FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Li'l Giant]

I understand your arguments, as you've articulated them before, but I still don't think it will happen. Just my opinion. The North, in previous years, had been a region of death as well. I just don't see it. But, as I said before, we'll see.

[smedindy]

Well, Oxy is losing right now. So that MAY change things.

The North is a bit down, really. It was tougher in the past. Wabash's Strength of Schedule is awful. Mt. Union lost and I think the OAC just knocked themselves into one bid. The MIAA is so-so at best. The CCIW is eating its own. Then, of course, there's the HCAC and IBC.

So, I see it:

1/2 Wabash, Whitewater
3 Mt. Union
4 Augie
5 North Central
6 MSJ
7 Albion
8 Lakeland

If DPU beat Wabash, they'll probably move here and perhaps then somone (Mt. Union??) goes East?? Gosh, that' be a cluster. But of course, DPU won't beat Wabash, so why did I type that.

Remember, Monmouth is in the west region, though it would be nice if THEY got moved.

[Li'l Giant]

I'd like to see Monmouth get moved because of the storyline. But I honestly don't care that much. It would just piss me off something royal that the one year in 10 that Mount Union loses a game *and* we win the conference championship that we can't be the #1 team in the region because of Whitewater.

The Wabash Victory Haiku^TM will be posted early so I can spend a full week getting my piss and vinegar up for the Bell Game.

Not to be denied
Wabash destroys the Big Red
Now we are the champs

[usee]

i don't think there is any way whitewater comes to the north. there is no precedent for a team moved to be a #1 (they have always moved lower seeds). in addition, the committee has a long history of doing things that make little sense which ensures whitewater will be a #2 or 3 in the west.

[wally_wabash]

From my picks this week...

Denison @ Wabash (-27.5) - Focused.  Determined.  Eager to get the taste of last week's poor performance out of their mouths.  The Hard Hat D comes back in a big way and Harbaugh puts the exclamation point on his POY season.  Bash wins by a boatload, which happens to be enough to cover. 

Exclamation point is right.  19-20 (you read that right), 317 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT for Harbaugh today in about 35 minutes of game time.  That's a pretty efficient day (277.64 efficiency to be exact) against the conference's top defense against passer efficiency.  I thought they might have sent the Gregory Award to C'ville today along with the NCAC Championship trophy, but it looks like Harbaugh has to wait a few more weeks to pick that up. 

It's really hard to dominate a game more than Wabash did today.  Looking ahead to Depauw?  I would think not.  At least not until after the game.  Now I don't think they can wait to get at those guys and take back the Bell the way they took the NCAC title today.  Depauw is doomed if Wabash plays with half the purpose they played with today.  Doomed. 

Depauw to hell, we're comin' to get the Bell! 

[wabashcpa]

Depauw is doomed if Wabash plays with half the purpose they played with today.  Doomed. 

Depauw to hell, we're comin' to get the Bell! 

I hope you're right, but a 60-21 victory over the Fighting Engineers makes it appear the Dannies played with a little purpose today as well.

It will be a tremendous battle Saturday!  Go Little Giants!

[short]

It's really hard to dominate a game more than Wabash did today.

Witt vs Wooster had a little dominating feel to it too.  Wooster is just not the same without Sutton. 
Is anyone else a little scaried that the NCAC is really down is year?  I mean Witt is the 2nd best team and gave Wabash a great game, even out gained them and Witt was flat out killed by a 2 loss OAC team, and beaten good by a 3 loss MIAA team?  I mean Wabash hasn't really played a good team yet. But Depauw is a Very Good team.

[smedindy]

The only reason I think it's Whitewater is that it's over 600 miles from Monmouth to Alliance, and that may be a 2-7 or 3-6 game.

Perhaps they move Whitewater and they become #2. Who knows?

At any rate, yes the NCAC is down. Wabash's SOS is pretty poor. DPU will be a big measure, but of course the right team WILL prevail.

[wally_wabash]

Who has Depauw played?   Depauw has played exactly three teams with records above .500:  Wesley, Centre, and RHIT.  

Wabash has played four teams with records above .500: OWU, Wooster, Witt, and Denison.  

Let's break it down a little further.  Wesley is legitimately good.  Centre accumulated their record against powerhouses like Bluffton, Kenyon, Millsaps,  Rhodes, and Maryville.  They outplayed Depauw last week, but shot themselves in the face with turnovers and lost 14-7.  I'd toss RHIT into the same boat Denison is in, so that's a push.  I'd argue that Witt and OWU are as good or better than anybody that Depauw has beaten this year.  The truth is that we don't know if Depauw is very good or not, because they didn't play Trinity and that's their measuring stick game.  Had they played and won that game, we'd know for sure how good they are.  But they didn't, so we can't be too sure.  I have no doubt that Depauw is good, but I'm not sure I can agree with the logic that they are "Very Good" and that they've played a significantly tougher schedule than Wabash has and are therefore any more battle tested and ready than Wabash.  

What I do know is that Wabash is a "Very Good" team.  We'll find out for sure on Saturday if Depauw can say the same.  I don't think Depauw's resumé grants them Very Good status just yet.

[aueagle]

Ohio Wesleyan -24...Yeoman - 14.... A couple of nice game photo's from OWU/Wabash on the Bishop site under game coverage for the Oberlin game.

[Colonel Claycomb]

I have to agree with Wally Wabash

1.  We cannot focus too heavily on the playoffs just yet.  We do have one more week of football.  The playoffs will be there when we get there.

(which brings me to #2)

2.  DePauw.  I don't know about the other Wabash fans out there but I felt cheated when I found out that Trinity wasn't going to get to beat up on DePauw this year.  Sure, I know there was a hurricane but if I'm not mistaken, isn't Trinity in San Antonio?  Isn't that far enough inland?  Without that "measuring stick" do we really know how good they really are.  Furthermore, Wabash's schedule has been nothing to sneeze at.



I have seen my share of Bell Games.  The bottom line is that when those two teams step on that field it doesn't matter what their ranking is throughout the rest of their season.  We cannot overlook the Tigers but I don't think we can call them "Very Good" either.

Wabash ALWAYS Fights!

Dannies to hell!  We're coming after OUR Bell!

[BashBacker#16]

Wally - good post on DePauw, I completely agree.  Wesley even got blasted 47-0 by Brockport State who is 3-5 and unranked.  DPU's conference is pretty gross.  DPU struggled to beat Rhodes 7-3 and Centre 14-7 needing a goal line stand.  I really like how Bash matches up this year with DPU.  No question this team has a great deal of maturity and confidence going right now.  In contrast, do you remember how badly we limped in to this game last year?  Huge difference!!!

Harbaugh (and his WRs) is a lot of fun right now with how he is throwing the football all over the field.  His efficiency rating went to 180 and he's completing over 71% of his passes!  That is crazy!  That should put him in the top 5 in the country behind a guy named Elliot (Linfield) who is not too bad and a former teammate from Monmouth - Mitch Tanney.

Great day for the seniors...a great class who will be making their 2nd trip to the NCAA playoffs.  I have a feeling they are not done yet...

[usee]

how would the wabash faithful compare this team w the jake knott team from 2002?

I saw this team early at wheaton in a scrimmage and saw knott play 1x as well. it seems this team has a weaker running game and not quite as dominant a defensive front (hammer was on that front and he was pretty good). that's just a passing opinion from someone who didn't see much of either team. Interested in thots of those who can compare the two.

[BashBacker#16]

Usee,

I'll take a quick shot at it...maybe others can provide more info.

This team has a much better O-line, great receiving corps, and Harbaugh is playing very very well.  On the D side, good point on Hammer but I think the LB crew are more seasoned (heck Foster, Selby, & Parker) all saw considerable in '02.  This year's team may not have the superstars like the Short's, the Knott's, and the Boulais' but I think this team is deeper (everywhere - both sides of the ball, special teams), and has great chemistry.  I also believe the punting of Finley is another area where they have upgraded significantly.  That is a good question though...

[smedindy]

Wally, BB16 -

Records don't tell the story. You should know better than that. Rankings don't tell the story, either.

Massey SOS going into the Denison game -

Wabash 172nd
DePauw 78th

Massey ratings (using the REAL ratings) for those who Wabash has beaten:

K'zoo - 147
Wash U. - 87
Earlham - 197
OWU - 78
Witt - 61
Oberlin - 184
Wooster - 104
'Gheny - 161
Denison - 118


DPU's opponents -

Wesley - 19
Hope - 111
Chicago - 81
Sewanee - 107
Rhodes - 116
Millsaps - 170
Centre - 84
Rose - 119

BTW - Brockport, at 3-5 was 59th in Massey. No slouch at all.

We've got to play well.