East Region Playoff Discussion

[rams1102]

hscoach, I think that the big advantage that you have in Ohio is not that you have so many really talented, physically gifted players in the state.

The big advantage that you have is the decades-old tradition of fundamentally sound, 4" too short, 40 lbs too light and 0.5 sec too slow players who anticipate and value the experience of the D3 model.

I consider Ohio vastly superior to Texas in the state's attitude to D3football as something worthy of a high school player's continued efforts.  Let's face it.  The "gene pool" is full of kids who are too short, too light or too slow for D1 ball.  We in Texas just need to capture more of them so that they value the D3 experience.

Let's face it, too, parents.

We see our high school kids succeeding by the model of:

1)  go to class
2)  go to practice
3)  come home and study to keep the grades eligible
4)  go to the game
5)  play and come home tired
6)  stay in in-season condition throughout the week
7)  start the routine over on Monday and then continue in the off-season.

Well that model carries over to D3 athletics.

1)   go to class (because many coaches have their spies out with the teachers to make sure their athletes are there and even sitting in the first three rows)
2)  go to practice (and college practice is usually more organized than what some had in high school.  Besides the bodies are bigger, faster and stronger than they were in high school, even in D3.)
3)  go back to the dorm or the apartment or library and study because you cannot slack off like you did in high school
4)  go to the game... (And as a D3 student-athlete, the coach does not own your kid's body, his/her scholarship or his/her curriculum.)

How many parents have seen their own kids or their neighbors' kid go off to college and

1)  miss class
2)  party late
3)  get hungover and over sleep the next morning
4)  party the next night
5)  finish the first semester with a GPA of 0.15

The difference in so many cases is that the discipline that we learned in high school sports, to do things that you are too tired or unpleasant but necessary to do get done, because that is what is expected of you!

Everyone of us in D3 can defend this model to our friends in the community.  This is why we can be so vociferous in support of the D3 model as building the citizens of the next generation.

Well said !!!   +K

['gro]

Teams in D-III have to play such regional schedules, and recruiting is so regional, it's not like most other sports where you have national reach. Why not leave the East to the East? Yes, it's unfortunate for good teams in the North who could probably pound a lot of East teams and get stuck losing to MUC in the regionals, but how is that the East's fault? Sure, if the East wasn't so atrocious, they wouldn't have to worry about having teams moved over, but what's the ultimate goal here? So some team can lose to MUC or Whitewater in the national semis instead of the national quarters?

The last 15 National Title games have had either Rowan or MUC in 13 of them. D-III football is top-heavy enough. We've had the same NC game three years in a row. Why do we need to go out of our way to ensure we get more of the same? If that's the way the cookie crumbles, I'm cool with it. But engineering the "best" matchups has, in my opinion, a bad side effect. It manufactures the same matchups. I honestly wish there was some more parity in D-III football. It'd be nice to see some different teams get some national exposure beyond the MUC's of the world...

Excellent post Bombers.  Also lets not forget the high number of football programs in New England, NY, NJ, and PA.  HS kids have more D3 choices then say Minnesota or Wisconsin (didn't do any research on this, but I'm pretty confident).  The regional talent gets spread out more in the east, especially with programs putting money into becoming nationally recognized - SJF for example.

Definitely an advantage in Wisconsin as the only D1 football playing school is the Badgers of Wisc-Madison.  The rest of the state universities are in the WIAC.  Which in my opinion is a huge advantage when it comes to recruiting due to state school tuition rates compared to the rest of D3.

However the number of school isn't an advantage in Ohio as there are a ton of schools ranging from D1 to D3.  Here's the run down of football programs in Ohio off the top of my head:

( 8 ) D1 = Ohio State, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, Akron, Kent State, Toledo, Ohio U and Miami.

(2) D1-AA = Youngstown State and Dayton

(3) D2 = Ashland, Tiffin and Findlay

(20) D3 = Baldwin Wallace, Capital, Heidelberg, Marietta, Mount Union, Muskingum, Otterbein, Ohio Northern, Wilmington, Bluffton, Wittenberg, Wooster, Defiance, Denison Mt. St. Joe, Case, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan, Hiram and Kenyon

(2) NAIA = Malone, Walsh

Ralph/hscoach

Re: D3 options in the east

I left out Ohio for the same reasons listed in your followup. OH has great HS talent and participation which can support the number of football programs in all divisions. Another topic for another day.  In a few hours the playoff speculations will come flying in here.

['gro]

aaaaand here we go.

Ithaca beat Cortland
Hobart beat Rochester wins LL
RPI lost to MMA
Montclair lost to Kean
Lyco wins the MAC
P-state won the NEFC

SJF losing

Pool C looks bananas now, 2 loses for RPI, Montclair, Rowan... and Curry's out there at 9-1

[BomberJeff]

aaaaand here we go.

Ithaca beat Cortland
Hobart beat Rochester
RPI lost to MMA
Montclair lost to Kean

SJF losing...

And Lycoming clinches the MAC thanks to winning and Delaware Valley defeating Albright.

Does anybody want to figure out which three teams are going to be brought into the region?  I don't think I can stand it right now.

[pg04]

Anyone think Rowan can sneak in?  Curry??

[BomberJeff]

Anyone think Rowan can sneak in?  Curry??

Curry?  No chance unless opinions on New England football in Division III drastically improves in the next 24 hours.

Rowan?  Maybe, but I think its gonna take some other results coming in around the nation, and I'm not going to bet on it.

['gro]

This is too complicated to figure out... have fun selection committee

[Caz Bombers]

If the math is too complicated for the RPI alum, the selection committee is doomed.  DOOOOOOOMED!!!

[redswarm81]

Anyone think Rowan can sneak in?  Curry??

Curry?  No chance unless opinions on New England football in Division III drastically improves in the next 24 hours.

Rowan?  Maybe, but I think its gonna take some other results coming in around the nation, and I'm not going to bet on it.

9-1 Curry will be hard to overlook in a sea of 2-loss teams.

Same goes for 7-0 in-Division Husson.

Argh.  d3football.com servers overloaded, apparently.

Ithaca 9-1 Pool A, with a win over Cortland, looks like a no. 2 seed in the East.  Muhlenberg lost, they won't be imported as a No. 1.

My early prediction is MUC = "East" No. 1, NCC = North No. 1.

Wabash lost today.  Otterbein is tied w/ John Carroll 00:48 4th Q

UPDATE:  JCU - OTT go to OT

[theoriginalupstate]

SJF loses in OT 36-33...

[pg04]

With the mules using, I can almost see this...

1.  MUC (A)
2.  Ithaca (A)
3.  Hobart (A)
4.  Lycoming (A)
5.  Cortland State (A)
6.  Plymouth State (A)
7.  Curry (C)
8.  Husson (B)

[redswarm81]

With the mules using, I can almost see this...

1.  MUC (A)
2.  Ithaca (A)
3.  Hobart (A)
4.  Lycoming (A)
5.  Cortland State (A)
6.  Plymouth State (A)
7.  Curry (C)
8.  Husson (B)

9-1 Cortland CAN'T be seeded behind 2-loss Lyco.

Update: I think you should put Cortland ahead of Hobart, based on . . . um, . . . wins v. formerly ranked opponents?  Quality losses?  Cortland lost to no. 2 seed, HoHoHobart lost to Union.

Otterbein 4th and goal from the 6, OT - FG Good, JCU's turn next

[pg04]

Sorry, typo, you are right... reverse the two

['gro]

Husson/MUC would be gridiron hilarity.

[redswarm81]

Husson/MUC would be gridiron hilarity.

Has MUC been tested at all this year?  Is SJF truly their closest game?