after 2004 season......looks like next summer will be exciting too!

HMMMMM??

CUSA now at ten with the possible loss of Louisville and Cincy looming......they go to eight.

Thoughts??? Prospects???

<a href='http://espn.go.com/ncf/news/2003/0710/1579033.html' target='_blank'>CUSA locked till Spring '06</a>

what I don't get is Army announced the decision Thursday after the vote on Wednesday. Oh well!!!

BlackNGold Wrote:<a href='http://espn.go.com/ncf/news/2003/0710/1579033.html' target='_blank'>CUSA locked till Spring '06</a>

what I don't get is Army announced the decision Thursday after the vote on Wednesday. Oh well!!!

That just goes to show you that vote didn't mean squat!

BlackNGold Wrote:<a href='http://espn.go.com/ncf/news/2003/0710/1579033.html' target='_blank'>CUSA locked till Spring '06</a>

what I don't get is Army announced the decision Thursday after the vote on Wednesday. Oh well!!!

Well, not exactly............they announce thier intention to leave anytime before that date and leave on that date.......thus schedules could be in place without officially leaving.......much like Army just did.

The CUSA restriction (if you can call it that) runs through the 2004-2005 academic year (6/30/05). Army is leaving following that academic year.

We had a decent series with them in the Nineties and they were willing to come to Oxford. The alums I know who took the road trip up to West Point said the Hudson Valley is absolutely spectacular in October. Maybe that's a possibilty again.

DevilGrad Wrote:The CUSA restriction (if you can call it that) runs through the 2004-2005 academic year (6/30/05). Army is leaving following that academic year.

We had a decent series with them in the Nineties and they were willing to come to Oxford. The alums I know who took the road trip up to West Point said the Hudson Valley is absolutely spectacular in October. Maybe that's a possibilty again.

Thus, the 2005 football season is fair game....so to speak.

Next spring will be bizzare!!

KnightStalker Wrote:Next spring will be bizzare!!

You can say that again.

DevilGrad Wrote:We had a decent series with them in the Nineties and they were willing to come to Oxford. The alums I know who took the road trip up to West Point said the Hudson Valley is absolutely spectacular in October. Maybe that's a possibilty again.

There are a lot of places I'd like to see a game, and West Point is one of them for me.

One obvious ramification for the MAC is that an independent Army is likely to be playing a few MAC teams every year.

DogTracks Wrote:

DevilGrad Wrote:We had a decent series with them in the Nineties and they were willing to come to Oxford.&nbsp; The alums I know who took the road trip up to West Point said the Hudson Valley is absolutely spectacular in October.&nbsp; Maybe that's a possibilty again.

There are a lot of places I'd like to see a game, and West Point is one of them for me.

One obvious ramification for the MAC is that an independent Army is likely to be playing a few MAC teams every year.

A series w/ Buffalo should be good for both programs.

I wish UB would get a series started with Army. The name recognition of Army, not to mention all the old timers (veterans) in the Buffalo area would definitely bring in a big crowd. Our biggest win to date as a D-IA program was at Army two seasons ago. Army, Syracuse and UB are the only D-IA football programs in New York State....(not saying much for NYS football is it?!)

Quote:not saying much for NYS football is it?!

One certainly won't find *me* saying much about it.

zrb2 Wrote:I wish UB would get a series started with Army. The name recognition of Army, not to mention all the old timers (veterans) in the Buffalo area would definitely bring in a big crowd. Our biggest win to date as a D-IA program was at Army two seasons ago. Army, Syracuse and UB are the only D-IA football programs in New York State....(not saying much for NYS football is it?!)

Don't feel so bad, there are only 3(1A in football) in Illinois as well. U of I, NW and us. Not that much better is it?

RobertN Wrote:

zrb2 Wrote:I wish UB would get a series started with Army.&nbsp; &nbsp; The name recognition of Army, not to mention all the old timers (veterans) in the Buffalo area would definitely bring in a big crowd.&nbsp; Our biggest win to date as a D-IA program was at Army two seasons ago.&nbsp; &nbsp; Army, Syracuse and UB are the only D-IA football programs in New York State....(not saying much for NYS football is it?!)

Don't feel so bad, there are only 3(1A in football) in Illinois as well. U of I, NW and us. Not that much better is it?

There are only TWO D-1A schools in WV (both ranked in both polls by the way)

Quote:Don't feel so bad, there are only 3(1A in football) in Illinois as well. U of I, NW and us. Not that much better is it?

Yes, but, relatively speaking, Illinois kids can play ball.

Schadenfreude Wrote:

Quote:Don't feel so bad, there are only 3(1A in football) in Illinois as well. U of I, NW and us. Not that much better is it?

Yes, but, relatively speaking, Illinois kids can play ball.

There is some good high school talent coming out of Illinois. New York, well maybe a couple of guys and that's it. I think there are usually only 10-20 guys from the state of New York that come out of high school and sign with a D I-A school each year.

Unlike Illinois and WV, New York State is the 3rd most populous state in the country (19.1 million)....so to have only three D1 football schools (two of which are rock bottom) is pretty bad. What's worse, as Rocketfootball pointed out, is the lack of talent in NYS for such a large population. I will say that in the last few years things are getting better and I'm seeing high school football programs around Western NY really stepping it up a notch.

For instance, Webster, N.Y.

(Used to cover the town for a newspaper in a previous life).

zrb2 Wrote:Unlike Illinois and WV, New York State is the 3rd most populous state in the country (19.1 million)....so to have only three D1 football schools (two of which are rock bottom) is pretty bad. What's worse, as Rocketfootball pointed out, is the lack of talent in NYS for such a large population. I will say that in the last few years things are getting better and I'm seeing high school football programs around Western NY really stepping it up a notch.

Yes, but isn't nearly all of the population centered in and around NYC? I can't imagine too many schools in NYC can afford football facilties given space is at such a premium out there.

It's helpful to divide the state into thirds: One third lives in NYC proper, one third lies in New York state's NYC suburbs, and one third lives upstate (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany and the spaces in between).

Whether NYC and Long Island programs are better than upstate programs is impossible to answer. The New York State High School Athletic Association football championship does not include schools in New York City and Long Island. NYC has its own championship, Long Island has its own championship and I think the two regions square off afterward.

Kid for kid, it is possible upstate produces more talent. Webster, a Rochester suburb, has won two out of the last three NYSHSAA big school titles. Since I believe Westchester and Poughkeepsie-area schools participate, that suggests western New York is kinda where its at.

Basketball, however, is clearly a different story. After winning the NYSHSAA title, the (up)state basketball champion squares off in a mini supertournament with the NYC public school champion, the NYC private school champion and the Long Island champion. Aquainas, a Rochester-area school, cruised to the NYSHSAA championship and was ranked No. 2 in the country behind LeBron's team. But they lost by like ten points in the first (semi-final) round of the supertournament to a NYC school.

zrb2 Wrote:Unlike Illinois and WV,&nbsp; New York State is the 3rd most populous state in the country (19.1 million)....so to have only three D1 football schools (two of which are rock bottom) is pretty bad.&nbsp; What's worse, as Rocketfootball pointed out, is the lack of talent in NYS for such a large population.&nbsp; I will say that in the last few years things are getting better and I'm seeing high school football programs around Western NY really stepping it up a notch.

Still NYS Champion Aquainus of Rochester got clocked by a mediocre Canton McKinley last fall

As a Western New Yorker going to Kent, my theory is Ohio takes football way too seriously, while New York athletes can feel free to chose the sport they like. I couldn't care less about my high school now that I'm out and don't have a kid yet. Yet the typical Kent Stater care more about there stupid High School team then the college they freaking chose to come to.

A NY school could kill any Ohio school in soccer tough :D