FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[bluestreak66]

Congrats to ONU for making the playoffs! It could have been JCU had we not blown that game, but I'd love to see both Mount and ONU go far (and make our losses look better!)
First thoughts of the bracket:
Mount has a pretty easy road to the semis. I really don't envision either Wesley (with that loss to Salisbury) or JHU giving them much difficulty in the quarters.
ONU has a very favorable match-up with Franklin in the first round, and I expect them to be making a trip to Oshkosh (and maybe even beyond). With the exception of JCU/Centre last year, this seems like the most favorable first round match up for the OAC runner up in some time.
Good luck to both teams!

[Spurrier]

Polar Bears...WHERE U AT?

[SaintsFAN]

Polar Bears...WHERE U AT?

I'm very happy for Dean Paul.  I'm excited for their draw. 

[SaintsFAN]

ONU in!

Sweet!

Surprised, but OUTSTANDING!
A double wing order for Reality Check when we meet up!

He'll need more than THAT

[raiderpa]

What a bunch of crybabies...Mount got #1 seed....what a shame...how many straight national semi finals, how many Stagg Bowls since 1993... I am sorry your 8 and 2 team got left out, get over it...
It is not Mount Union's fault that their conference is not great top to bottom...THe west got three top seeds..they were respected...If you want home playoff games, win and get a high seed.
As far as some teams being jokes, you are correct,but this automatic qualifying system puts some cupcakes on the brackets..Mount Union and WWW did not set up the system.

A couple years ago, someone mentioned that if your conference champions lose in the first round for two or three years in a row, you lose the AQ...not a bad idea

[jete2]

What a bunch of crybabies...Mount got #1 seed....what a shame...how many straight national semi finals, how many Stagg Bowls since 1993... I am sorry your 8 and 2 team got left out, get over it...
It is not Mount Union's fault that their conference is not great top to bottom...THe west got three top seeds..they were respected...If you want home playoff games, win and get a high seed.
As far as some teams being jokes, you are correct,but this automatic qualifying system puts some cupcakes on the brackets..Mount Union and WWW did not set up the system.

A couple years ago, someone mentioned that if your conference champions lose in the first round for two or three years in a row, you lose the AQ...not a bad idea

And there in lies the problem.  An automatic qualifying system that puts "cupcakes" in the brackets.  The best 32 teams in D3 are never in the tournament because of this system. Your idea about a conference AQ who loses two or three years in a row could be a start to rectify the situation. I for one have witnessed first round games where I fear for the safety of players on the inferior team because their level of skill is no where near the level of the teams they play.  There is a wide, wide gap in ability and skill from the top teams and conferences to the lower teams and conferences in D3.

[pg04]

What a bunch of crybabies...Mount got #1 seed....what a shame...how many straight national semi finals, how many Stagg Bowls since 1993... I am sorry your 8 and 2 team got left out, get over it...
It is not Mount Union's fault that their conference is not great top to bottom...THe west got three top seeds..they were respected...If you want home playoff games, win and get a high seed.
As far as some teams being jokes, you are correct,but this automatic qualifying system puts some cupcakes on the brackets..Mount Union and WWW did not set up the system.

A couple years ago, someone mentioned that if your conference champions lose in the first round for two or three years in a row, you lose the AQ...not a bad idea

And there in lies the problem.  An automatic qualifying system that puts "cupcakes" in the brackets.  The best 32 teams in D3 are never in the tournament because of this system. Your idea about a conference AQ who loses two or three years in a row could be a start to rectify the situation. I for one have witnessed first round games where I fear for the safety of players on the inferior team because their level of skill is no where near the level of the teams they play.  There is a wide, wide gap in ability and skill from the top teams and conferences to the lower teams and conferences in D3.

It isn't about allowing the best 32 teams it's about equal access and all that jazz. Same with March Madness.

[raiderpa]

I believe the idea about poor conference performance and losing AQ came from Pat and the boys at D3.com.  And its time has come, IMO.

[wesleydad]

I believe the idea about poor conference performance and losing AQ came from Pat and the boys at D3.com.  And its time has come, IMO.

if the weaker leagues loses it's AQ, how does it get it back or is it gone forever?  This comes up every year.  Yes there will be some really ugly games in the first round, but will that be any different than most weeks in most leagues where some teams are clearly over matched by the stronger teams in their league.  Wesley won 63-0 this week, does that mean that Willy P should not play Wesley anymore even though they are in the same league.  The first round of the playoffs is what it is, a chance for the weaker teams to play one more game and then put the equipment away.  They have little if any belief that they are going to win it all.  Let them enjoy what they have earned, a chance to play a playoff game.

[sigma one]

Bravo, Wesleydad.  Well said.

[SaintsFAN]

Very well said, Wesleydad.  Agree 150%

And BTW - there's no way Pat believes that.  It's the spirit of d3, what he believes in. 

[wally_wabash]

Pat has talked about an access system not unlike what DII uses where a league would lose its automatic qualifier for the year if they fail to put a team in the regional rankings throughout the year.  This year, that sort of access system would have affected the automatic status of the UMAC, SCIAC, NACC, ECFC, and SAA (if I'm counting correctly).  Of those, I think it's probable that LaVerne (SCIAC) was ranked in the final rankings and possible that Hendrix (SAA) and Lakeland (NACC).  So you'd have been looking at somewhere between two and four extra at-large bids. 

This is a system that intrigues me.  I can't for a second fathom taking away a league's automatic qualifier year over year for performance in a prior year's championship.  As wesleydad points out, once those leagues lose it, there's no practical or reasonable path for them to get it back and that's not cool.  But inside of the current year, if we get out weeks 9, 10, and 11 and there isn't a team in your league that qualifies for one of the three sets of regional rankings, then maybe it's ok.  I'm not sure I'm totally on board with this, but this is much more equitable from my POV than what would basically amount to carving certain leagues out of the D3 championship forever. 

[jete2]

I believe the idea about poor conference performance and losing AQ came from Pat and the boys at D3.com.  And its time has come, IMO.

if the weaker leagues loses it's AQ, how does it get it back or is it gone forever?  This comes up every year.  Yes there will be some really ugly games in the first round, but will that be any different than most weeks in most leagues where some teams are clearly over matched by the stronger teams in their league.  Wesley won 63-0 this week, does that mean that Willy P should not play Wesley anymore even though they are in the same league.  The first round of the playoffs is what it is, a chance for the weaker teams to play one more game and then put the equipment away.  They have little if any belief that they are going to win it all.  Let them enjoy what they have earned, a chance to play a playoff game.

I'm sorry Wesleydad but I respectfully disagree with the concept of letting the weaker team play one more game and letting them enjoy what they have earned.  Who enjoys getting blown out 60-0?  I was at the Wesley-MIT playoff game last year and I was worried that someone from MIT was going to seriously get hurt.  As a matter of fact, some of their kids did get hurt, as I stood right behind their bench as Athletic trainers were treating them.  It was obvious that many of their kids who were much smaller and slower were intimidated. Is this the spirit of D3?  I assure you that MIT didn't face anything close in their conference to what Wesley had last year.  Why can't a conference champion from a weaker AQ conferences play an extra "Bowl" game against a conference champ from a regional and/or similar conference.  That in my opinion would be keeping with the spirit of D3.

[bleedpurple]

Well said Wesleydad.  Spot on. And in a very real way, the AQ system adds to the legitimacy of the champion more than it detracts from it. It's beautiful that at the beginning of the season, every single team has a path to the National Championship. When a team wins a conference that has enough teams to be an AQ conference, they must be stopped by another football team rather than by the perceptions of other people, most of whom have never seen them play. Nothing wrong with allowing kids to pursue their dreams until they hit a wall. I would guess that for many kids from the "weaker conferences", among their top football memories will turn out to be those playoff opportunities, even the ones that didn't turn out very well.

A couple of responses happened after I typed the above. Jete2, kids can get hurt in any football game. I suppose if a school agrees with you, they could turn down an invitation to the tournament, right? Let's not turn D-III football into a liberal "We have to protect the kids for their own good" mentality.

[jete2]

Well said Wesleydad.  Spot on. And in a very real way, the AQ system adds to the legitimacy of the champion more than it detracts from it. It's beautiful that at the beginning of the season, every single team has a path to the National Championship. When a team wins a conference that has enough teams to be an AQ conference, they must be stopped by another football team rather than by the perceptions of other people, most of whom have never seen them play. Nothing wrong with allowing kids to pursue their dreams until they hit a wall. I would guess that for many kids from the "weaker conferences", among their top football memories will turn out to be those playoff opportunities, even the ones that didn't turn out very well.

A couple of responses happened after I typed the above. Jete2, kids can get hurt in any football game. I suppose if a school agrees with you, they could turn down an invitation to the tournament, right? Let's not turn D-III football into a liberal "We have to protect the kids for their own good" mentality.

Bleed, I guess we are just gonna have to agree to disagree. But, since you mentioned the "liberal mentality" of protecting kids for their own good...I say let's not turn D3 into the liberal "everybody gets a trophy" mentality by letting undeserving teams in the playoffs.  Is that truly the American way?  I think your conference brothers in Platteville would agree with me.  Would you still feel the same way if UWW was in the same situation as UW-Platteville?