FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Ryan Tipps]

Maybe I'm not sitting down and thinking this through, but I would think that an 8-2 ONU team would have a strong shot at a Pool C bid even over some 9-1 teams from weaker conferences. It happened in 2006, where an 8-2 North Central team was taken over one-loss Franklin and Cortland St. ...

In 2006, there was a three way tie in the CCIW. North Central, at 8-2, was the AQ. Wheaton, at 9-1, was awarded an At-Large berth.

Many thanks for the correction. I didn't notice Augie was in the mix there that year, too. 

[BashBacker#16]

Wabashcpa,

No offense to Josh Miracle but why would you not go with only Belton and Hudson.  I saw the Wooster game and I think Chase clearly stepped up to the challenge and solidified himself as the clear cut #2. 

Just my 2 cents.

BB16

*It is great to see Matt back at practice!

[wabashcpa]

I would like to see more reps for Miracle against a defense that isn't #1 in the country, just to make it a fair fight.  Plus, thinking ahead to a post-Hudson existence, I would like both my returning QB's to have as much game experience as possible.  Let's face it, against Oberlin and Hiram there should be ample opportunity for everybody to play.

[bashbrother]

*It is great to see Matt back at practice!

Here here!

ALSO - Congrats to #1 Kody Lemond on a being named to the D3Football Team of the Week, presented by Scoutware, for a great performance.

http://www.d3football.com/tow/

[DPU3619]

Are you sure it wasn't the 4 INTs?  Giving the ball away is a good way to get beat. 

Centre ran 44 times for 81 yards.  I'm not sure 1.8 ypc is exactly running it on anybody. 

First, I SAID DePauw made errors early.  Then Centre held it for 35 minutes. 

Forgive me.  Allow me to rephrase: "Wabash has to hold the football a heckuva lot longer than DePauw." Do it however you want.  I'm guessing they'll try by running it.  Centre didn't run it.  Centre's more of a West Coast type offense than Wabash is when Tyler Osterman is the QB.  If Wabash wants to beat DePauw, they have to run the football and control the clock.

[cave2bens]

If Wabash wants to beat DePauw,

  ROTF - "Well, maybe..." 

[wabco]

If Wabash is to beat DePauw:

1) O will play at the quality just before the pre-Hudson injury.
2) D will play like they did against Witt.

No tricks, no changes, no mirrors.  That is the team we will take to DePauw and the team we will (hopefully) take to the playoffs ... with the icing on the cake being ultimately another shot at Witt.

[bashbrother]

Wabco.... agree.   It will take our best effort.

Specifically, I believe that Bash needs to disrupt Spud Dick's rhythm to win the game.   IMO, Spud is the best QB that Wabash has faced in each of the last 3 years.   His quick release and supporting cast of talented receivers makes the quick passing game very dangerous.  His arm is also plenty strong to reach downfield opportunities that open up.

I was personally concerned about the lack of blitzing and overall pressure we ended up getting on Holter.  Maybe ER and the staff believed that flushing him created more problems then letting him be a pocket passer.  I have enjoyed seeing Kraft and Pannell crashing the outside all year.  Seeing them drop back into coverage every play was strange.

If we let Spud sit back, have time and pick his spots, he will eat us up.   Having Fredrick down hurts... I hope he recovers well and finds his way back to the field by mid-November.

[Pat Coleman]

NCAA releases regional rankings:

http://www.d3football.com/dailydose/category/regional-rankings/

[DadofBashWarrior..]

If Wabash is to beat DePauw:

1) O will play at the quality just before the pre-Hudson injury.
2) D will play like they did against Witt.

No tricks, no changes, no mirrors.  That is the team we will take to DePauw and the team we will (hopefully) take to the playoffs ... with the icing on the cake being ultimately another shot at Witt.

Frankly I would like to see us beat DePauw and see this team (with Hudson) get a shot at Wittenberg again...

[DadofBashWarrior..]

I was at the Wheaton/ North Central game last weekend...North Central will be the team to beat Mount Union someday. Thorne is building a dynasty there. They took Wheaton apart without 2 preseason All Americans and 2 other great players all lost to injuries. Thorne just reloads and his coaching is something else to watch. Rumor has it that he may try to schedule MUC during regular season.

[Schwami]

North Region Rankings:

1. Mount Union
2. Otterbein
3. Wittenberg
4. Case Western Reserve
5. Mount St. Joseph
6. North Central
7. Wabash
8. Wheaton
9. Illinois Wesleyan
10. Trine

Discuss.  

[aueagle]

Looks like Ohio football rocks!!!
1 thru 5.....

[wally_wabash]

North Region Rankings:

1. Mount Union
2. Otterbein
3. Wittenberg
4. Case Western Reserve
5. Mount St. Joseph
6. North Central
7. Wabash
8. Wheaton
9. Illinois Wesleyan
10. Trine

Discuss.  

Discuss we shall.  Looking at the Pool C's just in this region, Wabash is sitting only behind Otterbein which is fantastic.  This may shift as Wabash's OWP takes a nosedive in the next two weeks.  The enormous question here is how big of a hit does Otterbein take when they lose to Mount Union? Are they going to fall all the way below Wabash and Wheaton or do they stay ahead and put themselves at the front of North region Pool C line? 

Sparty fans might be wondering why Witt over CWRU?  Most likely because of the win over regionally ranked Wabash.  And even though Witt's OWP is miserable, CWRU's is even worse which is really, really hard to do.  I really don't like this UAA/NCAC agreement, but it's absolutely killing the Spartans right now.  Getting guaranteed games with Oberlin, Denison, Hiram, and OWU is doing that team no favors.   

Anyway, if you look at Pool C candidates from all of the rankings, this is what you get (ordered in my own random order of what I think the general preference/perception would be about who should be selected):

Otterbein 2N
UMH-B 5S
Delaware Valley 3E
St. Thomas 6W
Coe 7W
Wabash 7N
Wheaton 8N
Springfield 7E (why does the E8, with only 6 teams, get an AQ?)

Some notable exclusions...the three teams ranked in the NJAC all still have to play one another which means one of those teams is getting an AQ and the others will have multiple losses and would be out of consideration as long as the teams listed win out. 

Thomas More looks like they'd drop out of the rankings with a loss, W&J with a loss to Thomas More probably slots in between Coe and Wabash in my completely unscientific ordering here. 

So that's just my quick and dirty overview of the rankings and pool C.  I'm sure somebody will break this down better using the criteria than I've done here in a short time.  The positives for Wabash fans: being in the rankings.  Being in the rankings gets you in the conversation on  Selection Sunday (have to win out though or else Wabash is not in the coversation).  Being behind only one Pool C team in the region, and likely to be the first pool C team off the board.  That, if this ranking holds, is going to get Wabash on the table with five selections left to go.  I'd like the LGs chances to get picked if that were the case.

Plenty of football to go...we thought we had this all figured out last year and then the last week all hell broke loose.  Almost anything can still happen here! 

[Raider 68]

I was at the Wheaton/ North Central game last weekend...North Central will be the team to beat Mount Union someday. Thorne is building a dynasty there. They took Wheaton apart without 2 preseason All Americans and 2 other great players all lost to injuries. Thorne just reloads and his coaching is something else to watch. Rumor has it that he may try to schedule MUC during regular season.

DadofBashWarrior,

Thorne is building a program at NC, but they will need to beat some good
teams to be a consistant "good' program. Although they took care of Wheaton, how many times has Wheaton beat Mount in the playoffs?
NC did lose to a good OAC team ONU this year.

On scheduling, that would be a good move for NC if Mount is free for
their only non-conference game. They have UWOK for 2010-11.
Their scoring average of 63 per game is great, but not sure how good
the competition was for those high scoring games.

Maybe the two teams could meet in the playoffs this year, but I doubt they will be in the same region.