FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[matblake]

Here's some thoughts:

Wabash vs. Wheaton
Wittenberg vs. Ohio Northern
DePauw vs. Trine
Allegheny vs. Carnegie Mellon
Denison vs. Bluffton
Wooster vs. Case (for the fish, if nothing else)
Ohio Wesleyan vs. Marietta
Oberlin vs. Grove City
Hiram vs. Thiel
Kenyon vs. Olivet

Agreed that Franklin is also a good match for either of the Indiana schools. OWU/Marietta may be a bit of a stretch but I feel there should be some NCAC/OAC interplay.

Illinois Wesleyan would be another good opponent to look at for Wabash for that first week.  Couldn't find a future schedule for IWU, so not sure when this might be an option.

[ExTartanPlayer]

I would probably stop passing in the fourth quarter, but that's more of a personal preference; if you play a spread offense, I have no issue with letting the backup QB run the offense for a few series.

You're a Tartan...y'all stop passing once the ball gets kicked off.   

lol.  We did win a game my senior year without completing a pass.

[bashbrother]

I think IWU is also a great match-up for Wabash. (Heck of a playoff game recently between the two)

While I personally am from the "Play Tougher" opponents and the program will improve camp,   I am also realistic in the fact that some of this comes from being a huge Div 1 Fan.   But DIII does not have a few of the dynamics that drive Div 1 teams to schedule tougher non-conference games.    The first one is Money from TV appearances and the Second is that they only have to win 6 games to be eligible for post-season play; a bowl.   

On paper,  it does not always serve the best interest of a D3 Program to schedule that tougher opponent.   One loss out of conference and then a loss in-conference and the prospects for an playoff spot become dicey.   I believe until strength of schedule is given greater weight in the criteria and some of the in/out of region weight is adjusted,  you will still have middle-upper teams,  Like Wabash and many others, being a bit more conservative in scheduling.   

Lastly,  I respect the heck out of Franklin for scheduling UW Whitewater. I believe their program seeing what the best looks like, benefits the growth of the program as a whole.   It just puts added pressure on them to make it through conference unscathed.  (Which they happen to be doing)   

The question that remains is; does a program grow more from playing and losing to a tougher non-conference opponent vs. potentially having one or two more games and a few more weeks of practice at the end of the year?

[ExTartanPlayer]

On paper,  it does not always serve the best interest of a D3 Program to schedule that tougher opponent.   One loss out of conference and then a loss in-conference and the prospects for an playoff spot become dicey....

Lastly,  I respect the heck out of Franklin for scheduling UW Whitewater. I believe their program seeing what the best looks like, benefits the growth of the program as a whole.   It just puts added pressure on them to make it through conference unscathed.

I too have a lot of respect for teams with playoff hopes that schedule tough nonconference games (i.e. the Purple Powers, UMHB, Wesley).  Another great example is UW-Oshkosh, which could go 8-2 this year with losses to UMU and UWW but remain home...replace UMU on that schedule with a lesser opponent and that team is a cinch for a Pool C.

I think that "scheduling up" is relatively easier to do if you're the league's heavy favorite...considering that Franklin has gone undefeated in the HCAC three times in the last five seasons, they are justifiably confident that they can run the table in the HCAC.  Since they have the luxury of "knowing" that they are a near-lock for a Pool A berth (and let's face it: if you're not good enough to win the HCAC, you're not going anywhere in the playoffs anyway), they might as well try to "schedule up" and get their players a shot at the bigtime.

It's harder to pull the trigger on a really tough nonconference game if you're not a HEAVY favorite in your conference.  For example, 'Bash/Witt know that they will have to contend with one another every year, meaning that a nonconference loss instantly pushes them to the brink of playoff elimination.

[wally_wabash]

The question that remains is; does a program grow more from playing and losing to a tougher non-conference opponent vs. potentially having one or two more games and a few more weeks of practice at the end of the year?

Gimme the extra practice and extra games (the extra games are going to be against strong opponents...it's a two-fer).  ATN has mentioned on numerous occasions that one reason (not the only reason, but one reason) why Mount Union and now UWW are always good is that their players get an extra five weeks of practice and games.  By the time you're a senior, you've accumulated an extra 1.5 season's worth of games and an extra 60 some practices over your non-playoff havin' rivals.  Success begets success.  That's obviously an opinion, but it's hard to argue with the correllation or the logic. 

[Pat Coleman]

Do we know for sure that a one-and-out benefits solely from the four extra practices, or is it from facing a challenging opponent in that week? They could face a challenging opponent in Week 2, after all...

[smedindy]

Perhaps, if you want to aspire, schedule out-of-region games. UW - Oshkosh's loss to Mt. Union is out-of-region. Same with North Central's loss to Redlands. So, Wittenberg could face UMHB or Wabash could tussle with Linfield.

[PistachioX]

http://www.kenyoncollegian.com/news/college-reviews-football-program-1.2657040?pagereq=1

[Schwami]

How cool would it be for Wabash to have a series with Linfield, or St. John's or Coe!

[smedindy]

http://www.kenyoncollegian.com/news/college-reviews-football-program-1.2657040?pagereq=1

Interesting. I'm glad they are looking to strengthening it, realizing that it's an asset. But I don't like the blame game of the NESCAC process or saying that 'student' X could get in at Denison but not here. What about Oberlin? The Yeomen don't have the numbers, but they're certainly miles about the Lords right now.

Complaining that a student could get into Wooster or Denison and not Kenyon is like Yale complaining that student X could get into Cornell or Dartmouth but not Yale.

[ExTartanPlayer]

http://www.kenyoncollegian.com/news/college-reviews-football-program-1.2657040?pagereq=1

But I don't like the blame game of the NESCAC process or saying that 'student' X could get in at Denison but not here.

I completely agree.  In fact, I take a much harsher tone, smed...

"It's a question of can you get the best players that meet the academic criteria," Stanley said. "And then with Kenyon ... can they afford to come here?"

Plenty of Division III schools face these same issues, and they manage to keep their squads afloat.

"There are a number of students — applicants, let's say — who are football players who are not going to make the academic cut at Kenyon," Nugent said. "But they'll be perfectly admittable students at some of our other [conference] schools, maybe a Wooster or a Denison. We just have a different academic profile."

A laughable excuse.  I read an interesting piece on the Ivy League schools once, in which an Ivy administrator griped that Penn was less selective than Harvard and therefore had an easier time recruiting.  A shrewd Penn administrator countered that an applicant who was accepted at both Penn and Harvard would probably choose Harvard (because of Harvard's better academic reputation) and that therefore Penn's supposed "advantage" was offset by the draw of Harvard or Yale.

Same thing applies here.  Maybe Wooster can admit a few football players that Kenyon cannot, but if Kenyon's academic profile is SOOOO much better, then a player who's admitted to both Kenyon and Wooster should theoretically choose Kenyon sometimes, right?

"Last year, we lost football players to the top colleges in the country — the Ivies, the military academies, the NESCAC [New England Small College Athletic Conference] schools," Delahunty said."

This is another laughable excuse.  Sending players a recruiting letter and then finding out that they went to Princeton isn't the same as "losing" them, which somehow implies that they were seriously considering Kenyon in the first place.  I really doubt that many players who eventually went to the Ivy League or Army/Navy were ever SERIOUSLY considering Kenyon.  I would believe that they legitimately "lost" a few players to the NESCAC, but doesn't that go for their competition as well?

[DPU3619]

By that logic, how can Wabash and/or DePauw be better (or at least level) with other Indiana teams that have lower cost and admission standards?  Also, how can Kenyon be so good at swimming then? 

That's taking the easy way out with excuses.  Either make the effort or don't.  There's no gray area here.

[matblake]

Perhaps, if you want to aspire, schedule out-of-region games. UW - Oshkosh's loss to Mt. Union is out-of-region. Same with North Central's loss to Redlands. So, Wittenberg could face UMHB or Wabash could tussle with Linfield.

North Central's loss was in-region due to administrative regions:  See #8

[smedindy]

Thanks, matblake.

[wabashcpa]

Illinois Wesleyan would be another good opponent to look at for Wabash for that first week.  Couldn't find a future schedule for IWU, so not sure when this might be an option.

I would personally like this matchup - easy travel (straight shot down I-74) and very competitive program/good measuring stick.