FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[reality check]

The guys I knew from Celina did their curls 12 oz's at a time.

[HScoach]

hscoach- Do you think that the OAC is down this year or just more competitive?

Not to completely dodge the question, but I think it's both.   Looking at just this year versus last year.

Mount is still very good, still the best and deepest team in the OAC, but they're inexperienced and inconsistent at many key positions (QB, RB, WR).  Which sounds an awful lot like a discussion we had a few months ago?.  While still very good, it's not head and shoulders above the rest of D3 like they were in the late 90's and early '00's.   Plus MUC is young in the coaching staff.  Classify MUC as down vs 2004

ONU is at a similar level as last year.  Very good team playing thru some injuries, but a TON of off-the-field stuff.  Better than the last couple years, not as good as the Franzer/Robertson days.  Classify ONU as even vs 2004.

Capital is same as last year.  Only with a better D and a worse O than last year.  Classify Capital as even vs 2004.

John Carroll is way up from last year, but they stunk (in terms of an expected JCU team) last year.  Similar to JCU teams of the past, but without the big name player (Arth).  Even with Arth, JCU could only manage 1 year at 9-1 and in the playoffs.  That to me was a disappointment with their talent level around Arth.  Classify JCU as better vs 2004.

Otterbein is up from 2004 based soley on their win versus Capital.  Other than that game, Otter is more competitive in 2005, but they haven't made up enough ground to change categories.  Classify Otterbein as up vs 2004.

Baldwin Wallace.  Ummm, this is an easy one.  Put BW in the "bad" category with Wilmington and Musky.  Classify BW as way down vs 2004.

The rest of the league is similar to last year.  Some decent (Marietta), some bad (Musky and Wilma), some terrible (Berg).

[runyr]

hscoach,
One of the best reasons to read this board is the insights from guys like you (the other guys know who they are).  Thanks for the conference assessment.

[theotherpurple]

I don't think Cap has a worse O, it's actually better in terms of being able to both run and pass, the only poor offensive game was ott with four fumbles.  Other than that, the O is better than last year.  Time of possession has been big this year.

[4u]

Not too many people steeped up to the plate regarding my hypothetical question, so I will pose it again:

If you were sitting with a vote on Saturday night and all of the justifiable teams had already been slotted which 8-2 OAC team would you select if there were only one slot left?
(This assumes all three teams win on Saturday)
T2U

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

4u,

My vote is for Capital with ONU a close second since they beat MUC. Cap beat ONU and JCU and the Otterbein loss was earyly in the season. Kind of like the U of M losing to FSU the first game, but playing back into the top 3 in D1.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

OK, latest Regional Rankings:

North Region
1. Wabash 8-0 9-0
2. Mount Union 7-1 8-1
3. Augustana 7-1 8-1
4. North Central 6-1 8-1
5. Capital 7-2 7-2
6. Mount St. Joseph 8-1 8-1
7. John Carroll 7-2 7-2
8. Wheaton 6-2 7-2
9. Ohio Northern 6-2 7-2
10. Lakeland 7-2 8-2

Doesn't ONU deserve to be ahead of a 7-2 Wheaton team and maybe even ahead of Mount St. Joseph?

[seventiesraider]

If we used the same stupid BCS formulas that DI does, Whitewater would be playing St Johns for the National Championship and Mount and Wheaton  would be playing in some meaningless bowl game on a Thursday night in December.

4U- Capital, period.

[e_lee]

4u,

My vote is for Capital based on not only the head to head victories against the other two 8-2 teams, but also that they appear to be playing better football right now than JCU and ONU.

[cufan]

I think we have to ask which 8-2 team is playing better right now.....the answer is Cap.  My second choice would be ONU because they are better than JC.

[2minuteO]

I would like to hope that the OAC is not down from last year.  I think that each school is getting better.  John Carrol finally finished thier new stadium.  ONU just put up a really nice stadium (must say the best visitor locker room in the OAC).  Capital has had a new stadium for a few years now. Otterbein just completed their new staduim.  I think that it is getting harder and harder for a recruit to choose one school in the OAC over another.  Some may even see the Muskies getting more competitive considering they just put in a new field.  I think the conference is as strong as ever, but there are just so many teams that have above average talent.  Each team is just knocking one another off.

[l39eagle]

4u

With 3 teams finishing at a probable 8-2, I don't think its fair for one to be selected over the others.  Notice I said fair, I know fair doesn't go into the mix.  Each of the three, JCU, Cap, and ONU all have solid cases to be selected, and to be omitted.  JCU with losses to Mount and Cap, Cap with losses to Otters and Mount, ONU with losses to JCU and Cap.  Cap was 37.5 seconds from being in 3rd place and not even being part of the equation, ONU was 37.5 seconds from a share of 1st place and making this discussion moot.  Cap is a solid team and though the Bears played a sub-standard game, it took a career long field goal to beat them. ONU outscored Cap 2 TDs to 1, Cap outscored ONU 3 FGs to O.  Bottom line was Cap won.  All 3 are very good football teams and would represent the OAC well.  All 3 could play "name your score" against teams like Mt.St.Joe and many others that will be in the "dance".

[l39eagle]

cufan, e_lee
Who's playing the best right now...ONU had Otters, Mount at Mount, Cap and Wilmington.  3 and 1 in that stretch ain't bad.  I think if you'd ask Wilmington, they would think ONU is playing pretty well right now and obviously a few weeks ago, they played pretty well in Alliance.

[rscl70]

4U

Capital.

[joelmama]

Not too many people steeped up to the plate regarding my hypothetical question, so I will pose it again:

If you were sitting with a vote on Saturday night and all of the justifiable teams had already been slotted which 8-2 OAC team would you select if there were only one slot left?
(This assumes all three teams win on Saturday)
T2U

Capital