Great Lakes Region

[realist]

Danger, danger:  TGHIJGSTO!  warning

[Pat Coleman]

I'll bet a dollar that Marietta had zero influence on the NCAC's decision to play a full double round robin.

Marietta wasn't dominant when most schools signed their contracts for 2014-15 non-conference games. There's one outlier here season here. I am not sure schools would be running from a 17-9 team.

2013-14 (19-7, 14-4 OAC)
2012-13 (20-8, 14-4 OAC)
2011-12 (17-9, 12-6 OAC)
2010-11 (27-4, 15-3 OAC)
2009-10 (10-16, 6-12 OAC)

[David Collinge]

Danger, danger:  TGHIJGSTO!  warning

I was thinking the same thing.

I hear the NCAC is thinking of re-admitting Earlham and adding Defiance and Bluffton so they can play a 24-game conference schedule and all but eliminate the danger of having to face the Etta Express.

Seriously, EE, this isn't the baseball board, nobody here has an ax to grind against the Pioneers, and several of us are fans of Jon VanderWal from his Albion and OWU days and are happy to see him succeeding. And I think that nobody in here predicts, or particularly wants to see Etta not be #1 in the region in the first ranking, or feels that the #1 ranking is undeserved. All anyone is pointing out is that the official criteria that the committee does and must follow doesn't favor the Pioneers as strongly as their undefeated record would suggest.

And there are no listening devices in your cheese.

[KnightSlappy]

I'm catching up on last night's Hoopsville, Dave noted that RACs don't include RvRRO in the first rankings because they don't have the previous week's rankings (and I'm guessing it's not practical for the national committee to have to do a deep review across regions once they're all in). So we're left with WP, SOS, H2H, and common opponents for this first set.

[sac]

I'm catching up on last night's Hoopsville, Dave noted that RACs don't include RvRRO in the first rankings because they don't have the previous week's rankings (and I'm guessing it's not practical for the national committee to have to do a deep review across regions once they're all in). So we're left with WP, SOS, H2H, and common opponents for this first set.

In that case depending how the weekend goes I could see Case or OWU or even both ranked ahead of Marietta until the next poll when Marietta's OWP will rise, maybe even above .500 with road games at JCU/Mt. Union and the RvRRO's kick in.

[Pat Coleman]

David's got a good point, EE.

[NCAC4Life]

I highly doubt anyone is ducking the Pioneers.

In the last five seasons Marietta is 6- 6 against NCAC teams. They are 4-0 against Denison who appeared in their Marietta Shrine Classic this year but was not scheduled by Marietta who I assume did the scheduling for their own tournament. They are 2-1 against Witt and 0-2 against Wooster and OWU. Other than Denison, I see no need for anyone in the NCAC to "duck" them.

[smedindy]

The NCAC should have been double-round for a long time. They finally got their act together and made it so. When Hiram and Wabash joined the league, the powers that be somewhere decided that Wabash and Earlham should just go single round against Allegheny and Hiram. This carried on for a while, stopped when Earlham dropped, I think started again when DPU came on, and then FINALLY they decided that it should be double round anyway, as it should have been long ago.

I think having a balanced conference schedule is much more important than playing or ducking Marietta. Plus, the fact that Denison WAS AT MARIETTA this year for a tourney lays your conspiracy theory to waste.

Also, they played no NCAC schools in VanderWal's first year.

Besides, I don't think at least half of the NCAC has played Marietta much, if at all, in hoops in the NCAC era. Some used to play quite a bit back when most of the NCAC was in the OAC. But I can't see Hiram or Oberlin or Allegheny or Wabash or DPU making that long trek to Marietta when there are plenty of other options close by that are natural rivals. That leaves OWU, Kenyon, Denison, Witt and Wooster.  It then comes down to dates, contracts, and other such fun athletics directors and coaches have to do to get a full slate of games.

I know Wabash fans would love to play other Indiana teams and not be 'stuck' with playing Illinois Tech twice. But that's how it worked out...you don't always get the schedule you really want.

[ettaexpress]

Oh my Lord you all make my head hurt.

Ok since apparently I've somehow at some point failed to convey this, let me clear. I NEVER said anything about the reason why the North Coast as a conference decided to change conference schedule formats having anything to do with Marietta. And if you think I did at some point say that, someone needs to come and hit you on the head with a tack hammer.

What I did say is that having two fewer non conference games has clearly precipitated a series of decisions not to schedule Marietta. Maybe they were coordinated, maybe they weren't, but it sure seems odd that it happened all at once. So you tell me why they all decided at once to stop playing MC at once then. We've seen in D-I where good upstart programs get frozen out in scheduling. Doesn't seem to be any reason it couldn't happen in D-III.

So because Denison was in Marietta and didn't play the home team that they've lost to 4 straight teams means *Marietta* didn't want to play? Again, brain pain. Never mind MC played two more accomplished programs there. Guess they didn't anticipate Wooster and Wesleyan having trouble with Denison.

If MC wins to go 21-0 and isn't ranked #1, they should just scrap everything and start over. It does look like a pretty weak committee, though. Several on it that haven't had much success. They may not understand how hard it is to have that kind of record in a league like the OAC where pretty much everyone can put up points.

Whatever, I've got homework to do and frankly this conversation is not worth my time. You all are married to some number that doesn't really mean anything because you have no idea who, if anyone, is better than Marietta because no one's beaten them yet. If someone does, then maybe the numbers matter more.

[sac]

......and scene!!!!  Cut!!!!  That's a wrap everybody.

[sac]

Carnegie - Mellon 72  Washington 59

Chicago 79  Case Western 73

[David Collinge]

Please pass the tack hammer.

[Pat Coleman]

It does look like a pretty weak committee, though. Several on it that haven't had much success. They may not understand how hard it is to have that kind of record in a league like the OAC where pretty much everyone can put up points.

Committee doesn't work that way, and hasn't in more than a decade.

[sac]

Last night's results, today and Sunday's games.  Most meaningful games are Mt. St Joseph/Defiance (winner gets upperhand in HCAC) and Washington at Case Western Sunday.


Friday 1/30
Washington @ Carnegie-Mellon (8-7)
Chicago @ Case Western (11-3)

Saturday 1/31
Pitt-Greensburg (11-9) @ Medaille (14-5)
Thomas More (13-6) @ Thiel (9-6)
Defiance (14-5) @ Mt. St. Joseph (14-5)
Anderson (10-9) @ Transylvania (11-8)
Hope (12-6) @ Albion (9-8)
Denison (12-8) @ Wooster (16-4)

Sunday 2/1
Chicago @ Carnegie-Mellon (8-7)
Washington @ Case Western (11-3)

[smedindy]

Maybe Marietta didn't want to schedule them either? If you're making accusations bring some proof.

Scheduling is tough. You have short windows to fit in those games, and many teams like to have a tournament. Wooster has theirs. Witt went to Stevenson. Denison went to Chicago. OWU went to Calvin. Kenyon to Westminster A lot of those arrangements are made in advance. It was such a weird schedule year OWU STARTED the year with a conference game.

Also, in the events like Marietta hosted the host usually makes the scheduling decisions, unless it's a conference vs. conference classic (up here, the GNAC and PacWest do those a lot, travel to one school and play two games against the other conference).

Again, it's only half of the NCAC that are in the 'ducking Marietta' mix. Just because teams don't play each other every year doesn't mean someone is ducking the other. Wabash didn't play Hanover this year - are they DUCKING the Panthers? Schedules just didn't work out.