PSAC WEST

[Ship69]

We've reached the Christmas break. Most years, by now, we've seen enough to have a pretty good idea what is going to happen.

In the West this year, forget about those preconceptions.

A quick comment (in order of today's standings):


Gannon (4-0, 10-1) - Aside from one hiccup, the Knights have steamrolled just about every team they've played.

IUP (4-0, 8-1) - Joe's off to a big start -- and nobody is talking about his team. Any idea what time their next gameday shootaround is?

Seton Hill (4-0, 10-2) - The record looks good. The non-conference schedule does not. This same team that won at East Stroudsburg found itself in a dog fight with Pitt-Greensburg. So, the jury is still out.

California (4-0, 7-4) - Danny got off to a disastrous 1-4 start but has turned things around. The schedule of late has helped. This next stretch of 4-5 games is going to tell us a lot more.

Slippery Rock (3-1, 10-2) - The Rock's most impressive showing thus far actually came in a narrow, 93-89, loss at Fairmont State. SRU's also played most of the season short-handed. One item to watch: both losses came outside of Morrow.

UPJ (3-1, 9-3) - Are the Mountain Cats a division contender? Doubtful. But, on the right night, they can be a very tough bunch.

Clarion (2-2, 7-5) - Don't let the record fool you. Unlike most, the Golden Eagles have played a really tough non-conference schedule. Winning at West Chester yesterday was huge. Clarion will not be an easy out in West play.

Edinboro (2-2, 5-5) - This is a young team. With that, comes sporadic play -- which is exactly what we've seen. The Scots should win their next couple games (Mansfield and Bloomsburg) before a murderers' row begins.



My personal assessment rankings (with 5, 5A and 5B being interchangeable):

1. Gannon - Until they aren't.

2. IUP - This is Joe's best team in a few years. I'd like it a lot more with one more (non-hybrid) post player. They are doing a lot well, but need to fix up a few items.

3. California - Danny isn't going away. The Vulcans took too big of a bite with too many new faces in November. They will be in the thick of things come February.

4. Seton Hill - This is the first Griffins team in years and years not to play zone. Nice combination of bigs and guards. Tough home venue.

5. Clarion - Battle-tested. Athletic. Big. Nice shooters.

5A. Slippery Rock - The nightly lineup card is like drawing straws. They can jump up here but they need to get healthy -- and stay healthy.

5B. UPJ - Always a pain to play -- especially in the Dirty J.

8. Edinboro - Much better than the typical last team in the West. They are scrappy and will keep improving.

That looks like a very well-balanced division, although Gannon — and perhaps IUP if they put it together — seem to have some separation from the rest. It should be an exciting conference season. Bottom half of the East does not look strong.

[Fightingscot82]

Just wondering if you had any idea what the total athletic budget is for Mercyhurst and how much it increased due to the step-up to Division One? Or where would one go to find that type of information?

We're still a year or two away from that being public but my estimate based on what I can find is that is around $18-19 million. Private school athletic budgets are always inflated because they account for the larger amounts discounted from the base MSRP sticker price.

[gman16506]

The NCAA money passes through the conference. The NEC gets about $2 million from March Madness revenue alone and it's divided up from there after the conference takes their cut. I bet Hurst gets $250k at most between all the revenue sharing

Just wondering if you had any idea what the total athletic budget is for Mercyhurst and how much it increased due to the step-up to Division One? Or where would one go to find that type of information?

[Fightingscot82]

Wonder how much they get in conference and NCAA cash per year?

The NCAA money passes through the conference. The NEC gets about $2 million from March Madness revenue alone and it's divided up from there after the conference takes their cut. I bet Hurst gets $250k at most between all the revenue sharing

[boatcapt]

Keeping tabs on our old friends up in Erie ...


The Mercyhurst men's team is 5-8. However, two of the wins came against Penn State New Kensington and Bethany (WV).

The Lakers are averaging 248 in attendance per home game. This is down significantly from their D2 days.

Just a hunch but Gary would come back to the PSAC tomorrow.

The Mercyhurst women's team (which at best was average in D2) is 0-11.

Wonder how much they get in conference and NCAA cash per year?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Keeping tabs on our old friends up in Erie ...


The Mercyhurst men's team is 5-8. However, two of the wins came against Penn State New Kensington and Bethany (WV).

The Lakers are averaging 248 in attendance per home game. This is down significantly from their D2 days.

Just a hunch but Gary would come back to the PSAC tomorrow.

The Mercyhurst women's team (which at best was average in D2) is 0-11.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Women's Standings

-

TEAM	PSAC	OVERALL	STREAK
IUP	4-0	10-0	W10
GANNON	4-0	12-1	W11
SETON HILL	4-0	8-2	W7
EDINBORO	4-0	7-6	W6
SLIPPERY ROCK	3-1	5-5	L1
CALIFORNIA	3-1	7-7	W1
CLARION	1-3	6-4	L4
PITT-JOHNSTOWN	0-4	3-8	L3

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Men's Standings

-

TEAM	PSAC	OVERALL	STREAK
GANNON	4-0	10-1	W7
IUP	4-0	8-1	W6
SETON HILL	4-0	10-2	W3
CALIFORNIA	4-0	7-4	W6
SLIPPERY ROCK	3-1	10-2	L1
PITT-JOHNSTOWN	3-1	9-3	W4
CLARION	2-2	7-5	W2
EDINBORO	2-2	5-5	W1

[IUPbigINDIANS]

We've reached the Christmas break. Most years, by now, we've seen enough to have a pretty good idea what is going to happen.

In the West this year, forget about those preconceptions.

A quick comment (in order of today's standings):


Gannon (4-0, 10-1) - Aside from one hiccup, the Knights have steamrolled just about every team they've played.

IUP (4-0, 8-1) - Joe's off to a big start -- and nobody is talking about his team. Any idea what time their next gameday shootaround is?

Seton Hill (4-0, 10-2) - The record looks good. The non-conference schedule does not. This same team that won at East Stroudsburg found itself in a dog fight with Pitt-Greensburg. So, the jury is still out.

California (4-0, 7-4) - Danny got off to a disastrous 1-4 start but has turned things around. The schedule of late has helped. This next stretch of 4-5 games is going to tell us a lot more.

Slippery Rock (3-1, 10-2) - The Rock's most impressive showing thus far actually came in a narrow, 93-89, loss at Fairmont State. SRU's also played most of the season short-handed. One item to watch: both losses came outside of Morrow.

UPJ (3-1, 9-3) - Are the Mountain Cats a division contender? Doubtful. But, on the right night, they can be a very tough bunch.

Clarion (2-2, 7-5) - Don't let the record fool you. Unlike most, the Golden Eagles have played a really tough non-conference schedule. Winning at West Chester yesterday was huge. Clarion will not be an easy out in West play.

Edinboro (2-2, 5-5) - This is a young team. With that, comes sporadic play -- which is exactly what we've seen. The Scots should win their next couple games (Mansfield and Bloomsburg) before a murderers' row begins.



My personal assessment rankings (with 5, 5A and 5B being interchangeable):

1. Gannon - Until they aren't.

2. IUP - This is Joe's best team in a few years. I'd like it a lot more with one more (non-hybrid) post player. They are doing a lot well, but need to fix up a few items.

3. California - Danny isn't going away. The Vulcans took too big of a bite with too many new faces in November. They will be in the thick of things come February.

4. Seton Hill - This is the first Griffins team in years and years not to play zone. Nice combination of bigs and guards. Tough home venue.

5. Clarion - Battle-tested. Athletic. Big. Nice shooters.

5A. Slippery Rock - The nightly lineup card is like drawing straws. They can jump up here but they need to get healthy -- and stay healthy.

5B. UPJ - Always a pain to play -- especially in the Dirty J.

8. Edinboro - Much better than the typical last team in the West. They are scrappy and will keep improving.

[Ship69]

Rock is playing quite well so far. The big comeback against Shepherd is particularly impressive. This has happened before, though, so the team will have to stay healthy, eligible, and focused.

Took a loss against Lock Haven Sunday. As bigIndians mentioned, Herster might be somewhat hobbled. Bad weekend for Ship as both the games with Slippery Rock and Edinboro looked to be very winnable over the weekend. Way too much inconsistency for the Raiders so far.

[Fightingscot82]

Nice win for the Rock last night over a decent Lake Erie Storm team - withstanding a last second shot to win by1. Lots of excellent records early on the West side of the conference. I noticed Maceo Austin was with the team in street clothes. Is he playing this year? They would be even better with him.

Rock is playing quite well so far. The big comeback against Shepherd is particularly impressive. This has happened before, though, so the team will have to stay healthy, eligible, and focused.

[Ship69]

I saw SRU's Ike Herster played just 5 minutes today in their OT loss at Lock Haven. I assume he got banged up. They are still without Maceo Austin.

SRU is always much different away from Morrow (and not in a good way).

Some in the West played tough schedules to this point. Some played tomato cans. I think some of the records are quite inflated as of now.

But, the West is going to be a gauntlet.

Well, we've all had injuries, but those are serious losses for the Rock. I agree the West will be much more competitive than the East this year, and the results are starting to bear it out.

I wouldn't be surprised if Chris Fite goes more heavily into the portal after this season. It gets tiresome as a Raiders fan to watch us playing teams starting three graduate students, big lugs from Spain, India, France, and who knows where else, etc. If you can't beat 'em, you're probably gonna have to join 'em.

[Ship69]

ESU is a different team when fully healthy. They lost Davon Lee in the backcourt and Kevin Coleman on the front line witihin a week. That's 40% of their starting lineup. I doubt any team would fare any better. Coleman is due back after the break, Lee's future is uncertain. After seeing Seton Hill, UPJ and Indiana in person, there's little doubt the West is going to be very competitive. I think the East will be just as competitive, but it's very "weak" to paint the entire division after a weekend of games.

1) Every team is different when it is fully healthy. They seldom are. Ship, already not a big team, has been playing with three forwards in track suits for most of the past month.Some of these guys are still recovering from injuries sustained last year. 2) Mansfield and Bloomsburg look to be noncompetitive. A loss to either of them this year will be a very bad one. I don't see a team as weak as either of those in the West. Lock Haven seems to have fallen a notch after a couple of good years, although they beat what apparently is an injury-decimated Rock squad Sunday.. Shepherd is perhaps a decent mid-tier team. Ship looks to be a player or two away from competing regularly with the big boys, and the injuries haven't helped. Kutztown doesn't look wonderful. That's six of the teams of the teams in our division that appear to have some issues. East Stroud (if they get the big guy back), West Chester, and Millersville will have to carry the mail for the East this year. 3) It's not a "weekend of games." We're a third of the way through the season. There are three teams with winning records in the East. And afterr the weekend of games you mention, there is one team in the West with a losing PSAC record and five in the East. Clarion, which came into the weekend with an 0-2 PSAC record and 5-5 overall, beat East preseason favorite West Chester.

If the East looks great by the end of the year I'll gladly eat crow. I don't see it happening.

[WarriorVoice]

East looks weak this year. Even East Stroud doesn't seem to be quite up to its usual level, and I think West Chester and Millersville might be pretty decent, but not world-beaters. I saw both Slippery Rock and Edinboro at Ship this weekend and wasn't particularly impressed by either one. They would have been torched by some of the vintage IUP, Mercyhurst or Cal teams I saw come out of the West in the past. Ship lost both games, so you have to give that to the West, but I'm not sure it's that the West is so wonderful as much as it is the East appears to be the gang that couldln't shoot straight this season.

ESU is a different team when fully healthy. They lost Davon Lee in the backcourt and Kevin Coleman on the front line witihin a week. That's 40% of their starting lineup. I doubt any team would fare any better. Coleman is due back after the break, Lee's future is uncertain. After seeing Seton Hill, UPJ and Indiana in person, there's little doubt the West is going to be very competitive. I think the East will be just as competitive, but it's very "weak" to paint the entire division after a weekend of games.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

East looks weak this year. Even East Stroud doesn't seem to be quite up to its usual level, and I think West Chester and Millersville might be pretty decent, but not world-beaters. I saw both Slippery Rock and Edinboro at Ship this weekend and wasn't particularly impressed by either one. They would have been torched by some of the vintage IUP, Mercyhurst or Cal teams I saw come out of the West in the past. Ship lost both games, so you have to give that to the West, but I'm not sure it's that the West is so wonderful as much as it is the East appears to be the gang that couldln't shoot straight this season.

I saw SRU's Ike Herster played just 5 minutes today in their OT loss at Lock Haven. I assume he got banged up. They are still without Maceo Austin.

SRU is always much different away from Morrow (and not in a good way).

Some in the West played tough schedules to this point. Some played tomato cans. I think some of the records are quite inflated as of now.

But, the West is going to be a gauntlet.