FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[cush]

it does seem like Earlham is a goner from the ncac...seems the funny reasoning with that move is they are getting crushed in the athletic competition, so they want bolt to a league with a better chance to win...the ? is will the ncac pull an earlham and not invite depauw since depauw might dominate the ncac at the expesne of the other members...the other issue is when will this stuff go down? will depauw be playing scac football this fall?

[wally_wabash]

the ? is will the ncac pull an earlham and not invite depauw since depauw might dominate the ncac at the expesne of the other members...

Don't flatter yourself.  If DePauw gets invited it's because they'll be a welcome addition to the conference.  I think DePauw would make the league much stronger athletically pretty much across the board.  But dominate the league?  Please.  There are a lot of very good teams in a lot of the sports sponsored by the NCAC. 

As for this fall, it's way too late in the game to be changing schedules for 2009.  There's nothing doing here, especially with football, until 2010 at the earliest. 

[DPU3619]

I don't believe they're flattering themselves.  That particular poster isn't a DePauw fan.

But, I do think it's something for the NCAC to consider.  Looking at the last 3 or 4 years of all of the sports, such a move would make DePauw the pre-emptive favorite in XC, WBB, softball, M & W track, and M & W golf.  They'd also be right there with Wooster in MBB & field hockey, with Witt in VB and baseball (down year for DPU this year), and with OWU, Witt, & Hiram in men's soccer (also a bit down for DPU this year) and then obviously in the conversation in football.  It's going to certainly change the landscape of the NCAC, and if that's what they're after, then that's terrific.

[Ralph Turner]

I don't believe they're flattering themselves.  That particular poster isn't a DePauw fan.

But, I do think it's something for the NCAC to consider.  Looking at the last 3 or 4 years of all of the sports, such a move would make DePauw the pre-emptive favorite in XC, WBB, softball, M & W track, and M & W golf.  They'd also be right there with Wooster in MBB & field hockey, with Witt in VB and baseball (down year for DPU this year), and with OWU, Witt, & Hiram in men's soccer (also a bit down for DPU this year) and then obviously in the conversation in football.  It's going to certainly change the landscape of the NCAC, and if that's what they're after, then that's terrific.

The extra appearances as the NCAC Pool A bid in the playoffs also boosts the points that you get in the Directors' Cup.

[wally_wabash]

I don't believe they're flattering themselves.  That particular poster isn't a DePauw fan.

But, I do think it's something for the NCAC to consider.  Looking at the last 3 or 4 years of all of the sports, such a move would make DePauw the pre-emptive favorite in XC, WBB, softball, M & W track, and M & W golf.  They'd also be right there with Wooster in MBB & field hockey, with Witt in VB and baseball (down year for DPU this year), and with OWU, Witt, & Hiram in men's soccer (also a bit down for DPU this year) and then obviously in the conversation in football.  It's going to certainly change the landscape of the NCAC, and if that's what they're after, then that's terrific.

I can't imagine a scenario in which the NCAC wouldn't welcome additional competition.  I want this to happen yesterday.  I think replacing a school that has a stated athletics mission to hover around .500 (seriously...this was quoted by Earlham's president in an article in their student newspaper recently) with a school who strives for excellence and takes pride in having a well rounded and competitive athletics programs only serves to boost the reputation of the league as a whole...and significantly at that.  The NCAC gets banged on (and with reason) for being tremendously top heavy (or maybe bottom heavy is more accurate) in most sports.  Losing Earlham and adding DePauw isn't going to increase parity...some of our schools just aren't likely to be very competitive in certain sports...but it is going to shift the balance of quality programs vs. some of not quite so quality programs.  Competition is a good thing...and if DePauw comes in and waxes everybody in the all-sports race, then I believe that's only going to serve as fuel for the other programs in the league to step it up. 

But again, I don't think you'll find that that the NCAC is quite as bad as it is perceived.  Yes, there are some really bad teams (who doesn't have bad teams?) but there are very good programs scattered throughout the many sports...OWU soccer, Wooster hoops, obviously Kenyon and Denison swimming is otherworldly, Wooster baseball, etc. etc.  There's plenty of top notch competition to go around. 

[cush]

I was kinda  joking about the depauw stuff, but they are a power that would win some titles in the ncac at the expense of other members...Interesting stuff on the ncac board about all this...can't imagine depauw wouldn't want to go to the ncac if offered, let alone watch centre, their closet scac school leave the scac and take that spot in the ncac if earlham left. I know the travel in the scac is a pain but i think there is great educational value in such travel but its sure is $. As for centre, that would be a shocker, guess they could also team up with Earlham and make the move to the heartland, maybe throw in berea to get to 12 for that league, who knows what will happen. My guess is it looks like earlham is gone from the ncac and either depauw or W&J will replace them in the ncac. As for the scac, its got a nice base of school's that will stick together and a few replacements out there to fill any void, so no problems.

[DPU3619]

Don't think DePauw would stay in the SCAC AND let Centre leave.  DePauw wouldn't have a travel partner.  That's just not a feasible scenario for DePauw.

[Ron Boerger]

Centre is a charter member of the SCAC (dating back to CAC days, 1962).  It would be a major surprise to see them leave the conference they helped found. 

[LGHistorian]

With all due respect to your conference, the CAC was a much different animal than the SCAC of today.  Centre, Sewanee, Southwestern (Rhodes), Washington & Lee and the Washington (St. Louis) and I believe Rose-Hulman was a member before the name change/transformation to the SCAC was a much more compact alignment with shall we say more economical travel costs. I don't know the specifics of the Centre situation but speaking from personal experience sometimes the place where you have called home and worked to make it a better place to be just no longer feels right and you have to at least look at other options and make the move if necessary.

Wabash and DePauw, among others, were charter members and instrumental in forming the ICAC to reconnect with rivalries which dated back to the late 1880's to early 1900's and it worked for awhile but it started to evolve into a league that was different than what either school had in mind. With their best interests in mind, they left the ICAC.

[D3_DPUFan]

I don't know the specifics of the Centre situation but speaking from personal experience sometimes the place where you have called home and worked to make it a better place to be just no longer feels right and you have to at least look at other options and make the move if necessary.

What?   

[LGHistorian]

Sorry, I get a little long-winded at times.  All I am trying to say is some times an organization can change.  It could be that those changes make you feel uncomfortable. So, you start looking for alternative organizations that are more suitable.

[D3_DPUFan]

Sorry, I get a little long-winded at times.  All I am trying to say is some times an organization can change.  It could be that those changes make you feel uncomfortable. So, you start looking for alternative organizations that are more suitable.

Much better...got it. 

[D3_DPUFan]

Was nice to see DePauw Head Coach Matt Walker as the honorary starter for Fast Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway...

[DPU3619]

Thought that was him.  Couldn't tell from the video I saw if it was or wasn't.  Cool.

[D3_DPUFan]

http://depauw.edu/news/?id=23528