MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[ScotsFan]

As for anyone else.  I believe the Heartland Conference is better than the NCAC this year overall.

Teams like Hanover, Bluffton, Franklin, Transy, Defiance are overall better than.  Witt, Wooster,Earlham,OWU, Wabash.  I would like to see Witt Vs Hanover, Bluffton Vs Wooster, Earlham Vs Transy, Wabash vs Defiance, and OWU Vs Franklin.

EA,

I'd take the NCAC in each one of those matchups except, sorry to say this, Earlham.  Bluffton might be a tough one for Wooster and that would be a game I would like to see, but Hanover is a bit down this year and I don't think they would be any problem for Witt.  I would take Wabash over Defiance and depending on which OWU team showed up, I like them over Franklin as well.  I just don't see the HCAC as better than the NCAC this year.

[ScotsFan]

0-7 vs the team up North as these Ohioans like to say.

3 of those games are still under review

Please, I think JoePa blames the officials after every loss?!

I love the Big Ten (that's Big TEN), too, but I draw the line at Penn State. Ick. I have to go wash my hands after typing those foul words.

Amen, DC!!!  They are like the illigitimate stepchild of the Big TEN.  I usually root for every other Big Ten team in the bowl season EXCEPT PSU and that even includes OSU.  I just can't  bring myself to do it.  Especially when every time Michigan beats PSU there is always some excuse about the officiating as evidenced by Mr. Pilgrim.

[smedindy]

Hey, congrats to Kenyon. They kept it under fitty last night.

I'm sure the announced crowd of 3,503 were all giddy with excitement. 

[WooMix]

In the spirit of competitiveness, it will be nice to have Earlham post an upset of over Witt.  Boy, how that will cause case havoc on next weeks Top 25?!  I know they have it in them!  Go Quakers!  Show the same spirit that displayed when Woo came to town!

While we are talking about the perennial sluggers, I will be disappointed if my Scots fails to beat the Gators by at least 20 points.  This game is by far different from the Quakers/Tigers encounter because while the Quakers have some glimmer of hopr for an upset, the Gators have none.  Its only a matter of how much damage the and how many missiles Woo will fire from beyond.

I hope to go nuts tomorrow night.  Help Quakers! 

[jimmychitwood15]

As a recent Witt alum and casual observer, I completely agree with petewitt, Witt always has a target on their back and always will. Reason being, they are good! Like them or not, they are good.

Coach Brown does an extraordinary job getting his kids to play hard night in and night out. All I read about is the great job Coach Moore does, which he really does an equally extraordinary job with his kids as well, but please give credit where credit is due. I do not understand why the lack of respect for Coach Brown, as voiced by some recently.

It is quite obvious this board is dominated by Wooster fans, which is great that they choose to show their support by posting on this forum. Just b/c Witt fans choose not to chime in or even look at this website shouldn't take away from their program. Again, I agree with petewitt, that I'm sure there are plenty of Witt fans that check this board out and simply opt not to get involved.

Congrats to the Tigers, as insignificant as this poll really is but I do believe they have the best front line in the country in Russ, Borchers, and Brady. Whether they stay atop the "list" will remain to be seen but count on them being around come tourney time.

[earlhamalum]

So is everyone trying to say we had some people pulling for FSU last week?

Thanks Witt4ever

[billy_pilgrim]

I will always defend the Quakers and, though this is not the normal spot, I will also always defend the Nittany Lions. So, just a few words before I never mention the Big Ten again in this place.

Quote from: billy_pilgrim on Today at 12:07:35 AM
Quote
0-7 vs the team up North as these Ohioans like to say.


3 of those games are still under review

Please, I think JoePa blames the officials after every loss?!

Hardly every loss. I don't think I heard him complain once about officiating during the 2004 season as instant replay had been implemented. However when, in the 2002 season, one sideline official disallows two catches in two separate games that directly impact the finishes of those games, I'd say there is room for a complaint.

I'd also encourage any Big Ten fan who didn't closely watch this season's Michigan/Penn State game to do so when it later appears on ESPN Classic or some other such network. Aside from Lloyd Carr asking and receiving exra time to be put on the clock in the closing seconds, there was a Michigan fumble and a close sideline catch by a Wolverine player that were not ever reviewed by the Big Ten replay booth and a series of nearly comical spots given to Michigan ball carriers on close 3rd down plays. My personal favorite involved an official doing his worst straight line field sobriety test while marking the ball in front of the Penn State sideline.

As for other proof of the incompetance of Big Ten officials in games involving Penn State. Enjoy this video sample of the clutch 3rd (or maybe 4th) down "catch" that kept alive Ohio State's go-ahead drive in the 2003 game in Beaver Stadium.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4678399642098629171&q=Penn+State

Yes, that really was called a catch.

Quote from: David Collinge on Today at 12:41:20 AM
I love the Big Ten (that's Big TEN), too, but I draw the line at Penn State. Ick. I have to go wash my hands after typing those foul words.

Amen, DC!!!  They are like the illigitimate stepchild of the Big TEN.  I usually root for every other Big Ten team in the bowl season EXCEPT PSU and that even includes OSU.  I just can't  bring myself to do it.  Especially when every time Michigan beats PSU there is always some excuse about the officiating as evidenced by Mr. Pilgrim.

God forbid that Penn State should come along and add an Eastern flavor to the research universities that most comprise the Big Ten. Similarly, God forbid that a successful football program enter the fray and break up the "Big 2, Little 8" mentality that had consumed the conference.

I've never quite understood the arrogance of Michigan or Ohio State fans. I guess that 1/2 of a mythical national title in the last 50 years in Ann Arbor and one tainted BCS title for those in Columbus can lead to those big heads.

[earlhamalum]

Yeah Bill_pilgram-  I guess i'll route for the NCAC... but not WABASH... cause they were the last team added... I guess i'll just hate Wabash now.. Thanks for the insight!

[David Collinge]

Funny thing is, the "successful football program" that is Penn State did nothing but lay eggs in the Big Ten, prior to this season.  The Big 2/Little 8 is a memory, but credit for that belongs (primarily) in Madison, with assists from Iowa City, West Lafayette, and even (ugh) East Lansing. 

I may be an arrogant Michigan fan (who, BTW, can't STAND Lloyd Carr), but my distaste for Penn State and Mr. Paterno goes back much farther than the dark day that they soiled the Big Ten. 

But no, I wasn't rooting for Florida State Penitentiary.  There isn't a circumstance I can concieve of where that would happen.  (Anyway, that evening I was rooting for Occidental to beat Amherst.)

All in good fun, of course. 

[billy_pilgrim]

That's right, Penn State laid an egg their second season in the Big Ten.......that egg was in the loss column. The 1994 Penn State Rose Bowl team (12-0) became the first Big Ten team in nearly 30 years to finish unbeaten. Included in that season was a 63-14 thrashing of Ohio State. Days after that game, Penn State dropped from the #1 perch to #2. At the end of the season, Penn State finished behind a 12-0 Nebraska team. Penn State did not have the support of Big Ten writers. Imagine if the same situation happened with Michigan or Ohio State getting the shaft of the hometown writers.

Aside from the four dreadful years that have recently haunted Penn State football (2000, 01, 03 and 04), Penn State has finished no lower than a tie for the fifth in the Big Ten and no lower than 16th in the final season polls. They've also won a Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Orange Bowl since joining the Big Ten. A little better than doing nothing but lay eggs?

With the retirement of Barry Alvarez, the Big Ten has now completely turned over its coachs (aside from Saint Paterno) since 1993. Similarly, many of the programs have spent millions of dollars renovating facilities. I may be in the minority, but I believe this arms race was triggered by Penn State, and its legendary coaches and facilities, joining the league.

Finally, I'm curious to know how anyone can really despise Joe Paterno. Jealous, as most University of Pittsburgh fans are, I am able to understand. However, how can fans of D-3 sports, where athletics are a distant second to academics, hate a man who has won at college football's highest levels without NCAA infractions or Marcus Vick-like mercenaries?

[CentralOH]

It's nice to see a little Big Ten football talk being mixed into the NCAC basketball chatter.  As a relative newcomer (at least newposter) to the forum, I too am surprised that more of the Springfield constituency doesn't participate.

Go Big Red and Go Bucks!

[WooMix]

Witt people are being defensive.  Their reasons for their limited participation on this forum; that they read what we write but chose not to "chime" in does not hold water.  Who does that?  Even in the face of all that is said about their program, both the good and the bad, they choose to stand by the sidelines and watch.  I don't know of any Tigers who does that.  Where is your fighting spirit?  Where is your competitiveness?  You'd rather we argue for and against you while you chose not to defend or support your stance.  Ohh please!

[wally_wabash]

Whoa!  Easy earlhamalum...was Wabash the last team added?  It may have been Hiram.  We came into the NCAC during the same season.  I'm not sure which school was unofficially added first. 

I would still advise you to focus your animosity toward Wittenberg.  They are far more deserving than your fellow Hoosiers.   

I don't think the Great Witt Silence takes anything away from their program, per se, but it certainly doesn't do anything to add to what little knowledge we can mine from press releases.  I think that's the point more than anything else. 

[earlhamalum]

What ever happened to Greg Thomas?  Is his username something different?  I look at Earlham and Wabash as the I.U.  &  Purdue.  But even as an IU fan i go for Purdue deep down inside.

[smedindy]

Hiram I think was the last one, after Wabash accepted. 

Actually, you need to hate DePauw. Everyone should hate DePauw!

And Penn State, they're pussycats in hoops. My real Big 10/11 antipathy lies with Michigan and Purude.