FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[02 Warhawk]

Mount is hosting NCC?  That won't cause a stink in the d3fb world

Yuuuuup

Bad news for Mount... the NCAA just poked the bear (Cardinal).  Not sure about the NCAA decision, but we are looking forward to our trip to Alliance next week.

Yeah, that's BS.

NCC by 21 next week.

[edward de vere]

Wait a minute . . is The Mother Of All Storms predicted for Naperville next Saturday?  The Earth opening up?  A Ghostbusters-type scenario?

This HAS to be Fake News.

[edward de vere]

Is that the Bowling Green QB (cup of coffee in the NFL)?  He could definitely move up a level.  Great explanations for the layman without Cover-2 this and 3-Technique that.

Yes,  that's him.  He's recently retired and has been doing high school games on the tv/radio for the past couple of years that I'm aware of.

Man needs an agent.

[D3fanboy]

Has to be an ESPN decision right?

[WRMUalum13]

Has to be an ESPN decision right?

Someone speculated that they wanted the early game in the eastern time zone, but that's not what happened in 2016

[hsbsballcoach7]

Has to be an ESPN decision right?

I still think it's a shame that ESPN has moved the Stagg Bowl to a Friday night.  Imo that hurts attendance.  It was great at 11am giving people time to travel and not have to take off work.  ESPN is all about the money and NCC should be keeping this home game.  I will say though,  if NCC needs this to get an edge,  they have other things to worry about.  All 4 teams could win the Stagg Bowl IMO. It comes down to preparation and executing now.

[bleedpurple]

Has to be an ESPN decision right?

I still think it's a shame that ESPN has moved the Stagg Bowl to a Friday night.  Imo that hurts attendance.  It was great at 11am giving people time to travel and not have to take off work.  ESPN is all about the money and NCC should be keeping this home game.  I will say though, if NCC needs this to get an edge,  they have other things to worry about.  All 4 teams could win the Stagg Bowl IMO. It comes down to preparation and executing now.

I agree with this.  The last thing NCC needs is more motivation.  All four teams will be on fire preparing this week. If anything, the coaches will have to work on keeping the teams' emotion in check so they can focus.  I don't see this as benefitting NCC at all.

What is the source on this? Because the decision itself is bewildering.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Has to be an ESPN decision right?

I still think it's a shame that ESPN has moved the Stagg Bowl to a Friday night.  Imo that hurts attendance.  It was great at 11am giving people time to travel and not have to take off work.  ESPN is all about the money and NCC should be keeping this home game.  I will say though, if NCC needs this to get an edge,  they have other things to worry about.  All 4 teams could win the Stagg Bowl IMO. It comes down to preparation and executing now.

I agree with this.  The last thing NCC needs is more motivation.  All four teams will be on fire preparing this week. If anything, the coaches will have to work on keeping the teams' emotion in check so they can focus.  I don't see this as benefitting NCC at all.

What is the source on this? Because the decision itself is bewildering.

Mount Union has posted it on Twitter and Facebook.  I've also seen tweets from current players talking about it.

[bleedpurple]

Has to be an ESPN decision right?

I still think it's a shame that ESPN has moved the Stagg Bowl to a Friday night.  Imo that hurts attendance.  It was great at 11am giving people time to travel and not have to take off work.  ESPN is all about the money and NCC should be keeping this home game.  I will say though, if NCC needs this to get an edge,  they have other things to worry about.  All 4 teams could win the Stagg Bowl IMO. It comes down to preparation and executing now.

I agree with this.  The last thing NCC needs is more motivation.  All four teams will be on fire preparing this week. If anything, the coaches will have to work on keeping the teams' emotion in check so they can focus.  I don't see this as benefitting NCC at all.

What is the source on this? Because the decision itself is bewildering.

Mount Union has posted it on Twitter and Facebook.  I've also seen tweets from current players talking about it.

When the playoffs started, I picked a return to past with a Mount vs UW-W Stagg Bowl.  Maybe the NCAA is trying to help me out. 

Other than a stupid prediction, i don't. have a horse in the Mount/NCC race, but this is a real head scratcher. I wonder if either of the D3 podcasts will be able to get someone to answer how they came up with this.

[WRMUalum13]

Has to be an ESPN decision right?

I still think it's a shame that ESPN has moved the Stagg Bowl to a Friday night.  Imo that hurts attendance.  It was great at 11am giving people time to travel and not have to take off work.  ESPN is all about the money and NCC should be keeping this home game.  I will say though,  if NCC needs this to get an edge,  they have other things to worry about.  All 4 teams could win the Stagg Bowl IMO. It comes down to preparation and executing now.

Yeah... NCC beat Mount in Alliance in 2019, not sure  where they play is going to be a barrier.

[USee]

Of course NCC doesn't need this as motivation. But they have it. Like michael Jordan took everything as a slight to give him and edge. Mt Union is the one who didn't need this to happen to NCC.

[archgemini24]

Yeah, this is a bad job out of the NCAA. I* would ask if there were any COVID-related protocols that would keep NCC from hosting, but if that would have been the case the Cardinals would have been forced on the road, anyway.

I also agree with everyone else saying NCC won't need this for extra motivation. It's a semi-final among the path to repeating. I cannot imagine a team needs any more motivation than that.

[rscl70]

Nothing to add except I agree this game should be at North Central.

Also it's darned inconvenient .  Now I have to un-invite all the people who were coming to our watch party!  Who's going to drink all this champagne? 

[Raider 68]

Yeah, this is a bad job out of the NCAA. If would ask if there were any COVID-related protocols that would keep NCC from hosting, but if that would have been the case the Cardinals would have been forced on the road, anyway.

I also agree with everyone else saying NCC won't need this for extra motivation. It's a semi-final among the path to repeating. I cannot imagine a team needs any more motivation than that.

While everyone thought the Raiders would go to North Central if they won the region, there must have been a good reason
for the NCAA to have Mount host. In terms of motivation, it really won't matter for any of these  4 teams. They all want
to win regardless of where the game is held.

After attending the game on Saturday, a few thoughts:

- It was an exciting game if you are a football fan that is not pulling for either team

- For the Raiders to come out with a win despite the turnovers, perplexing officiating, dropped passes was surprizing

- The good news is that it showed that the team did not give up, kept fighting and overcame a 21-9 deficit.

- While North Central will be favored to win it, the Raiders still have an opportunity.

- IMHO, North Central has had the easiest path in the playoffs. Hopefully Mount will really challenge them.

[WRMUalum13]

I haven't been  all  that optimistic about Mount beating NCC... however after thinking about it a bit, I've begun talking myself into them having a pretty good chance against the Cardinals.

Here's my reasoning.

1. Mount Union just faced off against the #3 and #4 passing yardage QBS in  D3 and kept them in check somewhat (held both under 30 points and got stops when they needed them, they also played well despite turnovers and tough field position in both games). Passing defense has been the biggest weakness of Mount teams in recent memory and NCC is won't pose as much of a passing threat as JHU or MUHL.

2. NCCs signature win was against Wheaton... who many people thought could be a national title contender this year. However based on the playoffs they clearly weren't as high caliber of a team as most thought.

3. Both Wheaton and Lacrosse pushed NCC and I believe Mount is just as good as both of these teams and probably quite a bit better.

4. Mount Union has an outstanding run defense... and NCC is a run heavy team. NCC hasn't played a team with a great run defense since Wheaton in September.

5. Mount Union has faced quite a bit of adversity this year.

I still think NCC is the favorites, but some of the "NCC by 21, NCC by 30" comments I've seen on Twitter don't seem likely to me. The last time I was this down on a Purple Raiders squad was 2016, but they ended up 3 points away from beating the eventual national champs.