FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[nike]

Wabash College's football team isn't out of the NCAA Division III playoff picture just yet.
Despite falling 34-17 at North Coast Athletic Conference leader and No. 9-ranked Wittenberg this past Saturday, they can still earn a share of the conference championship and the NCAC's automatic playoff berth.
But the Little Giants (7-2, 5-1 NCAC) will need a little bit of help from conference rival Wooster.
http://thepaper24-7.com/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=23&ArticleID=28611

I'd say Wabash needs more than a little bit of help.  That is a funky tiebreaker scenario.  So Wooster's season is over on Saturday no matter what.  And so is Witt's if they lose.  So Witt has everything to play for.
Would love to see an upset, but me thinks Wabash will have to relish the Bell this year, but that is only if they take care of business.  

[wally_wabash]

So Wooster's season is over on Saturday no matter what.  And so is Witt's if they lose.  So Witt has everything to play for.

Wooster's season is over on Saturday...this is true.   But the season can end with a conference championship or it can not.  That'll be up to Wooster.  The Scots are playing for an awful lot this weekend.  

And what happened to playing just for the sake of beating your arch-rival?  Conference championship or not, beating Wittenberg means a lot to Wooster. 

[BayernFan]

I think Wooster needs to dip into the Boise State 2003-2005 Playbook and play a little non-conventional.   Kinda of like fighting the Chinese in a conventional war, it won't work.  Get creative, have some fun... Statue of Liberty play, fumblerusky etc.

I agree with this, and I've wondered why this doesn't happen more often in both football and basketball.

For instance, when a 16 seed plays a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.  They have nothing to lose, and they're probably never going to win by playing straight up...so why not do something crazy?  Run and gun, shoot a 3 on every possession, play full-court press, and run five fresh guys every 3-4 minutes?  What's the worst that happens - they lose by 40?  Wasn't that going to happen anyway?

Same train of thought with a huge underdog in football.  Do something crazy - throw something at the favorite that they don't expect.  Sure, maybe it will backfire, but you probably can't beat them straight up anyway!  Blitz every down, call trick plays, et cet/

I remember watching Princeton play UCLA in the 1996 NCAA tourney.  Once any of them took a shot, all their players would immediately run back on defense.  None of them went for an offensive board.  Coach Pete Carril gave up any offensive rebounds in return for denying hte UCLA fast break.  It worked, as they upset the defending national champs in the second round.

[bashbrother]

GO WOOSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO SCOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO WOOSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO SCOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO WOOSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO SCOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO WOOSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO SCOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO WOOSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nike]

I certainly agree that Wooster has reasons to have a fire in their belly this weekend and I would love nothing better than to see us beat Witt.  Just like I was hoping last week that you all would spank them in Springfield. I hope it happens this week.  But, I just don't see it.  Witt is the superior team and with the outright championship and playoff berth on the line, plus a 10-0 season, cannot see them losing to Wooster. We just don't have the people, at least on paper.  And the season in conference was helped by the scheduling this year.
Until this morning thought we had a shot at the playoofs if we won.
I hope as you do that the idea of winning this Saturday's game against an arch-rival  and top ten team is motivation enough to produce a monumental upset.
Best of luck with Depauw.  Will be watching your live stream from Papp, if my phone can pick it up.  

[wally_wabash]

I certainly agree that Wooster has reasons to have a fire in their belly this weekend and I would love nothing better than to see us beat Witt.  Just like I was hoping last week that you all would spank them in Springfield. I hope it happens this week.  But, I just don't see it.  Witt is the superior team and with the outright championship and playoff berth on the line, plus a 10-0 season, cannot see them losing to Wooster. We just don't have the people, at least on paper.  And the season in conference was helped by the scheduling this year.
Until this morning thought we had a shot at the playoofs if we won.
I hope as you do that the idea of winning this Saturday's game against an arch-rival  and top ten team is motivation enough to produce a monumental upset.
Best of luck with Depauw.  Will be watching your live stream from Papp, if my phone can pick it up.  

I'll take the opposite tack here...Wittenberg has EVERYTHING to lose this weekend.  Wooster is playing with house money.  And if they play loose, make a few big plays, who knows...maybe they ruin a rival's year and earn themselves a league title for their effort. 

Sure, the Scots are underdogs on paper.  But football is full of underdogs winning...hell, this country was founded by underdogs!  You see, beating Wittenberg this weekend isn't just fun for Wooster, it's downright American.   

[bashbrother]

In all seriousness, Wooster needs to employ some non-conventional tactics on Saturday.

Something like this to distract and throw off Witt's timing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW0wCzLKyt4

or this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckpNYhlMipA

[sflzman]

D3 Top 25 Fan Poll

1. UWW (20)  500
2. Mount Union  478
3. North Central  453
4. Wesley   439
5. St. Thomas  418
6. UMHB   397
7. Delaware Valley 351
8. Hardin-Simmons 338
9. Ohio Northern  325
10. Linfield   314
11. Wartburg   297
12. Wittenberg  274
13. Trine   260
14. Thomas More  249
15. Bethel   223
16. Coe    206
17. Wheaton   186
18. Cal. Lutheran  149
19. Depauw   111
20. Pac. Lutheran 105
21. Central   86
22. Cortland State 75
23. Rowan    67
24. Montclair  54
25. Franklin   48

Dropped Out: #23 St. John Fisher, #24 Wabash

Also receiving votes: Hampden-Sydney (34), St. John Fisher (20), Willamette (19), Washington U (5), Salisbury(4),Wabash(4),Williams(4), Alfred (2), Illinois Wesleyan (2), Albion (1), Baldwin-Wallace (1), Muhlenberg (1)

[ScotsFan]

So Wooster's season is over on Saturday no matter what.  And so is Witt's if they lose.  So Witt has everything to play for.

Wooster's season is over on Saturday...this is true.   But the season can end with a conference championship or it can not.  That'll be up to Wooster.  The Scots are playing for an awful lot this weekend.  

And what happened to playing just for the sake of beating your arch-rival?  Conference championship or not, beating Wittenberg means a lot to Wooster. 

Even though Wooster's season would be over, it would be pretty sweet beating Witt for a share of the conference title.  It would be especially sweet if a Wooster win would keep Witt home from the playoffs, but that is probably unlikely.

It would be nice to get the students chanting, "Just Like Basketball" as their students break out with the, "Just Like Football" chant everytime Witt beats Woo on the hardwood!   

[smedindy]

While it is in Wabash's favor, using the 2006 and 2007 season as a basis for an NCAA playoff bid in 2010 is, well...

WRONG!

...on so many levels, it's not funny.

[Ryder16]

that is one of the dumbest tie breakers I have ever seen. what does the 2007 team ( which likely has maybe 20 people still on team from '07 and 1 who contributed in '07) have to do with this year ? I dont think wooster should get in, dont get me wrong ( and thats my AM) but wow... thats just a silly tie breaker. i played in 06 and 07, sorry to think my teams short comings are preventing the program from moving on 3 years later

[nike]

Like I said before, those are some funky tie breaker rules. 
But as Joe Eitel always says as the high school season winds down, regarding the playoffs, "...controls own destiny...".
Here is hoping the bagpipe dudes(and ladies) lead the team down the hill to victory.  My old friend Roy Lockett's tree would bloom in November.

[wally_wabash]

Yep...it's completely ridiculous.  It was worse last year when Allegheny had the #1 power ranking based on league records from 2003-2004.  I wish I could make that up. 

So here's the question...what's a better way to break a three way tie?  You probably want to avoid overall record to avoid discouraging teams from taking a non-league challenge and you probably want to avoid margin of victory because that could get absolutely brutal in our league.  I don't have an answer off the top of my head right now. 

[Ryan Tipps]

So here's the question...what's a better way to break a three way tie? 

A quarterback Thunderdome, perhaps?

[nike]

Whatever you do with regards to tie breakers has to be limited to the current year.
Whether it is points or yardage or something.  What  did the Big Ten used to do for the Rose Bowl?  Wasn't it based on who had gone most recently would not go if there was a tie?  But then you bring in prior years again.  I bet the NCAC head people  are hoping Witt wins outright.
What does the OAC do when they have a tie?  Oh, nevermind.