The Reverb: Rocky Revitalization

by Jac Coyne | MCLA.us

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The writing game can be a cruel mistress.

After Friday night, I had a nice outline laid out about the RMLC's return to its old-school dominance. Utah Valley had just roasted Florida State. Colorado State stung Chapman. Colorado clipped UC Santa Barbara.

Two days later my thesis got nuked.

Florida downed UVU in overtime. Chapman netted a late goal to beat the Buffs by one. The Gauchos outscored the Rams, 7-3, in the second half to erase a two-goal halftime deficit.

Alas, I’m going to cling to my hypothesis, mostly because in spite of the grim finish to the weekend, the RMLC is the deepest Division I conference in the country at this moment.

Obviously, Brigham Young is the flag-bearer as it pursues a second straight national championship. Utah Valley, despite its setback to Florida, has to be considered a title contender, as well. Lost in the overtime loss to the Gators was the furious comeback to force extra time and the unconscious goaltending play out of Max Sturgill. The Wolverines are legit and could very easily roll into the conference slate with that one loss.

What really deepens the RMLC pool is the performance of Colorado and Colorado State. The casual eye will see a pair of teams returning home after a weekend split. Fair enough. I’m seeing a pair of teams running one of the toughest road trips around and being a possession or two away from a clean sweep.

Then throw in Utah, which just disemboweled two-time defending PNCLL champion Simon Fraser, and there is going to be a really good team left out of the RMLC tournament. And had the Utes not lost to USC – which was just dispatched by D-II UC San Diego, 14-8 – we might have been talking about a borderline Top 10 team when the polls come out next week.

Utah Tech won’t be in the discussion in its second year as a D-I outfit, but they are taking on a big-boy schedule this spring that will ultimately aid in its quest to push into the top four.

The ALC and the SELC, which are basically stepbrothers, will squawk about being just as deep as the RMLC, but they are also both nearly twice the size. And none of their contenders are undefeated (no disrespect to James Madison and Pitt, who are having great starts).

Will the RMLC return to halcyon days where the entire association runs through the Rockies? Well, one could argue that has already happened. And it doesn’t appear that is going to change anytime soon.

My Top Fives

Division I

1. Brigham Young (5-0) – Chapman game in Vegas now looking like a lay-up.
2. Cal Poly (5-0) – Friday night lights against ASU at home should be a gem.
3. Florida (4-1) – Gators could have crumbled against UVU, but stood tall.
4. Arizona State (2-1) – The Devils dismantled a quality Georgia squad.
5. Northeastern (4-0) – Beating the Bears and Bulls doesn’t move the needle.

Division II

1. Air Force (4-0) – Played a slightly stiffer schedule than UST to this point. Will likely change.
2. St. Thomas (3-0) – As expected, the Tommies took their ’24 frustrations out on the ‘Cats.
3. UNC-Charlotte (5-0) – Sure, undefeated. Good FGCU win. Waiting on that FAU & URI test.
4. Florida Atlantic (4-0) – Business trip to Kennesaw handled with aplomb.
5. UC Davis (3-1) – San Marcos in late March looks like the only other potential loss.

Slides & Rides

- There were some rough results from some traditional D-II stalwarts over the weekend. Dayton went 0-2 on its trip to the southeast, including a wipeout at the hands of Coastal Carolina. Montana and Duluth were not nearly on the same level as St. Thomas and Montana State in the four-way in Minot. Missouri State bowing to Arkansas on its own field is a bit of a surprise, as well. There’s nothing uncommon about being a step slow out of the gate in February, but this seems like something more than that. And while they played two quality opponents, Kennesaw had a tough weekend, as well.

- It was a wild weekend for Florida State. After getting embarrassed on its own field by Utah Valley on Thursday, the Seminoles traveled to Texas and hung an 18-burger on the defending LSA champs on Sunday. FSU has the ability to chalk up the UVU trainwreck to bad day at the office if it can beat Georgia and Michigan State this weekend. As for Texas, the Longhorns get to run the back-to-back Virginia Tech-Liberty gauntlet on the road.

- St. Thomas handled Montana State relatively easily on Sunday in Minot, N.D. As I mentioned in the Weekender, the Tommies probably had a little extra motivation to send a message to the Bobcats and the rest of the association that, as usual, D-II still runs through St. Paul. With Northwest Nazarene and Grand Valley State standing as the only realistic obstacles to an undefeated season, St. Thomas appears to be a cinch for a Top 4 seed.

Montana State? They’re 3-2 with the two losses being against teams that were looking for vengeance. And it’s not like the Bobcats were played off the field in either game. Montana State lost to both UST and Air Force last year before dominating Round Rock. The ‘Cats will be just fine.

- You probably heard the exhale in Orange County after Chapman managed to overcome Colorado at the death, 14-13, to post the first victory of the season. It was a big one. A loss against the Buffs and the Panthers would be 0-3 looking down the barrel of BYU, Virginia Tech and UC Santa Barbara in a nine-day span.

- If it can replicate its performance against Georgia over the next month, Arizona State could be a Top 5 team entering the SLC portion of the schedule. From now until March 25, the Devils get Cal Poly, Cal, Boston College, Colorado, Sonoma State and UCSB before entertaining Chapman in the conference opener. Running the table is probably a big ask, but the potential is there.

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