With Lehigh’s win Saturday night at American, the league is shaking out very much like it did last year, with the Mountain Hawks, Bucknell and Holy Cross way out in front of the rest of the pack. While those three teams focus on games against each other, the other five squads are fighting for a chance to host a Patriot League Tournament first round game.

The story of the last week was Lehigh trying to step up with the Patriot League’s Big Two and getting beat by both Holy Cross and Bucknell. While the Mountain Hawks lick their wounds, this week it’s American who will run the gamut, facing Holy Cross, Lehigh, and early next week, Bucknell.

All that talk about a renewed balance in the Patriot League? Well, the games have been close but the same few teams keep winning them. Half of the conference is now 1-4 in Patriot League play, and there’s two games of separation already between fourth and fifth place.

Of all the ways to describe the even playing field of the Patriot League this year, this sentence may be the best: In the last nine days, Navy beat Lafayette, who beat Colgate, who beat Army, who beat Lehigh, who beat Navy.

Four games down, many more to go. We’ve already seen an overtime gem, another game come down to the final possession, and last year’s two best league teams cruise to wins. This week’s set of games is highlighted by Bucknell’s trip to Holy Cross Friday night for a game that will be nationally televised on CSTV. It seems early to say this, but the winner of that game will have to be considered the favorite for the Patriot League.