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Amid all the upheaval, the Patriot League once again remains intact and all 7 schools will compete for the automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs.
Bucknell, Colgate, Fordham, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lafayette and Lehigh will play a round-robin schedule with 3 home league games and 3 away games. The rest of each teams' 11-game schedule is filled out with nonconference games.
The Patriot League had two entrants in the FCS playoff in 2022. Holy Cross (6-0) won the league title and received the automatic qualifier bid while Fordham (5-1) was given an at-large invitation.
The undefeated Crusaders (11-0, 6-0) earned the No. 8 seed and knocked off New Hampshire 35-19 in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. Holy Cross fell 42-21 the following week in a quarterfinal matchup at No. 1 seed South Dakota State, the eventual national champions.
Fordham fell 52-42 in the first round at he same New Hampshire team that Holy Cross took down in round 2.
No Patriot League players were drafted by an NFL team this past April, but at least two players signed on with an NFL team after the draft.
Malik Hamm, Lafayette - The school's career sacks leader signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens. The five-time All-Patriot League selection played in 48 career games with 46 starts, 233 tackles, 50 tackles for loss (TFL), 12 pass breakups, 8 forced fumbles, 4 blocked kicks, and 1 fumble recovery.
Liam Anderson, Holy Cross - The linebacker signed with the Indianapolis Colts after a collegiate career in which he amassed 54 consecutive starts contests over the last five seasons while recording 232 total tackles.
See the entire list of FCS head coaching changes.
Lehigh - Tom Gilmore stepped down on November 21 after going 9-27 in 4 seasons, including 2-9 in 2022. He had previously spent 14 years at Holy Cross going 72-81. He was The Ivy League 'Player of the Year' in 1985.
Kevin Cahill, who was named the new head coach on December 19, was a Yale assistant from 2012 until his hiring by Lehigh. He most recently served as Yale's assistant head coach and offensive coordinator since 2018.
Lafayette only won four games in 2022, but two of those came against the school's, longest rivals.
The Leopards ended the year with a 14-11 win at home over Lehigh in the 158th meeting of the nation's Most-played Rivalry game. "The Rivalry", which is traditionally played on the final week of the regular season, moves to Lehigh this year. Lafayette leads the series by just nine wins, at 81-72-5.
Lafayette actually played Bucknell in 1883, a year before the rivalry with Lehigh began, but the Leopards and Bison only clashed for the 100th time last season. Lafayette leads that series 56-38-6 after a 24-14 win at Bucknell in 2022. They will meet at Lafayette on September 30.
Fordham will be the first Patriot League team to take the field in 2023 as the Rams visit Albany in week zero. The first conference clash will take place on September 9 when Georgetown hosts Sacred Heart.
No Patriot League team faces any opponent below the FCS, but there are six matchups with FBS programs. Two of those will involve Holy Cross.
On Saturday of the Labor Day weekend, Bucknell will open at James Madison in the Duke's second season at the FBS level. On the same day, Colgate visits Syracuse.
On September 9, Fordham heads to Buffalo while Holy Cross goes to Boston College and Lafayette visits Duke.
There isn't another game against a FBS school until Holy Cross faces its second such opponent of the year when the Crusaders visit Army on November 11.
BUCKNELL
9/2 at James Madison
9/9 VMI
9/23 Penn
9/30 at Lafayette*
10/7 Holy Cross*
10/14 at Cornell
10/21 Lehigh*
10/28 at Colgate*
11/4 at Fordham*
11/11 Georgetown*
11/18 at Marist
COLGATE
9/2 at Syracuse
9/9 at Villanova
9/16 Penn
9/23 at Holy Cross*
9/30 at Cornell
10/14 Dartmouth
10/21 at Georgetown*
10/28 Bucknell*
11/4 at Lafayette*
11/11 Lehigh*
11/18 Fordham*
FORDHAM
8/26 at Albany
9/2 Wagner
9/9 at Buffalo
9/23 Stonehill
9/30 at Georgetown*
10/7 Lehigh*
10/14 at Stony Brook
10/28 Holy Cross*
11/4 Bucknell*
11/11 at Lafayette*
11/18 at Colgate*
GEORGETOWN
9/2 Marist
9/9 Sacred Heart*
9/16 Stonehill
9/23 at Columbia
9/30 Fordham*
10/7 at Penn
10/14 at Lehigh*
10/21 Colgate*
10/28 Lafayette*
11/11 at Bucknell*
11/18 at Holy Cross*
HOLY CROSS
9/2 Merrimack
9/9 at Boston College
9/16 at Yale
9/23 Colgate*
9/30 Harvard
10/7 at Bucknell*
10/21 Lafayette*
10/28 at Fordham*
11/4 at Lehigh*
11/11 at Army
11/18 Georgetown*
LAFAYETTE
9/2 at Sacred Heart
9/9 at Duke
9/16 Columbia
9/23 Monmouth
9/30 Bucknell*
10/7 at Princeton
10/21 at Holy Cross*
10/28 at Georgetown*
11/4 Colgate*
11/11 Fordham*
11/18 at Lehigh*
LEHIGH
9/2 Villanova
9/9 at Merrimack
9/16 Cornell
9/23 at Dartmouth
9/30 at Monmouth
10/7 at Fordham*
10/14 Georgetown*
10/21 at Bucknell*
11/4 Holy Cross*
11/11 at Colgate*
11/18 Lafayette*