FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[BashBacker#16]

Congrats to Witt on the win today!  (no puke in my mouth either Coach Fincham).  Great to see the NCAC take out the OAC #2.

Nike - head-2-head brother.  Not sure many teams would've wanted to draw Wabash.  It is what it is, we didn't make the dance but I don't agree with your assessment.  For the record, Wabash didn't play their best game against Witt.  You make it seem like a fluke - it wasn't.

Good luck to Witt next week.  Represent the league!

[BashDad]

Congrats to Witt on the win today!  (no puke in my mouth either Coach Fincham).  Great to see the NCAC take out the OAC #2.

Nike - head-2-head brother.  Not sure many teams would've wanted to draw Wabash.  It is what it is, we didn't make the dance but I don't agree with your assessment.  For the record, Wabash didn't play their best game against Witt.  You make it seem like a fluke - it wasn't.

Good luck to Witt next week.  Represent the league!

Yes.

[Pat Coleman]

Had a thought today while catching some of Witt's game(with no sound on the video feed--was that just me?).  The right team won the NCAC and represented the NCAC today.  OWU--stay hungry next year.  Love the Scots, like Wabash very much, but Wabash played it's best game against Witt and that was Witt's only loss of the year.  Witt has the best team in the NCAC this year and today left no doubt in my mind.
Heck of a game today!

I think it costs a lot of scratch to broadcast the commercial radio feed along with the video.

Yes, but some schools, like Linfield is doing, have added non-commercial broadcasters to their video to comply with NCA rules.

[smedindy]

Had a thought today while catching some of Witt's game(with no sound on the video feed--was that just me?).  The right team won the NCAC and represented the NCAC today.  OWU--stay hungry next year.  Love the Scots, like Wabash very much, but Wabash played it's best game against Witt and that was Witt's only loss of the year.  Witt has the best team in the NCAC this year and today left no doubt in my mind.
Heck of a game today!

I think it costs a lot of scratch to broadcast the commercial radio feed along with the video.

Yes, but some schools, like Linfield is doing, have added non-commercial broadcasters to their video to comply with NCA rules.

I noticed that. Smart.

[nike]

Congrats to Witt on the win today!  (no puke in my mouth either Coach Fincham).  Great to see the NCAC take out the OAC #2.

Nike - head-2-head brother.  Not sure many teams would've wanted to draw Wabash.  It is what it is, we didn't make the dance but I don't agree with your assessment.  For the record, Wabash didn't play their best game against Witt.  You make it seem like a fluke - it wasn't.

Good luck to Witt next week.  Represent the league!

You are right, Wabash would have been a tough out, but who did Wabash have their best game against if not Witt?  Wabash may have looked better against, say, OWU, but OWU was not a better team than Witt. I thought that once Wabash got past Witt that they would win out the rest of the year.  I was wrong. The Wabash Witt game was for me the best game of the year. And in no way did I think that win was a fluke. I thought the fluke was the loss to Gheny.
I get the head to head, but Witt was the best team Wabash played this year and they beat them.  But Witt did not lose any other games.  My point was that I think I began to down play Witt's season in my own mind because of their loss to Wabash, but again, that was Witt's only loss. They beat everyone else they should have and certainly took care of things today.
Am glad this issue ends with this season.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Good Job Witt

[ExTartanPlayer]

Congrats to Witt on the win today!  (no puke in my mouth either Coach Fincham).  Great to see the NCAC take out the OAC #2.

Nike - head-2-head brother.  Not sure many teams would've wanted to draw Wabash.  It is what it is, we didn't make the dance but I don't agree with your assessment.  For the record, Wabash didn't play their best game against Witt.  You make it seem like a fluke - it wasn't.

Good luck to Witt next week.  Represent the league!

You are right, Wabash would have been a tough out, but who did Wabash have their best game against if not Witt?  Wabash may have looked better against, say, OWU, but OWU was not a better team than Witt. I thought that once Wabash got past Witt that they would win out the rest of the year.  I was wrong. The Wabash Witt game was for me the best game of the year. And in no way did I think that win was a fluke. I thought the fluke was the loss to Gheny.
I get the head to head, but Witt was the best team Wabash played this year and they beat them.  But Witt did not lose any other games.  My point was that I think I began to down play Witt's season in my own mind because of their loss to Wabash, but again, that was Witt's only loss. They beat everyone else they should have and certainly took care of things today.
Am glad this issue ends with this season.

This.

Wittenberg blew out both teams that beat Wabash. I'm a big believer in head to head results when teams have equal records against common opponents, but I just don't see how you can pretend it doesn't matter that Wabash lost to a pair of teams Witt beat by 20+ points. I'll also ask the question: if Wabash didn't play their best game against Witt, who DID they play their best game against?

[sigma one]

The Wittenberg/Wabash game was what we have come to expect from this game almost every year:  a missed tackle here or there, an interception, a fumble (on the kickoff return to begin 2nd half this year), a penalty at a crucial moment, a late drive resulting in a last minute (second) field goal.  These are good to great teams every year, and the result is almost never obvious going in.  What if both Wittenberg and Wabash played their best game against One Another this year?  A strong argument can be made for that. That game could just have easily come out differently if not for the sustained Wabash drive at the end.  Who is the better team is not the issue.  Based on the head2head one could argue Wabash.  Based on the overall record one could argue Wittenberg.  Based on Witt not facing OWU one could argue the championship was tarnished.  Based on Wabash losses to teams Wittenberg handily defeated one could argue Witt.  We don't know what would have happened it Witt/OWU would have happened, and its useless to speculate.  Remember that Kenyon could have walked out on the field v. Heidelberg today as the NCAC representative (at 6-4, and having lost to (and been shut out) by Bluffton, Washington U., etc.). Nothing is known before the results are in, but think about it.
     Wittenberg won the NCAC championship, and they are representing the league well.  Wabash had its chance late in the season and didn't make the plays.  It's fun to go back and forth on best team, best game, inexplicable losses, comparative results, and so on.  Doesn't matter.  Will never matter. 
     If it can't be Wabash in the playoffs, I'm glad it's a team that can win games v. outstanding competition.  Last year, the NCAC took out the CCIW; this year the NCAC takes out the OAC (yes, I know not Mt. Union, but we all hear plenty of chatter from the OAC folks about  conference depth and superiority--in Ohio and nationally).  Most of the money was on North Central last year and Heidelberg this year.  Wabash and Wittenberg both have staged impressive 2nd half comebacks against quality teams.  What many would have expected--the CCIW an OAC taking early leads and pulling away, didn't happen.  Quite the opposite.  Now, the pundits can talk about two NCAC teams who, two years running, beat the odds by dominating teams that many people said they had little, or no, chance to defeat.  That's the fact.
     Keep going on, Witt; you are making this Wabash fan proud of the accomplishments of a team that has become the #1A opponent on the schedule every year.   

[sigma one]

When I said "dominating teams" I, of course, didn't mean that Wabash and Wittenberg romped over their quality opposition. I meant they took apart those teams in the second half, although the victories (particularly last year) were by narrow margins. Witt's larger spread happened because of an INT returned for TD with less than a minute remaining.  That sealed the win.  Last year Wabash got a late interception to choke off the North Central attempt at a late-game rally.

[BashBacker#16]

I don't think one Wabash fan is looking back now or then saying; "man, if we can play that way again we can..."  The Drive stands out in the 4th quarter against Witt but we also had penalties, we had a blocked punt, we had a defensive breakdown when Florence ripped off a 70+ yard run, we fumbled, we missed a PAT, etc.  We most definitely played better football in other games:  2nd half against CMU, the 2nd half against OWU, the shutouts, Holmes gauging defenses for big yards, etc.

You just can't argue head-2-head.  Wabash beat Wittenberg so you can't casually say "Witt was the best team."

[smedindy]

Well, actually you can argue with head to head. I mean, Allegheny and Oberlin, dude. I can't say that Oberlin is a better team than Wabash because they beat them at Wabash.

Though I do think Wabash is a better team than Witt on the whole.

[bashbrother]

Congrats to Witt....  That 2nd half offensive explosion was amazing.

To me,  it is just another "head-scratching" moment on the 2012 Wabash season.   I had questioned whether Witt and OWU were simply average football teams this year and the Wabash wins were not as impressive as once thought....  That can be put to rest now.

Good Luck to Witt next week!   Make the NCAC proud.

[ExTartanPlayer]

You just can't argue head-2-head.  Wabash beat Wittenberg so you can't casually say "Witt was the best team."

Unfortunately, the season is 10 games long, not one. Wittenberg's body of work (even before the playoff win) is quite a bit better looking than Wabash's body of work.  They didn't lose to a 5-5 team and a 4-6 team at home.

Basically, what smed said. You certainly CAN argue a head to head result when the other results supersede that. Especially in a case like this year's NCAC when nobody went through unscathed, you'll have to make a qualitative judgement at some point and say "this team was the best based upon ten games of work."

[nike]

I think that although mistakes were made against Witt they were made against the best team in the league. And as Jim Rome says, "scoreboard".  You still beat them. In the end all we have is the records. Witt's 9-1 trumps their loss to Wabash, given that Wabash lost two games. Don't think it matters who they lost to. They lost two.
Quick question-- did Witt get AQ over OWU because of strength of schedule?

[ExTartanPlayer]

One further thought: I suppose you can argue that Wabash had a higher ceiling and a lower floor than Witt. I can see some sense in that argument.