The Great 21st Century Division 1 Football Tournament
(Coal Region)
If you missed the first region in our tournament, you can find the West region (with the full explanation of the workings of the tournament) right here. But the basics are this: all 256 Division 1 teams, 16 geographic regions of 16, tournament games determined by real-life 21st century matchups if possible, simulated 21st century matchups if not.
Today we jump into the Coal region, which includes teams from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. We've got some heavy-hitters like WVU, Penn State, and Pitt, as well as some programs like Marshall and Temple that have had some dangerous teams this century. Here's how the bracket shakes out:
All results are real games, unless denoted with (SIM)
*First Round results*
[2000 Akron] 30
vs
[2000 West Virginia] 29
(SIM) Wow, talk about a huge upset right out of the gates. A 16-point ‘dog per Massey, the Zips sneak out with a win, and throw the left side of the Coal region bracket into chaos.
[2004 Saint Francis] 10
vs
[2004 Robert Morris] 28
A sloppy matchup saw Robert Morris commit 3 turnovers, but comfortably win after Saint Francis committed 5.
[2013 Lafayette] 28
vs
[2013 Youngstown State] 56
(SIM) In a showdown of cold- vs warm-weather mascots, the Penguins double up the Leopards to advance.
[2001 Bucknell] 17
vs
[2001 Kent State] 38
The Golden Flashes rushed for over 200 yards to hold off the upset-minded Bison.
[2014 Villanova] 43
vs
[2014 Duquesne] 18
(SIM) This Philly-Pittsburgh matchup happens virtually, as these teams haven’t played since 1950 for some reason. (Maybe because Duquesne wants to avoid any blowouts like this one.)
[2016 Pittsburgh] 43
vs
[2016 Marshall] 27
Strong performances by Nathan Peterman and Chawntez Moss lead the Panthers to a victory, as Marshall suffers the bad luck of having one of its worst 21st century teams get called in the first round.
[2007 Temple] 0
vs
[2007 Penn State] 31
The Nittany Lions pitch a shutout on the road behind 18 tackles and 1.5 sacks from Dan Connor, and the Owls are eliminated without putting up much of a fight.
[2003 Penn] 31
vs
[2003 Lehigh] 24
The Quakers come out victorious in this frequently-contested, highly-competitive non-conference rivalry.
*Second Round results*
[2001 Akron] 56
vs
[2001 Robert Morris] 7
(SIM) After their big upset in the first round, the Zips stomp their FCS foe, advancing to the regional semis.
[2000 Youngstown State] 26
vs
[2000 Kent State] 20
Despite managing just 208 yards of total offense(!), the Penguins pull the FCS-over-FBS upset and advance.
[2019 Villanova] 14
vs
[2019 Pittsburgh] 21
(SIM) The Panthers draw one of the consistently toughest FCS foes around, but manage to avoid the upset.
[2015 Penn State] 46
vs
[2015 Penn] 16
(SIM) Penn and Penn State “meet” for the first time since 1958, with predictable results.
*Semifinal results*
[2008 Akron] 38
vs
[2008 Youngstown St] 28
(SIM) Even with only 3 Ohio teams in the region, 2 of them meet in the semifinals, as Akron puts an end to Youngstown State's impressive run and advances.
[2017 Pittsburgh] 14
vs
[2017 Penn State] 33
Saquon Barkley compiles 133 total yards and a pair of TDs to lead the Nittany Lions.
*Regional Final*
[2009 Akron] 7
vs
[2009 Penn State] 31
In a prety anticlimactic Regional Final, Daryll Clark’s 353 passing yards and 3 TDs leads the Nittany Lions to our championship bracket.
Be sure to check back every Monday and Thursday for another region, including the Western Great Lakes region this coming Monday.