10-1 record wasn't good enough for Lehigh to get playoff berth

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/ FROM KEITH GROLLER Despite going 10-1 this year and winning NCAA FCS playoff games on the road each of the past two years, and despite being nationally-ranked all season, Lehigh was snubbed by the NCAA FCS selection committee today. The 20-team field for this year's NCAA tournament was announced on ESPNU on Sunday afternoon and Lehigh, despite being ranked No. 13 in one of two national FCS polls, didn't receive one of the 10 at-large bids. The automatic bid for winning the Patriot League went to Colgate by virtue of last week's 35-24 win over the Mountain Hawks. It was Lehigh's lone loss and just their second regular-season loss in the past two years. Patriot League champ Colgate, by the way, didn't get a home game or a bye. The Raiders will travel to Wagner on Staten Island for a noon game on Saturday. Villanova, which features former Central Catholic standout Kevin Guylas as well as ex-Whitehall quarterback Chris Polony and has ex-Zephyrs coach Tony Trisciani on its staff, was one of three Colonial Athletic Association teams to make the 20-team field and will play at Stony Brook at 3 p.m. Saturday. This marks the second time a Patriot League team went 10-1 and didn't receive a playoff berth. In the league's first season as an automatic bid conference in 1997, Bucknell finished 10-1 with its only loss to Colgate on the final day of the regular season and did not earn a postseason berth. The only other time a Patriot League team went 10-1 and did not win the automatic playoff berth was in 1999, when Lehigh did get in as an at-large. The Mountain Hawks also lost to Colgate that season.