FB: Presidents' Athletic Conference

[Bob.Gregg]

Not sure how tie-breakers favor either at this point.

If W&J and CWRU run the table:
both would be 10-0, 8-0 in PAC.

Tie-breakers:
1.  Head-to-head  Didn't play
2.  Record against the highest-ranked team in the conference not in the tie
They will have beaten all of the same PAC teams except:
W&J didn't play Grove City (currently 3-5, with games vs. Bethany, Thiel).
CWRU didn't play Thomas More (currently 4-5, with game this week vs. Thiel).
If both win out, or both lose once, those two will have identical records.
3.  conference winning percentage of teams your beat in 8 PAC games
if #2 plays out, winning percentage of teams they beat would be indentical.
4. Overall record...both 10-0
5.  Record vs. common non-league opponent(s).  none.

And it ends there.  League office told me that if all criteria are deadlocked, coin flip.

[Pat Coleman]

Regional rankings are out:
http://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2017/first-regional-ranking

[E.115]

Cool article on Case Western Reserve's biomedical engineering LB :  http://www.news-herald.com/sports/20171102/case-westerns-justin-mcmahon-of-mentor-wants-to-help-solve-footballs-concussion-problem

[E.115]

Congrats to Coach Greg Debeljak on his 100th career head coaching win!

Case moves to 9-0. 

[DagarmanSpartan]

Case definitely made a statement today, thumping Westminster 41-10 in a game that was never really close.

Given that W&J and Wittenberg struggled to beat the same team, I hope that this will improve CWRU's ranking.

My only fear is that we might have a letdown next week that would cost us a conference title and NCAA bid.

[E.115]

Case definitely made a statement today, thumping Westminster 41-10 in a game that was never really close.

Given that W&J and Wittenberg struggled to beat the same team, I hope that this will improve CWRU's ranking.

My only fear is that we might have a letdown next week that would cost us a conference title and NCAA bid.

Hey, don't turn a positive into a negative so quickly.   But I agree, no time to enjoy this victory.  Focus needs to shift immediately to preparing for next Saturday.

In rivalry games, you can always throw records out the window...for this Cleveland-Pittsburgh Academic Bowl showdown.

To add to the mix...the game is at Pittsburgh this year, and CMU has a bye week this week (i.e. two weeks to prepare for CWRU).

[ExTartanPlayer]

Statement win for CWRU indeed.  Impressive.

Another notable happening relevant to the league title picture - Bethany "upset" Grove City today, ensuring that Thomas More will finish with a better league record than GCC, tipping tiebreaker #3 in favor of W&J if both teams finish unbeaten.  So it appears that wins from each of the favorites next week would give W&J the Pool A and leave CWRU in Pool C.  One would hope that the big win this weekend will boost their regional ranking, and their SOS number will come up from it's initially god-awful state over the next two weeks thanks to the games with Westminster and CMU.  It still won't be good, but it will be "within range" of the other teams such that their 10-0 record will likely nudge them ahead of most 9-1 teams, since the SOS gap will be smaller.

One other thing that's probably not getting enough attention - while W&J will win the Pool A bid, after this week's result it's hard for me to figure how the RAC can justify W&J that many spots ahead of CWRU.  They've played very similar schedules overall and CWRU has a favorable common-opponent result against the best team that both have played (Westminster) with a 41-10 win versus a one-pointer in overtime.  If CWRU handles CMU in similar fashion next week, one would assume that CWRU should be equal/ahead of W&J in regional rankings at that time (and if they aren't, IMO, it would be an oversight and unfair to CWRU).

[Mr. Ypsi]

Statement win for CWRU indeed.  Impressive.

Another notable happening relevant to the league title picture - Bethany "upset" Grove City today, ensuring that Thomas More will finish with a better league record than GCC, tipping tiebreaker #3 in favor of W&J if both teams finish unbeaten.  So it appears that wins from each of the favorites next week would give W&J the Pool A and leave CWRU in Pool C.  One would hope that the big win this weekend will boost their regional ranking, and their SOS number will come up from it's initially god-awful state over the next two weeks thanks to the games with Westminster and CMU.  It still won't be good, but it will be "within range" of the other teams such that their 10-0 record will likely nudge them ahead of most 9-1 teams, since the SOS gap will be smaller.

One other thing that's probably not getting enough attention - while W&J will win the Pool A bid, after this week's result it's hard for me to figure how the RAC can justify W&J that many spots ahead of CWRU.  They've played very similar schedules overall and CWRU has a favorable common-opponent result against the best team that both have played (Westminster) with a 41-10 win versus a one-pointer in overtime.  If CWRU handles CMU in similar fashion next week, one would assume that CWRU should be equal/ahead of W&J in regional rankings at that time (and if they aren't, IMO, it would be an oversight and unfair to CWRU).

Agreed.  IMO, Case is fairly clearly the best team in the PAC this season.  It is a disgrace that the PAC yet again didn't match Case and W&J up h-t-h.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Statement win for CWRU indeed.  Impressive.

Another notable happening relevant to the league title picture - Bethany "upset" Grove City today, ensuring that Thomas More will finish with a better league record than GCC, tipping tiebreaker #3 in favor of W&J if both teams finish unbeaten.  So it appears that wins from each of the favorites next week would give W&J the Pool A and leave CWRU in Pool C.  One would hope that the big win this weekend will boost their regional ranking, and their SOS number will come up from it's initially god-awful state over the next two weeks thanks to the games with Westminster and CMU.  It still won't be good, but it will be "within range" of the other teams such that their 10-0 record will likely nudge them ahead of most 9-1 teams, since the SOS gap will be smaller.

One other thing that's probably not getting enough attention - while W&J will win the Pool A bid, after this week's result it's hard for me to figure how the RAC can justify W&J that many spots ahead of CWRU.  They've played very similar schedules overall and CWRU has a favorable common-opponent result against the best team that both have played (Westminster) with a 41-10 win versus a one-pointer in overtime.  If CWRU handles CMU in similar fashion next week, one would assume that CWRU should be equal/ahead of W&J in regional rankings at that time (and if they aren't, IMO, it would be an oversight and unfair to CWRU).

Agreed.  IMO, Case is fairly clearly the best team in the PAC this season.  It is a disgrace that the PAC yet again didn't match Case and W&J up h-t-h.

"Disgrace" probably isn't quite the right word.  An "unfortunate coincidence of a schedule made a couple years ago" is more accurate.

As you WELL should know, these schedules are made more than a year in advance. In a league that has too many teams for a full round-robin, you will always run a slight risk of two top contenders not playing one another, and the presumptive title contenders may change within a scheduling cycle. Case and CMU admittedly got a few special concessions as they transitioned into the PAC to sustain some of their UAA games (whether that was a good idea or reasonable request is a separate discussion). But it's not as simple as the PAC league office simply snapping their fingers before the season and saying "You know what? We need to make sure CWRU plays W&J this year."

[jknezek]

No. But if they both get in I'd be real happy to see them matched in the first round.

[Bob.Gregg]

Adam Turer, Snap Judgements:  "By winning their first game of the season, the Bisons should expect a thank-you note from Washington and Jefferson."

Why should Bethany expect a thank you note from W&J?  The only thing the Bisons' win over Grove City did for W&J was provide clarity, not qualification.
If the Presidents and/or Spartans win next Saturday, they are going to the playoffs.  No doubt about it.
And that was true whether Bethany or Grove City won yesterday.

The Bethany win simply clarified the path both W&J and CWRU will take to the 2017 NCAA Division III National Playoffs.
If both win, W&J will be the AQ, CWRU will be a Pool C.
If Case-Western wins and W&J loses, the Spartans will be the AQ, and W&J will be awake all night, possibly without hope.
IF W&J wins and Case-Western loses, the Presidents will be the AQ, and CWRU could be without hope, lying awake all night for a second straight year.

W&J doesn't owe a thank you note to anyone.

jknezek:  "if they both get in I'd be real happy to see them matched in the first round."

I would too, if that's what the qualifying and bracketing criteria show.  But there'll be a pretty good number of 10-0 teams all within a 200-mile drive of each other in this neck of the woods.  You won't be lacking for match-ups in which whoever loses will be tasting the bitters of defeat for the first time this year.

[E.115]

Per the regional rankings of last week, this mean Case Western Reserve gets a RRO win finally on its resume, correct?

South Region
1. Mary Hardin-Baylor 8-0
2. Hardin-Simmons 6-1 +
3. Berry 9-0
4. Washington & Jefferson 8-0
5. Johns Hopkins 7-1
6. Centre 7-1
7. Case Western Reserve 8-0
8. Franklin & Marshall 7-1
9. Huntingdon 6-1 +
10. Westminster (Pa.) 6-2

[Ralph Turner]

Per the regional rankings of last week, this mean Case Western Reserve gets a RRO win finally on its resume, correct?

South Region
1. Mary Hardin-Baylor 8-0                          Pool B
2. Hardin-Simmons 6-1 +                           Pool C #1
3. Berry 9-0                                               SAA Pool A
4. Washington & Jefferson 8-0                      Pres AC Pool A
5. Johns Hopkins 7-1                                   Centennial Pool A
6. Centre 7-1
7. Case Western Reserve 8-0               10-0 CWRU Pool C #5
8. Franklin & Marshall 7-1
9. Huntingdon 6-1 +                                       USAC Pool A
10. Westminster (Pa.) 6-2

My projections to the right...

I think that Westminster falls off the list.
And we need to see if the RAC (Regional Advisory Committee) jumps CWRU over Centre

[WashJeff68]

Well, Thomas More fell short of winning the PAC football  championship in it's final year, but both M&W soccer teams and volleyball won the conference.

I'm sure there will be more to come for TMC the rest of this academic year.

[E.115]

Per the regional rankings of last week, this mean Case Western Reserve gets a RRO win finally on its resume, correct?

South Region
1. Mary Hardin-Baylor 8-0                          Pool B
2. Hardin-Simmons 6-1 +                           Pool C #1
3. Berry 9-0                                               SAA Pool A
4. Washington & Jefferson 8-0                      Pres AC Pool A
5. Johns Hopkins 7-1                                   Centennial Pool A
6. Centre 7-1
7. Case Western Reserve 8-0               10-0 CWRU Pool C #5
8. Franklin & Marshall 7-1
9. Huntingdon 6-1 +                                       USAC Pool A
10. Westminster (Pa.) 6-2

My projections to the right...

I think that Westminster falls off the list.
And we need to see if the RAC (Regional Advisory Committee) jumps CWRU over Centre

Thanks for the work on the projected outline.

So an "RRO win" only counts if the team is still regionally ranked at the end of the season, and not if they were ranked when they were knocked off?