FB: Liberty League

[MRMIKESMITH]

They should be ahead of Heidelberg because they are Mount Union and they've earned it. You know who they are, and perhaps they aren't a top 10 team, but they are 2-2, with a 1-point loss to what is being perceived as the the #2 team in the country. I know who these other teams losses are to, but Wartburg, Bethel and UW-Lacrosse have been given some grace with their 2-2 records. Lacrosse aside, those programs can't hold a candle to Mt. Union historically, and I don't often buy it, but in this case, history should hold a little extra weight.

And hell, you guys have Salisbury at 12. They played the equivalent of Mt. Ida 4 times, scraping by TCNJ who got beat much worse by something called Juniata. I know, I know, Salisbury was already up there and they don't have a loss to drop them. And next you will ask, who should Mt. Union be in front of...I know the drill, I know the drill.

In Summary, my main point still stands, I'd take Mt. Union head-to-head over about 15 of those top 25 teams. I know this is a moment in time(and perhaps I'm wrong), but it feels premature that they are fully out. But it's just a poll, and I was making an observation. I'm not gonna go crazy over it and delete my account. Just making some conversation.

P.S. - Congrats, Pat, by the way!

What did we do to anyone? I mean W&L is 3-1, Catholic lost to both F&M and Carnegie Mellon by an average of 9 points, F&M is 4-0, Carnegie is 2-2, losing to 3-1 John Carrol and Berry by an avg of 8 points. I can't speak for McDaniel  . I know transitive properties are moot, but come on...

[Machiavelli]

Oh there was no ill intent. I like Salisbury and they are always good. But it's true they haven't done anything impressive so far this year and it's hard to say they are the 12th best team in the country at this point. I don't hate it, but you could speculate. And they have a strong history, just not Mt. Union strong. If those 2 went head to head this weekend, I'd take Mt. Union. And look, maybe I'm way wrong, it's just really weird to see 'Dropped Out: Mount Union'. They probably have the best loss in the country so far, which means little. But Heidelberg is their total drag. I'm a big Endicott fan and it's weird seeing them in the single digits this early on in the year, but they have that impressive win against Mary Hardin-Baylor so it's earned.

I think if UW-Assless Chapsville were a school, they'd probably be up there for sure. Does Bethel's 42-16 loss to John Carroll look better than Mount's 1 point loss to Wheaton? I don't know. It's a tough job and they are usually pretty darn accurate, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see Mount back up there towards the end. But maybe they disappear entirely this year too. Makes it fun.

Wait til a NESCAC team beats Sister Anita's Community College in Round 1. They will be top 10 immediately.

[UfanBill]

Oh there was no ill intent. I like Salisbury and they are always good. But it's true they haven't done anything impressive so far this year and it's hard to say they are the 12th best team in the country at this point. I don't hate it, but you could speculate. And they have a strong history, just not Mt. Union strong. If those 2 went head to head this weekend, I'd take Mt. Union. And look, maybe I'm way wrong, it's just really weird to see 'Dropped Out: Mount Union'. They probably have the best loss in the country so far, which means little. But Heidelberg is their total drag. I'm a big Endicott fan and it's weird seeing them in the single digits this early on in the year, but they have that impressive win against Mary Hardin-Baylor so it's earned.

I think if UW-Assless Chapsville were a school, they'd probably be up there for sure. Does Bethel's 42-16 loss to John Carroll look better than Mount's 1 point loss to Wheaton? I don't know. It's a tough job and they are usually pretty darn accurate, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see Mount back up there towards the end. But maybe they disappear entirely this year too. Makes it fun.

Wait til a NESCAC team beats Sister Anita's Community College in Round 1. They will be top 10 immediately.

Massey already has Trinity Ct #3 and Wesleyan #7 with 3 other NESCAC teams in his Top 25 and ALL ahead of Endicott.    https://masseyratings.com/cf2026/ncaa-d3/ratings 

[Machiavelli]

UFanBill - that is some funny ish. Love it. That Massey math equation definitely removes the common sense element.

Anyway, some quick predictions for this week as I'm trying to stay off-track at work...

Mach's Procrastinating Week 6 Predictions

I'm now at 25-6 on the year. Hoping to continue some statistical improvement before it gets really hard.

RPI - 70
Buff State - 0
I'd love to see RPI go 153-0 in a 2-week span and 186-7 over 3-weeks.

Rochester - 6
Ithaca - 51
Rochester was barely able to squeak by Buff St. What little I thought of them got littler.

Union - 21
Hobart - 24
Clearly the game of the week. Truthfully I don't know what to make of it. Hobart seems to be a hit or miss team. But their strength might be their defense and Union's offense still doesn't have me sold. I'll take 'Bart at the Boz, but could go either way.

St. Lawrence - 31
Hilbert - 6
Tickets for this one are flying off the shelves on StubHub. Hilbert doesn't have a single PAT or 2-Pt conversion this year, so I'm cleverly giving them 6 points.

Curious to see what happens in Geneva.

[Ice Bear]

UFanBill - that is some funny ish. Love it. That Massey math equation definitely removes the common sense element.

Anyway, some quick predictions for this week as I'm trying to stay off-track at work...

Mach's Procrastinating Week 6 Predictions

I'm now at 25-6 on the year. Hoping to continue some statistical improvement before it gets really hard.

RPI - 70
Buff State - 0
I'd love to see RPI go 153-0 in a 2-week span and 186-7 over 3-weeks.

Rochester - 6
Ithaca - 51
Rochester was barely able to squeak by Buff St. What little I thought of them got littler.

Union - 21
Hobart - 24
Clearly the game of the week. Truthfully I don't know what to make of it. Hobart seems to be a hit or miss team. But their strength might be their defense and Union's offense still doesn't have me sold. I'll take 'Bart at the Boz, but could go either way.

St. Lawrence - 31
Hilbert - 6
Tickets for this one are flying off the shelves on StubHub. Hilbert doesn't have a single PAT or 2-Pt conversion this year, so I'm cleverly giving them 6 points.

Curious to see what happens in Geneva.

Can't disagree with any of these, not one. Like Mach, I think the Union/Pumkinhead matchup could absolutely go either way. I think we know that Hobart is inconsistent, with the ability to beat anyone in the LL and also the ability to lay an egg. Much also IMHO, depends on the QB playing. Such a tough position, one that can have such a huge effect on the direction of a game.

I think with Union we still don't know what is going on in relation to the rest of the league. Tomorrow will give us a good idea if this team can be viewed as one who can defeat the likes of Ithaca and RPI or a team that can beat up teams they are supposed to beat up but is not yet ready to be atop of the league. Big day for all in Garnet but especially Luke Sheenen and Brady Markowski.

[Bartman]

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.

[IC798891]

Probably fair, though I think there's a decent chance that Ithaca and Union would have had the same W-L as the other were their schedules flipped.

[ICGrad]

Link for aforementioned conference rankings:

https://d3football.com/columns/around-the-nation/2026/ranking-the-conferences-for-2026

[Machiavelli]

It'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.

[IC798891]

It'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.

[Bartman]

It'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

[IC798891]

Why are we treating Rochester like they're Buff State?

Here were their results against the LL's "Big 4"

RPI: 31-3 loss
Ithaca: 10-6 loss. Led Bombers in 2nd half, had a 1st and 10 at IC 15 with less than two minutes to go
Union: 14-10 loss. Had a first and goal at Union 8 with 2:00 to go.
Hobart: 28-21 loss in OT

Yeah, RPI waxed them, but they were highly competitive in the other three games. If we're going to be literal about the LL race, including them seems more than fair