've got heading into the recruiting season and dominate the portal.

I'll make my MAC prediction during the week, but suffice it to say, it will be the lowest I've predicted the Aggies to finish since 2003.

[PBR...]

I looked at the two deep from the DelVal vs. Hampden-Sydney game this weekend last year and the Aggies have lost 33 out of that top 44 (HS has about 72% of their top 44 back). This should be an interesting game as a result.

As far as the MAC is concerned, the Aggies lost their top 2 QB's, top 3 RB's, 5 out of their six top WR's and 2 of their starting OL. On the defensive side, they lost all of their defensive line, their two stud LB's (one moved up to D2 Assumption) and both safeties.

As I predicted the Aggies MAC streak to end last season, this is another year for a handful of teams to be able to pick them off. I think the Aggies will always be in the hunt, but the days of undefeated MAC seasons for a handful of consecutive years is over in my opinion, for many reasons.

I'm looking forward to a great year and hope to see a few people on the board in addition to Kate.

I'd say that I had a good call above regarding the HS game...........but quite a bit of the information has come to me from the inside of the program. From those who have been around for close to 20 years, this might be the worst Aggies roster since before the turnaround under G.A. Mangus in 2003. The scariest part is that most of the Aggies starting 22 yesterday are seniors. While this is a young team overall, it's not young with offensive and defensive starters. If you are going to be average or worse, play the young guys and see what you've got heading into the recruiting season and dominate the portal.

I'll make my MAC prediction during the week, but suffice it to say, it will be the lowest I've predicted the Aggies to finish since 2003.

I am not living in PA anymore.... Thankfully have moved to FL many moons ago. A bunch of alumni still get together and talk but no one is that close to the football program anymore. Sounds concerning with that much turnover and not restocking the shelves. Not sure what is going on if true... Have to see what goes on with this year. PBR out...

[jmcozenlaw]

2025 MAC Predictions (without records):

1. Eastern - Youngest team in the conference last year, lost just about nobody and crushed the portal
2. Stevenson - Very young team last year with some impact transfers
3. King's - Lost a ton but did a great job with incoming impact players
4. Widener - Brought a lot back and grabbed a few impact portal players
5. LebVal - Lost a few key pieces but bring a lot back
6. DelVal - Lost a motherlode and did a brutal job reloading everywhere except for WR. Defense is a sieve
7. Misericordia - Second youngest team in the conference last year but still missing players in key areas
8. FDU - Lost a lot, bring back a few key players, but will fall back from last year
9. Alvernia - I don't get it. They built a wrestling national powerhouse quickly but can't get this right
10. Albright - School almost closed last year and not out of the woods. Can't help with recruiting

In an above post, I cited how many players (33 out of 44) that DelVal lost from their two deep roster to open the season last year. More discouraging, most of the starters on both sides of the ball this year are seniors so this might be a multi-year rebuild.

If they can come out of the box and beat King's tomorrow, maybe the season isn't nearly as bad as I think it might be. If they lose, they might have the worst season on record in the last 20+ years and the next recruiting cycle will be paramount.

This game is 90% recruiting (as Jimmy Johnson once famously said, "it's the Jimmy's and the Joe's......not the X's and the O's) and 10% coaching. The program has had coaches who were recruiting masters over many years. This staff might get one more chance this offseason. Nobody wants to be at the helm when a 20+ year powerhouse hits the crapper!

[gordonmann]

Last week was definitely disappointing, especially the play along both lines. It's hard to win when you get outgained on the ground 237-61 and have zero sacks (a stunning stat considering DelVal's run of front-seven All-americans).

But hopefully today will be better. The coaches on the staff have had recruiting responsibilities for a while and know what it takes to win.