FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Raider 68]

Great article on ESPN.come about Matt Campbell and his LK roots.

Here is the link: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13984971/toledo-rockets-coach-matt-campbell-worried-next-step-coaching-career

[Desertraider]

Seeing as it is Otter week - where is the Otter fan that normally doles out the "Mount needs to move up a division"? Haven't heard that in a while.

Haven't most D3 fans outside of Alliance said this at one point or another? 

Very true indeed - point well taken.

[formerd3db]

This may be premature, however, I thought I would ask it anyway.  Obviously, so far, Mount Union is the favorite to win it all this year and I think most likely will this time.  Yet, with three weeks or so left in the regular season, which team among the Top 10 currently rated do you ?guys believe (at least at this point) will be the best challenger to Mount? 

[jknezek]

St Thomas  They are tearing up a really good conference 

[HScoach]

Until Mount can consistently throw the ball, they aren't the favorite in my less than humble opinion.

[formerd3db]

Great article on ESPN.come about Matt Campbell and his LK roots.

Here is the link: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13984971/toledo-rockets-coach-matt-campbell-worried-next-step-coaching-career

Agree with HS and Raider- excellent article. +k   If Campbell eventually leaves Toledo, no one can fault him for that.  However, he obviously has a great job and a great program going there now and it would just as nice to see him stay for a while and build a legacy there.

On a tangent point, I had to laugh slightly when I read where some writer mentioned Toledo being the cradle of coaches for some (similar to Miami of Ohio years ago) when he included Nick Saban.  IMO, that doesn't apply to the latter-Saban lobbied to get the previous head coach at Toledo out, then he bolted for the NFL after only one year, being the nomad that he is/was. In that case, maybe a springboard, but certainly not a cradle.    

[raiderpa]

Jerry Kill announces retirement due to health reasons at Minnesota.. a real shame for a class act and fine coach...
Moving along, this is a great spot for Matt Campbell.  He is a Minnesota type guy and would be a super hire.  I hope he gets a shot at it. Of all the jobs that are opening, this, to me, seems the best fit for a coach like Matt.

[Pat Coleman]

Minnesota is a fine place to live and raise a family. I highly recommend it.

[Raider 68]

Until Mount can consistently throw the ball, they aren't the favorite in my less than humble opinion.

Agree in part, but the receivers are now more consistent other than just Namdar. The Raiders have 3 more games to improve the passing game.
In my mind this year's defense will be the key to being in a position to win a title. One difference from 2014 is the ability to run the ball very well
with greater depth at RB.

[jaypeter]

Seeing as it is Otter week - where is the Otter fan that normally doles out the "Mount needs to move up a division"? Haven't heard that in a while.

Haven't most D3 fans outside of Alliance said this at one point or another? 

Very true indeed - point well taken.

They took the comments to a wider audience his week and were saying it on the ESPN Twitter feed after the tweet regarding Mount Union's regular season win streak.

Seems the only folks not wanting them to move up now are UWW.

[jknezek]

Maybe. But I think most people with an understanding of DIII know it's not just the football team that would have to move. Then again, I may be overestimating people in general...

[pg04]

Maybe. But I think most people with an understanding of DIII know it's not just the football team that would have to move. Then again, I may be overestimating people in general...

Yeah when I first stumbled onto these boards now 15 years ago, I was one of the angry fans of a team who'd never be able to challenge Mount who thought this but I've long since realized that there is much more to moving up. However, we'll see the argument on here again once the playoffs roll around again, probably.

....And it will be about both UWW and Mount.

[bluestreak66]

I personally want Mount to stay where they are. What people don't realize is having a Mount Union in your conference makes you look that much better.
What really bothers me about the people that want Mount to move is that there is (in theory) nothing stopping someone like Muskingum from doing exaclty what Mount is doing. The two schools are on the same playing feild. Mount doesn't get to hand out scholarships, and their school isn't so heavily endowed that they can pump unlimited money into the program (and having been in their visitor's locker room, I'm guessing their not lol). Literally, all this "Mount needs to move up" stuff is because they have (and have had for a long time) good coaching that brings in the right players and wins.
But if the dominant team is removed, then the little glimmer of hope that exists before every year that you're the team that's going to knock them off goes away too. For example, if JCU knocks Mount off this year, that would be the biggest win since Syracuse back in the 50s. But if Mount were to move up, that yearly big game goes away. And in my opinoin, it would make the conference as a whole less fun.

[Raider 68]

I personally want Mount to stay where they are. What people don't realize is having a Mount Union in your conference makes you look that much better.
What really bothers me about the people that want Mount to move is that there is (in theory) nothing stopping someone like Muskingum from doing exaclty what Mount is doing. The two schools are on the same playing feild. Mount doesn't get to hand out scholarships, and their school isn't so heavily endowed that they can pump unlimited money into the program (and having been in their visitor's locker room, I'm guessing their not lol). Literally, all this "Mount needs to move up" stuff is because they have (and have had for a long time) good coaching that brings in the right players and wins.
But if the dominant team is removed, then the little glimmer of hope that exists before every year that you're the team that's going to knock them off goes away too. For example, if JCU knocks Mount off this year, that would be the biggest win since Syracuse back in the 50s. But if Mount were to move up, that yearly big game goes away. And in my opinoin, it would make the conference as a whole less fun.

That yearly big game has been shared with ONU and Capital and sometimes BW. JCU has been strong in the last few years,
but it was the other teams who were having very good years. Agree that a Mount Union  change would impact the conference.
but that is not going to happen any time soon. On another note, I do not see JCU keeping up with the Raiders this year unlike
the last two, IMHO.

[emma17]

This may be premature, however, I thought I would ask it anyway.  Obviously, so far, Mount Union is the favorite to win it all this year and I think most likely will this time.  Yet, with three weeks or so left in the regular season, which team among the Top 10 currently rated do you ?guys believe (at least at this point) will be the best challenger to Mount?

This is an interesting subject.  I admit to not having seen Mt this year so I really have no idea how to compare them to teams of the past or teams I've seen this year. 
I assume you feel Mt is the favorite to win it all based on the results below.  It's funny, I see it exactly opposite.  The results below are the reason I think Mt will have a very hard time winning it this year- depending on how the brackets come out.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Mt basher, but I've seen Mt enough in the past to reasonably suspect that the numbers below are more reflective of the failure of the conference than it is a tribute to Mt's strength in 2015:

vs. Bethany •   W, 47-0   
vs. Muskingum * •   W, 56-0   
at Marietta * •   W, 61-0   
vs. Capital * •   W, 62-7   
vs. Ohio Northern * •   W, 51-7   
at Heidelberg * •   W, 59-17   
at Wilmington * •   W, 69-0