RFC Summer Semester--President's Athletic Conference (PAC)--(NCAA Division III)

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2011 Final Standings

Looking back: Thomas More took home its fourth straight President's Athletic Conference title in 2011.  The Saints finished first in the PAC with a 7-1 conference record, although that lone loss, which came to Waynesburg, snapped their 26-game winning streak in league games.  Despite that setback, the Saints still managed to advance to the NCAA Division III playoffs as the automatic qualifier from the PAC.  They lost a heartbreaker to Franklin, 24-21, in the first round. The only other PAC team to advance to postseason play was St. Vincent.  The Bearcats fell to Lebanon Valley, 23-15, in the ECAC Southwest Bowl.

Looking ahead: Thomas More will look to win its fifth straight PAC title in 2012. But there are plenty of challengers looking to end the Saints run at the top of this PAC: teams like Washington & Jefferson, Waynesburg, and even St. Vincent, just to name a few.  The PAC will grow by two teams in 2014, as Carnegie Mellon from Pittsburgh, as well as Case Western Reserve out of Cleveland, Ohio, will join the conference as associate members for football.


2012 Predicted Order of Finish (2011 overall record in parentheses)

1. Thomas More (9-2):  In addition to trying to advance to the D-III playoffs for the fifth year in a row, Jim Hilvert will shoot for another milestone: his 50th career win as the Saints head coach. Hilvert has a career record of 43-13 (.768) in five years at Thomas More.  He needs just seven wins to accomplish that feat.  But even getting career win No. 44 might prove to be a tough task, as the Saints will open the 2012 season in Upstate New York to face playoff quarterfinalist St. John Fisher on September 1.  Additionally, there's a trip to Waynesburg three weeks after that in hopes of avenging that last league loss from a year ago.


2. St. Vincent (6-5):  From a program that once lost 20 straight games from 2008-2010, to a team finished above .500.  The Bearcats have come a long way in the last five years.  Now they hope to take that next step, and shoot for their first-ever conference title.  But with a tough 2012 schedule that includes visits to Thomas More and Waynesburg in late October, getting there won't be easy.


3. Washington and Jefferson (6-4):  The Presidents will also have another tough non-conference game at home against St. John Fisher on September 8, before opening conference play against Grove City, also at home, the following weekend.


4. Waynesburg (5-5):  The Yellow Jackets have had just two seasons of at least eight wins or more since 2000.  Additionally, they've finished with exactly five wins three times in the last four years.  That's a trend they hope to change in 2012.

5. Westminster (Pa.)--(5-5):  After struggling to a 2-8 record just two years ago, the Titans improved their overall win total by three games last year, finishing 4-4 in PAC play.  Still, they ended the 2011 season on a sour note, losing three straight games after starting it at 5-2.  The Titan faithful hope that the 2012 season will end better than it started.


6. Bethany (W.Va.)--(5-5):  The Bison will square off against two teams that finished 2011 with a combined overall record of 17-4 in Centre and Randolph-Macon, respectively, to open 2012.


7. Geneva (4-6):  The Golden Tornadoes overcame a slow start to finish 4-4 in their inaugural PAC season last year.  They'll open this year with three straight road games, including a visit to defending Liberty League champion Hobart on September 8, before playing host to Thomas More in their home opener on September 29.


8. Grove City (3-7):  The Wolverines look to move forward after struggling to a 3-5 record in PAC play last season.


9. Thiel (0-10):  The Tomcats will enter the 2012 season trying to snap a 22-game losing streak that dates back to late 2009.  Their last win came on October 31 of that year, as they crushed St. Vincent, 38-14.