The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

[Turbonium]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

Pack roster is updated, a couple of defensive difference makers look to have been added. If the offense has improved as I've heard it has, it could be a decent year for Pueblo. Their schedule is certainly favorable with Commerce, Mines, and Mesa all coming to Pueblo.

[mountaineermagic]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

A friend of mine who works closely with Mountaineer athletics was saying this weekend that the offense should be "night and day" better with the offensive coordinator being split into two positions. If they can just stay healthy after their Pocatello trip, they might have some momentum for South Dakota Mines in Gunni and Mesa at Stocker. Putting a competent offense with even last year's defense could make them a .500 team.

[ccmoney8]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

A friend of mine who works closely with Mountaineer athletics was saying this weekend that the offense should be "night and day" better with the offensive coordinator being split into two positions. If they can just stay healthy after their Pocatello trip, they might have some momentum for South Dakota Mines in Gunni and Mesa at Stocker. Putting a competent offense with even last year's defense could make them a .500 team.

After studying both rosters and coaching staffs pretty closely in the offseason, I think I'm ready to predict they finally win in Alamosa this year. The two teams seem headed opposite directions and last year went to OT. Need someone to grab the QB job and they'll have a nice little bounceback. Maybe even get to .500 in the RMAC.

[mountaineermagic]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

After studying both rosters and coaching staffs pretty closely in the offseason, I think I'm ready to predict they finally win in Alamosa this year. The two teams seem headed opposite directions and last year went to OT. Need someone to grab the QB job and they'll have a nice little bounceback. Maybe even get to .500 in the RMAC.

I wouldn't jump to that prediction yet. For some reason Western has never played well on field turf of late, even going back to AE. Also ASU seems to have something in Blankenship. Scholarships have been a major issue in Alamosa though. Hopefully their fundraising efforts go well. It will only help the rest of conference and push FLC and Western to do the same. The link is for a video of Blankenship talking about the fundraising project.

https://asugrizzlies.com/index.aspx

[ccmoney8]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

I wouldn't jump to that prediction yet. For some reason Western has never played well on field turf of late, even going back to AE. Also ASU seems to have something in Blankenship. Scholarships have been a major issue in Alamosa though. Hopefully their fundraising efforts go well. It will only help the rest of conference and push FLC and Western to do the same. The link is for a video of Blankenship talking about the fundraising project.

https://asugrizzlies.com/index.aspx

16 schollies, woof. Had no idea they were that low. Guess that's the price for world-class track and field. Is the head coach taking the initiative on this fundraising effort for football? If so, I'm impressed.

With the comparison between this year's teams, I guess I'm mostly looking at Adams losing just about all the players that kept them from 0-11 last year. Rooney, Hovasse, Surrell, Harris, at least one top player at all 3 levels of defense, all gone. They already looked historically bad on D, right up to the last week.

But also, Western returns a ton on both sides, and the new offensive staff setup looks respectable. They were competitive with the mid-tier teams in the conference, despite their record, and just need to improve a little to flip two or three of those games.

[mountaineermagic]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

Week 3 for Western at Mesa is going to be a big litmus test for the rest of the year, especially the next week in Alamosa. If it's competitive in GJ, Western will have a good shot of breaking the streak- I think. There's always been something spartan like and eerie about Adam's program at Rex. Definitely a cool rivalry.

[TexasDigger]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

blah blah blah

[Turbonium]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

16 Schollies?? Yikes. My dumbass just assumed that all D2 schools HAD TO BE ABLE to divy up the equivalent of 36 schollies. I 'assumed' that in order to even be a D2 Football program the school had to have the financial where-with-all to compete with a full allotment of schollies. He is right - they will never be able to consistently compete against the schools who do actually give out the equivalent of 36 schollies. Good Luck Coach - I never even heard of Adams State until my son decided to go to Mines but I do hope you are successful in getting more financial support.

Does anybody reading this know if there are other schools in the RMAC who are in the same boat financially when it comes to not having the full allotment of schollies to divy up? I'm only wanting to know in order to have a better understanding of the competitive make up of the RMAC financially.

No one in the RMAC is at 36 due to conference rules. It was actually limited to 28 when Pueblo won the national championship. It has increased by 2 every other year since then I believe and will finally get to a limit of 36 in the 2020 season. I'm not sure of where everyone currently stands but can assume Mines, Mesa, and Pueblo are all very near or at the limit of 34.

[mountaineermagic]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

16 Schollies?? Yikes. My dumbass just assumed that all D2 schools HAD TO BE ABLE to divy up the equivalent of 36 schollies. I 'assumed' that in order to even be a D2 Football program the school had to have the financial where-with-all to compete with a full allotment of schollies. He is right - they will never be able to consistently compete against the schools who do actually give out the equivalent of 36 schollies. Good Luck Coach - I never even heard of Adams State until my son decided to go to Mines but I do hope you are successful in getting more financial support.

Does anybody reading this know if there are other schools in the RMAC who are in the same boat financially when it comes to not having the full allotment of schollies to divy up? I'm only wanting to know in order to have a better understanding of the competitive make up of the RMAC financially.

I don't have the data to back it up but I would assume that Fort Lewis is the school with the least number of scholarships. On field success and scholarships are correlated closely in the rmac. As it probably is for most conferences.

[TexasDigger]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

No one in the RMAC is at 36 due to conference rules. It was actually limited to 28 when Pueblo won the national championship. It has increased by 2 every other year since then I believe and will finally get to a limit of 36 in the 2020 season. I'm not sure of where everyone currently stands but can assume Mines, Mesa, and Pueblo are all very near or at the limit of 34.

OK - help me out. I have looked and looked and can't find the Conference Rules as it pertains to this. Do you have these rules or know where I can find them. And yes, I know Google is my friend and I've tried, LOL.

[Turbonium]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

OK - help me out. I have looked and looked and can't find the Conference Rules as it pertains to this. Do you have these rules or know where I can find them. And yes, I know Google is my friend and I've tried, LOL.

Don't know where it'll be as far as the conference posting the rules somewhere but here's an older article from Western State about it.

http://www.mountaineermadness.com/about-the-mfaa/

"NCAA Div. II allows 36 football scholarships. The RMAC has only allowed 28 football scholarships. This past spring, in an effort to bring the RMAC up to NCAA Div. II levels, the Presidents voted the RMAC will allow 30 football scholarships this fall. Then every other year the RMAC teams are allowed to add 2 football scholarships until the RMAC gets up to the 36 NCAA Div. II scholarship limit in 2020."

[TexasDigger]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

Don't know where it'll be as far as the conference posting the rules somewhere but here's an older article from Western State about it.

http://www.mountaineermadness.com/about-the-mfaa/

"NCAA Div. II allows 36 football scholarships. The RMAC has only allowed 28 football scholarships. This past spring, in an effort to bring the RMAC up to NCAA Div. II levels, the Presidents voted the RMAC will allow 30 football scholarships this fall. Then every other year the RMAC teams are allowed to add 2 football scholarships until the RMAC gets up to the 36 NCAA Div. II scholarship limit in 2020."

Thanks for posting that.

[whodat]

Re: The five maybes and six wildcards of the RMAC

I'd count Mesa as "maybe" not very great. CSUP and Mines at the top; most of the rest to beat each other, and a couple of two or less win teams.