FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[sigma one]

 With two games to go for all the teams, who would have thought that Wooster has the best chance to influence the NCAC winner?  This week:  Kenyon at Wooster.  Next week:  Wooster at Ohio Wesleyan. 
There's also Denison at Kenyon and Ohio Wesleyan at Allegheny, of course.  But it's the Woo Scots who have the most chance to salvage their season and affect the championship.
     That's not to discount Allegheny and whatever game they decide to bring with them.  Wittenberg has the closest thing to a cakewalk, sorry Hiram and Oberlin.  Wabash has Oberlin and the usually (un)predictable DPU game, where things have not always gone according to form. 
     I keep thinking the good old NCAC would like nothing better than a multiple-team tie.  Thanks for that, as they could talk about balance within the league, no matter that the schedule is screwy.  "Hey, look how much we are like the NFL." 
    Mostly Wabash's own fault for the Allegheny loss.  I still credit the Gators for coming into C'ville with a great plan and executing it while befuddling the Little Giants--and in the bargin giving everyone down the road a blueprint to scribble on.   
    From the Wabash fan point of view, Go Scots!  Too bad I can't bring myself to believe that what I wish would happen really will.     

[BASHNSMASH]

So if Wabash wins out what are the chances of them getting into the playoffs with an at large bid?
I don't see how you could be in the top 10 and not get into the playoffs!!!

[wabashcpa]

I would say Wabash should be a Pool C lock, assuming they take care of Oberlin and DePauw at home, as they should.  Of particular interest to me at the moment is the shutout streak we currently have.  Can we extend this to three games?  Four?

[smedindy]

It looks good for them, since there are not a lot of one-loss teams left and they have a decent SOS (#13, but that will drop) and will have a decent regional ranking. But the NCAA doesn't care one whit about the rankings here. They have their own system

[wally_wabash]

So if Wabash wins out what are the chances of them getting into the playoffs with an at large bid?
I don't see how you could be in the top 10 and not get into the playoffs!!!

Very good, but do keep in mind that the D3football.com top 25 is not in any way part of selection criteria.  Teams ranked in the teens have been left out...not every year, but often enough to drive home the point that the poll and the selection process are two separate entities. 

And with that said, here's some food for thought.  What if in the first tiebreak, which is head to head results, the interpretation is that they use and record the results of all teams involved in the tie vs. one another, regardless of universal commonality (which is to say, it doesn't matter if everybody in the tie played everybody else)?  If we're looking at the results of Wabash/Witt/OWU/Kenyon all against one another we get:

Wabash 2-0 (W @Witt, W @ OWU)
OWU 1-1 (W vs. Ken, L vs. Wab)
Witt 0-1 (L vs. Wab)
Kenyon 0-1 (L @ OWU)

If that's what's going on, then Wabash wins the tiebreak and is awarded the league's AQ.  I'll dig into this some more and see what we can find. 

[smedindy]

I would say Wabash should be a Pool C lock, assuming they take care of Oberlin and DePauw at home, as they should.  Of particular interest to me at the moment is the shutout streak we currently have.  Can we extend this to three games?  Four?

Oberlin's got some weapons at QB, WR and RB. But they only have one good wideout (Witjes) and Wabash has been stingy in the running game. DPU, well, um, yeah. It's not out of the question that the D can keep this up.

And with that said, here's some food for thought.  What if in the first tiebreak, which is head to head results, the interpretation is that they use and record the results of all teams involved in the tie vs. one another, regardless of universal commonality (which is to say, it doesn't matter if everybody in the tie played everybody else)?  If we're looking at the results of Wabash/Witt/OWU/Kenyon all against one another we get:

Wabash 2-0 (W @Witt, W @ OWU)
OWU 1-1 (W vs. Ken, L vs. Wab)
Witt 0-1 (L vs. Wab)
Kenyon 0-1 (L @ OWU)

If that's what's going on, then Wabash wins the tiebreak and is awarded the league's AQ.  I'll dig into this some more and see what we can find.

I don't think the NCAC has run tiebreakers like that before. I don't think the nightmarish basketball tiebreakers (for 3rd through 5th, IIRC) were decided with H2H if teams didn't play each other equally.  But the statement says 'head to head results between tied teams'. So, um...one question answered, another asked. What say you NCAC?

[BASHNSMASH]

So if Wabash wins out what are the chances of them getting into the playoffs with an at large bid?
I don't see how you could be in the top 10 and not get into the playoffs!!!

Very good, but do keep in mind that the D3football.com top 25 is not in any way part of selection criteria.  Teams ranked in the teens have been left out...not every year, but often enough to drive home the point that the poll and the selection process are two separate entities. 

And with that said, here's some food for thought.  What if in the first tiebreak, which is head to head results, the interpretation is that they use and record the results of all teams involved in the tie vs. one another, regardless of universal commonality (which is to say, it doesn't matter if everybody in the tie played everybody else)?  If we're looking at the results of Wabash/Witt/OWU/Kenyon all against one another we get:

Wabash 2-0 (W @Witt, W @ OWU)
OWU 1-1 (W vs. Ken, L vs. Wab)
Witt 0-1 (L vs. Wab)
Kenyon 0-1 (L @ OWU)

If that's what's going on, then Wabash wins the tiebreak and is awarded the league's AQ.  I'll dig into this some more and see what we can find.

That would make sense to me but hey what do i know. This is all new to me. Thank you for the response!

[wally_wabash]

This is the most recent posting of how the rules read (this was orginally copied and posted from a Springfield News Sun article in 2006...presumably they got their info from an NCAC official or somebody that had official paperwork from the NCAC). 

Here you go in case the link doesn't work.....I suggest a little Maalox and 2 Tylenol before reading this....

• "1. Head-to-Head result(s) between tied teams."

• "2. Result(s) versus individual opponents examined in descending order, individually, until tie is broken. The tied teams must have a common opponent in order for the result to be considered; if not a common opponent, move to the next team in the standings. The first team to have beaten a higher-ranked team that is a common opponent wins the tiebreaker.

"If the tie is not broken in the descending order review, start from the bottom of the standings and examine opponents in ascending order. The first team to have lost to a lower-ranked team loses the tiebreaker (no common opponent provision in ascending review)."

• "3. The team with the fewest losses in conference away games."

• "4. The team with the higher preseason power ranking used to determine conference schedule. This provision would not apply if a tiebreaker had been used to separate the teams in final power ranking."

"5. The team with the longest active winning streak in conference play at the end of the season."

"6. The team that has not participated in the NCAA playoffs for the longest period of years ("Rose Bowl rule")."

"7. Coin Toss. When three or more teams are tied, the same procedure shall be followed until one team is eliminated. The process shall then be repeated until one team emerges.

So I don't know exactly how you'd interpret rule 1.  I could be convinced of either using h2h only with common opponents OR that you look at it as an aggregate of h2h results amongst the tied teams. 

[BashBacker#16]

Wally,

I think you are correct, Wabash would get the AQ.

How about Holmes yards per carry at 6.7?

[wally_wabash]

16-

Holmes has been really impressive this year and has gotten stronger and stronger.  We were wondering who would step in for CP this week?  Turns out it was Tyler Holmes.  Holmes got all of the RB carries for Wabash against OWU.  That really surprised me, but it just goes to show how big that game was.  Expect that Tyler will get some series off in the next couple of weeks if things go to plan. 

6.7 ypc is a sweet number.  Credit to the OL who have been making everything downhill for the last five weeks and credit to Tyler who is hard to stop at first contact. 

[nike]

Holmes and Belton compliment each other well.  OWU could not key on either one plus defend the pass for the whole game.
So now the Scots Kenyon game has relevance.
Will be there to watch a game with league wide implications.
If Wooster wins, does that put Wabash in as AQ, if they win out?

[BashBacker#16]

Pretty funny, Coach Fincham quote in Springfield paper before OWU/Bash game:  "Obviously, we have to root for Wabash, I think I just threw up in my mouth"

[smedindy]

I wish the NCAC powers that be would have clarified the H2H portion of the tiebreakers. Perhaps they will.

It won't matter next year, though, with the round robin. You'll have a result against everyone.

[old wabash]

Wabash back in the Top 10 (at #10)  of the d3football.com Top 25. Wittenberg just out of the Top 25 at 26th.

...and owu lost ALL the points they had...dropping out of sight completely!!

[cave2bens]

It won't matter next year, though, with the round robin. You'll have a result against everyone.

In interests of balance and fairness, maybe they'll just handicap the scores or ban them completely???

"Welcome to Hiram for today's conference battle between the Terriers and the Fighting Gators of Allegheny College.  We've had the coin flip, Allegheny has deferred to the second half.  The NCAC tabulator has accounted for current/anticipated injuries, home/away SOS, five year rolling averages, and unscheduled bathroom breaks. The following value of "gimme points" is assigned, and now appears on the scoreboard.  It's Hiram 39.5  Allegheny 0 ( - half point deduction for no paper in stall 3) as we're ready to get underway."

Cheekiness aside, there are two weeks of league games to be sorted out.