FB: Liberty League

[Bartman]

"Incorrect. Based on what I see, D3 awards 28 team titles in D3. So since 2024, that's 84 team titles." IC, I was looking at the entire history of D3 Championships , and when looking at that data set I was not incorrect. I will acknowledge there is a recent trend towards high Endowment colleges winning a higher percentage of Championships which seems to be your point. They can pay higher salaries to coaches , fund more sports and offer "need" based scholarships to more athletes. This is all obvious, but the "little guy" still has a chance when setting the right priorities . HWS only has about 250MM in Endowment , but still has 20 National titles in its history, and I think Ithaca , also under a Billion  has a pretty good Championship history. I'm hoping we can still compete at a high level for Championships, that is what D3 should be about.

[Bartman]

As far as budgets are concerned, I was glad to see an Alfred-Hobart JV football game yesterday.  I was happy for all of the D3 athletes to get a chance to see the field after all of the practices. By the way, Hobart seems to have recruited some depth as they won the game 38-0, which means it's even more important to fund a JV schedule, to keep the boys hungry.

[IC798891]

I was looking at the entire history of D3 Championships ...Ithaca , also under a Billion  has a pretty good Championship history.

But things are different now in D3. The best coaches are getting poached to go to higher divisions, and that's causing a ripple effect.

Ithaca's actually a great example of this

Tufts soccer won four NCAA titles with Josh Shapiro. He got hired by Harvard, so Tufts hired Ithaca's Kyle Dezotell, who had just guided Ithaca to a Top 10 ranking and its first NCAA win in 17 years. Dezotell won a title at Tufts in 2025.

NYU men's hoops made the title game in 2025 (I incorrectly credited them with winning it in a previous post) with Dave Klatsky. Klatsky got poached by Florida, so NYU hired Ithaca's Waleed Farid, who had just been named Region Coach of the Year by this very website and guided Ithaca to the second round of the playoffs.

And of course, Ithaca's last two football head coaches were poached by Ivy League institutions.

I think you're going to see this more and more.

[IC798891]

My mistake with NYU hoops notwithstanding, there's a very common common thread running the six schools that have captured ~30% of the team titles in D3 the past three years.

1) Endowments in the billions. Now, obviously they all have much bigger student bodies than our schools so of course their endowments need to be much bigger. I will make the admittance that perhaps on a per student basis, they aren't as drastically different.

2) They're all within spitting distance of major cities

3) Their academic reputations give them national brand recognition, which massively increases their recruiting base. Coupled with their massive student bodies -- as seen in point 1 -- they're not the colleges at risk of closing/merging with this coming demographic shift. Which also helps prospective students and their parents feel good about the value of that degree.

I don't think it's a coincidence that we're seeing a shift towards these types of schools winning it all more frequently, and being represented in the upper reaches of the Director's Cup. Yeah, you might not see it in football, and sure, it's not a guarantee of anything. But like a lot of things we deal with today, being rich makes life a lot easier

[unionpalooza]

My mistake with NYU hoops notwithstanding, there's a very common common thread running the six schools that have captured ~30% of the team titles in D3 the past three years.

1) Endowments in the billions. Now, obviously they all have much bigger student bodies than our schools so of course their endowments need to be much bigger. I will make the admittance that perhaps on a per student basis, they aren't as drastically different.

2) They're all within spitting distance of major cities

3) Their academic reputations give them national brand recognition, which massively increases their recruiting base. Coupled with their massive student bodies -- as seen in point 1 -- they're not the colleges at risk of closing/merging with this coming demographic shift. Which also helps prospective students and their parents feel good about the value of that degree.

I don't think it's a coincidence that we're seeing a shift towards these types of schools winning it all more frequently, and being represented in the upper reaches of the Director's Cup. Yeah, you might not see it in football, and sure, it's not a guarantee of anything. But like a lot of things we deal with today, being rich makes life a lot easier

My mistake with NYU hoops notwithstanding, there's a very common common thread running the six schools that have captured ~30% of the team titles in D3 the past three years.

1) Endowments in the billions. Now, obviously they all have much bigger student bodies than our schools so of course their endowments need to be much bigger. I will make the admittance that perhaps on a per student basis, they aren't as drastically different.

2) They're all within spitting distance of major cities

3) Their academic reputations give them national brand recognition, which massively increases their recruiting base. Coupled with their massive student bodies -- as seen in point 1 -- they're not the colleges at risk of closing/merging with this coming demographic shift. Which also helps prospective students and their parents feel good about the value of that degree.

I don't think it's a coincidence that we're seeing a shift towards these types of schools winning it all more frequently, and being represented in the upper reaches of the Director's Cup. Yeah, you might not see it in football, and sure, it's not a guarantee of anything. But like a lot of things we deal with today, being rich makes life a lot easier

My mistake with NYU hoops notwithstanding, there's a very common common thread running the six schools that have captured ~30% of the team titles in D3 the past three years.

1) Endowments in the billions. Now, obviously they all have much bigger student bodies than our schools so of course their endowments need to be much bigger. I will make the admittance that perhaps on a per student basis, they aren't as drastically different.

2) They're all within spitting distance of major cities

3) Their academic reputations give them national brand recognition, which massively increases their recruiting base. Coupled with their massive student bodies -- as seen in point 1 -- they're not the colleges at risk of closing/merging with this coming demographic shift. Which also helps prospective students and their parents feel good about the value of that degree.

I don't think it's a coincidence that we're seeing a shift towards these types of schools winning it all more frequently, and being represented in the upper reaches of the Director's Cup. Yeah, you might not see it in football, and sure, it's not a guarantee of anything. But like a lot of things we deal with today, being rich makes life a lot easier

The other thing common across the top of the Director's Cup standing (and not unrelated to endowment) is almost all of those schools are need blind.  It's an incredible advantage if you can recruit kids without worrying about what they can pay - only a very small number of schools/programs can do that.

[Bartman]

All good points on the advantage of wealth in sports. I always thought the Yellowjackets football would finally rise based on their advantage , but it seems to be a slow improvement.

[unionpalooza]

All good points on the advantage of wealth in sports. I always thought the Yellowjackets football would finally rise based on their advantage , but it seems to be a slow improvement.

Keep in mind Rochester is not as rich as they look.  Almost half of their endowment is tied up in the medical school/center, and another 10% in the music school.  And they have discount tuition very heavily to fill their class (~50%, same as Ithaca and Union). The Northeast is a very crowded recruiting market, and every high-need athlete you bring in means you can't bring in a high-need high-academic non-athlete that sustains your selectivity profile.  (Obviously some kids are both, but there isn't enough of those to go around.)

[Bartman]

All good points on the advantage of wealth in sports. I always thought the Yellowjackets football would finally rise based on their advantage , but it seems to be a slow improvement.

Keep in mind Rochester is not as rich as they look.  Almost half of their endowment is tied up in the medical school/center, and another 10% in the music school.  And they have discount tuition very heavily to fill their class (~50%, same as Ithaca and Union). The Northeast is a very crowded recruiting market, and every high-need athlete you bring in means you can't bring in a high-need high-academic non-athlete that sustains your selectivity profile.  (Obviously some kids are both, but there isn't enough of those to go around.)

Everyone has to give deep discounts these days,I know at HWS only a handful are full payers. In the old days there were many full payer families, but now every income level is a shopper, making the "list" price look ridiculous . HWS had a record incoming FY class of 568 with over 40 transfers that, even with the discounting, the revenue level is looking good. Hopefully that continues, as the macro environment is very challenging.   

[Bartman]

Glad to see EJ Taylor getting LL recognition for last weeks performance against Alfred. Even more encouraging is that FY linebacker MJ Wells from Rochester was named Rookie of the week. This young man has had an immediate impact on the program and will be a menace to opponents  all year.

[Bartman]

Finally, WEEK ONE of the 2026 season. My clueless predictions:

Hopkins.      28.        Ithaca.      14.    Close game in first half, Blue Jays pull away.
Hobart.        31.        Alfred.      17.    Statesmen start to gel in opener
Union.         20.        Susquehanna. 28.    A close one, but Union misses Patch
U of R.      14.        Case Western 35.    Not enough O for the Yellowjackets
RPI.          31.        WPI.        14.    Sliderulers Bowl won by Troyletites
Buffalo St.    7.        Brockport.  35.    Golden Eagles could have scored many more
SLU.          27.        Norwich.    17      Saints beat the Cadets
St. Vincent.  45.        Hilbert.      7.    Hilbert scores on last drive.

The LL takes on some tough opponents and a 3-5 opening in WEEK ONE.

Perfect picks last week, but this week is more challenging as the better E8 v. LL teams clash.

SLU.             17.  SJF.        21  The Larries fail to stop critical drives at Fisher
Utica.           21.  RPI.        24  Sliderulers pull it out with late FG
Morr ST.      14.  Uof R.      21  Yellowjackets protect the House
Buffalo St.     7.  Hartwick. 10  No Offense to speak of from these two
Brockport.   24.  Hobart.    28  EJ stopped,but Aidan Conrath has a career day in the air
Cortland.     17.  Union       21  The Dragons are screwed on late PI call
Alfred.         14.  Ithaca.     30  Lots of yards for the Bombers
Hilbert.          7.  Alfred St. 35  Hilbert ....what can I say, they scored
 
I'm leaning LL in the top tier matchups( against Logan Hansen's picks), but it could easily go the E8 way.

[Machiavelli]

Apparently I forgot to pick the Union game last week(not intentional), but I would've picked Susquehanna in any case. So I'll put my record at 7-1 after incorrectly picking the Stagg Bowl preview Case Western vs. Rochester game. I guess it's already time for Week 2!

Mach's Glorious Week 2 Picks:

Cortland - 31
Union - 21
Union's week 1 was impressive taking Sus to OT. Cortland beat a solid Grove City team last week pretty handily. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it feels like a coin flip game. I'm gonna give the future gym teachers the nod, but this should be a good game.

St. John Fisher - 35
St. Lawrence - 14
St. Lawrence got 1 of their 3-4 wins already. I think Fisher beats them up.

Buff St. - 21
Hartwick - 24
For the sake of the LL, I really wish Buff State could rep this week. Hartwick isn't good. But Buff St. stinks.

MooVille - 20
Rochester - 24
Rochester got manhandled last week by the odds-on 2026 National Champ. MooVille was 0-10 last year, but got a W in Week 1 against a poor Kean team. Rochester won by 16 a year ago, but I think this may be closer. I guess I'll give this below mediocre matchup to the Bumble Bees.

Utica - 17
RPI - 21
I can't tell if this is a homer pick or not. I thought RPI looked pretty solid last week. QB hung in the pocket and made some great throws. Running game was solid. Defense was flying around, but had a few lapses. Utica won big last year, but the game is in Troy and I want to think RPI is the LL team to beat this year. This week will give some indication if I'm way off.

Brockport - 38
Hobart - 31
Man, this is a tough week to pick! Brockport beating the Buffaloes 68-0 tells us nothing. Hobart had a nice, but close, win over Alfred who is at least above average. This was a nailbiter a year ago at Brockport. While I want to give 'Bart the nod at the Boz, Brockport scares me a bit. Going with BPort.

Alfred - 10
Ithaca - 28
I was impressed with Ithaca's showing last week. This could be a tight first half, but I like Ithaca to run away a bit in the 2nd half.

Dilbert - 3
Alfred St - 56
Alfred St started off as Dilbert winning 1 game/year in their first 6 seasons(granted, those wins were against Pop Warner teams). Dilbert is now in year 5 and is 0-36. Last year they were outscored 448-78 with a ~37 point losing margin. So it took Alfred State about a decade to rise above the bottom feeders. Dilbert isn't A bottom feeder, they are THE bottom feeder. The Pioneers win big and easy.

Look, by my religion, I can't ever route for Union, but beating Cortland would be a big W for the LL and I think it's entirely on the table. Would also love to see Hobart, RPI, Roch-Vegas and maybe even Buff St get wins. At best, the LL could go 6-2, at worst 1-7. I think 3-5 has the most likelihood.

[Ice Bear]

Apparently I forgot to pick the Union game last week(not intentional), but I would've picked Susquehanna in any case. So I'll put my record at 7-1 after incorrectly picking the Stagg Bowl preview Case Western vs. Rochester game. I guess it's already time for Week 2!

Mach's Glorious Week 2 Picks:

Cortland - 31
Union - 21
Union's week 1 was impressive taking Sus to OT. Cortland beat a solid Grove City team last week pretty handily. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it feels like a coin flip game. I'm gonna give the future gym teachers the nod, but this should be a good game.

St. John Fisher - 35
St. Lawrence - 14
St. Lawrence got 1 of their 3-4 wins already. I think Fisher beats them up.

Buff St. - 21
Hartwick - 24
For the sake of the LL, I really wish Buff State could rep this week. Hartwick isn't good. But Buff St. stinks.

MooVille - 20
Rochester - 24
Rochester got manhandled last week by the odds-on 2026 National Champ. MooVille was 0-10 last year, but got a W in Week 1 against a poor Kean team. Rochester won by 16 a year ago, but I think this may be closer. I guess I'll give this below mediocre matchup to the Bumble Bees.[/i]

Utica - 17
RPI - 21
I can't tell if this is a homer pick or not. I thought RPI looked pretty solid last week. QB hung in the pocket and made some great throws. Running game was solid. Defense was flying around, but had a few lapses. Utica won big last year, but the game is in Troy and I want to think RPI is the LL team to beat this year. This week will give some indication if I'm way off.

Brockport - 38
Hobart - 31
Man, this is a tough week to pick! Brockport beating the Buffaloes 68-0 tells us nothing. Hobart had a nice, but close, win over Alfred who is at least above average. This was a nailbiter a year ago at Brockport. While I want to give 'Bart the nod at the Boz, Brockport scares me a bit. Going with BPort.

Alfred - 10
Ithaca - 28
I was impressed with Ithaca's showing last week. This could be a tight first half, but I like Ithaca to run away a bit in the 2nd half.

Dilbert - 3
Alfred St - 56
Alfred St started off as Dilbert winning 1 game/year in their first 6 seasons(granted, those wins were against Pop Warner teams). Dilbert is now in year 5 and is 0-36. Last year they were outscored 448-78 with a ~37 point losing margin. So it took Alfred State about a decade to rise above the bottom feeders. Dilbert isn't A bottom feeder, they are THE bottom feeder. The Pioneers win big and easy.

Look, by my religion, I can't ever route for Union, but beating Cortland would be a big W for the LL and I think it's entirely on the table. Would also love to see Hobart, RPI, Roch-Vegas and maybe even Buff St get wins. At best, the LL could go 6-2, at worst 1-7. I think 3-5 has the most likelihood.

LMFAO Mach!

[Jonny Utah]

Ithaca College will be playing its first ever night game Saturday night at 6pm.  Should be fun.

[IC798891]

Also, the pep band is returning!

[Bartman]

Also, the pep band is returning!

Wait, how do all those classically trained Music majors do the pep band thing? Love it, I hope Alfred brings their Pep Band and you have battling bands at half time. I grew up going to a bunch of Ivy football games and the halftimes were awesome with a themed halftime with both bands,  topics narrated by the announcer, mostly tongue in cheek stuff.....except for Cornell that had a straight up boring marching band. Bring all the bands back!.