FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[jknezek]

Well there you go. Problem solved. I can't believe they added a 15 member, but it makes sense. SVa must be crying in their cups right now.

Well, if the USA South could deal with 16 members -- and add three to make it 19 (now 18 with the loss of Ferrum)  then the ODAC should be able to figure out how to handle 15 members. It certainly solves the football problem. Also, I suspect the USA South was aware of this possibility for awhile. Sounds like a win-win for everybody.

I agree. I'm just pointing out the one consequence. I think it's as good an option as the ODAC was likely to find.

[jknezek]

Also on the upside, W&L has never played Ferrum in football, so we'll add another new team to our history opponent list.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Basketball already has had an off-set schedule (play everyone and play half twice)... soccer I believe has had the same starting last year. Might just see it more often including soccer's scheduling used in basketball. Not a big deal, to be honest.

And yes, this was football based completely. Football needed another school to balance things and make the schedule better. That was the entire reason behind this. Everything else was just "gravy."

[Scots13]

I figured it would either be Ferrum or Averett if a USAC team was the choice. Ferrum has added some sports lately that meshes well with the ODAC.

Now I guess the Crooked Road Classic with E&H is a conference rivalry.


PS.
Really helps the USAC, too. Instead of 9 conference FB teams we're back down to 8 and can get back to normal scheduling.

[hasanova]

Well there you go. Problem solved. I can't believe they added a 15 member, but it makes sense. SVa must be crying in their cups right now.

I have mixed feelings about Ferrum in the ODAC.  I know GC/FC stopped playing in football and it would have been one of the shorter trips OOC. 

[y_jack_lok]

Well there you go. Problem solved. I can't believe they added a 15 member, but it makes sense. SVa must be crying in their cups right now.

I have mixed feelings about Ferrum in the ODAC.  I know GC/FC stopped playing in football and it would have been one of the shorter trips OOC.

Curious to know why the mixed feelings. If you are willing to share, please do. If not, no problem.

[wally_wabash]

PS.
Really helps the USAC, too. Instead of 9 conference FB teams we're back down to 8 and can get back to normal scheduling.

This is really key.  Not only does the ODAC get an 8th team which gets them a buffer from the Pool A floor, it also creates a situation here where the ODAC and the USAC both have 8 teams.  Most of the non-league play for all of these schools comes from one another...now they both have the same number of teams with the same needs for non-league games at the same time.  One of the scariest things the ODAC had been looking at here was finding a fourth non-league game at a time (Week 4 and beyond) when everybody else is ensconced in league play.   Now there's a simulataneous, common need and I expect the schedules will come together without an excess of hand-wringing. 

[jknezek]

I really think they should make that 3rd OOC game an USASAC vs ODAC challenge week. Just line the teams up by order of finish the previous year and have at it, coin flip determines home vs away. I get that would require a little more budget for some teams, as their could be some long trips, but it could be done.

Then again, outside our little community, I'm not sure anyone really cares about how well the ODAC stacks up against the USASAC

[Scots13]

I really think they should make that 3rd OOC game an USASAC vs ODAC challenge week. Just line the teams up by order of finish the previous year and have at it, coin flip determines home vs away. I get that would require a little more budget for some teams, as their could be some long trips, but it could be done.

Then again, outside our little community, I'm not sure anyone really cares about how well the ODAC stacks up against the USASAC

I agree with both parts of your post. Why not make scheduling that much easier and have the chance to mix it up a bit? I've said it before, but seeing the same match ups is tiresome. 

Do you still have the ODAC commissioner's email address?

[jknezek]

I'm sure I have the address he replied to me from. Though the generic email addresses on the ODAC website get you very prompt and appropriate responses from the correct person. It's kind of amazing given society's general attitude toward email help queries. Either that, or it's kind of sad that I'm so impressed the ODAC actually takes the time to do this correctly when pretty much no one else I contact ever does. Either way, kudos to the ODAC staff...

[Scots13]

I'd bet money you are one of very few people that have emailed the ODAC without a "memberschool.edu", NCAA, or vendor/media address in a long time. They might have been just as shocked to get your email.

[jknezek]

I'd bet money you are one of very few people that have emailed the ODAC without a "memberschool.edu", NCAA, or vendor/media address in a long time. They might have been just as shocked to get your email.

Not ruling that out. Regardless, I was just impressed that both times, two different people, over more than a year, I got a solid, helpful, well-thought out response. And I guess I find it somewhat sad that I'm impressed by that.

[CMR]

May be good for the scheduling of football.  But, I don't see where Ferrum brings any value to the ODAC, athletically or academically.  No Ferrum team is a standout winner or consistently winning program.  Academically, it'll be at the very bottom with VWC, or laughingly, VWU.

[tigerFanAlso2]

outside of W&L, ODAC not strong academically with/without Ferrum.

[jknezek]

May be good for the scheduling of football.  But, I don't see where Ferrum brings any value to the ODAC, athletically or academically.  No Ferrum team is a standout winner or consistently winning program.  Academically, it'll be at the very bottom with VWC, or laughingly, VWU.

I think this is a bit of stones and glass houses for Ferrum academically. Acceptance rates for ODAC football schools, mostly 2014:

W&L  19.5%
HSC  47.3%
BC  47.8
RMC 60.3%
Guilford  62.2%
E&H  71.7%
Ferrum 73.3%
Shenandoah 82.6%

Non-football schools, mostly 2014:

EMU  60.4%
Hollins  61%
Lynchburg 66.8%
Roanoke  69.3%
*** FERRUM 73.3%  ***
Randolph 81%
Va Wes  89%
Sweet Briar  95% -- When you are about to go under, you take anyone who can cut the check...

It's hard to say the ODAC is really concerned about academically similar institutions. Geographic proximity, liberal arts focus, moderate size, and private are the ODAC's bailiwick. Ferrum fits well enough in that regard. They aren't an academic outlier, Shenandoah filled that role more than Ferrum does, though neither are a patch on Va Wes.

As for athletically, I don't think Ferrum is any worse off than Shenandoah, who has by and large had a somewhat difficult time adapting to the ODAC. For a while I kept a running tally of how Shenandoah did, and it wasn't pretty. But it seems to be getting better. They only finished dead last in soccer and men's tennis, which is much better than they did their first couple years in the conference where multiple men's and women's programs went winless in the ODAC. They obviously did quite well in baseball since coming in to the conference, and were more than respectable in women's soccer and women's cross country this year.

I expect Ferrum will see a lot of the same. Other than a few spots, they will have a rough transition and then over a few years find spots where they are competitive or better. I expect softball, baseball, and women's basketball at the least will be competitive in the ODAC. Their facilities are fine, they simply will need to step up their game.

Is it a huge win for the ODAC to bring in Ferrum? Outside of football, I don't think so. But football needed that 8th team, and this links the USASAC and ODAC for that 3rd OOC as several have pointed out. So it's a huge win for ODAC football. In this case, I think the tail wagged the dog a little bit, but that's no different from when the ODAC brought in Shenandoah.