FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[usee]

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.

Raider68,

How many times has ANYONE beat Mount in the playoffs? That's not a very good assessment tool. Wheaton is 10-0 in the playoffs vs all non MUC teams so its a pretty good barometer. I know NCC had some injuries in their ONU game but I can tell you the team that dismantled Wheaton on Saturday is good enough to beat any team outside of the top 2 and would likely make a good game for them as well.

[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.

Raider68,

How many times has ANYONE beat Mount in the playoffs? That's not a very good assessment tool. Wheaton is 10-0 in the playoffs vs all non MUC teams so its a pretty good barometer. I know NCC had some injuries in their ONU game but I can tell you the team that dismantled Wheaton on Saturday is good enough to beat any team outside of the top 2 and would likely make a good game for them as well.

Ok, Let's see how well NC does in the playoffs!

The comparison from the first post was about Wheaton getting dismantled by NC. My point was that Wheaton always has been competitive and a playoff team, yet they have not beat Mount as yet . So, if one makes the case that NC could beat anyone else, where are other comparisons beyond one game.

That was my point and maybe I did not state it clearly. More than
one game against a good conference contender is a good measurement
tool of where NC's program is.

I think NC has a very good program in their conference, future playoff results will determine if they can move to Mount's level.

[usee]

Well, if you're measuring stick is 'Mount's level' then there is only 1 program in division 3 football in the conversation. Having seen MUC play 6 times in person and several others on TV I can tell you I agree with DadofBashWarrior in that NCC is acquring the talent necessary to make that run. I agree they will ultimately be judged based on their performance in the playoffs but the talent NCC has assembled is as good as any team I have seen outside of Alliance and Whitewater.

[Pat Coleman]

Springfield 7E (why does the E8, with only 6 teams, get an AQ?)

A team left this season. They have a two-year grace period to get back up to seven teams before losing their AQ.

[smedindy]

Wally,

Even though the NCAC's dregs may be dragging down Case, the alternative would be worse. The UAA always had to scramble for non-conference games in the middle of conference season, and had to go out of region many times to do so.

At least they can put up a gaudy regional record this way.

As for your analysis, I think it's spot on. The CCIW is the conference to watch - since Wheaton could easily move past Wabash in the rankings and Illinois Wesleyan could also do so if they win out. I think the other team to watch may be Redlands, who are not on the rankings but could move up.

The Bethel / St. Thomas game will be one to watch. Bethel definitely could put a spanner in the Tommie's march to the playoffs.

[wally_wabash]

I think in Pool B, getting 10 regional games doesn't matter all that much.  I believe Wesley doesn't play a ton of regional games and they are in the playoffs every year.  5 years ago, CWRU getting 10 games, all regional, against whoever they could get was probably a really great thing.  But right now, they should probably be doing better.  What does CWRU get out of playing half of a game every week?  They only have three games that they have to play...7 other games are their elective.  There's no way that they can get 7 other games without the NCAC pitching in, but I can't believe that they couldn't find a couple of other better opponents early in the season to help that schedule.  Even if it's out of region...Pool B is squishy soft.  Last week Wesley played Webber International?  Why?  Because they're in the same boat CWRU is...tiny conference and nobody is available to play in October.  Last week CWRU played Hiram.  Why?  I see two pretty pointless games that don't have to happen.  CWRU could go get a game out of region (say, vs. Wesley), lose it, and still be in good shape to make the tournament. 

[bashbrother]

As for your analysis, I think it's spot on. The CCIW is the conference to watch - since Wheaton could easily move past Wabash in the rankings and Illinois Wesleyan could also do so if they win out.

Illinois Wesleyan winning out would create its own mess......  with North Central and Wheaton upcoming, it is definitely a tough road for the Titans.   If they win one, I believe they are still up for consideration, if the lose both, they are done. 

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out for Pool C.   Wooster needs to have the game of its life on November 14 and beat Witt.

[usee]

In the CCIW for pool C the ONLY possibility is Wheaton if they win out. That's all you need to watch. If NCC or IWU lose again they are done for Pool C (not necessarily the AQ as a tie could easily happen but that's not your conceren). If Wheaton wins out they will have 1 loss and are a strong Pool C candidate. No other team in the CCIW can finish with 1 loss without being the AQ.

[Black n Gold]

As for your analysis, I think it's spot on. The CCIW is the conference to watch - since Wheaton could easily move past Wabash in the rankings and Illinois Wesleyan could also do so if they win out.

Illinois Wesleyan winning out would create its own mess......  with North Central and Wheaton upcoming, it is definitely a tough road for the Titans.   If they win one, I believe they are still up for consideration, if the lose both, they are done. 

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out for Pool C.   Wooster needs to have the game of its life on November 14 and beat Witt.

Hopefully Holter and company will end his career/ season with a bang! To my understanding all the Wabash fans will be big Scot supporters on November 14......as the tie-breaker will give Wabash the AQ. Is that correct? (if everyone who is suppose to win, wins out and Woo beats Witt)

[wally_wabash]

Well it depends...if Wooster loses to Allegheny this weekend, Wooster beating Witt won't help Wabash at all.  Per the numbers at that point, it's probably best for Wabash to keep winning, but in the spirit of disliking all things Witt, I'm still in the Scots corner on 11/14.   

But please, beat Allegheny on Saturday and make 11/14 matter! 

[Black n Gold]

Im my comment.....I was assuming that Woo beat Allegheny. Although they are tough, I think the offense will put up some numbers. Hopefully the Wooster D will show up a bit on Saturday.

[Schwami]

The big game this weekend in the NCAC is Allegheny vs. Wooster.  The loser will be effectively eliminated from the NCAC race with two losses.  This is the second "elimination game" in a row for Allegheny, after dealing Kenyon its second loss last week in a 21-18 Gators victory.

Wabash, Witt and Allegheny could all end up at 6-1 in conference and 9-1 overall.  If that were to happen, it appears that Wabash would get the AQ, and Witt and Allegheny would both be under serious consideration for Pool C.  8)

[Schwami]

Well it depends...if Wooster loses to Allegheny this weekend, Wooster beating Witt won't help Wabash at all.  Per the numbers at that point, it's probably best for Wabash to keep winning, but in the spirit of disliking all things Witt, I'm still in the Scots corner on 11/14.   

But please, beat Allegheny on Saturday and make 11/14 matter! 

Of course, if Allegheny beats Wooster, the 11/7 game is the one that matters!

[D3_DPUFan]

Wabash, Witt and Allegheny could all end up at 6-1 in conference and 9-1 overall.  If that were to happen, it appears that Wabash would get the AQ, and Witt and Allegheny would both be under serious consideration for Pool C. 

Funny how many people over here seem to be banking on a 9-1 season. 

[wally_wabash]

Allegheny isn't beating Wittenberg.  That just isn't happening. Teams that beat Kenyon by 3 do not beat Wittenberg.  Wooster has a shot...a long shot, but a shot nonetheless. 

And to clarify something I said earlier...

Well it depends...if Wooster loses to Allegheny this weekend, Wooster beating Witt won't help Wabash at all.  Per the numbers at that point, it's probably best for Wabash to keep winning, but in the spirit of disliking all things Witt, I'm still in the Scots corner on 11/14. 

This should say that, should Wooster lose to Allegheny, the numbers would say that it's best for Wabash that Wittenberg keep winning.  I'm sure most of you understood what I was getting at, but the original post was a little incomplete and read wrong.