Notice the absence of Patriot League football teams in the Top 25

FROM KEITH GROLLER

As you know by now, the Patriot League is supposed to decide whether or not it will allow its member schools to give scholarships in December.

If the first month of this season should nudge the school presidents in any direction about which way to go, it's clear that if they want their programs to compete at the highest level possible, they have to allow scholarships and then come up with a sound plan on how to implement them.

After seeing Lehigh play two scholarship schools this month, it's clear to me that the Mountain Hawks aren't even close to having the overall level of talent that the scholarship schools possess.

I like the kids on the Lehigh squad. They're all good football players and most are also outstanding citizens and strong students.

But again, if you want to just have a football team for the sake of having a football team and be like the Ivy League and just play amongst yourselves and not worry about competing on a national level -- then, by all means -- keep going with this flawed, financial-aid model.

However, if you want to compete against the best and be among the best -- as Lehigh once thought it was in the late 1990s and the early part of this decade -- and if you want to put more than 8,000 people in Goodman Stadium more often than just when Lafayette visits every two Novembers, then you have to go the scholarship route.

It has worked out well in basketball, why can't it work in football?

It has to be disheartening from a Lehigh fan or alum's perspective to see the gap widening between the Patriot League and other scholarship-driven leagues.

The FCS level actually does it the right way and decides a real champion with a playoff format, unlike the BCS nonsense in the upper echelon. If you care about football at either Lehigh and Lafayette, you want to be part of that scene. You want to be able to go for a national championship, or at the very least schedule poeple like Villanova and Delaware and New Hampshire and know you can match up.

That's not happening right now.

Here's the latest Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top 25 poll.


The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top-25 College Football Poll

Team (First-place votes) Record Points Previous Rank
1. Villanova Wildcats (94) 3-1 3,567 1
2. Appalachian State Mountaineers (24) 4-0 3,466 2
3. James Madison Dukes (22) 3-0 3,381 3
4. Jacksonville State Gamecocks (5) 4-0 3,166 4
5. Delaware Blue Hens (1) 4-0 3,021 7
6. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 3-1 2,905 6
7. William & Mary Tribe 3-1 2,642 8
8. Massachusetts Minutemen 3-1 2,439 11
9. South Carolina State Bulldogs 2-1 2,194 12
10. Montana State Bobcats 3-1 2,158 17
11. Richmond Spiders 1-2 1,848 5
12. Montana Grizzlies 2-2 1,755 14
13. North Dakota State Bison 3-1 1,710 18
14. New Hampshire Wildcats 2-2 1,606 16
15. Cal Poly Mustangs 3-1 1,530 20
16. Eastern Washington Eagles 2-2 1,323 9
17. Northern Iowa Panthers 1-2 1,018 15
18. Furman Paladins 2-1 1,006 23
19. Georgia Southern Eagles 3-1 802 NR
20. Texas State Bobcats 3-1 693 NR
21. Elon Phoenix 1-3 689 10
22. Youngstown State Penguins 3-1 529 NR
23. Illinois State Redbirds 3-1 522 NR
24. Southern Illinois Salukis 1-3 421 13
25. Liberty Flames 2-2 332 22

Others receiving votes: McNeese State 324, Southeast Missouri State 279, Northern Arizona 273, South Dakota 238, Central Arkansas 235, Wofford 235, Penn 217, Weber State 149, Western Illinois 129, Chattanooga 127, Brown 77, South Dakota State 68, Grambling State 55, Alcorn State 39, Bethune-Cookman 38, Alabama State 29, Georgetown 23, Delaware State 23, Sacramento State 23, Jacksonville 22, Yale 17, Old Dominion 15, Robert Morris 15, Florida A&M 14, Hampton 12, North Dakota 12, Harvard 10, Northern Colorado 5, Dayton 4, Lehigh 4, Dartmouth 3, Tennessee State 3, Gardner-Webb 3, Fordham 2, Georgia State 2, Texas Southern 1, Colgate 1, Prairie View A&M 1.

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