The Patriot League schedule ranking is always the most difficult to gauge. The reason for this is that teams in the league play a majority of their contests against Ivy League opposition ... a conference that Pete's does not follow, or rank. That being said, we used a simple formula to gain a ranking for the Ivy teams. (40 for the top 1/3, 50 for the rest). We realize that this in somewhat unfair, as teams like Penn or Harvard may be ranked higher than 40th. However, we are being generous to a few Ivy clubs at 50th. This being noted, our ranking is probably better suited to gage the league's teams against each other ... the rest of the division. Also, there are a few OOC contests not against Ivy foe ... so let's take a look. The Patriot League has a very wide range in scheduling difficulties ... and unlike most conferences, their perennial powers are not at, or near, the bottom. In fact, Lehigh and Colgate are ranked 2 & 3 respectively. However ... are these two clubs the "powers" in 2003? I would think the Rams and Tigers would disagree. Also, Lafayette finished out on a very strong year in 2002. As usual ... the lower the rating, the more difficult the schedule:

1. Bucknell: The Bison have, in our opinion, the most difficult schedule in the Patriot League ... for 2003. The university made an excellent choice in hiring Tim Landis this past winter. Landis, is a west-coast coach with a winning tradition & an outstanding recruiter. In case you did not know, he was the 2001 Independent coach-of-the-year while at St. Mary's. Although the Bison open with a mid-major ... Duquesne was the #1 team in the mid-major rankings last year. Also, they soundly defeated the Bison last year. From there, Bucknell goes on a brutal five game road trip, which includes visits to Fordham and Ivy League power ... Pennsylvania. This is a very difficult schedule for first-year coach Landis.
   
   
2. Lehigh: Recently, the Mountain Hawks traditionally have had no competition for the PL crown. However, 2002 saw the rising of no less that 3 additional stars in the conference. With a very difficult schedule, you can expect to see coach Lembo "engineer" something in 2003. The Hawks open at home with Holy-Cross ... a game they will certainly not overlook. Then comes a battle with conference favorite Fordham. From there, Lehigh faces a couple of difficult Ivy foe in Princeton and Penn. The comes a serious IA test against newest Big East member ... UCONN. A home meeting with Towson and an away match with Colgate will be ones to watch.
   
   
3. Colgate: The Raiders look to compete for the PL crown, once again, in 2003. Coach Biddle's Raiders have a solid schedule which should be strong enough to see the post-season. The greatest difficulty lies in the number of away games. The Red Raiders will play 7 road contests in 2003. These include matches with Dartmouth, Cornell and Princeton ... in addition to a solid IA challenge at Buffalo. As luck would have it ... home contests include Yale, Lehigh and Fordham.
   
   
4. Holy Cross: The Crusaders opened up 2002 with a win over IA Army. The key this year, will be to maintain this momentum the entire season. Coach Allen's club open with another tough opponent in Lehigh for 2003. The Crusaders play a 12-game slate ... with an even split on home vs. away. This year, the Crusaders make two long road trips ... these are to Florida International and St. Mary's. Home contests with Harvard, Yale and Colgate will also prove to be most difficult.
   
   
5. Lafayette: The Leopards could be the "dark horse" in the Patriot League in 2003. Last season, coach Tavani's club led the conference in passing and should do the same in 2003. However, they also have one of the best backs in the country to offer a ground attack and a fairly good schedule to see some wins. The Leopards play an 11-game slate, with 7 home contests ... including matches with Princeton, Fordham and Colgate. However, away games with Lehigh and Harvard will be very challenging indeed. Keep your eyes open for this team. I know the Mountain Hawks will be doing just that.
   
   
   
6. Fordham: The Rams look to start 2003 right where they left off in 2002. Coach Clawson led his club to the second round of the play-off in 2002 & looks to go even further in '03. This will not be as simple as it looks. Although opening with a DII club ... that club happens to be C.W. Post ... a perennial power in DII. Also, the Rams must face Colgate, Lehigh and Rhode Island on the road.
   
   
7. Towson St.: There is a great deal of excitement "in the air" for the players and fans of the Tigers. The stadium will be named after my favorite QB of all-time (Johnny Unitas), an anticipated move to the A-10. The Tigers hope to make their last year in the Patriot League ... a memorable one. Let's hope the team does not get ahead of themselves, as they have PL business to attend to in 2003. The Tigers have a 12 game slate, with ooc games against Yale, Elon, Morgan St., Albany and Lock Haven. Three of these are looking good in the "W" column. However, they do face conference powers Lehigh and Colgate on-the-road.
   
   
8. Georgetown: In their third season of PL/scholarship football, the Hoya faithful are still looking to see if the move was wise. In a school with such a winning tradition, I am certainly not envious of coach Benson's position. However, if there is ever a schedule that can help a club ... this is it ... and with good timing. The Hoya's have a 12-game slate, with non-Patriot contests with Monmouth, Davidson, VMI, Cornell and Stony Brook. The conference portion of the schedule sees Colgate and Lehigh at home.