Ivy & Lace, Bronze Turkeys & The School That Never Was (NCAA10, PS3)

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WEEK 8 MAC RESULTS

#19 Plainfield (8-0) def. Yale (5-3) 51-23
Princeton (4-3) def. Cornell (2-6) 47-17
Rutgers (6-1) def. Vassar (4-4) 22-14
Harvard (7-1) def. Army (2-6) 39-13
Knox (4-4) def. William & Mary (3-5) 20-10
Penn (3-4) def. Navy (1-7) 20-13

KIRKPATRICK AGAIN SHINES, EARNS CONFERENCE HONOR
Plainfield senior quarterback Ken Kirkpatrick was again named MAC offensive player of the week after a dominanting performance in his team's first major test in weeks against Yale. He was 17-28 for 323 yards passing and 4 TDs, he also ran for 101 yards on 20 carries in the victory. The Noreasters take next week off, then come back for a stretch of four games that are all (at least on paper) winnable, with their sights set on a date in the MAC title again on the horizon against what's likely to be a very stiff challenge in Harvard.

"We're not getting ahead of ourselves," said Kirkpatrick, when asked if his teammates were thinking about a distant, yet, possible berth in a major bowl game. "We're just taking it one day at a time. Coach has been around a long time and he tells us we need to just be cautious and smart, because 7-0 and could easily turn into 7-5 if we're not careful."

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WEEK 9 MAC ACTION

No game for the Noreasters this week. Here's how the rest of the league fared in some pretty tough contests.

Yale (6-3) def. Boston College (3-6) 35-10
William & Mary (4-5) def. Cornell (2-7) 17-10
#10 Chicago (8-0) def. Rutgers (6-2) 47-24
Monmouth (4-3) def. Penn (3-5) 24-21
Vassar (5-4) def. Navy (1-8) 24-10
Harvard (8-1) def. Knox (4-5) 21-9
Arkansas (4-4) def. Princeton (4-4) 35-28

LUCKY NOREASTERS, BELIEVE THIS SEASON IS THEIR DESTINY

Facing a bye week and a schedule where they're believed to be successful throughout, the Plainfield University Noreasters are on everyone's list of surprise team. Ranked #12 heading into their game against Army for Week 10, the school is flying higher than ever before.

One lucky bounce the team got? Scheduling. No conference game with division rival Rutgers who's had to duke it out with Penn State and Chicago, two tough out of conference games, while Plainfield's OOC wasn't nearly as competitive.

"Schools like that don't usually want to play us," said coach Skip Hobelitz who defended his team's schedule. The toughest game on the team's schedule -- if they can get there -- is the conference title game and that's only if they don't manage to slip in-conference, as Rutgers will be waiting right behind in case they do, believing themselves to be superior to their in-state rival.

That said, wins the rest of the way out could bode well for the school, giving them access to a BCS bowl game, something unthinkable at the beginning of the season. Yet, the team says, they're not getting ahead of themselves just yet. "We're not booking any tickets," said Hobelitz, the retiring coach. "We're just getting on the bus for our next game."

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WEEK 10 MAC RESULTS
BRONZE TURKEY GAME WEEKEND!

#12 Plainfield (9-0) def. Army (2-7) 59-20
Princeton (5-4) def. Penn (3-6) 31-23
Rutgers (7-2) def. Navy (1-9) 45-0
Harvard (9-1) def. Michigan State (3-7) 41-19
Knox (5-5) def. Monmouth (4-4) 23-13

GREER TAKES POW HONORS
Junior running back from Plainfield University Charlie Greer was named National Player of the Week after a 4 TD performance against Army last week. He rushed for 135 yards and caught five passes for 46 yards in the big win that was 9th for the ranked Noreasters this year.

AWARD SEMIFINALISTS
(Only MAC/Ind. players noted)

MAXWELL
QB Ken Kirkpatrick (Sr.) Plainfield
QB Darryl Gold (So.) Harvard
QB Dustin McDonald (So.) Chicago
HB Charlie Grier (Jr.) Plainfield

O'BRIEN
QB Ken Kirkpatrick (Sr.) Plainfield
QB Darryl Gold (So.) Harvard
QB Dustin McDonald (So.) Chicago

WALKER
HB Charlie Grier (Jr.) Plainfield
HB DaMarcus Patterson (Fr.) Chicago

BEST WR
WR Colby Lowery (So.) Chicago
WR Jacob Daniels (Jr.) Yale
WR T.J. Jacobs (Sr.) Plainfield

MACKEY
TE Philip Ford (Jr.) Harvard
TE Chaz Hearn (So.) Princeton
TE Matthew Gaston (Sr.) Yale
TE Dan Ross (Fr.) Plainfield

RIMINGTON
C Chad Burke (Jr.) Harvard

THORPE
CB Patrick Harris (Jr.) Chicago

GROZA
K James Cabral (So.) Plainfield

BEST PUNTER

P Ed Wagner (Jr.) Delaware

BEST RETURNER
HB DaMarcus Patterson (Fr.) Chicago
WR #83 (So.) Rutgers

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WEEK 11 RESULTS

Harvard (10-1) def. Princeton (5-5) 37-10
Army (3-7) def. FCS Northwest 38-0
Rutgers (8-2) def. Monmouth (4-5) 30-13
Penn (4-6) def. Cornell (2-8) 20-9
Yale (7-3) def. Vassar (5-5) 18-13
#9 Plainfield (10-0) def. Navy 41-0

KIRKPATRICK PICKED BY ESPN COLUMNIST AS HEISMAN WINNER

WEEK 11 - ESPN's Dick Bobolotta, the national college football columnist wrote about national player of the week Ken Kirkpatrick saying "This kid is the real deal. If he were playing for Alabama, USC or Penn State, you'd never be able to get him off your screen. But instead, he's hanging out in the swamps of Jersey, but just a train ride from New York City. I don't care what you do, get down there and see him do his work. Friends, he's the real deal and my pick for Heisman if he keeps it up. Small school or not, he's the goods."

Kirkpatrick had another banner day, 17-23, 244 yards passing, 9 carries for 28 yards and a combined six touchdowns on the day.

BCS RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 11
1. Florida (10-0)
2. Oklahoma (9-1)
3. Oklahoma State (9-1)
4. Chicago (10-0)
5. Alabama (9-1)
6. Plainfield (10-0)
7. Ole Miss (9-1)
8. North Carolina (8-2)
9. Nebraska (8-2)
10. Texas (8-2)
11. Penn State (10-1)
12. West Virginia (9-1)
13. Virginia Tech (7-3)
14. TCU (9-1)
15. Florida State
16. Kansas (8-2)
17. Tennessee (7-3)
18. Georgia Tech (8-3)
19. Boise State (7-2)
20. Utah (8-2)
21. Ohio State (8-3)
22. Clemson (6-4)
23. Harvard (10-1)
24. Oregon State (8-2)
25. NC State (8-2)

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WEEK 12 RESULTS

Plainfield (11-0) def. Monmouth (4-6) 55-6
Army (4-7) def. Navy (1-11) 23-20 (OT)
Vassar (6-5) def. Princeton (5-6) 38-24
Rutgers (9-2) def. Knox (5-6) 33-23
William & Mary (5-5) def. Penn (4-7) 45-21

COACHES TOP 1O
1. Florida (38) (11-0)
2. Chicago (22) (11-0)
3. Oklahoma (10-1)
4. Oklahoma State (10-1)
5. Plainfield (1) (11-0)
6. Alabama (10-1)
7. North Carolina (9-2)
8. Ole Miss (10-1)
9. Penn State (11-1)
10. West Virginia (9-1)

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WEEK 13 RESULTS

#5 Plainfield (12-0) def. Vassar (6-6) 52-13
#21 Harvard (11-1) def. Cornell (2-9) 26-7
Yale (8-3) def. Penn (4-8) 13-7
Princeton (6-6) def. Monmouth (4-7) 45-27
#24 Rutgers (10-2) def. William & Mary (5-6) 31-13
Knox (6-6) def. Army (4-8) 45-35

COMMITTED PLAYERS
Plainfield had its first three players sign for next year:

ATH (#12) Patrick Carter (6'3" 223lbs Roswell, GA) 4-star
DE (#31) Wesley Grier (6'4" 280lbs South Orange, NJ) 2-star
SS (#62) Trey Davis (6'0" 192lbs Elizabeth, NJ) 2-star


With those games, the MAC regular season is complete. Here's how the standings shook out in the end:

MAC CONFERENCE STANDINGS
EAST
Plainfield (12-0, 8-0)
Rutgers (10-2, 8-0)
William & Mary (5-6, 3-4)
Knox (6-6, 3-5)
Army (4-8, 2-5)
Monmouth (4-7, 2-6)
Navy (1-11, 1-7)

WEST
Harvard (11-1, 8-0)
Yale (8-3, 5-2)
Vassar (6-6, 4-4)
Princeton (6-6, 4-4)
Penn (4-8, 2-6)
Cornell (2-9, 0-7)

So it'll be Plainfield v. Harvard in the MAC title game this year. For Plainfield, it'll be a spot in a BCS bowl game if they win and for Harvard, a shot at a conference title and that's about it, as it seems unlikely they can rise up in the rankings enough to capture a major bowl bid.

Either way, the game ought to easily be the toughest game on the schedule for Plainfield this year and a real test to see if the Noreasters are truly for real or beneficiaries of a schedule that didn't test them at the level of their rivals.

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CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Here are the conference title games for 2009:
BIG 12: Nebraska (8-4) v. #4 Oklahoma State (11-1)
C-USA: Houston (7-5) v. UCF (9-3)
SEC: #7 Ole Miss (11-1) v. #1 Florida (12-0)
ACC: #19 Florida State (9-3) v. #6 UNC (10-2)
MAC: #18 Harvard (11-1) v. #3 Plainfield (12-0)

#2 Chicago has already clinched a spot in the national title game or at least, you'd like to think that they won't get bumped by anyone. In order for Plainfield to exercise its outside shot at the game, Florida would need to lose to Ole Miss and they'd need to beat Harvard.

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CONFERENCE TITLE RESULTS
B12: Oklahoma State (12-1) def. Nebraska (8-5) 24-14
CUSA: Houston (8-5) def. UCF (9-4) 20-14
SEC: Florida (13-0) def. Ole Miss (11-2) 38-16
ACC: Florida State (10-3) def. UNC (10-3) 17-10
MAC: Plainfield (13-0) def. Harvard (11-2) 37-7

Harvard actually had a 7-3 lead after the first quarter, but then they were hit by a Nor'easter. Plainfield scored 34 unanswered points the rest of the game, including 21 of those in the 2nd quarter alone to seal the deal and they had no answer for it.

Ken Kirkpatrick was 26-42 for 344 yards and had 16 carries for 51 yards.

Now, the business of the post-season begins in Plainfield, as the team thinks about who their next opponent will be.

AWARD WINNERS

Kendall Kirkpatrick won the Heisman trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Davey O'Brien award. He was on our only award winner, but boy, what a way to end your career!

BOWL MATCHUPS

Here are the 2009 Bowl matchups. I'll only report our matchup unless there are others you ask about specifically.

Quote:

NEW MEXICO BOWL: San Diego State (6-6) v. Hawaii (6-5) ST. PETERSBURG BOWL: ECU (6-6) v. Maryland (6-6) EAGLEBANK BOWL: Washington State (6-6) v. Knox (6-6) NEW ORLEANS BOWL: UAB (7-5) v. Florida Atlantic (8-4) LAS VEGAS BOWL: UCLA (6-6) v. #11 TCU (11-1) POINSETTIA BOWL: Washington (6-6) v. #22 BYU (9-3) HAWAII BOWL: Houston (8-5) v. #25 Boise State (9-3) MOTOR CITY BOWL: #15 West Virginia (10-2) v. #21 Rutgers (10-2) EMERALD BOWL: VIRGINIA (6-6) v. Cal (7-5) MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL: #18 Clemson (8-4) v. Vassar (6-6) CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL: Wisconsin (8-4) v. #12 Georgia Tech (9-3) INTERNATIONAL BOWL: Yale (8-3) v. Louisville (7-5) ALAMO BOWL: Texas A&M (7-5) v. Illinois (7-5) LIBERTY BOWL: Georgia (6-6) v. UCF (9-4) COTTON BOWL: Auburn (8-4) v. #7 Texas (10-2) CAPITAL ONE BOWL: #9 Ole Miss (11-2) v. Purdue (8-4) GATOR BOWL: Delaware (10-2) v. #17 UNC (10-3) OUTBACK BOWL: #13 Tennessee (9-3) v. #16 Ohio State (9-3) INSIGHT BOWL: Nebraska (8-5) v. Northwestern (7-5) CHICK-FIL-A BOWL: LSU (7-5) v. #10 Virginia Tech (9-3) MUSIC CITY BOWL: Vanderbilt (6-6) v. Wake Forest (8-4) SUN BOWL: Arizona State (8-4) v. Cincinnati (8-3) ARMED FORCES BOWL: Oregon (7-5) v. #23 Utah (9-3) HOLIDAY BOWL: #19 Kansas (9-3) v. Oregon State (9-3) TEXAS BOWL: Southern Miss (6-6) v. #24 Notre Dame (9-3) GMAC BOWL: #20 Harvard (11-2) v. Memphis (8-4) HUMANITARIAN BOWL: NC State (8-4) v. Fresno State (8-4) PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL: Nevada (9-3) v. USF (8-4) INDEPENDENCE BOWL: Arkansas (6-6) v. Colorado (7-5)

BCS GAMES

Quote:

ROSE BOWL: #8 Penn State (11-1) v. USC (8-4) SUGAR BOWL: #3 Plainfield (13-0) v. #6 Oklahoma (10-2) ORANGE BOWL: #14 Florida State (10-3) v. #5 Alabama (11-1) FIESTA BOWL: #4 Oklahoma State (12-1) v. Pittsburgh (9-3)

As if you needed any evidence the system stinks, USC and Pitt get bowl bids that could've/should've gone to much better ranked teams.