This is a great discussion and one I've had many times over the past seven years or so that I have been watching Wabash and NCAC football.
Can the gap close on the football field? Yes, the gap can get closed, but the stars, moons, planets, everything would have to align before a National Championship will be a "realistic" possibility.
MUC has what, somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 to 200 kids on their roster?
When Bill Lynch was the head coach at DePauw I had a chance to talk with him before the Bell Game that year. I asked him the differences between DI and DIII, and differences in his program at Ball State and others. He said the year they played, I think it was Florida State, that he would have started every single kid that was in a Florida State uniform at Ball State. And that Florida State didn't recurit any of his Ball State kids and that he thought he had ONE player that year that could have played at Florida State. Ball State realistically is not going to be on par with the "big boys" on a year in and year out basis in football.
Now, I don't think the difference is THAT big, but it's somewhere in that neighborhood. That's not going to change by hitting the weights harder, or by changing the scheme, realistically, that's not going to change because the pool isn't going to change.
Wabash, and the other NCAC schools, are going to recruit a certain type of student/athlete and that's not going to change. That is NOT a knock on MUC or Whitewater as I'm sure they are both VERY fine academic institutions. But there is a reason that Stanford or Duke or Northwestern have limited football success. And by limited I mean that Northwestern has made it to the Rose Bowl a couple of times in recent memory, can't recall Stanford being their recently but it seems they were a few years ago too. My point is that those schools aren't going to change themselves just to satisfy getting into a BCS bowl on a yearly basis. They are what they are, and that really isn't going to change.
Why do any of us think it's going to be any different at the DIII level? Of course the players think it's a realistic goal, they're supposed to think that.
I don't think it's impossible for them to get to Salem, but I will say it is VERY unlikely. For those of you that were at MUC in 2002 and at Whitewater this past weekend, you saw the difference first hand.
The Little Giants have accomplished some great things. The conference championships, getting to the playoffs three times in the past six seasons, winning at least one game all three times and making it to the quarterfinals twice, those are tremendous feats for the school.
I don't think any fan on this board wants their schools to change just to satisfy their football cravings. As has been pointed out, it's an incredibly well balanced and great conference for sports. National Powers in Baseball, Swimming, Soccer, Basketball etc., nothing at all to be ashamed of.
Can the gap close on the football field? Yes, the gap can get closed, but the stars, moons, planets, everything would have to align before a National Championship will be a "realistic" possibility.
MUC has what, somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 to 200 kids on their roster?
When Bill Lynch was the head coach at DePauw I had a chance to talk with him before the Bell Game that year. I asked him the differences between DI and DIII, and differences in his program at Ball State and others. He said the year they played, I think it was Florida State, that he would have started every single kid that was in a Florida State uniform at Ball State. And that Florida State didn't recurit any of his Ball State kids and that he thought he had ONE player that year that could have played at Florida State. Ball State realistically is not going to be on par with the "big boys" on a year in and year out basis in football.
Now, I don't think the difference is THAT big, but it's somewhere in that neighborhood. That's not going to change by hitting the weights harder, or by changing the scheme, realistically, that's not going to change because the pool isn't going to change.
Wabash, and the other NCAC schools, are going to recruit a certain type of student/athlete and that's not going to change. That is NOT a knock on MUC or Whitewater as I'm sure they are both VERY fine academic institutions. But there is a reason that Stanford or Duke or Northwestern have limited football success. And by limited I mean that Northwestern has made it to the Rose Bowl a couple of times in recent memory, can't recall Stanford being their recently but it seems they were a few years ago too. My point is that those schools aren't going to change themselves just to satisfy getting into a BCS bowl on a yearly basis. They are what they are, and that really isn't going to change.
Why do any of us think it's going to be any different at the DIII level? Of course the players think it's a realistic goal, they're supposed to think that.
I don't think it's impossible for them to get to Salem, but I will say it is VERY unlikely. For those of you that were at MUC in 2002 and at Whitewater this past weekend, you saw the difference first hand.
The Little Giants have accomplished some great things. The conference championships, getting to the playoffs three times in the past six seasons, winning at least one game all three times and making it to the quarterfinals twice, those are tremendous feats for the school.
I don't think any fan on this board wants their schools to change just to satisfy their football cravings. As has been pointed out, it's an incredibly well balanced and great conference for sports. National Powers in Baseball, Swimming, Soccer, Basketball etc., nothing at all to be ashamed of.