Archive For The “Stony Brook” Category

1st Round FCS Playoffs Game Preview: Lehigh at Stony Brook: Playoff Return To Long Island For First Time Since ’99

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1st Round FCS Playoffs Game Preview: Lehigh at Stony Brook: Playoff Return To Long Island For First Time Since ’99

I remember the last game Lehigh played on Long Island; I was there. 

It also happened to be a FCS Playoff, or back then, I-AA Playoff, game. 

It wasn’t against Stony Brook, who finished their very first season in I-AA that year with a 5-5 record and a win over St. John’s (NY), 28-6.

It was against a team that used to be the biggest college football program on Long Island – an East Coast independent, Hofstra, that was led by head coach Joe Gardi.  Like Stony Brook, Hofstra had transitioned to I-AA football, but they had done so much earlier, and even with the challenge of scheduling as an independent, had developed into a playoff team quickly.

Hofstra used to have a national presence on the football stage.  Jets fans marveled at the diminutive WR Wayne Chrebet, and fell in love with his story – the local boy who led the Dutchmen in receiving, but only was on the Jets because he hustled his way into a tryout.  Legend has it that the security guard at Jets training camp stopped him on the Hofstra campus, not believing that he could possibly be a NFL wide receiver at 5 foot 10 – despite his success on that same field.

That was a big part of the story of Hofstra’s football program, and 1999, when Lehigh played the Dutchmen in Long Island might have been Hofstra’s peak not only as a football program but as an athletic program.  Since then, Stony Brook has passed Hofstra in about every measurable way, but in 1999, Hofstra, who was still looking for a football conference after the Patriot League would still not offer them an invite, loomed as Lehigh’s opponent.

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1st Round FCS Playoffs Game Preview: Lehigh at Stony Brook: Playoff Return To Long Island For First Time Since ’99

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1st Round FCS Playoffs Game Preview: Lehigh at Stony Brook: Playoff Return To Long Island For First Time Since ’99

I remember the last game Lehigh played on Long Island; I was there. 

It also happened to be a FCS Playoff, or back then, I-AA Playoff, game. 

It wasn’t against Stony Brook, who finished their very first season in I-AA that year with a 5-5 record and a win over St. John’s (NY), 28-6.

It was against a team that used to be the biggest college football program on Long Island – an East Coast independent, Hofstra, that was led by head coach Joe Gardi.  Like Stony Brook, Hofstra had transitioned to I-AA football, but they had done so much earlier, and even with the challenge of scheduling as an independent, had developed into a playoff team quickly.

Hofstra used to have a national presence on the football stage.  Jets fans marveled at the diminutive WR Wayne Chrebet, and fell in love with his story – the local boy who led the Dutchmen in receiving, but only was on the Jets because he hustled his way into a tryout.  Legend has it that the security guard at Jets training camp stopped him on the Hofstra campus, not believing that he could possibly be a NFL wide receiver at 5 foot 10 – despite his success on that same field.

That was a big part of the story of Hofstra’s football program, and 1999, when Lehigh played the Dutchmen in Long Island might have been Hofstra’s peak not only as a football program but as an athletic program.  Since then, Stony Brook has passed Hofstra in about every measurable way, but in 1999, Hofstra, who was still looking for a football conference after the Patriot League would still not offer them an invite, loomed as Lehigh’s opponent.

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FIRST LOOK: 1st Round of FCS Playoffs: The Stony Brook Seawolves

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FIRST LOOK: 1st Round of FCS Playoffs: The Stony Brook Seawolves

By now, you know that Lehigh has drawn Stony Brook as their first round opponent in the FCS Playoffs.

Let’s get more familiar with them by starting with the basics.

Stony Brook is a member of the CAA, the same FCS football conference that gives use Villanova, Delaware, New Hampshire, and James Madison.

They’re located near Oyster Bay on Long Island, in Stony Brook, New York, and were established as a part of the SUNY University system in 1957.  Since then, they have grown and expanded in leaps and bounds as a research University, and also collaborate with Lehigh on certain initiatives, most recently with their computer science departments to research machine learning.

Their nickname is the Seawolves – which is apparently a real thing – and football-wise they finished 9-2 with their very challenging CAA schedule.

They are ranked No. 11 in the country in the FCS coaches’ poll and No. 12 in the country in the STATS poll.

Oh yeah – they also gave a 9-1 FBS team a major scare in the first week of the season.

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FIRST LOOK: 1st Round of FCS Playoffs: The Stony Brook Seawolves

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FIRST LOOK: 1st Round of FCS Playoffs: The Stony Brook Seawolves

By now, you know that Lehigh has drawn Stony Brook as their first round opponent in the FCS Playoffs.

Let’s get more familiar with them by starting with the basics.

Stony Brook is a member of the CAA, the same FCS football conference that gives use Villanova, Delaware, New Hampshire, and James Madison.

They’re located near Oyster Bay on Long Island, in Stony Brook, New York, and were established as a part of the SUNY University system in 1957.  Since then, they have grown and expanded in leaps and bounds as a research University, and also collaborate with Lehigh on certain initiatives, most recently with their computer science departments to research machine learning.

Their nickname is the Seawolves – which is apparently a real thing – and football-wise they finished 9-2 with their very challenging CAA schedule.

They are ranked No. 11 in the country in the FCS coaches’ poll and No. 12 in the country in the STATS poll.

Oh yeah – they also gave a 9-1 FBS team a major scare in the first week of the season.

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My Vote for the FCS Top 25, 11/1/2016

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My Vote for the FCS Top 25, 11/1/2016

You didn’t ask for them, but here’s my pick for this week’s FCS Top 25.

I’m pretty proud of myself for not falling into the trap of South Dakota State.

Many people, after the Jackrabbits’ huge win over North Dakota State, vaulted them to the Top 5 of their polls, but I know better.  The craziness of the Missouri Valley I thought would eventually catch up with them, so I had only reluctantly put them at No. 10.

Their loss to 3-5 Illinois State, taken in isolation, was a shocker – but perhaps not completely shocking, though, considering the Missouri Valley has not one but two teams that have beaten Power Five Teams and also have five losses.

In fact, there are three Missouri Valley teams – Illinois State, South Dakota and Northern Iowa – that can plausibly say, if they get to 6-5, they have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs as an at-large team, thanks to perceived quality wins.

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My FCS Top 25, 9/27/2016

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My FCS Top 25, 9/27/2016

You didn’t ask for them, but here’s my pick for this week’s FCS Top 25.

(Photo Credit: Elon Athletics)

Let’s see, are there any other teams I can curse into losses this week?

Last time I was here, I was extolling the virtues of William and Mary and Stony Brook in this space.  This week?  Um, not so much.

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My FCS Top 25, 9/20/2016

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My FCS Top 25, 9/20/2016

You didn’t ask for them, but here’s my pick for this week’s FCS Top 25.

Photo Credit: New York Newsday

Stony Brook WR Ray Bolden catches a pass a sideline pass and takes it in for a touchdown against Richmond on Sept. 17, 2016. Photo Credit: Daniel De Mato

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My FCS Top 25 Vote, Week 3, 9/21/2015

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My FCS Top 25 Vote, Week 3, 9/21/2015

If you’d like, you can check out my FCS Top 25 vote below.

A question FCS voters frequently get is: How to rank FCS over FBS upsets?

Bascially, the same questions plaguing rankings on the FBS side (“Is Jacksonville State simply a really, really good FCS team?  Or is Auburn really bad?) cuts the other way in the FCS world.

Jacksonville State almost beat Auburn.  But the meaning of that close shave is still undetermined.  Auburn didn’t look like much last week after being dominated by LSU.  What if the Tigers finish under .500?  How will Jacksonville State’s close shave look then?

With Furman’s upset over UCF 16-15, we have another opportunity to play the game of “how good is this team, really?”  Furman’s in my Top 25, barely, mostly on the back of their upset win against a team that quite recently was seen as a quality mid-major in the FBS world.  But the Paladins are 1-2, though with one of the toughest schedules in FCS.  So, again: How good was the win?

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CFB Week 10 Lehigh Football Viewing Guide

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CFB Week 10 Lehigh Football Viewing Guide

It’s that time of the week where I share with you your weekly Lehigh fan viewing guide for Week 10 of the college football season.  Why go to website after website when all the information you need is right here?

If there was ever a week where you, dear Reader, needed this page, it’s this week, since Lehigh has their bye week.

Fortunately for all of us (and, of course, I include myself in this), there are a boatload of important games available on live streams to watch this weekend.  Many, many of them are free.

It’s worth popping open a Yuengling and getting the yard work done early.

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CFB Week 7 Lehigh Fan Viewing Guide

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CFB Week 7 Lehigh Fan Viewing Guide

It’s that time of the week where I share with you your weekly Lehigh fan viewing guide for Week 7 of the college football season.  Why go to website after website when all the information you need is right here?

Last week, I was so busy hyping up Lehigh/Fordham that I forget to post my weekly viewing guide.

As a result, Lehigh lost.

This is reason enough for my viewing guide to make a comeback.

If you are not able to attend you can follow the game from the following sources:

TV:  NBC Sports Network

Dish Network-Channel 159

Direct TV-Channel 220

Online Streaming: NBC Live Extra (free with subscription to NBC Sports Network)

Radio:   ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320

Internet:  Lehighsports.com/ESPNLV.com

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