FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[DadofBashWarrior..]

I was told there would be no math.

Hilarious

[sigma one]

Congratulations to Wittenberg and Ohio Wesleyan on the co-championship.  And to Kenyon as well on their turn around. Gulp, and to Allegheny and Oberlin for teaching the Little Giants they have to come to play every week.    Now is the time for all who follow the NCAC to get behind the Old Tigers and the Battling Bishops and hope OWU is chosen for the tournament.. 
     A comment on the Monon Bell game.  It's time for DePauw to step up with a new coach who can improve the program.  The new tigers played hard today, but they did not match up.  If not for penalties, the score would have been much worse, I believe.  DePauw had 13 possessions.  One ended the first half.  Of the other 12, they penetrated Wabash territory only once, and that to the 44 yd. line.  Nine possessions ended in punts.  The best "drive" went from the DPU 9 to the Wabash 44, 11 plays (their 3rd possession of the game).  They did not cross the 50 after that: 9 possessions, excluding the one that ended the first half.  Several possessions resulted in negative yardage. The punter was DPU's most valuable player, keeping Wabash penned in, making the LGs work for what they got. 
     For the good of the rivalry, Wabash should want DePauw to put a better team on the field, and so should the entire NCAC.  When they joined the conference I think everyone thought they would quickly compete at the highest level, as they did in the SCAC, and give the league more respectability.  Let's hope that comes quickly.  They are only a couple of years removed from being a playoff team.
    Exciting year for the conference.  Turmoil, uncertainty, and some terrific performances.
     
       

[wabndy]

Watched the bell game at a telecast party so I couldn't get a real sense of it- but boy there seemed to be a lot of penalties. Were the refs a little flag happy? The intentional grounding call on belton after it looked like he had been flushed out of the pocket seemed especially ridiculous.

Gotta get the ball past the LoS.

Thanks - sorry. I know that.

[Bishopleftiesdad]

Congratulations to Kenyon for a great turn around year for the Lords. Good to see them competing all year. Hopefully this gives them something to build on.
Congratulations to Oberlin on what should be a signature win for their program against Wabash.
And congratulations to the Old Tigers for getting the AQ.

For Wabash, I know the season did not end the way you would have hoped but you had some impressive wins this season. Plus 4 atraight wins against the new Tigers is impressive.

It has been great talking to you all this year. I hope to be congratulating The Bishops on a pool C bid tomorrow.

Wally I know you claim not to be a expert but you usually are pretty spot on. Some of the stuff you have come up with on the pool C thread is amazing. If you think they got a chance that is a good sign.

Great regular season for the Bishops. Here's hoping they get a pool C.

[smedindy]

I'm really happy to see more teams contend for the NCAC title this year. But there are a lot of teams that need to step up their act next season. Denison, DPU, Gheny and Wooster really spit the bit for the most part. And then there's Hiram. Terriers, if the Lords can do it...

[wally_wabash]

Watched the bell game at a telecast party so I couldn't get a real sense of it- but boy there seemed to be a lot of penalties. Were the refs a little flag happy?

Only 27 accepted penalties today. 

[aueagle]

As great a season the Bishops have had...I'd be surprised if we get a spot in the playoffs....
Congrats to Witt on their Co-Championship....and to the LG's on The Bell (again).
Pieces of the puzzel still remain in Delaware....but, what a season.

[HScoach]

If I may speak for the rest of the D3 nation, a huge thank you goes out to Denison for saving us from the embarrassment of seeing Kenyon playing Oshkosh or Mount in Round 1.   Those wishing send thank you cards, they can be mailed to:

100 West College Street
Granville, OH 43023

[smedindy]

If I may speak for the rest of the D3 nation, a huge thank you goes out to Denison for saving us from the embarrassment of seeing Kenyon playing Oshkosh or Mount in Round 1.   Those wishing send thank you cards, they can be mailed to:

100 West College Street
Granville, OH 43023

Go pick on Wilmington and Muskingum. Leave the Lords lashing to us...

"You can't haze our pledges...only WE can haze our pledges..."

[WittFootball]

Great season NCAC teams. This is my first year following the conference. Initially, I am very impressed with the amount of respect on this board that posters have for other schools. Although I was confused about the DIII playoff selection process and even more confused by the NCAC tiebreaker, I used this board to find answers or to ensure that I wasn't the only one that was perplexed. I sent an email directly to the NCAC and received an immediate response, but that did little to clarify the process.

I would also like to thank the fans of the NCAC schools that I have had the pleasure of seeing at games this year. Unlike traveling to away DI games, the DIII experience makes me feel proud that I sent my son to the right environment for learning and competing while in college.

Good luck to all NCAC teams in future seasons and I'm glad that if there are any tiebreakers from this point forward, the process will be will not be as complex as this year.

[seinfeld]

As to whether Schmitz would ever be let go, there are two things that work in his favor. First is that his wife is the chief counsel for Wooster, or at least was at one time. The second is that most of the people in positions that matter (President, Trustees, etc.) don't really care that much about football. But when you finish 2-8 and schools with better academic credentials and smaller rosters like Kenyon, Oberlin and Denison are now better football programs, they may start to care. On the other hand, Schmitz isn't exactly well liked on campus. If he were genuinely on the line, there would be very few people lining up to vouch for him.

Here is a statistical look at Schmitz's career at Wooster. One of the biggest things that will come out that I think many people outside of Wooster may be overlooking is how Tony Sutton completely changed how people viewed Schmitz and Wooster football, and once his presence and impact passed, the Schmitz profile that was coming into view in 2001 has now resurfaced again in 2012. In short, the gift of Sutton's transfer masked significant flaws in Schmitz's coaching style that are only now being seen in clear daylight.

-- In games Tony Sutton played, Schmitz is 25-5. In games without him, he is 49-43 and just 28-32 since 2007. During the last six years, Wooster has had a winning record in only one season (2008).

-- Over the last four years, Wooster has only won 16 games, which is the same number as Denison, two less than Ohio Wesleyan (18) and nine less than Allegheny (25), a program Wooster used to be on par or slightly better than.

-- Wooster has only beaten four teams with a winning record since 2005, and those teams were all 6-4.

-- Since Schmitz became the head coach in 2000, Wooster has never beaten a team that has more than 7 wins in a season, and has only two wins against teams with 7 wins (Wabash 2003 and Wittenberg 2004).

-- Since 2005, Wooster is 4-30 against teams that finished that year with a winning record.

-- Wooster outscored their opponents 114-111 in the first half in 2012, but then was outscored 133-74 in the second half, including 68-31 in the third quarter. Over the last two seasons, Wooster has been outscored 134-45 in the third quarter, showing a tremendous lack of halftime adjustments/motivation.

The final case against Schmitz has been made by himself. For years, he has complained that a lack of field turf and a recreation center has hurt recruiting. Now he has both of these things, and not only have things not gotten better, they've gotten worse. And the excuse about cost and admissions standards carries less weight when programs like Denison, Oberlin and Kenyon, who cost more and have stricter standards, are passing you by. And Schmitz is also the one that sets the expectations high. Every year he is telling us that Wooster is going to compete for a conference title, and every year they fall short of his expectations.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Welcome WittFootball!!! Stay awhile & keep posting!

Seinfeld: thanks for gathering those numbers...but IMO some of then carry a lot more weight than others.  I think you have to be careful when evaluating things like records against opponents who finished the season with a winning record (sort of like how everyone in Division I seems to have a losing record against top 25 teams - well duh!).  I do think its very germane to point out how far Wooster has fallen in the past 5 seasons relative to its peers. When I started paying attention to the NCAC, they & Allegheny were the teams one notch behind Witt & Bash that had to be taken seriously. As you noted, by 2012 they have now been surpassed by Allegheny, OWU, arguably Oberlin & Kenyon (at least for this year anyway).  That's what really strikes me the most - they have fallen behind several teams they used to be WELL ahead of in the conference pecking order.

[Dr. Acula]

Great post seinfeld.  +k.

The state of the program relative to Oberlin/Kenyon/Denison is the most troubling part IMO.  There is absolutely no excuse for that to become normal going forward.  Those schools (especially Oberlin and Kenyon) are fighting an uphill battle.

[smedindy]

But all Oberlin and Keynon need to do is to increase numbers. They seem to be on the right path.

[ExTartanPlayer]

But all Oberlin and Keynon need to do is to increase numbers. They seem to be on the right path.

I think that's Dr. Acula's point. Oberlin and Kenyon both had nice seasons this year (relative to expectations, anyway) with low numbers...while Wooster stumbled badly.  I think his point is that Woo has no excuse if those two schools can produce competitive squads with low numbers.