Lehigh Sports Forum

28 days until we tip for real.

Prediction time ....

I’ll go first, Nic Lynch will be Rookie of the Year in the PL.

Nice to have a wake up call here with all the turmoil over on the football side.

With the exception of Kahron, we have pretty much everyone back. And we were darn competitive in the 2nd half last year. If big Nic is as advertised and we stay healthy this could be a special group. Miami, Kansas State, West Virginia....The Good Doctor seems optimistic by scheduling these guys.

I'll play along. These could both be considered optimistic predictions, but I don't think overly so. I predict Andree to make first team All-PL and Cohen to make third team.

I'm also going to hedge 90's prediction. I think Lynch will be a great addition to the team, but Jeameril Wilson will make the larger statistical impact of the freshman.

This may be a bit heretical to many of our Lehigh brethren, but here goes......

Interesting discussions over on the FCS "AnyGivenSunday" board and on the Bucknell board. Is it worth it to the Patriot league schools to increase football support ($$$$, reshirt rules, roster size, etc.) to increase alumni & student engagement as well as national exposure?

My thoughts actually go further. Would it make more sense for the league to let football slowly dwnidle and push toward a more competitive league in basketball? Perhaps toward to a model competitive with the A10? With the head trauma issues in football there are legitimate questions about the sports long term future, at least at the true amateur level. (We all know FBS football is professional.) I have to think by its nature the basic costs of football have to be greater than basketball.

And really, what would engage alumni or gain national attention more? A first round win in the FCS playoffs or a first round win in March Madness?

I love Lehigh sports, including football, but what makes sense in the long run for Lehigh and the Patriot league?

It's becoming fairly obvious that PL football is falling by the wayside, even at the FCS level. The best Lehigh can hope for is a PL title, but they can't compete with the Colonial, Ivy, etc. anymore. (For all of the reasons stated over on the football threads). I wouldn't mind seeing a drop to Division III football. Football ties up a lot of the athletic budget, and don't think the expense is really worth it. The students don't care, and neither do the alumni without gray hair. It had it's day, but Lehigh probably better off supporting the other sports like lacrosse, soccer, wrestling and basketball.

lehigh90 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 11, 2018 5:21 pm It's becoming fairly obvious that PL football is falling by the wayside, even at the FCS level. The best Lehigh can hope for is a PL title, but they can't compete with the Colonial, Ivy, etc. anymore. (For all of the reasons stated over on the football threads). I wouldn't mind seeing a drop to Division III football. Football ties up a lot of the athletic budget, and don't think the expense is really worth it. The students don't care, and neither do the alumni without gray hair. It had it's day, but Lehigh probably better off supporting the other sports like lacrosse, soccer, wrestling and basketball.

I hate to say it, but I think I'll have to second this.

Can't drop to D3 in football without going D3 in all sports, including basketball.

Maybe most logical thing would be for PL to just drop football.

Loyola, American and Boston U already don't play
Navy, Army play elsewhere
Fordham, Georgetown not really in PL

So, only really affects Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell, HC and Colgate.

Bison 137, you've just explained to me "Why is there a Pioneer league?" Davidson, Butler, Dayton, Valpo, Drake etc .....so the members can remain D1 without blowing their budget on the excessive costs of a nationally competitive football program. I'd sign up for that in an instant if it helped move men's and women's basketball, lacrosse, etc. to a higher level in D1.

The NCAA rules seem a bit silly on this issue. It is fine for D3 programs to put one sport at the D1 level, like Hopkins in lacrosse or NYU in fencing, but the other way around is not OK. Can't put one sport at the D3 level.