Game 3 Marist (0-2) Homecoming

[usc4valpo]

Right now, no way Northwest Missouri State, who is having an off year, would lose to Drake or Dayton or USD.

[VULB#62]

USC, please don't mix oranges, apples and potatoes in single statements. Carlson and Adams before him did schedule non- scholarship DIII. Cecchini had three on the schedule in 5 seasons. Fox has none.  Yes, others in the PFL schedule ham & eggers (see Davidson drubbing St. Andrews this week 84-6).  That's on them.

But here's a primer on the opponents we,  and most PFL teams, now face yearly: 

First, lets get NCAA DIII (243 colleges) out of the way. No athletic scholarships allowed. Valpo's current teams in the last 4 years would handily beat 80%, and are very competitive with all the rest but the top 10%.  And of that 24 in the top 10% we'd give 50% of them a good game. Butler always has Taylor on their schedule and regularly beats them. Top DIII Perspective:  UW-Whitewater State has an on-campus 12,000 seat stadium and a student body of over 10,000. There are no FCS or DII teams in Wisconsin. It's either UW-Madison (B1G) or Whitewater if you want to stay in state and are a VERY good player. Similar circumstances occur with teams like Mt. Union in Ohio with a fantastic legacy. Yet you seldom hear about D-III players in the NFL, XFL, or CFL. There are a number of PFL players on NFL rosters.

FBS (128 colleges) Award 85 full rides - no equivalents (full rides or nothing). Drake scared the hell out of Iowa State.  New Mexico State paid us a small fortune to crush Valpo last season. Long Island University (NEC !!!, FCS) this season lost at Baylor only 30-7.  These are aberrations.

FCS (133 colleges) Award up to 65 full ride equivalents (i.e., a full ride can be segmented).  Basically, they are PFL bodybag games, but occasionally there is a pleasant surprise. Most recently Valpo took Illinois State to a close finish and under Cecchini, we scared the hell out of Montana.  Butler upset YSU several years back. We have been competitive with Dartmouth in two games. USD beat two FCS teams in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. The bottom half of the PFL would definitely occupy the cellar in most FCS conferences, But the top 2 or 3 would easily be middle of the pack in some FCS conferences.

NCAA DII (162 colleges) Award up to 36 full ride equivalents.  The top half of the PFL would consistently compete in the top third of most DII conferences.  Wins against DII teams over the years have demonstrated that.

NAIA (95 colleges) Award up to 24 full ride equivalents.  Since Cecchini and Fox, Valpo has been very competitive with top NAIA schools (Indiana Wesleyan is currently ranked #4 in the country).

Then there is the non-scholarship FCS (19 colleges) — The PFL and Ivy League.  The Ivys seldom schedule outside the Patriot, NEC or PFL for OOC games — hell, they don't need the pay checks. The PFL does schedule FCS teams regularly —mainly for pay checks — but PFL teams are consistently competitive against the lowest level scholarship FCS league, the NEC, of late.

The PFL, as an FCS conference, has an automatic bid to the NCAA FCS playoffs.  It is incumbent on its members to be as competitive at the FCS level as possible.  USD did that for two years. Davidson, not so much - yet. But the overall talent of the top PFL teams has improved. This is a conference of which we are a charter member.  We need to pull our weight. Small and Padilla have shown that athletics mean something to the university. Of course MBB is the priority, but football, as the next popular sport, deserves better support.

[soapyjeans]

[covufan]

We've been in non-scholarship football for 30+ years. How many winning seasons have we had in that time?  Not PFL, but complete seasons. We need to be better.

The last time we had three winning seasons in a row was 1971-1973. We've learned to embrace our ineptitude.

This was a game we should have won.


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[usc4valpo]

62 - I get it, but after watching Drake and NW Mo. St. and doing the eye test, it would be a blowout win for the D2 school.

[VULB#62]

Not challenging that all.  The top  DII teams in their respective conferences, and NWMS is one of those programs, will usually beat the best the PFL has to offer (but that's not Drake at the moment). Thirty-six full rides will do that for you. 😀

[IndyValpo]

I feel better now, I was worried we would get through a season without a NWMO reference.

[usc4valpo]

At least I'm not bringing up the game of the week in Boulder!!!

[IndyValpo]

At least I'm not bringing up the game of the week in Boulder!!!

Completely agree about that