FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wallyworld12]

Looks like the NCAC Preseason Poll was released today...

1.    Wittenberg (4)  74
2.    Wabash (4)      73
3.    Wooster (1)      66
4.    Allegheny        56
5.    Denison           37
6.    Ohio Wesleyan 34
7.    Oberlin             32
8.    Hiram               19
9.    Kenyon             14

Anyone surprised by this?

http://www2.northcoast.org/football/2011preseasoncoaches%27poll

[wabco]

"1 point".   I like that.  We'll see.

"1 point".  I like that.

[wally_wabash]

Looks like the NCAC Preseason Poll was released today...

1.    Wittenberg (4)  74
2.    Wabash (4)      73
3.    Wooster (1)      66
4.    Allegheny        56
5.    Denison           37
6.    Ohio Wesleyan 34
7.    Oberlin             32
8.    Hiram               19
9.    Kenyon             14

Anyone surprised by this?

http://www2.northcoast.org/football/2011preseasoncoaches%27poll

That looks about right to me.  Witt has Zoeller and McKee back and those two are scary good, but gone are Witt's 1st team RB, three 1st team OLs, two 1st team DLs, their 1st team LB, and a 1st team DB.  All together there are 13 All NCAC seniors that are gone.  That's an awful lot to lose.  I don't doubt that Wittenberg has good players behind those lost to graduation, but that's a massive hit and certainly enough to keep Witt from being a runaway preseason favorite.  Wabash was young last year and should be a year better, plus they host Wittenberg in November.  Not surprised to see Wooster up there with a vote which kind makes them a wild card this year.  The Barnes kid is really good, they have a favorable home schedule and don't have Allegheny at all...the Scots could upset the apple cart here a bit this year if things break right for them.

[bashbrother]

Honestly I think it is ridiculous, but predictable. (Witt in the Top Spot)

I will temper myself and just say,  they deserve to be in that position until someone knocks them out of it.

Onward and Upward!  WAF!

[bashbrother]

Question for Fun:

If Depauw was a part of NCAC Football this year,  where do they fall in this poll.  (3rd or 4th?)

[wallyworld12]

Honestly I think it is ridiculous, but predictable. (Witt in the Top Spot)

I will temper myself and just say,  they deserve to be in that position until someone knocks them out of it.

Onward and Upward!  WAF!

I think it is also ridiculous when you break down the math...

Wabash received 4 first place votes....36 points
They then received 2 second place votes....16 points
And 3 third place votes....21 points

Which brings us to the total of 73 points....kind of hard to believe that three coaches picked up third but then again not much surprises me about this league.

[wabco]

Not sure of all the votes, but Woo is easy ... they voted themselves 1st, Witt 2nd and the best team 3rd.  Hope the Little Giants remember that on Sept 10.

and "1 Point'.  I like that.

[cave2bens]

And now that the "beauty contest" has been published, let's see where things fall out by Monon Bell week!  Polls are like gum - something to chew on, but offer little in nutritional value, lose flavor pretty quickly, and invariably the bubble bursts - at inopportune moments.  

Not sure of all the votes, but Woo is easy ... they voted themselves 1st, Witt 2nd and the best team 3rd.  Hope the Little Giants remember that on Sept 10.

and "1 Point'.  I like that.

They must have thought it basketball season already    WAF!

[short]

Witt #1??? Really??? What a joke!

[aueagle]

I don't see a problem with the poll...But having OWU ahead
of the Yeoman was a gift....I would have put the Black n Gold
at the 3rd spot (even with the huge losses they have)....
Like wally said, Wooster could make a run...I still think the Gators are at
the cusp...but, I've been saying that for 3 years....It still doesn't "smell"
like football.......soon.

[smedindy]

That poll is about right. I can't see a team storming in there to knock anything away from the top three. With only SIX conference games (don't get me started...grrr...) then there's no room for slips. But each team has an upside:

For Wabash, Witt and Wooster, the upside is to run the table. Each team COULD do it. Wooster has the big games book-ending their schedule. Wabash also has the two biggest games at either end of their NCAC slate. Could be quite *interesting*. Witt could be sitting pretty at 4-0, 8-0 and then facing two snarling dogs at the end. (That is, if Witt can beat Capital at home.)


Gheny has two games that could decide the outcome: at Witt and they play host to Wabash. Never a fun trip. They could go 5-1 if they upset either Witt or 'Bash. They have four NCAC home games.

Denison's upside looks to be 4-2 if they knock of Gheny on the road. Possible, not probable.

Hiram could win their first three NCAC contests if they play well and surprise people. If not, it may be another o-fer, but an improved o-fer. (But isn't that what we always say??)

Kenyon has four NCAC home games. Unfortunately, three of them are against Gheny, Witt and Wooster. Three wins is the upside, again if they play well and surprise people. The Hiram / Kenyon pillow fight to begin the NCAC campaign may be the one conference win for either, realistically.

Oberlin has just two NCAC home games (Why wasn't this fixed? Oh, yeah, it's the NCAC!) and one of their home games is against Wabash. I can see them topping at just two wins if they catch a team in the late season that's disgruntled or injured.

OWU also has four NCAC road games. (Sidebar: The NCAC is supposed to be a smart-person conference, right? Then why couldn't they get the schedule right? Yeesh...) One of their home games is Witt. But they have some pillow soft games down the stretch after starting with the slam / bam / jam of the big three. A 3-3 record would be about the best the Bishops could do, but that could create momentum for them for 2012. (Again, haven't we said that before??)

So, only Gheny has a very outside shot of crashing the party and stealing the goods away if Wabash / Wooster / Witt beat up on each other. It also helps that the Gators don't play the Scots. But that's a mighty big IF.

[ADL70]

Seems like Wabash got the short end of the press release.

Given the one point difference, wouldn't "Wittenberg Edges Wabash" been a more fitting headline?

[1837Tigers]

A good poll for DePauw fans:

Purdue is ranked 311th on Forbes Magazine's list of the 650 best undergraduate institutions.

That's 87 rankings behind Indiana University, Bloomington, which ranks at 224. In between IU and Purdue are Valparaiso University, ranking at 275, and University of Evansville, which ranks at 304.

The top ranked schools in Indiana were Notre Dame, ranking at 18; DePauw University, ranking at 50; and Wabash College, ranking at 86.

http://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/article_3149c02a-be13-11e0-b283-0019bb30f31a.html

[bashbrother]

Media day is in the books,  pre-season rankings are out,   thousands of student-athletes throughout the country are packing their bags for camp;  and thus the absolute BEST time of the year begins


http://youtu.be/yzPPT-_hf60


WAF!   Wes and CJ back -  oh my!!! 

[BashDad]

D3football.com preseason poll is out:

http://d3football.com/top25/2011/preseason

Wabash enters at #20, Witt at #21

With fingers crossed, we could see a top-ten showdown come week #9. Exciting stuff.