Crunchy Numbers Week 10: Heading towards history?
I can't remember ever seeing or reading about a year in which Penn, Villanova and Temple all won conference championships. That is a real possibility.
Let's start tonight by setting out the agenda for the rest of the week. After going to the football coaches' luncheon tomorrow, and I'll post the Spectacle of the Week poll and Top 10 chart on Thursday this week.
On Friday, you'll get the season's first edition of the Schuylkill 16 rankings. Then I'll head out to City Avenue for Drexel-St. Joe's, as the Hawks christen Hagan Arena with a good matchup.
I was at Hagan Arena this afternoon for St. Joe's media day, and you'll get that blog post later tonight. There will be a lengthy audio track of Phil Martelli talking to reporters and a photo gallery of the new gym.
After Friday night's game, I will head straight to 30th Street Station and get on a train bound for Boston. A few hours of sleep later, I'll head to Harvard Stadium to cover Penn's Ivy League football title showdown against the Crimson for the Inquirer.
I know that a couple of you have gotten on my case for writing about Penn a lot, but it's what I do and I've said that many times before. This game is particularly important, as a win would give the Quakers their first championship since 2003.
If that happens, we could be on course for the most successful season in local college football history. I can't remember ever seeing or reading about a year in which Penn, Villanova and Temple all won conference championships. That is a real possibility. I'd love to hear from the historians among you about whether anything like this has happened before.
It's important to note that the Penn-Harvard game will not be on television anywhere. So I will be liveblogging from the press box, and I would strongly encourage you to join me starting just before noon. I know a lot of Penn fans read this blog, so hopefully the word will get out.
Next Monday, I'll be courtside at the Pavilion as Penn and Villanova meet in the first Big 5 game of the season. Then on Tuesday, I'll be live-blogging from Washington as Temple faces Georgetown as part of ESPN's 24-hour college basketball marathon.
That game will start at 4 p.m., so be sure to check out the blog if you're stuck at your desk and can't get to a television.
I'll probably go dark for a few days after that. I might put up a post on Thursday or Friday, but the next live events will be on the 21st. I'll be covering the Penn-Cornell football game and the Penn-Delaware basketball game for the Inquirer, and there will be live coverage from Franklin Field.
I would do something for the basketball game, but since that's a 7 p.m. tipoff I'll have print deadlines to deal with. So there probably won't be a liveblog for that game.
That's the agenda for the next few weeks. The intersection of college football and basketball is always a crazy time, but it's also a lot of fun. And as you know, this blog is the best place to take it all in.
Now we get to the latest edition of Football Crunchy Numbers. This week's home advantage factor is 3.11 points.
19. Penn State (12)
Last week: Home loss vs. No. 19/12 Ohio State, 24-7
This week: 11/14 vs. No. 91 Indiana, 12:00 p.m. (Big Ten Network)
Sagarin predicts: Penn State by 20 (82.01 and 3.11 to 65.60)
46. Villanova (49)
Last week: Road win vs. No. 53/57 Richmond, 21-20
This week: 11/14 at No. 195 Towson, 1:00 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: Villanova by 31 (76.13 to 41.80 and 3.11)
53. Rutgers (55)
Last week: No game
This week: 11/12 vs. No. 22 South Florida, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Sagarin predicts: South Florida by 3 (79.97 to 74.08 and 3.11)
65. Temple (61)
Last week: Home win vs. No. 145/140 Miami (Ohio), 34-32
This week: 11/13 at No. 134 Akron, 8:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sagarin predicts: Temple by 10 (70.94 to 57.36 and 3.11)
116. Delaware (114)
Last week: Home win vs. No. 151/154 Hofstra, 28-24
This week: 11/14 at No. 41 Navy, 3:30 p.m. (CBS College Sports)
Sagarin predicts: Delaware by 20 (77.21 and 3.11 to to 60.35)
137. Penn (135)
Last week: Home win vs. No. 225/228 Princeton, 42-7
This week: 11/14 at No. 157 Harvard, 12:00 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: Penn by 1 (56.30 to 52.45 and 3.11)
141. Lafayette (141)
Last week: Home win vs. No. 163/160 Colgate, 56-49
This week: 11/14 at No. 150 Holy Cross, 12:30 p.m. (RCN-4 or RCN-8, WPBPH-60)
Sagarin predicts: Holy Cross by 1 (53.80 and 3.11 to 55.97)
189. Delaware State (185)
Last week: Road win vs. No. 227/229 Winston-Salem State, 24-21
This week: 11/14 vs. No. 169 Norfolk State, 1:00 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: Norfolk State by 2 (48.07 to 43.18 and 3.11)
214. Lehigh (214)
Last week: Home loss vs. No. 150/150 Holy Cross, 24-20
This week: 11/14 at No. 199 Fordham, 12:30 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: Fordham by 7 (41.57 and 3.11 to 37.48)
228. Princeton (225)
Last week: Road loss vs. No. 135/137 Penn, 42-7
This week: 11/14 vs. No. 190. Yale, 1:00 p.m. (YES Network)
Sagarin predicts: Yale by 8 (43.12 to 31.88 and 3.11)
237. Bucknell (236)
Last week: Road loss vs. No. 194/199 Fordham, 21-7
This week: 11/14 at No. 160 Colgate, 1:00 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: Colgate by 25 (50.57 and 3.11 to 28.89)