MBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

say etta fan do you know how the baseball team is going to look this year and will it be another great year for the etta express?

There's an app for that.

[EttaFan1]

say etta fan do you know how the baseball team is going to look this year and will it be another great year for the etta express?

Young.  Very young.

The pitching staff is all freshman and sophomores, save for one Junior reliever.  One of the sophomores (Byers) is very good (All OAC/potentially all region type). 

They must replace their catcher (who was arguably the best defensive catcher in D3 the last two years), third baseman, and two outfielders and Utility guy Brockmeier (1b, ss, P) 

They have some good kids returning and are led by the best coach in D3.  I think they will be a much better team at season's end than they are when they head to florida!  The league is also very good this year, and that will be a factor in how they finish. 

So...Long and short of it is, they are perhaps in a bit of "rebuilding" mode this year.  IF the pitching staff develops, they should be in the thick of the OAC race in May. 

[EttaFan1]

Down the stretch they come....

BIg matchup on Wednesday between Marietta and Mount Union at Ban Johnson Field House. 

Currently...
1.  Mount Union - @ Marietta and @ Wilmington with a one game lead on #2 Marietta.  Tough slate.  Beat Marietta, clinch the top spot. 
2.  Marietta - Mount and JCU - with a one game lead and a sweep over #3 Wilmington.  Win two and there is a chance for the top spot, split and get the #2 seed   
3.  Wilmington - ONU and Mount.  Wilmington has a two game lead on ONU, an a win over the Polar Bears earlier in the year.  Split to clinch the #3 seed.
4.  Ohio Northern - @Wilmington and Capital.  Two game lead on the pack fighting for 5.  Must win two to have a shot at the #3 seed, lose two and there is potential for chaos in the middle of the bracket (possible 4 way tie)
5.  JCU - BW- CAP   JCU has Ott and @Mar, BW has @Berg and @Musk,  Cap has @Musk and @ ONU.  One would think BW has the best chance of winning two (and grabbing the 5th seed) and JCU and Cap have "split" situations for their last two.
8.  Otterbein, with a one game lead on the other two, win one and eliminate the others,
9.  Musk and Berg

Prediction time:

JCU and Cap split their final two series, JCU gets the 6 seed based on the head to head, cap the 7.  BW sweeps and gets the 5.  Marietta splits at worst (hoping for a sweep but mount will be very tough), and ends up 2.  Wilmington splis and gets the 3, and Northern splits their last two for the 4. 

Top of bracket:  8 OTT @ 5 BW, winner @ 4 ONU, winner @ 1 Mount Union
Bottom of Bracket:  7 Cap @ 6 JCU, winner @ 3 WILM, winner @ 2 Marietta.


 

[ohiofan1954]

looking forward too a great year for baseball in the OAC. I think you have the best coach in college baseball, no matter what division you are talking about.

[sac]

Mt. Union 81  Marietta 77

Couldn't watch all of it, but it sure seemed like a great D3 game and atmosphere.  MtU clinches their first outright OAC Championship since 1997.

[Fifth and Putnam]

Game went back and forth but Mount took control of things with about 5 minutes left on the clock and was able to keep Marietta at bay the rest of the way. I think Mount is just slightly better than Marietta at this point. Marietta allowed way to many second chances off offensive rebounds and struggled a bit from the line tonight. Mount really can shoot the 3, and there are several guys on that roster that can do it too.

As much as I'd love to see these two square off again next Saturday, Ohio Northern really is making a strong push to throw their name into the ring as they went down to Wilmington tonight and won. Top 4 teams in this conference all have a strong case as to why they could win this tournament. Should be a fun one next week.

[Dr. Acula]

Shooting the 3 is really Mount's strength.  It's also why I'm fearful of tournament play.

Congrats to the Raiders on their first OAC title since the great Aaron Shipp, Endsley and the Big Red Machine.

[EttaFan1]

Congrats to the Raider hoops team. 

As a Pioneer fan I can't help but think this game was gift wrapped and handed to Mount Union, and at times, seemed like the Raiders just didn't want to take it.

Consider:

Marietta in the first half was 10-11 from the line.  In the second half was 15-26!
Marietta in the first half was 14-30 from the floor, and 5-12 from three.  In the second half they were 8-29 (27.6%) from the floor, and 3-17 from behind the arc.  Plenty of missed layups to go with it.

In spite of all of that Mount Union let them hang around and then all but wanted to hand it back to the Pioneers at the end (fouling shooters on two 'not very good' three point attempts giving Marietta the chance to score six points with the clock stoped and possibly cut the lead to one!--Marietta unfortunately went 5-6 on those free throws). 

Don't get me wrong, Mount Union did what they had to do, and came up big wit big shots and big posessions (the 5 point trip late in the second half was a real difference maker as Mount's big guy missed the free throw on an "and one" and Jucabec drilled a dagger three off of the offensive rebound). 

As a Pioneer fan, it was a very frustrating loss that feels like it should have been a win.  Yes this is post game sour grapes, and it should be noted that I think both teams played their tails off to get this win.  In the end, Mount Union hit shots when it needed to, and the Pioneers did not.  Congrats to them on their hard fought win.

[Dr. Acula]

I was just looking at the box score...I didn't realize RaNeal Ewing transferred to Etta.  Poor Ott just can't catch a break.

[RoyalPurple]

All I will say to EtteFan1 is look at the comparative stats because Mount lead in almost every stat but turnovers. Please voters, this week can we get Wittenburg and OWU out of the top 25 and even the top 35. One would think the NCAC was a higher ranked conference than the OAC,,,NOY

[wooscotsfan]

All I will say to EtteFan1 is look at the comparative stats because Mount lead in almost every stat but turnovers. Please voters, this week can we get Wittenburg and OWU out of the top 25 and even the top 35. One would think the NCAC was a higher ranked conference than the OAC,,,NOY

[/b]

Actually, the NCAC is the better conference this season and the facts support that point:

NCAC teams had 8 wins and only 3 losses this season vs. OAC squads.

Your Purple Raiders lost to Capital.....and that same Cap team went 0-3 vs. the NCAC losing to Witt, OWU and Denison

Wooster, Witt and OWU all went 2-0 vs OAC teams this season.  Why didn't Mount Union schedule some strong NCAC teams? 

[sac]

OAC Tournament seeding guide

Today's games, in order of importance
Capital at Ohio Northern
Mt. Union at Wilmington
John Carroll at Marietta
Heidelberg at Otterbein
Baldwin Wallace at Muskingum



#1 Mt. Union --has wrapped up the #1 seed
#2 Marietta--holds tie-breakers over  Wilmington

#3 Wilmington if they win or Ohio Northern loses
     Ohio Northern if they win and Wilmington loses,  win tie-breaker with a win over Mt.U

#4 Ohio Northern if they lose
     Wilmington if they lose and Ohio Northern wins

#5, #6, #7   Hoo boy,

       Three way tie between John Carroll, Baldwin Wallace, Capital
                #5  John Carroll  3-1 vs other two
                #6  Baldwin Wallace
                #7  Capital  1-3 vs other two

      JCU/BW win, Capital loses
                #5  John Carroll by win over Marietta(today)
                #6  Baldwin Wallace
                #7  Capital

     JCU/Capital win, BW loses
                #5  John Carroll by two wins over Capital
                #6  Capital
                #7  Baldwin Wallace

     BW/Capital win,  JCU loses
                #5  Capital by win over Mt. Union
                #6  Baldwin Wallace
                #7  John Carroll

     JCU win, Capital/BW loses
               #5  John Carroll
               #6  Capital by win over Mt. Union
               #7  Baldwin Wallace

     Capital win,  JCU/BW loses
               #5  Capital
               #6  Baldwin Wallace
               #7  John Carroll

     Baldwin Wallace wins,  JCU/Capital loses
               #5  Baldwin Wallace
               #6  John Carroll
               #7  Capital

#8   Otterbein  with win

      Three way tie between Otterbein, Muskingum, Heidelberg
                #8  Otterbein with 3-1 record vs the other two

       Heidelberg/Otterbein tie........or if H'berg beat Ott today and Muskin loses
                #8  Heidelberg by win over Ohio Northern

       Otterbein/Muskingum tie  cannot happen
               


Grand take away is that both Mt. Union and Marietta would be happy to avoid Ohio Northern in the semi-finals since both split their season series with the Polar Bears.  Otterbein become huge Muskingum fans if they lose to Heidelberg.

[kiltedbryan]

All I will say to EtteFan1 is look at the comparative stats because Mount lead in almost every stat but turnovers. Please voters, this week can we get Wittenburg and OWU out of the top 25 and even the top 35. One would think the NCAC was a higher ranked conference than the OAC,,,NOY

[/b]

Actually, the NCAC is the better conference this season and the facts support that point:

NCAC teams had 8 wins and only 3 losses this season vs. OAC squads.

Your Purple Raiders lost to Capital.....and that same Cap team went 0-3 vs. the NCAC losing to Witt, OWU and Denison

Wooster, Witt and OWU all went 2-0 vs OAC teams this season.  Why didn't Mount Union schedule some strong NCAC teams? 

Massey actually has the OAC and NCAC as the 4th and 5th best-rated conferences in DIII right now, which is basically a push.

As WSF notes, in actual head-to-head play this year, the NCAC has come out on top - especially the NCAC top teams (that 6-0 record vs. the OAC includes Wooster and OWU's wins over Marietta, which were Marietta's only non-conference losses).

I'd say the top of the NCAC has a slight edge on the top of the OAC. We'd know with more confidence if Mount Union had played any NCAC teams (though there is still a chance for that...). But the OAC has more depth, with 7 teams at .500 or better overall vs. 5 in NCAC, so they have the edge among "decent, not great" teams. I'd say the bottom three teams in each (Oberlin, Hiram, 'Gheny and Otterbein, Musky and 'Berg) are basically equally bad.

So the NCAC gets the edge in the 11 matchups that have happened, but if the conferences staged a round-robin? I'd call it pretty even.


That said, my official position is that Mount Union should be getting much more serious consideration by the Top 25 voters.

[sac]

#8   Otterbein  with win

      Three way tie between Otterbein, Muskingum, Heidelberg
                #8  Otterbein with 3-1 record vs the other two

       Heidelberg/Otterbein tie........or if H'berg beat Ott today and Muskin loses
                #8  Heidelberg by win over Ohio Northern

       Otterbein/Muskingum tie  cannot happen
               

  Otterbein become huge Muskingum fans if they lose to Heidelberg.

Heidelberg 82 Otterbein 80 OT
Muskingum 70  Baldwin Wallace 63
.......creates 3 way tie for 8th place at 3-15

What a strange scenario.

[sac]

1st Round - Monday, Feb. 24

    No. 8 Otterbein (3-15) at No. 5 John Carroll  (9-9) -7:30

    No. 7 Capital (9-9) at No. 6 Baldwin Wallace (9-9)-7:30

2nd Round - Tuesday, Feb. 25

    No. 6/7 at #3 Wilmington (13-5)-7:30

    No. 8/5 at #4 Ohio Northern 8:00

Semifinals - Thursday, Feb. 27

     No. 6/7/3 bracket at #2 Marietta (14-4)-7:30

    No. 8/5/4 bracket at #1 Mount Union (15-3)-7:30