A Rooting Interest

When Georgia Southern plays Delaware Saturday in the NCAA semifinals, Dartmouth offensive coordinator Jim Pry will have a strong rooting interest. His son Brent Pry is the Eagles' defensive coordinator/safeties coach.

The winner of the Georgia Southern-Delaware game will face the winner of Friday's game between Villanova and Eastern Washington for the national championship. Find the bracket here.

And lest you forget, yes, Ivy League champion Penn will still be idle.

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The Lehigh Football Nation takes an innovative approach to the Patriot League's decision this week to table a vote on football scholarships by gazing into a crystal ball and publishing the kind of story that could appear in the Nov. 18, 2012 Morning Call. It will get you thinking.

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New York Newsday has a story about the "trickle-down effect" of football conference changes. From the story:

The Patriot League, which spent the past 18 months studying the question of whether to start granting football scholarships, voted on Wednesday to table the subject for another two years. The question was driven by Bucknell, which has been awarding scholarships. Most schools in the Patriot give the equivalent of 63 scholarships allowed in FCS, but it's called grants-in-aid or financial aid.

Two points. First, it is Fordham, not Bucknell, that has started granting football scholarships. And second, tell the hard-working, middle class parents of a kid who was offered a full ride for football that his financial aid package is the same thing and see if they are buying what you are selling. I don't think so.

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Kudos to Columbia tight end Andrew Kennedy and Harvard defensive lineman Josue Ortiz for winning All-America honors. No word yet on when The Sports Network's All-America team will be announced.

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Will college athletes ever be paid? Not on the watch of new NCAA President Mark Emmert if he has anything to say about it. USA Today has a story.