MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Speaking of Oberlin's AD:

Five Minutes with Joe Karlgaard

Five minutes with... is a new feature over at the conference website, which I think is very interesting and valuable.

I particularly like and applaud this exchange:

• How has your experience been in making sure that student-athletes have a proper balance among athletics and academics at your institution?

JK: I don't like the word "balance" when describing how the pieces of an education fit together. I think athletics, when coached and taught properly, has tremendous educational value. So athletics complements what occurs in the classroom and in many cases is just as valuable. If you don't believe that athletics is educational in nature, then it's a nuisance to the mission of the institution. Our students at Oberlin participate in many educational activities on campus, and athletics is an important component for many of them.

[Bash Brother 2000]

Ditto, pennstghs.  Unfortunately, we have to go to Crawfordsville first.  Without Larry, I don't forsee an upset this time.  Wabash is playing very well right now.  I still don't see them beating Wooster, though, on either team's court. 

Back to Oberlin.  It is a great school, in a quaint little town, with a very liberal approach to academics and the world in general.  It has a distinct tilt toward the arts.  I view Kenyon and Denison similarly, but with the exception that both have certain athletic programs with traditions and a reputation for excellence that will attract the athlete just based on that tradition (e.g. Kenyon & Denison swimming).  That is where Wooster and Witt are with basketball.  The W's seem to be the places for the best Ohio DIII players to go if they are very focused on hoops and the academic choices suit them.  Oberlin, Kenyon and Denison then have to either take then next best Ohio recruits or go out-of-state with their recruiting and hope that they can attract based on academics or other criteria.   

I do see Wabash beating Wooster this Saturday.  It's our year and moment to shine across the D III Nation.

[wabco]

I like Wabash's chances.  By that I mean to take nothing away from an outstanding Wooster team. Its at home, the coaches should have the team focused, the stands should be supportive .... the team itself has individual talent and depth ...

Suspect we might just see the appearance of the Bell from its perch over the entrance to the athletic complex.  Hope so.  The colors of the Dannies and the Wooers are the same dispicable gold and black ... seems only right to shake the Bell at them.

[wabco]

I see where Wabash picked up a spot to #7 with Woo remaining #1.  Sure hope the game Saturday is at full compliment for both teams and lives up to - at least - what the 25 polsters believe it should be. 

[GoRed]

Here's to the hype about Saturday intensifying to the point that Wabash overlooks their next opponent!  Do they even have to think about Wednesday's game?  The LG's really have to focus all their attention on Saturday.   

A Denison upset tomorrow night sure would take the fun out of Saturday's game!  Could it happen?   

[wabco]

NOPE

[kiltedbryan]

But there's also a big part of me that wants to wait until I see Wooster beat someone like OWU (and obviously, Allegheny) before I start to feel that their heady ranking on paper is justified by their performance on the hardwood.

I'll qualify that by saying that most of the reason I'm not sure I'm ready to buy the idea that the Scots are indisputably a Top 10 (much less #1) team right now is because I don't think the Scots have had a chance in their first six games to prove themselves against any really good competition. 

I think Wooster has artificially reached #1 because of losses in front of them rather than results-to-date.  Even a "good" (as opposed to a "national championship contending caliber") Wooster team should be 6-0 at this point, based on who it has played.  Heck, Wabash has a better claim on #1 than Wooster does based on season activity-to-date, having thoroughly beaten a very good team at home, then also beating its quality arch-rival on the road in the young season.  (And I suspect the voter that gave them the #1 vote used some similar logic.)

OWU could even be the best team that the Scots have faced so far this year.  And like I said, it's a tough economy and the Scots could use some resume-building.  In that sense, I think I'll know far more about how this Wooster squad compares after its next 5 games (Allegheny, OWU, Anderson, John Carroll & Wilmington).  Go 5-0 or maybe even 4-1 and I think the Scots will have established a credible Top 10/#1 resume.  Even better, go 8-0 or 7-1 over the next 8, which would include games against two more good opponents in Baruch and Wabash (I don't know anything about William Carey).

Well, a few weeks ago I posted this, suggesting that Wooster's first six contests didn't really tell us much about just how good Wooster is or isn't.

Now I think we have a better idea.  With one mildly interesting game left against some team from Indiana,  the Scots will do no worse than go 7-1 against the toughest stretch of their regular season schedule.  To me, there is no longer any ceiling to what these Scots could accomplish.

[smedindy]

You know, it's all about the culture of a place and what they seem to emphasize. There are sports that Kenyon and Denison are pretty good in. Hiram seems to have found some success in men's basketball. Oberlin obviously feels that it's important to offer intercollegiate athletics. That, in some part, may have what doomed Antioch. Heck, even the uber-granola Unity up in Maine plays hoops (not D-3 hoops, but they do play other colleges). Unity makes Earlham seem like Hillsdale!

We have some fun at the Unbeaten & Winless board about some of the schools that are perennial bottom feeders: Cal Tech, Maine - Presque Isle, Principia, Crown, etc. But there has to be some value to the school even if they struggle each season.

Because of Oberlin's emphasis on the arts, athletics probably rightly takes second place. Theater, glee club and orchestra don't have wins and losses, nor do they have madcap fans on message boards. "OMG! The Battling Bishops choir faces Denison tonight!!!!1! Will their madrigals make the difference???"

[wally_wabash]

Here's to the hype about Saturday intensifying to the point that Wabash overlooks their next opponent!  Do they even have to think about Wednesday's game?  The LG's really have to focus all their attention on Saturday.   

A Denison upset tomorrow night sure would take the fun out of Saturday's game!  Could it happen?   

I think the background noise about the Wooster game probably isn't too loud around the Wabash basketball team.  The students haven't returned to campus yet, so the outside chatter about Saturday probably just isn't there to a degree that would be anything more than negligible. 

And Saturday's game is going to be fun regardless of tomorrow night's result.  The game is going to be #1 vs. #7 no matter what happens against Denison.  That said, I think Coach Petty has his team focused on the task at hand, which right now is preparing for Denison.  Every one of these league games is important, because the margin for error is paper thin.  If you're a team in the NCAC this year with thoughts of hosting the league tournament, I don't think you can count on Wooster losing to pretty much anybody else...which means that you're going to have to beat Wooster yourself and under no circumstances can you give a win against Wooster back by losing to a team lower in the standings.  The LGs will be ready to go tomorrow night. 

[David Collinge]

Full slate of conference action Wednesday, with only Wooster sitting it out.

Denison at Wabash, 7:30pm -- audio? and live stats? (no live links right now, but I'm guessing there will be at game time)
Kenyon at Hiram, 7:30 -- live stats
Allegheny at OWU, ~8pm -- video and live stats -- Game 2 of a W/M doubleheader
Oberlin at Wittenberg, ~8pm -- audio and live stats -- Game 2 of a W/M doubleheader

[bashbrother]

I hope the Little Giants come out firing on all cylinders tonight.   The Holiday period creates a lot of advantageous time to heal; but it also could potentially create some rust.  

Here's hoping Wabash takes care of business tonight!

WAF!

[Bash Brother 2000]

I hope the Little Giants come out firing on all cylinders tonight.   The Holiday period creates a lot of advantageous time to heal; but it also could potentially create some rust.  

Here's hoping Wabash takes care of business tonight!

WAF!

62 - 45 Wabash with 7:18 remaining.

[Li'l Giant]

I know it seems nitpicky after a 16 point win but I noticed in the box score that Sutherlin was 0-7 from the field. Hope it was just one of those nights. Glad he can have one of those nights and we can still win the game comfortably. But that is not going to be the case on Saturday. I can't wait.

[Bash Brother 2000]

Wabash bashes Denison 73 - 57.  Win #13 and bring on Wooster!!!!

[wooscotsfan]

1/5 NCAC Final Scores:

Wabash 73  Denison 57

Kenyon 89  Hiram 74

Wittenberg 81  Oberlin 45

Ohio Wesleyan 84  Allegheny 66