RMAC Preseason Football

[Turbonium]

https://rmacsports.org/news/2019/7/2...announced.aspx

No real surprise here, Pueblo unanimously selected to win the conference (beyond Wristen voting for Mines).

[GWolf]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

https://rmacsports.org/news/2019/7/2...announced.aspx

No real surprise here, Pueblo unanimously selected to win the conference (beyond Wristen voting for Mines).

We'll know by the end of September if we deserve it. If we can just get by #11 in Durango. . . . . . .

[Turbonium]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

We'll know by the end of September if we deserve it. If we can just get by #11 in Durango. . . . . . .

The offense won't be as offensive is what I'm hearing. The defense should be what's now expected. We shall see.

[Turbonium]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

It also looks like no preseason players of the year this year, every team gets to submit players to watch instead? (Which Pueblo did not do). Is this like everyone gets a ribbon league now or what? Pathetic if so. I'm sorry but the majority of teams don't have players I want to tune in to see. Oliver, Mayberry, Payer, Salum, Darius Williams, Rivas, Fox, Browning, Duncan, Tann are guys to watch...not 2 random guys from whatever school.

[GWolf]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

Offense has some serious tools, just need to apply them effectively. First, we need one QB to step up and win the position.

[TexasDigger]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

Looking forward to my first ever RMAC football season. Really hoping the conference overall is strong as that will only help the teams fortunate enough to make the playoffs.

[ccmoney8]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

Looking forward to my first ever RMAC football season. Really hoping the conference overall is strong as that will only help the teams fortunate enough to make the playoffs.

I'm curious about conference strength so I did a breakdown after a lot of looking around on the web.

Last year the RMAC went 4-3 in D2, beating Commerce (Pueblo), Azusa Pacific (CO Mines), Simon Fraser (SD Mines) and Eastern NM (Mesa) and losing to Angelo (Adams), Kingsville (Highlands) and Grand Valley St (Dixie). Black Hills and Western played out of division, and Chadron & Fort Lewis both had open dates. Pueblo & Mines both made the playoff as the only two one loss teams.

That doesn't tell me a whole lot about the strength of the conference, except that it wasn't good enough to jump an undefeated team, or bad enough to be jumped by a two-loss team.

But it was the case that the GNAC objectively performed the worst of the four leagues head to head in out of conference play. We can't know how badly the NSIC would have done since they didn't play out of conference games, but the LSC #2 defeated the NSIC #2 pretty soundly in the playoff, and the #1s played within the margin of homefield advantage. Bennett Rank had the NSIC as the worst conference in D2, because teams #7-16 were really bad and the one NSIC team who played a bowl game (8-3 Moorhead) got shellacked by a non-playoff team (Missouri S&T).

Let's say, for the sake of argument, 1. LSC, 2. RMAC, 3. NSIC, 4. GNAC. Giving NSIC a bump for winning the region and not getting shut out in round one.

This year the RMAC plays 8 OOC D2 games, one more than 2018. Western is at FCS Idaho State week 1, and FLC/NMHU both have an open date. Right now on July 26, I would pick those games as follows:

Mesa (home) over ENMU
SD Mines (away) over SFU
Pueblo (home) over Commerce
Dixie (home) over SFU
Chadron (home) over UTPB
CO Mines (away) over Azusa
Angelo (away) over Adams
Azusa (away) over BHSU
(6-2)

That schedule is lopsided in the RMAC's favor, but wins are always better than losses, regardless of who you play. If the season went according to chalk, that should lift the profile of the RMAC some. Plus, this year all 8 games are in region.

The LSC is still on top, in my opinion. There are too many non-conference games to dig into, but a bunch of them will be against the GNAC so they should win their share.

If Mesa, Pueblo, and Chadron all win their games against Lone Star teams, we might even get preferential seeding for whoever makes the postseason.

[Turbonium]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

I wouldn't get hopes up of the conference being strong overall. Chadron looks improved, we'll find out how much week 2, but beyond that it seems to be a Pueblo - Mines battle for the championship. After those 3 teams it doesn't look great due to Mesa taking steps back.

[Turbonium]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

Also, the conference apparently decided to get rid of preseason players of the year and preseason teams for all sports for some unknown reason. I hear they might not keep score next season.

[TexasDigger]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

I wouldn't get hopes up of the conference being strong overall. Chadron looks improved, we'll find out how much week 2, but beyond that it seems to be a Pueblo - Mines battle for the championship. After those 3 teams it doesn't look great due to Mesa taking steps back.

Well that is a shame. Was hoping that more teams would be challenging. Both Mines & Pueblo need to be challenged as much as possible so that they are ready for the playoffs (IF they make it). These teams here in Texas (Tarleton, Commerce, Midwestern especially) are salty.

[ccmoney8]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

I wouldn't get hopes up of the conference being strong overall. Chadron looks improved, we'll find out how much week 2, but beyond that it seems to be a Pueblo - Mines battle for the championship. After those 3 teams it doesn't look great due to Mesa taking steps back.

What steps is Mesa taking back?

[Turbonium]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

What steps is Mesa taking back?

Their recruiting classes. The quality of product they put on the field. They looked like they were ready to make a jump to challenging Pueblo year in and year out, they instead went 6-4 last year in conference play while losing by 22 at home to Pueblo, giving up 72 to Mines, they lost to Chadron, AND lost to Black Hills State on October 20th. Black Hills by the way lost 59-0 2 weeks later to Pueblo in Spearfish and ran for -11 yards while giving up 485 on the ground. Mesa in 2018 was nowhere near as talented as the teams they had been putting on the field in years prior.

[mountaineermagic]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

We'll all know by week 3 how seriously Mesa is- @SD Mines(Won 36-33 in GJ last year), vs ENMU(won by 13 in Portales and vs Western(won by 4 in Gunnison). Anything worse than 2-1 and there very well may be some regression within the program. I don't like saying it, but they are one of the more important programs in the conference with their enrollment size and population of GJ. Three conference losses should be the floor of a program with Mesa's resources.

[Packfootball]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

https://rmacsports.org/news/2019/7/2...announced.aspx

No real surprise here, Pueblo unanimously selected to win the conference (beyond Wristen voting for Mines).

Again we are over respected by the other coaches. No QB named as the starter. A running back that runs scared when he unexpectedly runs thru the undersized OL. WR's that think wearing gloves is the way to go to catch a pass ( gotta have those soft hands for the women). A DL that has lots of holes to fill. Linebackers are a ?. DB's just might live up to the reputation. With game 1 on the road at a future FCS school, I know we have had a good feeling beating 2 FCS schools in the past, We will find out quickly just how good this team is. Ft. Lewis College is the team to beat on the road, if that could be accomplished. The Skyhawks play us tough at home.

[Packfootball]

Re: RMAC Preseason Football

We'll all know by week 3 how seriously Mesa is- @SD Mines(Won 36-33 in GJ last year), vs ENMU(won by 13 in Portales and vs Western(won by 4 in Gunnison). Anything worse than 2-1 and there very well may be some regression within the program. I don't like saying it, but they are one of the more important programs in the conference with their enrollment size and population of GJ. Three conference losses should be the floor of a program with Mesa's resources.

Mesa was injured against Pueblo, in fact the last half of the season. They could not plug the holes then, so why do ya expect them to plug the leaks now?