Gateway gets no respect

YOUNGSTOWN -- When you walked into Stambaugh Stadium Sunday afternoon, you had to be instilled with great optimism that the Youngstown State football team was going to make the final 16 teams for the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs this time.
There was even some optimism that the Penguins might even get a home game in the first round. The YSU athletic department was all set up in case that happened with ticket purchasing machines lining the entrance way.
"You have to be ready in case the unexpected happens," YSU athletic director Ron Strollo said.
Strollo, who has spent countless hours on the phone and the Internet this last week trying to sell his Penguins to the NCAA selection committee, was understandably disappointed.
"It's a big disappointment," Strollo said. "But it also shows the total disrespect for our conference."
Conference rankedhigh in polls
The fact that the Gateway Conference had as many as five teams ranked among the top 25 for a good part of the season remains a big mystery to Strollo.
"That's part of the problem, because the pollsters across the nation felt we had teams worthy of being ranked and yet the committee failed to agree with them," he said.
Strollo was on the phone right after the final field was selected with Gateway Conference commissioner Patty Viverito and Western Illinois Athletic Director Dr. Tim Van Alstine, who was the Gateway representative on the selection committee.
"They both expressed extreme disappointment," Strollo said. "I don't know how much political this becomes or how much lobbying comes into effect.
"What it comes down to is eight people sitting in a room and trying to come up with 16 teams from different regions in the country."
Strollo said he doesn't believe that the Penguins didn't make the playoffs because of the lack of effort from Viverito or assistant commissioner Mike Kern.
"They were out there doing everything they could, but obviously they don't go out and play the games for the teams," Strollo said. "I don't know how strong Patty [Viverito] is with the selection committee, but I know that it wasn't because she wasn't trying to get us into the playoffs. She felt terrible when I just talked with her."
As Strollo indicated when you leave the decision to eight people in the same room to decide your fate, there's a chance something bad will happen. "We had the opportunity in a couple games do decide our own fate and we didn't get it done," he said.
Southern receivedthree playoff bids
The Southern Conference was the only conference to get three teams into the playoffs and this also concerned Strollo.
"We've talked about this before and because we had tri-champions in our conference we felt pretty good about getting all three into the playoffs," he said.
"Some of these conferences we've tried to schedule games with, but we never seem to get a return phone call. Is there anything we can do? I really don't know, but we're going to find out."
While Strollo wasn't talking about next year's schedule at this point, rumors are flying all over the campus that the Penguins will have another big money game next season. Strollo did indicate that Northeastern and Liberty, both originally on next year's schedule, are no longer on the slate, and both had asked to be relieved of their contract to play a money game of their own.
Penguins rumoredto play Wisconsin
The big rumor at YSU now is that the Penguins will play Big Ten power Wisconsin next season in Madison, Wis.
The Penguins again are slated to open the season against Division II Slippery Rock and will play Maine at home in another non-conference game.
The Penguins still have one open date remaining on the schedule, which Strollo has been busy trying to fill. You can be sure that it won't be another Division II game.
XPete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write him at mollica@vindy.com.