Monmouth

[ngineer]

Talk of stepping back from D1 sports is bizarre thinking due to a bad run for the football program. As mentioned above, Holy Cross & Fordham seem to demonstrate that we can be competitive with the right leadership.

Wrestling has the horsepower this year to return to its rightful place in the Top 10 & is loaded with a stable of talent to maintain that.

Clearly those championing for Chechini over Gilmore didn’t know what they were talking about based on his record at Bucknell. Are these the same people advocating dropping to D3?

Get a life as we can turn this program around just like Wrestling is about to do.

When does wrestling season start????!!

I did not advocate for dropping to D-3. I was pointing out the similarities we have with D-3 schools, but that the the train left the station long ago on that. Dropping football as a PL sport would still allow all other sports to be D-1. WRESTLING is D-1 and not a Patriot League sport. A good portion of PL schools do NOT have football. Alternatively, football can be the same, but step out of the arena with the football factories of FCS football, as the Ivies have done. We can still have our close knit group of 7 and play other D-1 FCS level schools with whom we can compete and an occasional lower tier FBS for sh!ts and giggles. The problem is the MONEY. We do not and will not spend at the level the Delawares, Montanas, NDSUs do. We also don't have the liberal admissions policies they do, nor the redshirting they do. Why keep banging the head against the wall? Maybe create an association with the IL that would have the Ivy champ play the PL champ for some kind of leather helmet trophy and be satisfied. The talk of building a program that can seriously challenge for the NCAA FCS championship of 20 years ago is no longer realistic and we need to face it. Yes, Holy Cross is having a nice run, right now, but how long will it last? We had some nice runs, too (1998-2005) was pretty good. We had a short rebound from 2010-17, with a couple stinkers thrown in). They never last. There is always a break in coaching as most use us as stepping stones to greener pastures. The kids Lehigh recruits are not planning to play on Sunday. They and their parents are looking for a high quality education that will parlay into a good career for their son or daughter, but where they can still compete in a quality athletics program that is complimentary to the educational goals, as opposed to being an end in itself.

[Richb-3]

When the Patriot League was founded, before it became a most sports there was talk of a "bowl game" with the Ivy league. Must have lasted nearly 10 years before OL decided it was not going to happen, and decided to go to to the playoffs. But in those days PL was beating up on IL. Not so much now.

One suspect hat had PL been in the Playoffs from day 1, those early Cross teams had solid shots at the title, especially 1987.

[ngineer]

Yes, that was because they their teams were made up of scholarship recruits, which the other PL schools did not have..After a few years, they 'came down to earth' when the playing field was leveled.

[Richb-3]

Yes, that was because they their teams were made up of scholarship recruits, which the other PL schools did not have..After a few years, they 'came down to earth' when the playing field was leveled.

Everyone knows that, but it might have been a boost for the league to start off with that title, even if alittle tainted. obviously the "Academic Bowl" did nothing for us.

[Sundayamqb]

When was the last time a Lehigh Division I team was in the running for a national title?

In the quarterfinals, say, of the playoffs, or Top 8?

(I can name few times.)

How often does this happen?

Did someone say basketball is competitive nationally? Because it won one game in the NCAAs many years ago?

Years ago on the wrestling room wall -- maybe it's still there -- was a sign that said something to the effect of "We want national champions."

Back then, there were a (relative) lot for a university like ours.

But in wrestling, like most everything else -- especially football, basketball and baseball -- we will NEVER win a D-I TEAM title.

A) Are you OK with that, finances aside, competing in a division impossible to win the title?

B) Are all of you OK with, in most cases, the pinnacle being winning a PL title, then getting a win or two in the playoffs every once in a while?

Preparing students for all the things I mentioned in my previous posts beats winning national championships IMHO, but setting your players up to fail (and it could happen with crappy coaching in DIII, too) isn't productive.

The NCAA world is changing -- and we seem to be stuck in the old world. I don't know what the solution is, but "better" coaching, and it can't just be winning games, can't be the only answer to what keeps Lehigh sports programs from being among the elite in its NCAA classification.

[LUFAN]

The NCAA world is changing -- and we seem to be stuck in the old world. I don't know what the solution is, but "better" coaching, and it can't just be winning games, can't be the only answer to what keeps Lehigh sports programs from being among the elite in its NCAA classification.

What changed things for Holy Cross football in 2017?