FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[fc_alum_84]

Wheaton would most likely be a 10 plus favorite over Franklin as well.

[DarkSide-D]

Finally the Papp is getting a facelift.  http://www.wooster.edu/news/0809/TurfFieldComing.php

Up next, the PEC.

[DarkSide-D]

Now, if only we can convince the school to find a new place to store their lawn tractors (rather than showing them off to the crowd walking inside the Papp).  I swear when I walk through there I feel like I am at a John Deere show room.

[usee]

I think Wheaton coaches would welcome a chance to play Trine in the playoffs. Trine beat Hope 31-30 and Wheaton beat hope 47-7 (and it wasn't that close). Wheaton has a tough road to even be considered with 3 difficult opponents left in the CCIW. If they do win out they will likely be seeded in the side of the bracket that wins them a trip to Alliance in round 2, thanks for playing.

[bashbrother]

I think Wheaton coaches would welcome a chance to play Trine in the playoffs.

This is why Div. III is so great.   They have a tournament at the end of the season that lets the best teams advance and prove themselves.  The time when rankings, wins/losses, strength of schedule etc. do not matter.

Is North Central the 2nd best team in Div. III?  or is Wabash better than UW-W?, and at the end of the day, is Otterbein one of the 10 best teams in DIII? 

The Div. III Playoffs allow you to answer some or all of these questions.   Of course there are bad draws or regional concentration issues in the field that prevent the final 4 from being the best 4 teams, but it is a much better system than the BCS system at finding out who is really #1 - #4.



 

[ScotsFan]

I don't know why a coach voting his own team #1 would be such a big deal. The coaches poll in I-A is not unanimous at this moment, but if it were (as it has in the past), would anyone be using that to disparage Mack Brown? If one of Penn State's #1 votes is Paterno, is anyone really going to make a deal out of it? I don't see why it would be a big deal if Coach Kehres were to vote MUC #1.

And for all we know, that lone voter might very well believe that the UW-W loss to UW-SP doesn't mean they're not the best team in the country.

It must be a bigger deal than you think.  I seem to recall a couple of years ago (the year Texas was coming off of their National Championship season) that Jim Tressel made it known publicly that he voted Texas #1 in the coaches poll the week prior to their matchup in Austin.  The fact was, those votes weren't kept confidential and it came out that he lied and in fact voted his Buckeyes #1.  Of course the vest couldn't admit he was caught in a lie so he blamed his SID for the mishap.  But the point is, if it wasn't such a big deal, why wouldn't he have just come out and said that he voted his Buckeyes #1 to begin with instead of lying about it???  

[Li'l Giant]

Of course the vest couldn't admit he was caught in a lie so he blamed his SID for the mishap.  But the point is, if it wasn't such a big deal, why wouldn't he have just come out and said that he voted his Buckeyes #1 to begin with instead of lying about it???  

Hey, you nickname a guy "The Senator", don't be surprised when he acts like one. 

[wally_wabash]

Nor does Mount Union have a win over a regionally ranked team...

but there is room for some adjustments to be made based on the observations of this regional advisory committee.  Even though MUC doesn't quite grade out as well as a couple of other teams strictly by the objective criteria, it would be irresponsible to have them ranked anywhere other than #1 right now. 

This is a real prisoner's dilemma, wally.  But for losses to MUC would those teams MUC has beaten not be ranked themselves.  With limited altruism this is where the definition of a quality loss stem.

This is a really good point...it is funny that in beating good teams, teams can actually damage their selection/seeding criteria by knocking said teams out of the regional rankings.   That's actually a subtelty that hadn't occurred to me before. 

[WAF78]

The rankings are nice...but a lot of football yet to be played. In two weeks, North Central plays Augustana and Mount Union plays Otterbein...and in three weeks...the Monon Bell at Hollett. Oh yeah...and Oberlin and Hiram before that. It'll be fun to see how it all stacks up.
Go Wabash!

[smedindy]

If carnage happens then Trine could be the #2 ranked team in the region. Ye Gods!

[DPU3619]

And speaking of QoWI numbers, Wabash's cream puff schedule is, statistically speaking, slightly less creamy (or is it puffy?) than that that of our schedule's biggest critics, DePauw.  Check it out:

After careful review of all of my posts regarding Wabash football this season, I found that I have, in no way, taken any such angle or critique of the LG's 2008 football schedule.  Maybe someone else did, and feel free to narrow that down at your own leisure.  I've said that very thing the past couple of years, but I think Witt and Woo, in particular, have shown dramatic improvement from even just a season ago.  The last time I said such a thing was leading into the Monon Bell Classic one year ago, at which time the OWP and non-conference winning percentages featured a much larger disparity.  Each season's different than the one before it...and stuff.  Witt's good.  Woo's better.  Denison might even go above .500.  On the other hand, DePauw's got a really crappy Anderson team and a winless Colorado team hurting their OWP. 

Plus, it's awful hard for me to knock you down a notch on your schedule when DPU has 4 conference wins by a comined 33 points against teams with a combined 7-22 record (insert vomit face).  I don't really want to have the "how good would you do against our schedule" argument, mainly because there isn't one.  You'd be doing better.

[D3_DPUFan]

I don't really want to have the "how good would you do against our schedule" argument, mainly because there isn't one.  You'd be doing better.

I haven't seen Wabash this year...but unless they have gotten much better than last year, they would not beat Millsaps and I doubt they would beat Trinity, especially on the road. 

[aueagle]

Congrats to OWU Men's Soccer....
Another NCAC Championship.....
17th in 25 yrs of NCAC play.....
Kudos to Coach Martin & players....
I am looking forward to the Hiram
game, because the Terriers are a
better team. And, it will speak volumes
about what this Bishop team has left
in them. Wesleyan should take 2 of
the last 3. Should.

[wally_wabash]

And speaking of QoWI numbers, Wabash's cream puff schedule is, statistically speaking, slightly less creamy (or is it puffy?) than that that of our schedule's biggest critics, DePauw.  Check it out:

After careful review of all of my posts regarding Wabash football this season, I found that I have, in no way, taken any such angle or critique of the LG's 2008 football schedule.  Maybe someone else did, and feel free to narrow that down at your own leisure.  I've said that very thing the past couple of years, but I think Witt and Woo, in particular, have shown dramatic improvement from even just a season ago.  The last time I said such a thing was leading into the Monon Bell Classic one year ago, at which time the OWP and non-conference winning percentages featured a much larger disparity.  Each season's different than the one before it...and stuff.  Witt's good.  Woo's better.  Denison might even go above .500.  On the other hand, DePauw's got a really crappy Anderson team and a winless Colorado team hurting their OWP. 

Plus, it's awful hard for me to knock you down a notch on your schedule when DPU has 4 conference wins by a comined 33 points against teams with a combined 7-22 record (insert vomit face).  I don't really want to have the "how good would you do against our schedule" argument, mainly because there isn't one.  You'd be doing better.

That wasn't aimed at you, Wes.  You are more often than not pretty fair and objective in your posts regarding Wabash.  In fact, your post here from last Saturday or Sunday was really good...I had planned on responding, then got distracted from it and never got back around to it.  My apologies for that oversight. 

No...the dig I took there was intended for a Tiger backer who felt it necessary to come in and take some weak shots at Wabash because some of the other teams in the conference aren't very strong which I guess somehow means that Wabash isn't very good.  We never did get around to nailing down exactly how Hiram struggling means that Wabash can't have a good team...curious. 

In any case, Wabash has Oberlin and Hiram over the next two weeks, so the SOS numbers are going to take a hit.  I had to take the shot while it was available.   

I don't really want to have the "how good would you do against our schedule" argument, mainly because there isn't one.  You'd be doing better.

I haven't seen Wabash this year...but

....but is where you need to stop with this.  You haven't seen Wabash by your own admission, so you can't make any such assessment about how Wabash would do against Millsaps or Trinity or Colorado College or whoever.  I have no idea whether or not Wabash can/could/would beat Millsaps or Trinity.  Hopefully we'll see such a game down the road here sometime in the next month or so and we won't have to speculate. 

I will however let you know that I think there is a strong opinion amongst those of us who have seen Wabash play several times this year that this year's group of Little Giants are playing better football than the group from last year.  A more aggressive defense and a commitment to running the football seem to be making a ton of difference in 2008.  Hopefully that translates to a better result against DePauw and a deeper journey through the championship tournament.  We'll have to wait and see. 

[D3_DPUFan]

....but is where you need to stop with this.  You haven't seen Wabash by your own admission, so you can't make any such assessment about how Wabash would do against Millsaps or Trinity or Colorado College or whoever. 

Sure I can. I've seen those teams play and I saw Wabash play last year and have an idea of your personnel (which is very good)...I think I said unless you were better than last year you would not beat beat Millsaps or Trinity (especially on the road)...it was a response to Wes' post...no disrespect meant...

I for one am quite impressed by what Wabash is accomplishing...especially with the coaching change, etc...if the LG's are playing better than last year...you have one fine ballclub...(maybe that's why you're #3 in the nation?)