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Quote from: PaulNewman on December 06, 2024, 07:15:14 PMPaul Newman's NCOY picks...
1) Brandon Bianco
2) Jon Anderson
3) Lumumba Shabazz
4) Jason Kilby
5) Reuben Burk
Wild Cards...Casey Holm (UWEC), Paul McGinlay, Brent Ridenour (Franciscan), Francesco Cardillo (Buffalo State)
Addendum: Jorge Chapoy (Dickinson)....and someone may have to drop out of my top 5
Quote from: NEsoccerfan on November 17, 2024, 04:59:44 PMAnnouncers in the St. Olaf game mentioned that 3 of their players from last year transferred to D1. Anyone know who those were besides Morgan? I'd be interested to see how they fared this year playing up 2 divisions.
Quote from: Kuiper on October 15, 2024, 03:58:33 PMQuote from: stlawus on October 15, 2024, 03:13:50 PMStill too early to put much stock I think, spots 20 through 120 are separated by 3 points.
Definitely things will change, especially with teams getting a chance for quality win bonuses and enhanced strength of schedule with remaining conference games and in conference tournaments by playing the better teams in their conferences. Nevertheless, if your team is in a conference where the NPI rankings of all or almost all teams are not that great and non-conference games are over, playing those teams more isn't going to help those aspects of the ranking much (although they can help your W-L record). There is a chance, however, someone you beat earlier in the season will do well and raise the quality of your win and SoS, so you have to monitor the NPI of your opponents too.
I posted this more to highlight the new reality that things like USC rankings, regional rankings and equity, etc are out the window and NPI is the only game in town other than winning your conference's automatic bid. So, tracking these weekly (or twice weekly) NPI numbers replaces predictions about whether a committee of humans would pick a 7th team from the NESCAC or take a second team from the Liberty this season.
Quote from: PaulNewman on October 25, 2023, 08:19:07 AM
Massive match in the OAC tonight as John Carroll travels to Mt Union. JCU is looking to rebound and reassert itself as a legitimate top tier national contender. Mt Union is still a bit of an enigma -- on this site (and especially for Eastcoasters) -- probably best known as SC's alma mater and "a football school." The Purple Raiders are having perhaps their greatest season ever with back to back chances to enhance the resume further....JCU tonight and then Otterbein on Saturday. Mt Union reminds me a little of Carleton...stellar campaigns but still with a lot to prove. Would be fantastic if a few with knowledge of the top four in the OAC, their style of play, and key players to watch shared some insights and commentary.
In the NCAC, Denison has really stumbled (losing to Wooster last night at "historic Columbus Crew Stadium") and now must beat OWU (at Roy Rike) on Saturday to avoid dropping to 4th in the conference. Perhaps they will prefer facing Kenyon first but in any case Big Red hopes for a Pool C are almost certainly dashed and so they will have to beat their two rivals back to back again to get an AQ. The other thing is that teams holding a win over Denison will be negatively impacted by their recent slide, losing a valuable "ranked win." Wooster travels to DePauw Saturday with high stakes. The winner may rise to 3rd in the conference but the loser will find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture.
Quote from: PaulNewman on August 24, 2023, 07:38:17 PM
I know many probably tire of me talking about Kenyon, and some may tire of seeing my posts, period. I do try to compensate with a genuine interest in and attention to other prominent programs and a mix of regions.
At any rate, I'm posting this off the major highways (threads) and on this little regional cul-de-sac.
I'm sure I'm missing an obvious one, but only Middlebury and maybe Messiah come to mind in terms of a school like OWU that has one of the most decorated coaches in D3 history and the winningest coach among all divisions...and where two very notable alums are now leading the programs at OWU's greatest rivals (at least in conference but arguably nationally as well).
The new dynamics are fascinating. There is Bianco at Denison who is just outstanding and already has turned around the Denison program after taking CWRU to heights that program had never experienced. He's pretty inarguably one best and brightest young coaches in D3. He no doubt much preferred the Denison-Kenyon rivalry with Coach Brown at the helm. Indeed, disliking Kenyon I'm pretty convinced is requirement inside OWU Nation. And now Kenyon is led by the OWU player probably most responsible for earning Jay Martin's second NCAA title in 2011. When one thinks of OWU soccer, Travis Wall is no doubt one of the first people who come to mind for anyone who has a decent awareness of OWU soccer and its history.
So this time I'm actually more curious about how the OWU faithful will perceive and react to the new landscape. Can you really look at Kenyon (or Denison) as hated rivals when the coaches of your rivals are your own family? I am very curious to see how it all plays out...and of course there's still the question of who will replace Dr. Jay when he retires 25 years from now.
In more Kenyon-specific news, the 2023 roster is out. Everyone appears to be back that could be back. I was hoping Mac Nardiello-Smith would be back for a Covid year but looks like he isn't. His extremely unfortunate head injury/concussion suffered in the Calvin round of 32 clash kept him out of the W&L and Williams games. Of course Kenyon also lost a strong senior class highlighted by Upton, Carson, Gaese, and Muther. Big losses, but plenty of talent remains and hopefully at least 2-3 of the newcomers will contribute.
Kenyon hosts OWU this year, but maybe next year when the Owls head to Delaware OWU will retire Wall's jersey before the match or at halftime.