FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Li'l Giant]

They should keep score and fire the analysts if they reach a certain mark of failure.

I have taken up this issue before and you never seem to get my point so this is my last post on this.

Can we combine these two?

[wally_wabash]

I don't know what will happen this year.  But the tone of the your posts that I take suggest you do and leave no room for for the contrary. 

If that's the case, then you're reading way too much into what I post.  Like the Psychic Friends Network, my predictions are for entertainment purposes only and I can not be held responsible if what I say turns out to be dead wrong (which, by the way, has happened...most notably I spent a good deal of time openly laughing at Wittenberg's struggles last year and changed my tune pretty rapidly after their game at Wabash...I've no problem with being wrong about things).  Of course there is room for the contrary, but this place would be booooring if nobody here ever defended an opinion.  Lighten up. 

[wabashcpa]

How do you know Hiram isn't going to blitzkrieg the league this year?

I have it on good authority that Hiram will NOT blitzkrieg the league this year.

[ScotsFan]

Of course there is room for the contrary, but this place would be booooring if nobody here ever defended an opinion.  Lighten up. 

I agree.  What else are we supposed to talk about until kickoff just over a month away?  I see nothing wrong with people prognosticating in here.  I happen to disagree with the majority of the predictions that have Wooster placing in the bottom half of the league, but that is what this board is for.  Open debate and discussion as to why you feel the way you do. 

*BTW, I'll add more as to why I feel that Wooster is being overlooked, at least by the majority of fans on this board maybe sometime tomorrow.

[wally_wabash]

I have it on good authority that Hiram will NOT blitzkrieg the league this year.

Oh, but wabashcpa.....how do you KNOW???  That's the whole point.  You can't say for sure.  Just like I can't say for sure that Witt playing a freshman qb is going to be detrimental...we can both be pretty sure that that's the case because it's completely logical, but we don't know for sure. And that's lancer's argument.  You just can't say for sure. 

There would be absolutely nothing to talk about here until November if we only talked about what we knew for sure. 

[wabco]

In deference to Lancer, I know for sure the Little Giants are going to win the conference this year.  How do I know?  Just do.

[wabashcpa]

Polls are out!!!

Wabash at #20 - respectful, considering key losses to graduation.

Wooster - 3 votes, Wittenberg - 1 vote

Kind of surprised Trinity didn't crack the Top 25.

Happy to see Huntingdon get some votes - they've come a long way in a short time.

[wabashcpa]

And hey, Wooster is already on the radar, so they're not totally being overlooked.  As has been stated, if they bring it on Saturdays, those vote totals should rise dramatically.

[wally_wabash]

The preseason top 25 is pretty much a list of the usual suspects...all but one of the top 25 were in the playoffs last year (ONU is the lone exception). 

Also interesting to see the three A's from the MIAA all around the same area...looks like that league could be interesting at the top. 

A slew of other conference preseason polls are out...NCAC preseason polls are coming Tuesday. 

[bashbrother]

The Huntingdon story is a great one.   I can't say i am suprised.  Since moving down to Florida, I realized that there are very few small colleges in the deep South.  With the talent base down here, new programs like Huntington will have a nice pool to recruit from.

In my back yard, Florida Atlantic U's (FAU) recent entrance into football has been a very successful one. 

[reality check]

Wabashcpa

Historically speaking, Trinity never starts in the top 25.  If you look at previous preseason polls, you'll see they usually start in the "getting votes" section.  I don't think that is going to change unless the NESCAC decides to play postseaston games with the rest of us.

[wabashcpa]

RC,

I was referring to the Texas variety, although I see the Connecticut version received votes as well.  I should have noted that on the original post.   

[kcreds]

Polls are fun to talk about and I understand that you still have to play the season. No matter what the division is, Coaches polls are based on history more than present knowledge. I am sure some of those 25 coaches had never even seen an NCAC game or are in the least bit interested in team numbers, experience, or stats of the NCAC teams. I truly wonder how many of those coaches do any research at all. It is easier for them to simply go on who was good in previous years and vote.

Regardless of whether Wooster was ranked or not, they will not sneak up on anyone.

[wally_wabash]

kcreds-

I believe the d3football.com top 25 is voted on not just by coaches but also by SIDs and other media types.  It's a fairly diverse group.  The AFCA poll, which you'll see at some point in the future (I forget if they do a preseason poll or not), is all coaches. 

[ScotsFan]

Regardless of whether Wooster was ranked or not, they will not sneak up on anyone.

I don't doubt that Wooster won't be sneaking up on anyone.  Anytime you return 9 starters on both offense and defense, it's hard to be overlooked.  That is why I'm so surprised that the majority of posters in here seem to be doing just that and that is overlooking the Scots.  I went back to look up the pre-season predictions being made in here for the NCAC and only two non-Wooster supporters picked the Scots to finish 3rd or better in the conference.  One predicted a 3rd place finish and another actually had them winning the conference (and this was actually a Wabash supporter   ).  The majority of the prognosticators are predicting Wooster finishing as low as 5th (4 times) and 6th (3 times). 

What I can't understand is why everyone thinks Allegheny, who is returning a total of 9 starters (5 offense, 4 defense) is going to be more competitive than Wooster.  I can't really speak about OWU because their web-page still has the 2005 preview up, so I have no idea how many starters they are returning. 

Maybe someone could explain to me the rationale behind believing a team like Allegheny will finish ahead of Wooster despite the fact that they both finished last season with identical 3-4 conference records, but Wooster is returning twice as many starters as the Gators?  It doesn't really make a whole lot of sense at least from where I'm looking at it. 

As far as my predictions go, I have to say that Wabash is still the team to beat.  I have a feeling that Wooster will fare a bit better than most in here are predicting though.  Here's my stab at how I see the conference shaking out:

1.  Wabash
2.  Wooster
3.  OWU
4.  Witt
5.  Kenyon
6.  Allegheny
7.  Denison
8.  Oberlin
9.  Hiram
10. Earlham

If Wooster is coming into their showdown with Witt at 3-0, I say look out Witt.  I also think that Wooster is catching a huge break in playing Witt so early in the season, especially if the Tigers are trying to break in a frosh QB.  I said it before, but I think the key for the Scots to be successful this season is to get off to a good start and that means beating JCU and Waynesburg.  If Wooster wants to start proving all the naysayers wrong, they have to start walking the walk right from game one.