PSAC 2024 Football schedules being redone...

[EastStroud13]

The nice part for New Haven is that the NE-10 is so weak that a non-con loss doesn't keep them out of the playoffs, and they usually give a good fight once they get in.

[WarriorVoice]

ESU schedule released...

https://esuwarriors.com/news/2024/5/...-schedule.aspx

[NewHaven Alum]

New Haven is a respectable opponent but I swear they never actually win any of these non-conference games.

New Haven is only making noise in the NE10 period, but outside of the conference, they are nobody because they haven't win a game versus good opponents in recent years. they played some very close games however and they will be tested again in September against one of the best teams in the PSAC if not the entire region.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

New Haven is only making noise in the NE10 period, but outside of the conference, they are nobody because they haven't win a game versus good opponents in recent years. they played some very close games however and they will be tested again in September against one of the best teams in the PSAC if not the entire region.

SRU will have a lot of new faces this year (and a lot back). They recruit transfers exceptionally well - and, a ton of them.

That said, getting them early could be advantageous.

I don't know the exact count now but it's been some time since any non-PSAC team won the Region. From memory I think the PSAC has won 5-6 in a row.

[Ram040506]

SRU will have a lot of new faces this year (and a lot back). They recruit transfers exceptionally well - and, a ton of them.

That said, getting them early could be advantageous.

I don't know the exact count now but it's been some time since any non-PSAC team won the Region. From memory I think the PSAC has won 5-6 in a row.

With Notre Dame losing their coaches after their mini run, and Shepherd joining the conference... seems like no other school has really stepped up yet. I'm really disappointed in Ashland actually. I thought they'd be a much larger presence considering their success in the GLIAC towards the end of there stay there. Tiffin seemed to be making some strides but got handled in the 2nd round last year and then lost their coach too. PSAC does seem to have a stranglehold on the region, unless a new MEC power emerges from Charleston and Frostburg State.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

With Notre Dame losing their coaches after their mini run, and Shepherd joining the conference... seems like no other school has really stepped up yet. I'm really disappointed in Ashland actually. I thought they'd be a much larger presence considering their success in the GLIAC towards the end of there stay there. Tiffin seemed to be making some strides but got handled in the 2nd round last year and then lost their coach too. PSAC does seem to have a stranglehold on the region, unless a new MEC power emerges from Charleston and Frostburg State.

It's seemed the MEC has always had (1) really strong team each year -- and then a big step down.

I remember when IUP played Charleston and Fairmont State in the playoffs not all that long ago -- both on the road -- and beat the crap out of both of them. I remember thinking (saw both games live) neither of those teams would have been much better than .500 in PSAC play. Maybe they just had bad days, but, I just didn't see it.

Obviously the Shepherd teams were fantastic and ND had some very strong editions there for a stretch. I know the PSAC (and, every conference) has some dead weight. But, from a percentage standpoint, they seem to have a lot of football dead weight. I do think it's a significantly easier path for a strong MEC team during the regular season. Of course, perhaps that's why they are failing in the playoffs lately.

[IUP24]

With Notre Dame losing their coaches after their mini run, and Shepherd joining the conference... seems like no other school has really stepped up yet. I'm really disappointed in Ashland actually. I thought they'd be a much larger presence considering their success in the GLIAC towards the end of there stay there. Tiffin seemed to be making some strides but got handled in the 2nd round last year and then lost their coach too. PSAC does seem to have a stranglehold on the region, unless a new MEC power emerges from Charleston and Frostburg State.

I agree about Ashland. Even all the times IUP has gone up against them of late, it just seems like IUP is a step or two ahead of Ashland. Talented program, good support, seem to have good coaching. But it just never has really materialized in a big way since entering the region.

Of course, I say this and this will be the year that Ashland beats IUP 42-10 in that opening game.

I felt like Notre Dame had some real opportunities to take a significant step and have actual staying power. But... That obviously didn't happen, and can't now.

[Ram040506]

It's seemed the MEC has always had (1) really strong team each year -- and then a big step down.

I remember when IUP played Charleston and Fairmont State in the playoffs not all that long ago -- both on the road -- and beat the crap out of both of them. I remember thinking (saw both games live) neither of those teams would have been much better than .500 in PSAC play. Maybe they just had bad days, but, I just didn't see it.

Obviously the Shepherd teams were fantastic and ND had some very strong editions there for a stretch. I know the PSAC (and, every conference) has some dead weight. But, from a percentage standpoint, they seem to have a lot of football dead weight. I do think it's a significantly easier path for a strong MEC team during the regular season. Of course, perhaps that's why they are failing in the playoffs lately.

That 2015 year, Charleston wasn't ready for playoff physicality. The 2016 year for IUP against Fairmont, I was genuinely shocked at how much of a beat down that was. Shepherd played them late in the year, and that was a huge game that was only a one score game until about 4 minutes left with a late Shepherd FG. I thought they were pretty physical on D and would be a tough out come playoff time. Obviously, that didn't happen being a 49 pt victory for IUP.

I played at Shepherd in the mid 2000's, we weren't "scared" (for lack of a better word), but it took a couple hacks at the playoffs to get over the tightness in the big games those were. We were the #1 seed and played CW Post (ESU regional winner that year) and we lost, although no part of me thought they were a better team. We played very tight and you could tell how new of an experience that was for us as a program. Lost 28-21. The following year, we were able to come back as the #1 seed again, and we were MUCH more comfortable in the playoffs that year culminating in a great game against Bloomsburg for the regional title (loss 24-21). Year after that, back to the regional final against a juggernaut Cal team and lost that one too. I think overall the success experienced and the fact it happened with some frequency changed the trajectory of the program to shoot for much higher expectations. I think Fairmont and Charleston could have possibly experienced a similar path if they were able to sustain some of that success and make it back to the playoffs. Even Notre Dame, the way they carried themselves on the field in that 2018-2021 run, they expected to win because of their success in prior seasons.

Moral to the story, got to string together more than a lightning in a bottle season to move forward as a program.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Looking ahead at some of the big, early matchups:


Week 0

Take the three-team road parlay with Clarion, Seton Hill and ESU winning ... not really a 'headliner' type game on the small slate.

Week 1

IUP at Ashland - Ignore the coach-speak mumbo jumbo. The loser is in playoff trouble immediately. Can Tort get to 5-0 versus Ashland?

Assumption at Kutztown - The Bears oddly struggle in Week 1 - and then go nuts. Assumption may win, 2-0.

California at Charleston - Not much buzz out of the Mon Valley (yet). The Vulcans haven't gone away. Is Charleston next in line to take over the MEC?

New Haven at Slippery Rock - Can the Chargers finally win a meaningful non-conference game? It's been a long time. Early-season games at SRU draw near 10,000. This won't be an easy road trip.


Week 2

California at West Chester - Tough start for the new-look Walk-Ons continues. Long road trip (again) for Penn West California.

Slippery Rock at Shepherd - One of them is taking an early loss. Huge game.


Week 3

Kutztown at Gannon - Team LIT AF can be tricky on the kickball field. Gannon is dangerous in the trap situation. Will the Golden Bears be looking ahead a week?


Week 4

Gannon at California - One of the more-heated games in the West

Kutztown at East Stroudsburg - Likely one of biggest games of the year in the East.

Week 5

Slippery Rock at IUP - Crimson Hawks have won 2 of the past 3 meetings -- but, they got curb-stomped a year ago.

[ctrabs74]

Week 1

IUP at Ashland - Ignore the coach-speak mumbo jumbo. The loser is in playoff trouble immediately. Can Tort get to 5-0 versus Ashland?

Assumption at Kutztown - The Bears oddly struggle in Week 1 - and then go nuts. Assumption may win, 2-0.

California at Charleston - Not much buzz out of the Mon Valley (yet). The Vulcans haven't gone away. Is Charleston next in line to take over the MEC?

This isn't overly shocking. It's almost as if the sports info folks at Hamer Hall are just doing the bare minimum to promote their own teams. You want live Twitter updates on Cal U games in progress? Good luck trying to find any, because even 10-12 years later, there's no effort at all on social media.

Which, for an athletic department which once acted like they were the D2 equivalent of Penn State complete with an arrogance level only matched by Dallas Cowboys fans and employees, is really pathetic (or at least that was the case when I went there about 10 years ago)..

[IUPbigINDIANS]

This isn't overly shocking. It's almost as if the sports info folks at Hamer Hall are just doing the bare minimum to promote their own teams. You want live Twitter updates on Cal U games in progress? Good luck trying to find any, because even 10-12 years later, there's no effort at all on social media.

Which, for an athletic department which once acted like they were the D2 equivalent of Penn State complete with an arrogance level only matched by Dallas Cowboys fans and employees, is really pathetic (or at least that was the case when I went there about 10 years ago)..

It's not just Cal, but I certainly understand what you're saying.

As a whole, media coverage of the the PSAC is (my opinion) at an all-time low. There's a very small handful of newspapers that still cover some of our teams/sports. By 'cover' I mean actually having game stories, features, etc. Running a one-paragraph, chop-shop version of the SID public relations propaganda write-up isn't 'coverage'.

League marketing has been essentially nothing for decades.

I get it. The few people left reading newspapers mostly do so online. It's really easy to track the clicks. D2 doesn't get clicks.

This site is far and away the best place for news about D2 football and basketball. Obviously, to get said 'news' you have to sort through a lot of other stuff. A lot of players visit this site frequently. Ever notice every year when camp starts how many new posters suddenly surface? Those are simply players bored at night. A ton of coaches do, too.

Many programs do run a weekly Coaches' Show during the season. Some of them are a decent watch. Others are programmed robots saying the same stuff weekly.

After Timeout Gate last year, Tort's Monday show probably had the highest rating ever (if ratings actually existed for a D2 coaches' show lol).

[Fightingscot82]

Staffing at our schools is also pretty stressed with the exception of the handful of campuses still doing well. Everyone has an SID who is lucky to have a GA or some sort of assistance. SID is one of the craziest set of normalized work environment out there. Our SIDs work 50-60 hours a week half the year. Few if any are compensated accordingly.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Staffing at our schools is also pretty stressed with the exception of the handful of campuses still doing well. Everyone has an SID who is lucky to have a GA or some sort of assistance. SID is one of the craziest set of normalized work environment out there. Our SIDs work 50-60 hours a week half the year. Few if any are compensated accordingly.

??? That's fairly normal in corporate America these days. I don't know many still doing 40 hours. I work 50-60 hours every week of the year.



That's sad about their staffing. It used to be you had to interview just to get a student job in the athletic department (that's how many people really wanted to get those student jobs).

[ESU Warrior]

It's not just Cal, but I certainly understand what you're saying.

As a whole, media coverage of the the PSAC is (my opinion) at an all-time low. There's a very small handful of newspapers that still cover some of our teams/sports. By 'cover' I mean actually having game stories, features, etc. Running a one-paragraph, chop-shop version of the SID public relations propaganda write-up isn't 'coverage'.

League marketing has been essentially nothing for decades.

I get it. The few people left reading newspapers mostly do so online. It's really easy to track the clicks. D2 doesn't get clicks.

This site is far and away the best place for news about D2 football and basketball. Obviously, to get said 'news' you have to sort through a lot of other stuff. A lot of players visit this site frequently. Ever notice every year when camp starts how many new posters suddenly surface? Those are simply players bored at night. A ton of coaches do, too.

Many programs do run a weekly Coaches' Show during the season. Some of them are a decent watch. Others are programmed robots saying the same stuff weekly.

After Timeout Gate last year, Tort's Monday show probably had the highest rating ever (if ratings actually existed for a D2 coaches' show lol).

The pocono record and morning call does a decent job for ESU. I wish the state could somehow market better. A game of the week should be aired, and I said that for years before streaming (on PCN). When talking to high school seniors that want to go to the next level, they don’t even know who is in the PSAC, and what the difference is between Albright and kutztown.

I am curious how other conferences do it. The MIAA and GSC for sure.

[Fightingscot82]

??? That's fairly normal in corporate America these days. I don't know many still doing 40 hours. I work 50-60 hours every week of the year.



That's sad about their staffing. It used to be you had to interview just to get a student job in the athletic department (that's how many people really wanted to get those student jobs).

Yeah but the pay doesn't keep up nor do they get any sort of hazard pay for that. The people putting in the most hours at a college are on the bottom end of the pay scale.