FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[BashBacker#16]

Nike,
Uncle Smiley's is a classic - suggest biscuits & gravy and/or cinnamon rolls rock.  It's on West Market.  The Scarlet Inn (on campus) has great food but more lunch stuff.  I'd strongly recommend the double cheeseburger and fries!

You can also hit our tailgate on the corner of the main lot next to Hollett Stadium.

WAF!

[BashBacker#16]

Wittenberg game notes - http://www4.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/football/gamenotes/gamenotes11/wabash.pdf

Wabash game notes should be posted soon!

WAF!

P.S.  Raise your hand if you have smoke coming out of your ears!

[wally_wabash]

P.S.  Raise your hand if you have smoke coming out of your ears!

[cave2bens]

P.S.  Raise your hand if you have smoke coming out of your ears!

More likely a leg raised and monkeys flying out my .....

[smedindy]

The NCAA Regional Rankings are out! The NCAA Regional Rankings are out!
-Navin R. Johnson

1 Mount Union 7-0 8-0
2 Franklin 6-0 7-1
2 Wabash 7-0 8-0
4 North Central (Ill.) 6-1 7-1
5 Case Western Reserve 7-0 7-1
6 Illinois Wesleyan 7-1 7-1
7 Wheaton (Ill.) 7-1 7-1
8 Baldwin-Wallace 7-1 7-1
9 Wittenberg 5-1 7-1
10 Albion 5-1 5-3

Well, now. I think if Wabash topples Witt, they move to #2. Does Witt stay regionally ranked if they lose? (And does B-W when they lose to Mt. Union?)

I am surprised that CWRU interjects itself into the CCIW troika.

[wally_wabash]

Regional Rankings are posted...
1- UMU
2- Franklin
2- Wabash
4- NCC
5- CWRU
6- IWU
7- Wheaton
8- B-W
9- Witt
10- Albion

All of this, of course, will change after this weekend's games.  I suspect that if Wabash beats Wittenberg and earns that win over of RR'd team, they will jump ahead of Franklin and be in decent position for a #2 seed in the tournament. 

The big winner from the North Region is CWRU.  As it stands now, CWRU is the first at-large team on the board from this region.  My guess is that Wesley will be selected as a Pool B team if they beat Huntingdon.  If that happens and CWRU goes into Pool C, they may well be the first team on the table from this region.  Are there 6 teams from other regions that would be selected before CWRU?  Maybe.  Will be interesting to see what happens if Wheaton beats North Central but not by the 15 points necessary to keep NCC from earning the CCIW AQ.  Does Wheaton shoot ahead of IWU and CWRU?  Almost certainly ahead of CWRU, but whether or not they can go ahead of IWU is a stickier situation...h2h results are a primary criteria and can't be ignored as the polls have done.

The big loser in this rankings is IWU.  If CWRU stays the course, it's hard to see a good reason why the rankings would move them ahead of CWRU and CWRU may not get off the table in time for a 9-1 IWU to have a chance to be selected.  Interesting stuff. 

[Schwami]

I don't think I've seen a "tie" in the regional rankings before.  What's with that?  But you are right, it will be broken one way or the other pending the outcome of the Witt game.

[smedindy]

Wally must have been reading my mind, though I tried to be concise (and had an email that needed attention).

The West also has a tie in its RR between Dubuque and Monmouth at #6.

There are some teams that aren't as highly ranked in RRs as I thought: Trinity, Centre, Redlands to name three.

IWU could be helped if CWRU becomes the "B", which depends on Wesley losing to Huntingdon and CWRU running the UAA table.

Seeing the rankings, if St. Thomas wins out in the West, then we'll shift the Purples again and the Tommies will be the #1 seed out west. And by gosh, all four #1 seeds will be "purple" if UMHB remains #1 in the South.

Witt winning the NCAC would certainly mean a roadie against someone like North Central for Witt. If Wabash takes care of the Tiger Duo they'll no doubt be #2. But you gotta take care of biz first.

[aueagle]

RTipps...I looked here and a couple other places......Scroll down to the very bottom....Thanks for the research...
http://bishops.owu.edu/coaches.html
Regarding the Espo photo....I think we can ALL say the OWU staff/administration read our posts....

[Wabash Hokie]

Smed: 

Regarding your comment  "Witt winning the NCAC would certainly mean a roadie against someone like North Central for Witt. If Wabash takes care of the Tiger Duo they'll no doubt be #2. But you gotta take care of biz first.", why would Wabash get into the playoffs ahead of IWU or some other team currently ranked below Wabash?  If we lose to Witt, why would we not fall down the list to 9 and be out of the money?  I will be the first to admit that I know less than nothing about the selection process.  My point is that Wabash, like Boise State, will not have a win over a quality team to justify going to big dance.  I think if we lose to Witt, who got waxed by Huntingdon, we are toast for the playoffs due to the general weakness of the NCAC.  Maybe I am just trying to keep my own expectations low but. . .

Regarding the Witt game, this is the bellweather game for Belton.  Whether it is his legs or his arm, he is going to be the key.  If we can't run, he is going to have to throw.  If he throws ducks like those from the first half of the Denison game, we are in trouble.  If he throws darts like the second half of the Denison game, Witt will have tough time of it.  If I am Witt, I fill the box and make Belton beat me with his arm much like what defenses are trying to do with Mike Vick.  I would not want to give Wabash, and especially him, any room to run.  I am looking forward to the chess match on Saturday.

[smedindy]

We wouldn't fall down to #9. There are a lot of interdependent factors at play. One of the CCIW troika will have two losses in region. Wabash would be ahead of them. BW will most likely lose to Mt. Union, and that means two losses. We'd be ahead of them. Plus, our SOS will rise when we play Witt (and perhaps DPU).

Case may get the "B" is Wesley loses to Huntingdon, which will knock them out of "C" consideration.

The process is that once the "A" and the "B' bids are taken out of consideration, each region presents its top ranked team left over (from the ultra-secret ratings). The committee chooses one. That region then brings up it's second-ranked "C" contender, and one team is chosen again. Technically, one region could hoard all of the "C" bids but that's highly unlikely.

If we lose to Witt, Wabash needs to really look at how everyone else around the nation does, and if a one-loss Wabash matches up against the other one-loss teams.

The best thing to do is beat Witt!

[ExTartanPlayer]

The big winner from the North Region is CWRU.  As it stands now, CWRU is the first at-large team on the board from this region.  My guess is that Wesley will be selected as a Pool B team if they beat Huntingdon.  If that happens and CWRU goes into Pool C....

The big loser in this rankings is IWU.  If CWRU stays the course, it's hard to see a good reason why the rankings would move them ahead of CWRU and CWRU may not get off the table in time for a 9-1 IWU to have a chance to be selected.  Interesting stuff.

Completely agree.  Just posted some thoughts on this on the North Region Fan Poll board.

[USee]

Smed,  the problem with your analysis RE the CCIW is that NCC will be the AQ with 2 losses unless Wheaton wins by 15 pts (see the CCIW board). That leaves 2 1 loss CCIW teams for pool C. Their cannot be a stronger pool C in the field than Wheaon in that case as they will have a better SOS and wins against 2 RRO. (NCC and Albion). To think CWRU gets in ahead of them would be one of the bigger travesties in recent times. And IWU would have a win over Wheaton and a very similar SOS.

[smedindy]

But if the Regional Rankings hold, then Case is the pick! Case's SOS will increase by playing the UAA as well. Being undefeated in region may trump it all.

[USee]

If Wheaton beats NCC, there is no way they stay behind Case.