ECAC Announces 2007 Football Teams of the Year
CAPE COD, Mass. - The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) announced today that West Virginia University, the University of Delaware, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and Wesley College have been named the 2007 ECAC Football Teams of the Year presented by FieldTurf Tarkett.
West Virginia University is the ECAC Team of the Year at the Football Bowl Subdivision level (Division I-A). The Mountaineers posted an 11-2 overall record this season, and represented the BIG EAST Conference in the Bowl Championship Series. The season was capped off a 48-28 win over Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, which moved the Mountaineers into the No. 9 position in the final BCS Standings. This year marks the fourth time in school history that West Virginia has been named ECAC Team of the Year.
The ECAC Team of the Year in the Football Championship Subdivision (Division I-AA) is the University of Delaware. The Blue Hens have now received this award 11 times. Behind head coach K.C. Keeler, Delaware advanced all the way to the National Championship game before falling to Appalachian State, 49-21. The Blue Hens finished the season with an 11-4 record as the No. 2 ranked team in the FCS Coaches Poll. After completing the Colonial Athletic Association schedule with a 5-3 record, Delaware's run to the title game was highlighted by a 37-29 victory over previously unbeaten and No. 1 Northern Iowa.
For the third time in the last four seasons, West Chester University of Pennsylvania will receive the ECAC Division II Team of the Year Award. Head coach Bill Zwaan guided his team to a final record of 9-3 this season, and a perfect 5-0 mark in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference action. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Golden Rams fell to conference foe Indiana University (PA), 45-35. West Chester finished with the No. 16 ranking in the final Division II AFCA Coaches Poll of the year.
Wesley College, a member of the Atlantic Central Football Conference, garners the honor of ECAC Division III Football Team of the Year for the first time in school history. For the third consecutive season, Wesley and head coach Mike Drass captured at least a share of the ACFC title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. In the playoffs, the Wolverines upended an 11-0 Muhlenberg squad in the second round before dropping their quarterfinal round contest, 27-10, to Mary Hardin-Baylor. Wesley ended the season with an 11-2 overall record.
The teams will receive their awards on February 19, 2008 at the annual Eastern College Football Awards Banquet on February 19, 2008 presented by FieldTurf Tarkett, an event held in the Pegasus Restaurant at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, N.J.
About the ECAC
The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is the nation's largest athletic conference and only multi-divisional conference, with 322 member institutions and over 122,000 student-athletes ranging across 16 states from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938 with 58 charter members, the ECAC has since emerged as the nationwide leader in service.
