FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[bashbrother]

Actually sad seeing the lack of Depauw supporters on Saturday.   I was introducing a number of new people to the rivalry on Saturday.  even a potential recruit from down here is Florida from my daughters high school.   To see those endzone stands virtually empty.... I wish those stands were not even put in.   Did they sell the tickets for those seats?

only 27 miles.... 

[BayernFan]

Actually sad seeing the lack of Depauw supporters on Saturday.   I was introducing a number of new people to the rivalry on Saturday.  even a potential recruit from down here is Florida from my daughters high school.   To see those endzone stands virtually empty.... I wish those stands were not even put in.   Did they sell the tickets for those seats?

only 27 miles....

Yeah with a 7-2 record coming in I figured that the Dannies would have made a better showing.  I had to park my car at the very end of Grant Street before the underpass.  Never had to go that far before.   The crowd sure looked good driving in.  Maybe the Dannies, having been spanked 5 years running, decided to tailgate instead. 

In 2010, I remember sitting in the rain the whole game and those end zone bleachers for DPU were almost full.

I'm already stoked for this weekend's game.  I am sure that the Franklin faithful will show DPU how to bring fans to a big game.

[smedindy]

Remember, that Franklin defense was against eight games of vaunted HCAC opponents like Earlham, Anderson, Manchester...

[Dr. Acula]

^^^ That was the first thing I thought!  "They gave up those numbers in the HCAC?!" 

[BayernFan]

^^^ That was the first thing I thought!  "They gave up those numbers in the HCAC?!"

If Wabash sticks to the running game then Holmes and Mason should have monster games.  I mean MONSTER.

Since Franklin relies on passing, I don't think Welp will be prepared to see the Buresh attack over and over and over and over again.  All day.  That kind of speed on defense will be new to Franklin.

I assume, though, that Woods is out?

[wally_wabash]

Since Franklin relies on passing, I don't think Welp will be prepared to see the Buresh attack over and over and over and over again.  All day.  That kind of speed on defense will be new to Franklin.

It won't.  They've played Whitewater this season.  Two months ago, but they've seen top level opposition.  Mike Leonard's offense will be a challenge.  He's a really, really good coach. 

[BashDad]

And the one weakness of the D is this: they rely so much on, and are so good at, creating pressure that when they don't create pressure, they've had teams rip off chunks of yards through the air.

[gobash83]

Great atmosphere indeed.  Wabash side turned out well.  Regular stands and three extra sections brought in on the home side were all pretty much full.  DPU did not represent.  Permanent visitor stands pretty full, but end zone section for DPU nearly empty.  And with about nine minutes to go, about a quarter of those there on the DPU side started to file out.  Disappointing as a Wabash man to see the rivalry seemingly mean so little on the other side.

I've had the impression for per two decades now that the DPU side, in general, doesn't care as much about this game and rivalry as the Wabash side does.

As recent as four years ago, the game at Hollett was completely sold out including one additional set of stands.  DePauw came into the game undefeated.  Since that time, as Wabash has continued to win and DePauw's football program hit some very hard times, the rivalry has been impacted, especially the "fair weather" fans.   While there are certainly passionate fans on  both side of this rivalry, I think that Wabash carries a much brighter torch for this game and the overall rivalry.  Given the fact that there are no women and no women's sports at Wabash, there is nothing to dilute the focus on this game or rivalry. However, concurrent with the recent demise and gradual improvement in DePauw's football program has been a burgeoning women's sports program that is one of the best in Div III that has drawn the attention and support of many students, parents and alumni.  At DePauw, at least for now, the Monon Bell game seems to  represent more of a social happening for the student body, whereas Wabash's student community is laser focused on winning the game.

I have a daughter who is a student-athlete at DePauw and from talking to her, I think this is spot on, especially the last sentence.  The only point where I might disagree is the notion that the women's sports programs may be diluting the focus on the game or rivalry.  Honestly, the students aren't packing the house for field hockey, volleyball or women's soccer instead of football.  Rather, I think the challenge is similar to what many of the DI schools are seeing--students would rather be on their laptop watching the video stream while doing three other things instead of sitting in the stadium with spotty Wi-Fi coverage and little game day experience.   

[HCAlum86]

I have a daughter who is a student-athlete at DePauw and from talking to her, I think this is spot on, especially the last sentence.  The only point where I might disagree is the notion that the women's sports programs may be diluting the focus on the game or rivalry.  Honestly, the students aren't packing the house for field hockey, volleyball or women's soccer instead of football.  Rather, I think the challenge is similar to what many of the DI schools are seeing--students would rather be on their laptop watching the video stream while doing three other things instead of sitting in the stadium with spotty Wi-Fi coverage and little game day experience.   

Not to mention Depauw maintaining "party-school" notoriety the past few years. Not a bad thing, just may explain why one school views it as an opportunity to add to tradition and the other views it as more of a great tailgate.

[wally_wabash]

The DePauw apathy problem has an easy solution: they need to win a game.  Once they win a game and get to spend a year with the Bell locked up in that glass case they like to keep it in, they'll be excited about the game. But Wabash doesn't owe them a year with the Bell just to spark enthusiasm.  They need to earn it. 

[bashbrother]

[wabndy]

The DePauw apathy problem has an easy solution: they need to win a game.  Once they win a game and get to spend a year with the Bell locked up in that glass case they like to keep it in, they'll be excited about the game. But Wabash doesn't owe them a year with the Bell just to spark enthusiasm.  They need to earn it.

If DePauw had the bell, the game was at Blackstock, it was a balmy 60 degrees and sunny with a light wind, wifi was hooked up, etc. etc.
I've seen plenty of mixed signals from DePauw.  Some great work in putting together the "monon memories" clips and an excellent website on the series history.  On the other hand, a heavy handed administration that goes out of its way to discourage any active enthusiasm from alumni or students and jack-boot level of security at their home games doesn't help at all.
I think for DePauw, the most intense feelings about the game primarily reside with the football team and former players.  One year after a DePauw win, I asked a student if he had an opportunity to drink from the bell.  The response, "No, but I think the football team did." 

[Schwami]

Thought I'd press the pause button for a moment to note just how much of a crap shoot getting a Pool C bid can be.  While Wabash ended up solidly in the field this time, it could have ended up crazy different:

1.  North Central lost by a touchdown at 7-3 Stevens Point.  If North Central had won that game, they would have been a Pool C lock, along with John Carroll.  Would 3 teams get in through Pool C from the North?  Not likely, it seems.  A lot of North Central fans are rueing the decision to schedule Stevens Point.

2.  Thanks to Hampden-Sydney's late season hiccups, losing 2 of their last 3 games, Wabash likely ended up with only one result against an RRO (the loss to Witt).  If Platteville had beaten Oshkosh on Saturday, instead of losing in 3 OT, North Central would have had the elusive win against an RRO (instead of being in the same boat as Wabash, with their single RRO result being a loss to Wheaton).  A Platteville win on Saturday (coupled with H-SC's loss) conceivably could have flipped North Central and Wabash in the final ranking.

So, when sending out your holiday greeting cards, don't forget to include Stevens Point and Oshkosh on your list!

[wally_wabash]

Thought I'd press the pause button for a moment to note just how much of a crap shoot getting a Pool C bid can be.  While Wabash ended up solidly in the field this time, it could have ended up crazy different:

1.  North Central lost by a touchdown at 7-3 Stevens Point.  If North Central had won that game, they would have been a Pool C lock, along with John Carroll.  Would 3 teams get in through Pool C from the North?  Not likely, it seems.  A lot of North Central fans are rueing the decision to schedule Stevens Point.

2.  Thanks to Hampden-Sydney's late season hiccups, losing 2 of their last 3 games, Wabash likely ended up with only one result against an RRO (the loss to Witt).  If Platteville had beaten Oshkosh on Saturday, instead of losing in 3 OT, North Central would have had the elusive win against an RRO (instead of being in the same boat as Wabash, with their single RRO result being a loss to Wheaton).  A Platteville win on Saturday (coupled with H-SC's loss) conceivably could have flipped North Central and Wabash in the final ranking.

So, when sending out your holiday greeting cards, don't forget to include Stevens Point and Oshkosh on your list!

Interesting stuff.  I think Wabash was staying ahead of North Central even if Platteville had won.  I think Wabash losing a tight game on the road to Witt plays differently than getting drilled at home did last year.  And North Central lost the extra game. 

Now, where the dominos get interesting is that if Platteville had won they (edit here- they = NCC) are likely sitting on the board after JCU and Wabash get peeled off...which would pull NCC to the board and NCC had the h2h there.  I think dominos that fall there are that NCC and Platteville make the field, St. Thomas and Muhlenberg probably don't. 

But North Central shouldn't be crowing about having scheduled Stevens Point.  It's not like they scheduled North Dakota State.  They should have beaten Stevens Point.  North Central pulls this business every other year.  They lost to Redlands one time.  They lost to Stevens Point this time around.  Those are winnable games for teams that want to play in the tournament.  So win them. 

The chair put it pretty well last night when discussing the fates of UWO, SJF, and NCC.  It's not so much that they did anything wrong, it's that there are a lot of good teams available and you can only pick so many. 

[sigma one]

Earlier today, someone mentioned that Franklin travels well.  Indeed, we've seen them at Wabash before, and that's great.  But the suggestion to leave up the extra stands from the Bell Game--while it is very probable that those stands will be there--if 1000 Griz fans attend, the permanent visitor stands can handle them.  There are about 1400-1500 seats behind the visiting team bench, depending upon how tightly packed you want them. 
     In the past when Wabash has made the playoffs and played a first game at home, the temporary stands have been left up.  Not in anticipation of a huge crowd, but because it takes a long time to dismantle them, and having them only partially taken apart is not aesthetically pleasing, and in this week's weather probably not possible.
     So the stands will likely be there, and fans might sit in them, but there will be room for the Franklin fans to sit together without them.