2005 Around the Mid-Atlantic columns

November 14, 2005 Region gets a playoff surprise A 32-team playoff is a spectacular effort in football competition. No division in college football comes close reaching the depth of play that will be seen in our corner of the sport. While the brackets are far from the ideal playoff scenario, we can't forget that our system is so significantly better than the alternative of our lower D-I brethren. An imperfect system. But it's a heck of a lot of fun.

November 8, 2005 Postseason clarity All four conferences I cover have already determined their champions, leaving the last week of the regular season as somewhat anti-climatic. Del Val clinched the MAC with a steamrolling of Juniata and combined with Rowan's loss at William Paterson, will give the Aggies a chance at the top spot in the region. DVC was second in the last group of NCAA regional rankings, with Hobart and Union just behind. Union's win over Hobart may push the Dutchmen past Delaware Valley in the rankings, which should be released on Wednesday.

November 1, 2005 Playoff watch Automatic bids are being clinched, bubble teams are scanning the scoreboard page to determine if they have a chance, and what they could possibly expect from the tournament committee. While we are still two weeks away from Selection Sunday, it's never too early to think about the biggest postseason in college football history.

October 25, 2005 Conference shuffle set to begin As talked about last week, major conference realignment in the Centennial and Middle Atlantic is all but set to take place. Official announcements were expected in the next few days.

October 18, 2005 The Scots have stories This past week, business took me to Knoxville, Tenn. Always looking out for a connection to the column, I visited Maryville, a new entrant to the Mid-Atlantic region by way of the USA South Conference.

October 11, 2005 McDaniel's slide continues I can't say I didn't see it coming. Three weeks ago we spotlighted Catholic's near upset of McDaniel. Last week Ursinus took the Green Terror to the finish, only to end up eight points short. Gettysburg decided it was time to make a stand for the underdogs.

October 4, 2005 What would you do? The bottom line is this: I am soliciting your feedback. Tell me what you would do as Marty Favret given the situations outlined below. I'll share the responses in next week's column.

September 27, 2005 New-look Shirk opens in style Newly rebuilt Shirk Stadium looked pristine from the comfort of my living room, and the television was not lying. I recalled my first visit to the old Shirk, last season. As I pulled up, D3football.com’s Gordon Mann remarked that the façade was reminiscent of Ebbets Field. I thought it was more like the Acropolis.

September 25, 2005 Green Terror survive scare McDaniel head coach Tim Keating likely could only shake his head after the Green Terror (3-0) survived in a 37-36 double overtime win against Catholic (0-3). Westminster's finest opened up to a 17-0 lead and floundered as the Cardinals scored 24 unanswered points before a McDaniel rally in the closing stages of regulation.

September 13, 2005 Welcome to 'The Marcus Washington Show' Through the first 16 minutes of Saturday's win over Shenandoah, senior running back Marcus Washington took center stage. Two rushing touchdowns on the first two Eagles’ drives preceded two passing touchdowns on trick plays in the following two drives, propelling the Eagles to a 28-6 lead.

September 6, 2005 Let the head-scratching begin So much for some of those predictions I spent all my summer compiling.

August 30, 2005 Games to watch for 2005