FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[aueagle]

...You can be an academically superior school and win. Penn in the Ivy, Standford, Northwestern..all have had nice runs before in the bigs...Witt, now CMU, Wabash and others in D3 have, and will continue to win with student-athletes....Between, our recruiting area's of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, WVa, Pa & etc...there are enough solid students that also play good football for everyone to field a team. Duke is going to announce a huge commitment to the grid-iron...stadium, admission policy, etc....they won with the "Old Ball Coach" many years ago...so, maybe there is hope for the Puppies....

[runyr]

...You can be an academically superior school and win. Penn in the Ivy, Standford, Northwestern..all have had nice runs before in the bigs...Witt, now CMU, Wabash and others in D3 have, and will continue to win with student-athletes....Between, our recruiting area's of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, WVa, Pa & etc...there are enough solid students that also play good football for everyone to field a team. Duke is going to announce a huge commitment to the grid-iron...stadium, admission policy, etc....they won with the "Old Ball Coach" many years ago...so, maybe there is hope for the Puppies....

Where's "Standford?" 
Not this year in football, but Notre Dame is top 25 in any division with winning both in the classroom and on the field.

[WooMeister85]

aueagle,

Not trying to be argumentative in the slightest, I usually enjoy your posts. Though I must disagree strongly with one school you listed when you were discussing "Academically Superior Schools." I can assure you that Witt doesn't belong in the same sentence with Penn and Wabash. Witt isn't even considered a "selective admission school" by several of the organizations that track this sort of thing.

Don't get me wrong, Witt deserves an incredible amount of respect for what they've achieved on the gridiron over the last 50+ years. But let's not confuse them with a Kenyon, Denison or Wabash quite yet academically. Take a look at an average Witt team roster and what high schools these kids come from. Not the sames one's most of the other NCAC Teams can recruit. Sounds like sour grapes, I know. Maybe it is? We just have to find faster, tougher smart kids than I guess we have now.

Again, football wise he Tigers know how to play. Part of it is the pressure the kids know exists, just like State Schools in Ohio. If you're not playing well, someone is waiting and likely ready to take your job, they've lots of kids who are ready to play most years. I only saw Wooster's opener at JCU but it was pretty lame. Worse than lame actually. One of the few times in the last 5 or 6 years I  was embarrassed by my own school. At least if we'd lost at home, we would have still had the marchng band. Let's see Witt try and play the pipes.

I love the COW Scots but they have no chance against Witt, Wabash or AC this year. Worse thing is the players don't seem to be working very hard. Maybe it's bad coaching or maybe we just have bad players this year?That is no chance unless the team plays drastically different than what I saw at JCU then later on cable TV on a Cleveland station.

Good luck to all NCAC Teams tomorrow and may there be no serious injuries to anyone.

[wally_wabash]

I can assure you that Witt doesn't belong in the same sentence with Penn and Wabash.

I don't know how I can't applaud this.   

[Superfoot Wallace]

I can assure you that Witt doesn't belong in the same sentence with Penn and Wabash.

Witt isn't even considered a "selective admission school" by several of the organizations that track this sort of thing.

Let's see Witt try and play the pipes.

Doubting ewe belong in the same breath as Wharton either.  Hope to see ewe there next year.  Maybe we can discuss MDP issues.  No Clevelander, I don't mean Michael Dean Perry.

And am willing to bet that Wooster, OWU, Bash, Allegheny or any other conference champ during their best runs are recruiting the same athlete.  Or, maybe just one or two of really the same athlete to cover for the less than talented legacies that oftentimes litter your field.

Will put the number of MD's, lawyers and Phd's on the conference championship was party to on the over, so maybe it isn't the athlete Witt attracts but what they do with them when they get there.  As if professional status were the only criterion.  Should concern one's self with the contributions a school's alumni make upon graduation as opposed to which are accepted.  Artists?  Musicians? The highest calling, educators?

Then again, Witt did just return from Michigan.

And ewe really don't want to challenge me to play a set of pipes.  Irish pipes have two drones, Scottish pipes have shree.  Irish pipes possess a much higher pitch and are less easily tamed.  Judging by the shrill have heard coming over the hill, Woo has confused themselves and their pipes or are less than skilled.

signed,
Flash Gordon

[ScotLass]

I am running far far away from this slippery slope........off to Springfield I go. Best of luck to all!

[Li'l Giant]

Should concern one's self with the contributions a school's alumni make upon graduation as opposed to which are accepted.  Artists?  Musicians? The highest calling, educators?

Funny you mention this. Last night I was watching the WVU/USF game and there was a commercial for WVU starring all these high accomplished alumni who started businesses or made some special invention and I mentioned to Mrs. Li'l Giant that I thought that type of advertising is kind of dishonest. It's like you're telling kids, or more likely their parents, "if you come to our school you can be one of these hyper-successful folks, too." I think that type of individual is going to accomplish that kind of stuff whether they go to Princeton or the local commuter school.

Am I the only one who sees it that way?

[aueagle]

WooM85: Maybe I should have stated, "The conference as a whole is....etc", instead of using Wittenberg. You make a valid point...and I gave it - it's just due. "Usually enjoy your posts..." I take that as I am hitting over 80%....I think this board is one of..if not the best in terms of over-all content..I throw my 2 cents in when I can....
runyr: I can't argue with the Irish....I had buds play there and those guys were smart! I had to put the Indians ...er, Cardinal in there...I've seen to many games in Palo Alto...
Kick-offs just around the corner...Good Luck & Good Health to all teams today...GO BISHOPS.....

[bashbrother]

AU - I hope for the Bishop's sake that the QB merry-go-round slows down a bit today.  I think Fisher is your guy and getting him more experience is key. Coming in and out every other play isn't going to properly develop either of them.

Good luck to all NCAC teams today. 

[wooscot]

Ah, the "NCAC is academically superior to the OAC which is why we can't compete in football" card.  IMO, it never gets old b/c it gives me a good laugh.  Just a quick point, the correlation between academic admission standards and football success I don't think has ever been statistically proven.  Is anybody aware of Mt. Union, Rowan, PLute, St. John's, Wabash, Witt, etc...ever releasing the academic admission credentials of their freshmen football recruiting classes?  Maybe they have, but I'm not aware of it.  If they did, I think the nimble minds on this board would be citing this data over and over.  As far as the overall student body admission standards, while generally speaking most NCAC schools cite marginally higher standardized test scores/average GPAs than OAC schools for its admitted students, the differences are not that large.  Its not like we're comparing Harvard/Yale to Cleveland St (no offense).  Maybe if you compare Oberlin to say ONU, it will jump out at you, but on the whole, the differences are slight.

Now, I think when one looks at these admissions data, one assumption that is made is that the bottom 25% data reflects the overall "student athlete" or in particular the football player for sake of this argument.  If you assume that OAC schools on average admit more "fringe" student athletes than NCAC schools, this should reflect a great discrepency.  If it does not, then I would contend that there really is not a large enough difference between OAC and NCAC schools' admissions criteria to warrant the increasing gap between OAC and NCAC football programs. 

In fact, I think and its been discussed earlier, its a matter of institutional priority, i.e. OAC schools place a higher premium on fielding a successfull football team than NCAC schools overall.  For starters, I think OAC schools have trouble filling admissions quotas, hence they dedicate more resources into attracting athletes, particularly football players, because that fills a large number of slots.  Most OAC schools bring in close to 100+ frosh every year and nice facilities and an administration who WANTS to win championships certainly helps attract recruits.

While Wooster is certainly a beautiful campus (I think it rivals Miami U.) and a great institution of higher learning, their athletic facilities, football budget, and overall support for the program has been significantly regressing for a over a decade.  If you invest in what it takes to attract today's recruit, you may be surprised to learn the hallowed admissions standards of the NCAC will likely not be compromised. 

That said, I'm not ignorant to the fact that exceptions are made in admissions decisions all the time, for a variety of reasons, with athletics being one of them.  However, EVERY school does this, including Wabash, Witt, and yes, even the Woosters and Kenyons of the world.  Now, some schools may make more exceptions than others, I still think it comes down to where the kid wants to play in the vast majority of circumstances.  NCAC schools are simply losing the recruiting wars to other conferences.   

Sorry for any misspellings...wrote this in a hurry without my contacts in.

Go Scots!

[scotty]

After 60 yard completion, Witt 3 Wooster0...12:25 in the 1st

Witt 10 Wooster0...65 yard TD pass...

70 yard run by Witt to the 10...

4th and goal on the 1...TD Witt...Witt 17 Woo 0...6:11 in the 1st

Wooster punts on 3rd and 23...interference call against Woo...ball on the Woo 26...

1st and goal for Witt on the 8...

Weber "walks into the end zone" per the announcers...Witt 24 Woo 0

"Wooster's 5th punt of the quarter" per the announcers

81 yard TD run by Witt by sub...Witt 31 Woo 0...26 seconds left in the 1st quarter

[aueagle]

10 mins left in trhe 1st QT...Kenyon 7   OWU 7
The announcer stated in the Bishop drive, "The ball is on the 10 and a quarter"
Gotta love that one!  Bishop scoring drive: 5 Rushes - 1 Pass - 35 Yds in penalties...
GO BISHOPS

[aueagle]

wooscot: Yes, this board has beaten this topic to no-ends...but your post hit home...so good, I read it twice....

[aueagle]

Audio feed on the game stopped from Gambier and, yes, for about 15 seconds was replaced with classical music (from the KC Radio Network)....who says we aren't smarter than other conferences!! Maybe, a touch more class...indeed.
At the end of One from McBride Field....Kenyon 7   Ohio Wesleyan 7

[scotty]

Witt 38 Woo 0...7:17 in the 2nd qtr