FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

GoBigRed04 · July 07, 2006, 04:38:53 PM

kcreds thanks for posting those preseason d3 polls. Is Witt supposed to be pretty tough this year? According to Sports Illustrated's preseason poll they are worthy of a top 10 ranking. Maybe they know something we don't. I know that last year they did struggle because of a loss to their starting qb early on in the season. Regardless, it should be a fun year of NCAC ball to watch. I do agree that there will be a lot of parity this year as someone stated earlier in their post. I'm looking forward to spending a few Saturdays this fall watching some D3 ball.

Kira & Jaxon's Dad · July 07, 2006, 04:45:23 PM

Quote from: wally_wabash on July 07, 2006, 04:24:04 PM
The best shot for an NCAC team to get into the top 25 along with Wabash early in the season is going to be Witt. Wins over Capital and Alma, and a win or a really really good game vs. Dayton would give Witt instant top 25 cred.

Don't take Capital lightly. Most folks in Alliance think that Capital was the 2nd best team Mount Union faced last year (behind UWW).

GoBigRed04 · July 07, 2006, 04:57:10 PM

Capital has owned Witt for the last two seasons. Capital did lose a lot of seniors but like a lot of good programs they have continued to reload. Capital was a play or two away from being Mount in last year's playoffs so they are the real deal. As for Witt, being a former player in the NCAC I really hope they can get it together this year and beat Capital to make our conference look somewhat comparable to the OAC. I've watched Capital play for the past two seasons almost more than I've watched NCAC games-due to me living in Columbus and my best friend being a Capital alum-and believe me they along with Mount, of course, are the cream of the crop in the OAC. That is saying a lot because in my opinion, the OAC is maybe the toughest d3 conference in the country. So when Witt goes down to Columbus this year to face the Crusaders I'll have to actually root for the Tigers so we can shut up some of those cocky OAC fans--even though my boy used to play RB for Capital. Go NCAC and go Big Red!

wally_wabash · July 07, 2006, 05:58:04 PM

Oh please don't take my post to mean that I think Witt is going to beat Capital. Far from it. I don't see Witt magically making up the five touchdowns or so that Capital has been whomping them by over the last couple of years. I'm just meaning to say that if Witt were to beat Capital and Alma and have a good showing against Dayton, that they would then probably be considered strongly for a top 25 spot. By no means do I think that is going to happen....was speaking strictly in the hypothetical there.

The question was whether or not the NCAC would see multiple teams in the top 25 this year. My assessment is that it probably won't happen and the most likely scenario under which it could happen is if Witt starts out hot and joins Wabash (assuming Wabash can remain undefeated through the early part of their schedule) in the top 25 very early in the season.

Specifically about the Witt/Cap game....here are the facts:
- Witt had yet another major coaching staff overhaul this offseason
- Witt is going to be starting a brand new face at quarterback...likely either a kid with zero college experience or a kid with very little college experience
- Witt has been, on average, 44 points worse than Capital over the last two years

The first two items are big fat red flags for early season struggles which bodes ill for Witt. The third item tells us that unless Capital has completely fallen off the face of the D-III universe, they should be favored (probably heavily) to beat Witt in week 1.

herald79 · July 08, 2006, 07:57:44 AM

I don't think you can put much into the rankings, just remember these publications other than Street-n-Smith, don't ever cover D3. So how much weight can they really hold. I always hear about, what a team did last year.When talking about the present, what about tradition, if you think for one moment that Witt, Woo and Allegheny are at all comfortable with last season you are mistaken. My Dad was at Witt in the early 70s in Admissions, and I have family and friends who were gators and scots, as much as I Love Kenyon these schools will bounce back . I look for the Lords to have a good season, they had a nice recruiting season, and numbers are high. They have more skilled players on O than anytime in recent history, now if the D can step up, they can compete with the upper tier in a couple of yrs, on a every year basis .

GO LORDS!

ADL70 · July 08, 2006, 10:04:27 AM

How will Kenyon's search for an OC this close to start of camp affect the performance of those skilled players on O?

herald79 · July 08, 2006, 06:55:41 PM

CWRU 70

Coach Shoemaker will be missed, but with a month until camp and veterans at all the key "0" positions, and Coach Stanley to pick up the slack,we'll be just fine. But to say Shoe will not be missed would be wrong, he is a great young coach, and watch what he will do with OAC talent. So goodluck on Coach Stanleys search, he will be hard pressed to find someone as dedicated to football as Coach Shoemaker. But the Lords have something they haven't had in years confidence, and some players who could play anywhere in the NCAC!

ski · July 10, 2006, 12:09:25 PM

WOOSTER 06: OUTLOOK for the 06 season has a lot to offer, with pressure placed on heavily populated senior class. There is good reason to think NCAC championship for 06. Unlike some of the past seasons, Wooster has a quality opponent early in John Carrol. Even though this is a non conference match-up, it will go a long way in predicting what to expect for the remainder of the year. Even though depth appears to be a strength for the Scots, the pre-season practices will do a lot to define the success sought during the regular season. Coach Schmitz is noted for running a hard hitting and physically draining camp. This has lead to the team starting the season with some key injuries and some banged up starters in the past few years. If this year's camp is a carbon copy of some of the past few, it could affect the Scots ability for early success. All in all, 06 should be a very interesting year for Scot football.

GoBigRed04 · July 10, 2006, 12:23:07 PM

After hearing wally_wabash's argument for why Witt will continue to struggle against Cap this year it seems that Woo will have a better chance at beating JC than Witt will at beating Cap. That's just my opinion, but it would be nice to see a NCAC sweep of the OAC this year if both teams could pull out w's.

seinfeld · July 10, 2006, 01:51:45 PM

Ski,

You make a very peceptive point. I've always gotten the sense that Wooster's camp has been on the rough side, going back to Barnes. Can anyone speak to why this might be important to do? The 2001 disaster season occurred, in large part, because of the number of injuries that came from camp. Wooster may need to take a closer look at what it does in the preseason, as it has really come out of the gate slowly offensively the last couple of years, even in 2004 with Sutton. It seems to take halfway through the season to get the passing game working right.

They don't have the luxury of waiting that long this year.

scotty · July 10, 2006, 02:18:33 PM

ski and seinfeld, excellent point...way too many injuries along with a boat load of concussions...maybe we could check the helmets this year...hmmmmmm...

BashBacker#16 · July 10, 2006, 03:43:08 PM

Good to see DePauw's NEW head coach working on the planning of the upcoming season -

http://www.journalreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=5&SubSectionID=29&ArticleID=23113&TM=55692.02

Can you imagine Coach Creighton or Coach Fincham doing this?

Does anyone else think this is strange?

wally_wabash · July 10, 2006, 03:59:48 PM

It really has to stink to be a DPU fan right now. Well, it has to stink to be a DPU fan pretty much all the time, but especially right now. Camp breaks in a month, your team is full of inexperience at key positions, and your new head coach is in C'ville playing baseball.

Great stuff, 16. Great stuff.

scotty · July 10, 2006, 04:01:49 PM

amazing...simply amazing...maybe Rogers is sort of "transitioning" the program...

wabco · July 10, 2006, 04:28:10 PM

I don't know about you ... but I am rooting for the Eagles to make the playoffs. Maybe the Dannies could root for their ole coach or "pitch". Hey ... to be a Dannie is to not be quite right. BUT then again, I suspect "pitch" is in tight with DPU micro-managing administration. Come on Trinity ... its Tiger Time.

On another subject ... just got a report that Wabash Freshman class in total is holding with very little leakage (something like 3-4% leakage). We generally hold pretty well on deposits to matriculation, but this year's class appears (at least at this time) to be even more steadfast. Thus, as a part of the larger unit ... I would extrapolate that same steadfastness in football recruits. A good sign, as I understand the coaches are very pleased with the group coming in. Good think Creighton does not feel that sudden urge to be an Eagle.