MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[woosterbooster]

That is brutal.  I assume they play the same night they get off the bus?  It seems like it would take a few hours to get the kinks out of the body after that kind of a ride.

It would take me a few months to get the kinks out after a trip of that length.  College kids are made out of rubber, though, and will be able to twist their necks to peer at co-eds (now there's an archaic term) as soon as they hit the pavement.  

[Pat Coleman]

A very interesting Top 25 poll this week, with only five points separating the top three teams.

Week 5 men's poll
# Team W-L Pts. Last Week
1 UW-Stevens Point (9) 10-1 598 5
2 Ohio Northern (7) 10-1 595 7
3 Amherst (9) 9-0 593 2

Here's a question that maybe Pat could answer:
Without naming names or school affiliations, who votes in the Top 25 poll and how are those voters distributed by region?  I'm just wondering in general and not trying to relate the question to this week's results.

It seems very difficult to have a national view of Division III without the press and TV coverage that is available to DI voters and the lack of what used to be called "inter-sectional" games.  How does a voter realistically compare Amherst and UW-Stevens Point, let's say.  I took a look at the schedule for UW-Stevens Point and all their opponents start with "UW." 

That's not a shot at UW-Stevens Point but really making the point that having a tournament is the only thing that really matters.  The polls give us something to talk about in the meantime, which is certainly a good thing.

Three people from each region, which makes 24. I am vote No. 25. The NCAC, OAC and MIAA are represented in the Great Lakes.

I go out of my way to recruit voters who have exposure to more than one region -- either someone who has recently had a job at a different school or conference, or someone whose team schedules a variety of Division III non-conference opponents.

[TigerFan_1973]

Three people from each region, which makes 24. I am vote No. 25. The NCAC, OAC and MIAA are represented in the Great Lakes.

I go out of my way to recruit voters who have exposure to more than one region -- either someone who has recently had a job at a different school or conference, or someone whose team schedules a variety of Division III non-conference opponents.
[/quote]

Thanks, Pat.   Your example of a person who recently came from a different school or conference is a great idea.  I didn't think of that one.

[wally_wabash]

Every season during the first weekend in January, Wabash and Earlham play consecutive nights against Allegheny and Hiram.  Wabash and Earlham travel east this year...next year the eastern schools will come west for the same trip.  This has been the arrangement since Wabash and Hiram joined the conference. 

[smedindy]

You know, it's probably an easier trip than a lot of minor league baseball teams make.

[roadtrip]

I know its a trip that has to be made but to travel and play the same evening has to hurt your chances for a win....there is no way those tall boys could get comfortable in a motor coach...but they are young and what would I know about that?? Get a W!!

[wally_wabash]

If my numbers are right, Wabash is 13-1 in the regular season vs. Allegheny and Hiram since joining the NCAC (6-0 in road games).  The one loss came at home, in overtime against Allegheny on the first night of the two-day sequence during the '01-'02 season.  Wabash's '01-'02 team finished 11-5 in NCAC play, which is the second best record Wabash has posted in the NCAC (after the inaugural '99'-'00 13-3 campaign).  Wabash's weaker teams since joining the NCAC have been on the road for the Hiram/Gheny games and swept the weekend in all three previous trips.  Whatever the travel arrangements are, they seem to not hinder Wabash's ability to perform in these games.  This might be the greenest Wabash team to date in the NCAC era, so we'll see how it goes this time around.  The historical record doesn't indicate that the trip disrupts Wabash's performance.

[David Collinge]

Wabash is departing for a brutal (travel-wise) roadtrip...Hiram and Gheny approx 800 mi roundtrip...nice (in conference) bus ride....and due to injuries will prob have to start 2 fresh and a soph across the front line...go for it!

There's worse travel out there than C'vill to M'ville.  Consider this:

David, the Mississippi College to Sul Ross to HPU trip is brutal.

Mappoint shortest distance, 894 miles, 14 hours 9 minutes to Sul Ross.

Sul Ross to HPU -- Shortest Distance: 323.8 miles or 6 hrs 14 minutes.
Sul Ross to HPU -- Shortest Time:  377.4 miles or 5 hrs 48 minutes.

HPU back home -- Shortest Distance:  552.1 miles or 8 hrs 41 minutes.  (Shortest time is less than 0.3 miles and 5 minutes difference.)

(It is 19 miles closer going back, shortest distance, but an hour longer.     Go figure!)

Sul Ross State U. is in Alpine, TX; Howard Payne U. is in Brownwood, TX; and Mississippi College is in Clinton, MS.  And they're in the same conference (ASC).  It's about an 1800-mile round trip--by bus.  Like Wabash et alia, I believe MC and Louisiana College make this trip one season, then SRSU and HPU make it the next.  Talk about brutal!

[woosterbooster]

Back in the day, in the early days of the ASC, of course there was no motorized travel.  All four schools, though, used the latest model Conestogas to make the long trek.  They travelled in tandem, two schools together and two wagons per school, looking for safety in numbers.  However, there was the omnipresent danger of Mexican marauders and both the Kiowa and Commanche tribes, neither of who were friendly to over-the-road hoopsters.

Strategies evolved over time.  Eventually, it was decided to load four "bigs" in the lead wagons while packing the backcourt men tight in the trailing Conestogas.  Of course, bench players did the driving, with student assistant coaches riding shotgun, and many of these poor souls were lost in the initial moments of attacks.  Those who really led the way, though, were the point guards, who rode miles ahead of the teams... 

[Gregory Sager]

Three people from each region, which makes 24. I am vote No. 25. The NCAC, OAC and MIAA are represented in the Great Lakes.

I go out of my way to recruit voters who have exposure to more than one region -- either someone who has recently had a job at a different school or conference, or someone whose team schedules a variety of Division III non-conference opponents.

Have you ever considered expanding the voter pool, Pat ... like, say, adding a fourth voter in each region? Or are the logistics difficult enough with the 24 voters you already have besides yourself?

[ScotsFan]

Speaking of the voters, I know it's important to you, Pat, to keep those voters who would like to be nameless to stay that way, but I remember someone recently on the Top 25 board, I believe, who made the suggestion about breaking down the 1st place votes by region.  I think it would be interesting to see how often your voters stick to party lines and vote for their regional teams first.  Especially seeing how evenly dispersed the 1st place votes seemed to be distributed among the top 3 teams this week.  Not like you don't have enough on your plate already though, right???

[Li'l Giant]

Sul Ross State U. is in Alpine, TX; Howard Payne U. is in Brownwood, TX; and Mississippi College is in Clinton, MS.  And they're in the same conference (ASC).  It's about an 1800-mile round trip--by bus.  Like Wabash et alia, I believe MC and Louisiana College make this trip one season, then SRSU and HPU make it the next.  Talk about brutal!

I went to a D2 game tonight between Oklahoma Panhandle State and St. Mary's here in SA. OPSU bussed in today from Goodwell, Oklahoma, which is about 650 miles away. They'll rest tomorrow, play Incarnate Word Saturday, then bus back. That's a pretty tough trip, too.

I'll throw this tidbit in as well: The first week of December I left San Antone at 6:00 p.m. and drove to Lubbock. I got in bed at the hotel just after midnight. I woke up the next morning at about 6:00 am and drove to Amarillo. I was in Amarillo for all of 2 hours and then drove straight back to San Antone. For those keeping track at home that's about 1050 miles in 24 hours. Now, I didn't have to do anything more physical than walk a block from my car to the courthouse and pump gas a few times. But by the time I got home my brain was oatmeal. If I'd have had to do anything more complicated than make a sammich I'd have been screwed.

These kids deserve some credit for going on trips like this and playing ballgames.

[billy_pilgrim]

Here was the old (and I believe same as this weekend) travel schedule that Earlham has used in the past on the 'gheny and Hiram trip.

Thursday: Morning practice, team lunch, bus leaves around 2 p.m....arrive late in evening in Meadville.

Friday: Morning shoot around, lunch, game at 7 p.m.....following game, load the buses and head to Hiram, arriving late in the evening (for Big Ten football fans, Earlham arrived at the Hiram hotel just in time to see the infamous pass interference call against Miami that kept alive OSU's hopes of a national title in 2002)

Saturday: Lunch with the team and then an afternoon game at Hiram....load the bus afterward and head back to Richmond

Saturday night: beer and a couch
Sunday: more beer and a bigger couch

Honestly, it is a terribly tiring weekend for the road team and one of the great disadvantages that Wabash/EC/Hiram/Allegheny face each year.

[Pat Coleman]

Speaking of the voters, I know it's important to you, Pat, to keep those voters who would like to be nameless to stay that way, but I remember someone recently on the Top 25 board, I believe, who made the suggestion about breaking down the 1st place votes by region.  I think it would be interesting to see how often your voters stick to party lines and vote for their regional teams first.  Especially seeing how evenly dispersed the 1st place votes seemed to be distributed among the top 3 teams this week.  Not like you don't have enough on your plate already though, right???

Hmm, OK.

I voted for UW-Stevens Point.
Midwest: Ohio Northern, Amherst, UW-Stevens Point
Great Lakes: Ohio Northern, Amherst, Amherst
East: UW-Stevens Point, Ohio Northern, UW-Stevens Point
Mid-Atlantic: UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stevens Point, Amherst
Atlantic: Ohio Northern, Ohio Northern, Ohio Northern
Northeast: Amherst, Amherst, Amherst
South: Amherst, Amherst, Ohio Northern
West: UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stevens Point

[sac]

Not what I would expect

Interesting the Great Lakes voters are the only one who didn't rally around their region.

Seems to be a problem in the Midwestern area with voters  (see Ron Zook, see Jim Tressel)

Thanks Pat