The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

[mountaineermagic]

I was thinking about how many contending teams the RMAC legitimately has going into 2019. I came up with five schools in ascending likelyhood of winning the conference ; Mesa, Chadron, Dixie, Mines and Pueblo.

Of the remaining six I would lean towards Highlands being the most dangerous. They really seem to be on the upswing. Their recruiting class surprised me with how many guys they got from Florida.

Fort Lewis, Adams and Western will all be close. I need to read the papers up north in the SD to gauge BHSU and SD Mines and what they'll have.

[CSCPRIDE]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

Highlands is always scary just because they always have some great athletes. If they were disciplined at all they'd compete for a top three finish most years I think.

[Turbonium]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

Highlands gets dominated in the trenches on both sides of the ball. They've cleaned up the penalties under the new staff but they are nowhere near top 3 in the conference at this point. Look at their scores against Pueblo, Mines, and Mesa. They are headed in the right direction but top 3 finish most years?

[CSCPRIDE]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

Highlands gets dominated in the trenches on both sides of the ball. They've cleaned up the penalties under the new staff but they are nowhere near top 3 in the conference at this point. Look at their scores against Pueblo, Mines, and Mesa. They are headed in the right direction but top 3 finish most years?

I don't think they are that far off. Always have some great athletes but typically have some things with no discipline and it bites them in the ass. But what do I know....I'm not a fan of the greatest team in the conference.

[Turbonium]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

I don't think they are that far off. Always have some great athletes but typically have some things with no discipline and it bites them in the ass. But what do I know....I'm not a fan of the greatest team in the conference.

They've cleaned up most of the discipline issues both on and off the field it seems. However they were 4-7 and were outscored 143-41 against the top 3 teams in the conference. They are nowhere near top 3 in the conference right now. I am a big fan of their new staff and know the struggles they have as far as player numbers at times, poor facilities, and lack of financial support. They are doing good things with what they have to work with but really, top 3 with discipline? Have you been making recent trips to Colorado?

Just let it go man, stop being a woman and move on from whatever hurt I caused you in the past. These are simple facts being provided to you and if anyone else presented the same information to you your response would be greatly different.

[twolfbenchwarmer]

[Lobo]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

I was thinking about how many contending teams the RMAC legitimately has going into 2019. I came up with five schools in ascending likelyhood of winning the conference ; Mesa, Chadron, Dixie, Mines and Pueblo.
Of the remaining six I would lean towards Highlands being the most dangerous. They really seem to be on the upswing. Their recruiting class surprised me with how many guys they got from Florida.
Fort Lewis, Adams and Western will all be close. I need to read the papers up north in the SD to gauge BHSU and SD Mines and what they'll have.

I think 2019 will be no different that 2018. There will be only 2 bona fide RMAC contenders, Mines and CSUP. Chadron and Mesa will both be solid, but neither will seriously contend for the conference title. The rest, well, they'll fight to stay out of the bottom half.

CSUP lost three key players on defense. But their backups, along with a couple DI transfers, are the next men up. On offense, CSUP will start a QB who was made to run the PRO offense behind an O-line that can be the best the T-Wolves have ever had. Glad Symo's back as OL coach. A couple DI RB transfers and faster WRs round out the offense. The T-Wolves play Mines and Mesa at home. They play the Skyhawks in Durango however.

Mines lost the best WR in recent conference history to graduation and a DI transfer QB who led the country is several offense categories. The Nerds also lost a couple key players on defense. Like CSUP, the Nerds have quality backups and excellent recruits from the last couple classes. The Nerds play the Pack in Pueblo and Azusa Pacific in Cali; not easy.

Chadron has upped its recruiting game and was in the playoff discussion last year until getting thumped by the Nerds. CSC lost only 3 games and had a quality win over Mesa. The Eagles had another strong recruiting class -- but on the same level with Mines and CSUP? Probably not. The Eagles will be solid but I'm not convinced they're good enough to win a conference title.

Mesa has lost a lot of talented players the last couple seasons, among them DB Dustin Rivas, WR Virel Moon, RB David Tan, OL Austin Fleer, DL Blake Nelson, and this past season, LB Tom Saager and QB Eystin Salum. The Cows have not replaced that kind of talent. Last season Mesa went 7 and 4. The Cows were soundly beaten by the Nerds and CSUP but lost close games to Chadron and Black Hills. Mesa's past recruiting classes have been average, or so it seems. Not sure why this past year's recruiting class was so small.

The Rest: Highlands showed signs of improvement last season. Problem? Too much player turnover and no continuity. Academic eligibility may be a problem. Dixie lost key players on both sides of ball. Their DI QB Transfer is gone as are key players on defense. Adams State can score points, but can't prevent them. Western State is still looking for an RB the likes of Austin Ekeler. Fort Lewis is looking to beat the T-Wolves the 3rd straight time at home. And South Dakota Mines and Black Hills are trying to move their game to the middle of the pack.

[mountaineermagic]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

It could take a long time to find another RB like Ekeler. Huge oversight of UNC to have messed up on him. One advantage Western will have on the bottom of the conference will be their experience at QB. If a running game is established, the tight ends and slot receivers could have productive seasons off of play-action.

For Highlands they have to find a replacement for Danny Cameron. Not sure either of the true freshman will be able to step in day one and carry the Cowboys. The 6'4 lefty could be interesting to watch in a year or so. Felt like they blew away both WCU and ASU in the recruiting field.

Fort Lewis is the equivalent of the Moneyball A's, as was pointed out by a post a couple of weeks ago. Up until last year they seemed to do more with less(maybe Highlands?) They just have no depth. In some games last year they were using WRs as the qb with their injury problems. However if Lowry stays healthy and is as good as KDUR has talked about he could play similarily well to Bo Coleman.The pistol could be a huge pain for teams. They should surprise some teams if they remain healthy. Can't imagine they would knock Pueblo off again for a third straight time at home. Surely Pueblo can practice on grass the week of that game and acclimate to slippery conditions. The first three games for the Pack look tricky- @DSU,@CSC,vs Mines

Adams should take a hit losing Horvasse, Surreal and Nick Rooney. The week 4 game between Western and ASU in Alamosa is a must win for the current Western staff- i think. The loser of that game will most likely be a cellar dweller again.

Mesa seems like an enigma. They may have regressed to the 2014 season which they went 6-5. They still have more talent than the bottom half of the RMAC . Wasn't sold on their qb play last year when Salum was knocked out.

[GWolf]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

They play the Skyhawks in Durango however.

Durango? Durango? Sloooooowly he turned; step by step, inch by inch. . . . . . . .

[Turbonium]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

Surely Pueblo can practice on grass the week of that game and acclimate to slippery conditions. The first three games for the Pack look tricky- @DSU,@CSC,vs Mines

I expect Dixie to take steps back this year, losing several key guys, new coaching staff, seems many were unhappy. At Chadron is always tough, and it'll be a night game, but Pueblo typically plays well there (on grass at that). Mines will be a great game, seems to be a real rivalry forming there. Hopefully that continues. However, the next week Commerce comes to town and if Pueblo is not undefeated at that point they could be looking at 2 losses by week 4. Two losses in SR4 is looking at a real chance of no playoff game. Not to say they lose to Commerce, but it will be another battle no doubt.

[mountaineermagic]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

I expect Dixie to take steps back this year, losing several key guys, new coaching staff, seems many were unhappy. At Chadron is always tough, and it'll be a night game, but Pueblo typically plays well there (on grass at that). Mines will be a great game, seems to be a real rivalry forming there. Hopefully that continues. However, the next week Commerce comes to town and if Pueblo is not undefeated at that point they could be looking at 2 losses by week 4. Two losses in SR4 is looking at a real chance of no playoff game. Not to say they lose to Commerce, but it will be another battle no doubt.

I forgot that Chadron plays on grass. So there's three grass fields in the conference. Whoops, just two. It would not be a good send-off for DSU to have a bad year. They're going to need all the momentum they can generate. Yea having two losses by week 4 would catastrophic for CSUP, especially to a LSC school.

[whodat]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

I forgot that Chadron plays on grass. So there's three grass fields in the conference.

Used to be grass, but is now field turf....

[whodat]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

I think 2019 will be no different that 2018. There will be only 2 bona fide RMAC contenders, Mines and CSUP. Chadron and Mesa will both be solid, but neither will seriously contend for the conference title. The rest, well, they'll fight to stay out of the bottom half.

CSUP lost three key players on defense. But their backups, along with a couple DI transfers, are the next men up. On offense, CSUP will start a QB who was made to run the PRO offense behind an O-line that can be the best the T-Wolves have ever had. Glad Symo's back as OL coach. A couple DI RB transfers and faster WRs round out the offense. The T-Wolves play Mines and Mesa at home. They play the Skyhawks in Durango however.

Mines lost the best WR in recent conference history to graduation and a DI transfer QB who led the country is several offense categories. The Nerds also lost a couple key players on defense. Like CSUP, the Nerds have quality backups and excellent recruits from the last couple classes. The Nerds play the Pack in Pueblo and Azusa Pacific in Cali; not easy.

Chadron has upped its recruiting game and was in the playoff discussion last year until getting thumped by the Nerds. CSC lost only 3 games and had a quality win over Mesa. The Eagles had another strong recruiting class -- but on the same level with Mines and CSUP? Probably not. The Eagles will be solid but I'm not convinced they're good enough to win a conference title.

Mesa has lost a lot of talented players the last couple seasons, among them DB Dustin Rivas, WR Virel Moon, RB David Tan, OL Austin Fleer, DL Blake Nelson, and this past season, LB Tom Saager and QB Eystin Salum. The Cows have not replaced that kind of talent. Last season Mesa went 7 and 4. The Cows were soundly beaten by the Nerds and CSUP but lost close games to Chadron and Black Hills. Mesa's past recruiting classes have been average, or so it seems. Not sure why this past year's recruiting class was so small.

The Rest: Highlands showed signs of improvement last season. Problem? Too much player turnover and no continuity. Academic eligibility may be a problem. Dixie lost key players on both sides of ball. Their DI QB Transfer is gone as are key players on defense. Adams State can score points, but can't prevent them. Western State is still looking for an RB the likes of Austin Ekeler. Fort Lewis is looking to beat the T-Wolves the 3rd straight time at home. And South Dakota Mines and Black Hills are trying to move their game to the middle of the pack.

Can't argue with any of this...

[Lobo]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

I forgot that Chadron plays on grass. So there's three grass fields in the conference.whoops, just two. It would not be a good send-off for DSU to have a bad year. They're going to need all the momentum they can generate. Yea having two losses by week 4 would catastrophic for CSUP, especially to a LSC school.

[mountaineermagic]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

That's an impressive run on Chadron and at home vs Mines. I respect the 1-0 weekly philosophy employed by CSUP. Good way to avoid upsets.