FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Whitecarrera]

EPS is always an interesting metric.  Looking through the entire list, there are surprises top to bottom.  Maybe Sigma can back me up on this, but once upon a time I believe Wabash was in the top five for EPS, toe-to-toe with Princeton and Yale.  We used to have Wabash shirts that read, "The Few, The Proud, The Well-Endowed!"

[RaidersRGr8t]

Are you sure that had to do with money?

[sigma one]

Whitecarrera, I don't recall ever hearing top five nationally among all colleges and universities.  I do remember hearing a number between 20 and 30. (Perhaps that means top 10/15 among liberal arts colleges, but I am unsure of that.)  With over 500k per student according to the experts, I think we should be satisfied.  The only member of the NCAC above Wabash, I believe, is Denison, though DePauw is close. (Please correct me if I am mistaken.)
     While I am thinking about this, it occurs to me that in recent years with shrinking enrollments and even modest return on endowment the EPS number certainly has gone up. 

[LG67]

Again, according to College Raptor, most schools have had an increase in eps recently, but not all. Denison and Wabash over 500, DPU and Obe over 400.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Article about recent D3 school closings and how adding sports affects the stability of schools:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenweaver/2024/04/30/in-a-rising-tide-of-college-closures-impact-on-division-iii-athletics-becomes-clear/

[Whitecarrera]

I'm not claiming any modern day relevance, but FWIW:

1. Sigma and I found some confirmation that in 1985 Wabash was 3rd in EPS behind Harvard and Yale; just ahead of Stanford and Princeton (Dropped to 5th in 1988) and ...
2. We've both crossed into a certain territory, replacing Barney and Bill as the old farts in the room. Interesting stuff ...

[sigma one]

Whitecarrera gets full credit for finding the reference in the student newspaper of Wabash's EPS status in the mid-1980s. 

[Crawford]

Whitecarrera, I don't recall ever hearing top five nationally among all colleges and universities.  I do remember hearing a number between 20 and 30. (Perhaps that means top 10/15 among liberal arts colleges, but I am unsure of that.)  With over 500k per student according to the experts, I think we should be satisfied.  The only member of the NCAC above Wabash, I believe, is Denison, though DePauw is close. (Please correct me if I am mistaken.)
    While I am thinking about this, it occurs to me that in recent years with shrinking enrollments and even modest return on endowment the EPS number certainly has gone up. 

When I was growing up in Crawfordsville I do recall hearing Wabash was #3 in per capita endowment.  But with all the updating of classrooms and construction on campus, a lot of those funds came from the endowment fund.

[sigma one]

As far as I know, Wabash has taken no funds from the endowment to work on campus projects.  In recent years, the College has worked hard to reduce the %age of the draw on  endowment earnings and has successfully met their goal.  But, again, the endowment  itself remains untouched and continues to grow at a steady rate.

[WAF-WDE]

Jay Allen (Wabash BoT Chair) reported today that the College's endowment grew by 8% this year.  He also noted that Wabash remains committed to using only 5.5% of its endowment for operating expenses, a strategy that is "allowing the endowment to grow in current markets."  This rate (5.5%) is "below the national median."  Moreover, "some close GLCA peers are drawing at unsustainable rates of 6.9% and 7.9%."  So, it looks like, independent of gifts to the endowment, the Wabash endowment is expected to grow at 2-3% per year.

In contrast, the growth of the endowment at the elite private universities has been explosive.  For example, Yale's endowment grew from $20.7 B in 2013 to $40.7 B in 2023 (~7%/year).  Enrollment (undergraduate, graduate, and professional) grew from 12,109 in 2013 to 15,081 in 2023.  Thus, Yale's EPS has grown from $1.7 M in 2013 to $2.7 M in 2023.  This could account for Wabash's slippage in EPS standings.

By the way, the late David Swensen, the chief investment officer at Yale for more than 35 years, developed much-emulated institutional investment strategies during his tenure at Yale.  He earned a PhD in economics at Yale under the supervision of James Tobin (Nobel Prize, 1981).  Prior to returning to Yale as CIO, Swenson was senior VP at Lehman Brothers, where he pioneered currency swaps as an investment strategy. For many years Swenson was the highest-paid Yale University employee, despite the fact that he took an 80% pay cut when he left Lehman.

[WLG Old Historian]

From the take it for what it is worth department, the Wabash Trustees are aware that the NCAC is looking for a replacement for Hiram in the conference. No mention or hint that Wabash could be exploring their options for the future in terms of athletic affiliation. So, for inquiring minds, that is all that can be said at this point.

[sigma one]

All schedules are in for the NCAC.  Out-Of-Conference games for the teams, with some additional information>
Denison:  Linfield (8-1 in 2023) 
          Alma (12-1) Playoff team.  Combined 2023 records of OOC teams:  20-2.
DePauw:   Rose-Hulman (7-3)
          Berry (9-1)   Combined 2023 records:  16-4.
Hiram:    Heidelberg (6-4)
          Mt St Joseph (9-2)  Playoff team.  Combined 2023 records:  15-6.
Kenyon:   Bluffton (4-6)
          Kalamazoo (5-5)  Combined 2023 records:  9-11.
Oberlin:  Calvin (first-year program in 2024)
          Anderson (0-10)
OWU:      Otterbein (0-10)
          Franklin (4-6)  Combined 2023 records:  4-16.
Wabash:   St Norbert (7-4)
          UW Platteville (7-4)  Combined 2023 records:  14-8.
Witt:     Baldwin-Wallace (6-4)
          Howard Payne (6-4)   Combined 2023 records:  12-8
Wooster:  Wilmington (3-7)
          Olivet (4-6)  Combined 2023 records:  7-13.
The NCAC OOC schedule includes teams from the Northwest Conference, Michigan Conference, Southern Athletic Association, Ohio Conference, Heartland Conference, Northern Athletic Conference, Wisconsin Conference, American Southwest Conference.
     The schedule looks formidable, particularly for teams that historically have been at or near the top of the NCAC.         

[WAF-WDE]

Thanks, Sigma One!  Just sent the Wabash FB schedule to my fraternity bros so that we can schedule our annual gathering to see the LGs.  WAF!

[Crawford]

80 days til kick-off !

[joelmama]

The "norm" seems to be 10 teams in a conference.  Currently there are 32 teams and 4 conferences in Region 4. Will conferences of 8 teams be able to find 2 OOC opponents every year?

Well if they are 8 team conferences then they need to find 3 OOC games every year to make a 10 game season.