FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[RMCFan]

RMCFan

Thanks for the "bad" news. If the OL is back I don't think it really matters who is in the backfield; at age 53, with bad knees, I think I could run behind that line !!!!!

Good luck this season,  until the 2nd Saturday in November.
(of course)
My guess is the ODAC will be very entertaining again this year and hopefully The Game will be for  the championship. Hopefully we can return the favor this year (beating RMC in Ashland to win the ODAC)!!!!!

You know I appreciate your generosity but it is defintely not needed.  We were just repaying the favor for the past few years.  So, really, if you think about it, we still have a bunch of favors we need to repay.


Hypothetical situation:

If we can get this done before the actual poll comes out in a little while, where would the masses have ranked RMC if Thornton and Braner would've come back this year?

[hasanova]

The poll is out:

http://www.guilford.edu/athletics/football/releases/2009/PreseasonPoll.html

Nowhere to go but up! 

[RMCFan]

The poll is out:

http://www.guilford.edu/athletics/football/releases/2009/PreseasonPoll.html

Nowhere to go but up! 

Im glad you are being optomistic.  It might have been just me but Guilford's head coach just seem to write them off for the entire season.  Anyone else get that sense?

[Round One]

As to what happened to HSC last season, they lost two relatively close games at home. One to Catholic and one to RMC. Against RMC, they had two TDs called back for penalties, and in both games they were playing with a very injured Josh Simpson (turf toe from about game five on).  Without the running game, HSC had a harder time converting first downs etc. Too bad, because Simp would likely have become the school's all-time leading rusher, instead of finishing second.

[RMCFan]

This is for Tipps.  What did Aruzza have to say about Thornton or the lack thereof?

[Ryan Tipps]

This is for Tipps.  What did Aruzza have to say about Thornton or the lack thereof?

I did talk to Pedro, and he did tell me who he's hoping will fill the gap at running back.

But sorry to say, there's a reason Kickoff 2009 is a subscription publication -- it'll have insight that you won't be able to find on the message boards or school Web sites.

I'd encourage you (and everyone else) to buy it because that's what helps fund the broader enterprise and travel of D3football.com and the free content for the rest of the season. (Sorry for the sales pitch, but there's a whole ton of effort that we put into this thing, and all of us at D3football are proud of it!)

[muchacho]

After last year and looking ahead to 2009, I wouldn't have had much of a clue when it came to ranking the ODAC this preseason. It looks like there wasn't much consensus with the coaches either after viewing that poll. Four teams out of 7 received first place votes, with no team garnering more than 2. That seems pretty balanced to me.
HSC leading the poll makes sense to me since they have been the most consistently good team in the conference lately. I'm not sure what to make of BC after the last few years, but it shouldn't surprise anybody if they bounce back. Guilford and W&L would have been the two to round out the bottom for me, but the competition should be very good in the ODAC this year.

[RMCFan]

This is for Tipps.  What did Aruzza have to say about Thornton or the lack thereof?

I did talk to Pedro, and he did tell me who he's hoping will fill the gap at running back.

But sorry to say, there's a reason Kickoff 2009 is a subscription publication -- it'll have insight that you won't be able to find on the message boards or school Web sites.

I'd encourage you (and everyone else) to buy it because that's what helps fund the broader enterprise and travel of D3football.com and the free content for the rest of the season. (Sorry for the sales pitch, but there's a whole ton of effort that we put into this thing, and all of us at D3football are proud of it!)

Nice teaser...when will that discussion be posted?

[Ryan Tipps]

Kickoff '09 is scheduled to be released on or about Aug. 25.

[hasanova]

After last year and looking ahead to 2009, I wouldn't have had much of a clue when it came to ranking the ODAC this preseason. It looks like there wasn't much consensus with the coaches either after viewing that poll. Four teams out of 7 received first place votes, with no team garnering more than 2. That seems pretty balanced to me.
HSC leading the poll makes sense to me since they have been the most consistently good team in the conference lately. I'm not sure what to make of BC after the last few years, but it shouldn't surprise anybody if they bounce back. Guilford and W&L would have been the two to round out the bottom for me, but the competition should be very good in the ODAC this year.

I noticed the four-way split on first-place votes as well.   To me, that also means no ODAC team is given much of a chance to advance deep in the playoffs.  Will the ODAC ever have a season when all seven teams go 3-3? 

[HSC85]

Hasa,

I agree the parity does not bode well for a successful run in the playoffs because the ODAC champion will probably not have an undefeated record.  The champion could be sent to play a high seed or the number one seed like last year.  It would really be something to remember if we did have a year where everyone ended up 3-3.

[hasanova]

Hasa,

I agree the parity does not bode well for a successful run in the playoffs because the ODAC champion will probably not have an undefeated record.  The champion could be sent to play a high seed or the number one seed like last year.  It would really be something to remember if we did have a year where everyone ended up 3-3.

The teams that usually advance far in the playoffs are often virtually untouchable in their own conferences (think Mt. Union).   In a large conference such as the ASC, there may even be two dominant teams where Number 1 squeaks by Number 2 and they both get a bid.   In the ODAC, with last year's 4-way tie and four teams also getting preseason first place votes this season, it means no one is expected to be dominant.  Winning the ODAC will be great, of course, but unless a team really puts some distance between itself and the other six (and dominates out of conference), there will probably be no ODAC team in the Tops 25 and an early playoff exit on the road to a very highly ranked team.

Seven teams at 3-3 would, indeed, be something.  What would the tie-breaker rules look like?  

[HSCTiger74]

Seven teams at 3-3 would, indeed, be something.  What would the tie-breaker rules look like? 

I suspect it would be the written equivalent of a Rube Goldberg cartoon.   

[Ralph Turner]

Hasa,

I agree the parity does not bode well for a successful run in the playoffs because the ODAC champion will probably not have an undefeated record.  The champion could be sent to play a high seed or the number one seed like last year.  It would really be something to remember if we did have a year where everyone ended up 3-3.

The teams that usually advance far in the playoffs are often virtually untouchable in their own conferences (think Mt. Union).   In a large conference such as the ASC, there may even be two dominant teams where Number 1 squeaks by Number 2 and they both get a bid.   In the ODAC, with last year's 4-way tie and four teams also getting preseason first place votes this season, it means no one is expected to dominant.  Winning the ODAC will be great, of course, but unless a team really puts some distance between itself and the other six (and dominates out of conference), there will probably be no ODAC team in the Tops 25 and an early playoff exit on the road to a very highly ranked team.

Seven teams at 3-3 would, indeed, be something.  What would the tie-breaker rules look like? 

We call it the "Texas sub-bracket".

UMHB plays Trinity or HSU or any combination in the first round of the NCAA.

See Post #29 for a run-down of the winners of the "Barbed Wire and Mesquite". 

http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=5306.29

[hasanova]

Seven teams at 3-3 would, indeed, be something.  What would the tie-breaker rules look like?  

I suspect it would be the written equivalent of a Rube Goldberg cartoon.  

I've always been fascinated by Rube Goldberg cartoons!  +1 for a man who a) knows who Rube is b) can spell Rube Goldberg and c) can visualize Rube's work being used to break a 7-way tie!  I can see it now ... the missed FG scares the bird that drops its fish that lands in a pool that causes a splash that trips the trap that catapults the cheese that knocks over the lamp that starts the fire that sets off the sprinklers that wet the rule book that makes the ink run that leaves only one legible line ...  Quakers win!