2012 Playoffs: Bracket Reactions & more

[Ralph Turner]

To see LiDarrell Bailey develop, over his four years, as a multi-faceted QB has been a "football fan's" dream.

I will make the case for LB to be first team All-American if he leads them to a Stagg Bowl win.

[wally_wabash]

Would have liked to have seen Rowan take on Kean ealier this month. I have a feeling if that game wasn't cancelled, there's a chance Rowan wouldn't be in the playoffs. Rowan caught a little break there.
That would have been a good game.

Would a Kean win over Rowan been enough "secondary criteria" to boost UMHB over UMU for the #2 seed?
Just curious...

Depends on if that hypothetical win would have pushed Kean into the East's regional rankings before the week 11 games (and their subsequent loss to Montclair State).  Even then, I'm kind of doubting it.  I think the committee was probably going to exercise the "previous year's championship" clause to make Mount Union no less than #2 in this tournament. 

[bluenote]

Mount Union has the easier road to the semis by quite a wide margin

Interesting how that works pretty much every year. 

[wally_wabash]

Mount Union has the easier road to the semis by quite a wide margin

Interesting how that works pretty much every year. 

To the victors go the spoils...it's hard to say that Mount Union hasn't earned favored nation status. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Mount Union has the easier road to the semis by quite a wide margin

Interesting how that works pretty much every year. 

It is not UMU's fault that geography is nearly all in the d3 NCAA world, and that the western half is MUCH stronger than the eastern half, and they are in the eastern half. 

Last year and this year I think the committee has done a marvelous job of balancing things out.  I'd agree that UMU seems to have a relatively safe path to the semis (exceeded, perhaps, by St. Thomas), but having to beat consensus #2 UMHB to reach the Stagg itself will be a MAJOR test.

[emma17]

Mount Union has the easier road to the semis by quite a wide margin

Interesting how that works pretty much every year. 

It is not UMU's fault that geography is nearly all in the d3 NCAA world, and that the western half is MUCH stronger than the eastern half, and they are in the eastern half. 

Last year and this year I think the committee has done a marvelous job of balancing things out.  I'd agree that UMU seems to have a relatively safe path to the semis (exceeded, perhaps, by St. Thomas), but having to beat consensus #2 UMHB to reach the Stagg itself will be a MAJOR test.

I too like the job the committee did in balancing the regions. 
I hesitate to give MHB too much of a chance vs Mt simply because I don't know that they have the overall defense.  I do think the one thing UWW has shown over the years is the importance of a very strong defense, especially vs. the run.  Stopping the run has been one of the biggest keys to beating Mt.  Does MHB have that type of defense? 

[HScoach]

Mount Union has the easier road to the semis by quite a wide margin

Interesting how that works pretty much every year. 

It is not UMU's fault that geography is nearly all in the d3 NCAA world, and that the western half is MUCH stronger than the eastern half, and they are in the eastern half. 

Last year and this year I think the committee has done a marvelous job of balancing things out.  I'd agree that UMU seems to have a relatively safe path to the semis (exceeded, perhaps, by St. Thomas), but having to beat consensus #2 UMHB to reach the Stagg itself will be a MAJOR test.

I too like the job the committee did in balancing the regions. 
I hesitate to give MHB too much of a chance vs Mt simply because I don't know that they have the overall defense.  I do think the one thing UWW has shown over the years is the importance of a very strong defense, especially vs. the run.  Stopping the run has been one of the biggest keys to beating Mt.  Does MHB have that type of defense?

I haven't dug real deep into MHB yet, but what I've found so far is that a lot of their points surrendered are late in their games after they have a big lead.  Unlike Mount where the 2nd and 3rd strings have given up less points than the starters (starters = 31 / reserves 14), the MHB 2nd unit seems to be much worse than their starters, which I think would be very typical around D3. 

One of the things that has set Mount apart is their depth.  Their 2nd string could go at least 7-3 if not better with a couple breaks.

And Emma is right, the best way to beat Mount is at the line of scrimmage.  If you can stop the run and get constant pressure on the QB without blitzing you're in good shape.  If you have to get creative & take chances to get pressure, Mount has too many athletes at the skill positions and is too diverse in their scheme to not burn you.    If the game is a stalemate at the line of scrimmage, then I like Mount's chances of our skill people being better than yours.   

What Whitewater has done in the late 2000's is to dominate the line of scrimmage and make the game a slug fest.  When Mount has won, it's been because of their skill people overcoming the deficit at the LOS. 

The inherent weaknesses of this Mount team, much like the recent past, is that the defense is very undersized and will struggle against a big, strong O-line.  It's built perfectly to defend the spread offenses that are typical in the OAC.  It's not built to defend a power running game.   And offensively they are built around a GREAT receiving corps that goes 6 or more deep.  Mount has an effect running game overall, but is missing that stub RB that can get the tough yards.  They're running game is more spread, finesse type schemes than what they were previously.  And none of their RB's are anywhere near as talented as Kmic, they're your typical D3 running backs.   A cold nasty rainy day (Salem in '07) or extreme winds (Salem '02) would have a terrible affect on this offense.

[02 Warhawk]

Would have liked to have seen Rowan take on Kean ealier this month. I have a feeling if that game wasn't cancelled, there's a chance Rowan wouldn't be in the playoffs. Rowan caught a little break there.
That would have been a good game.

Would a Kean win over Rowan been enough "secondary criteria" to boost UMHB over UMU for the #2 seed?
Just curious...

Depends on if that hypothetical win would have pushed Kean into the East's regional rankings before the week 11 games (and their subsequent loss to Montclair State).  Even then, I'm kind of doubting it.  I think the committee was probably going to exercise the "previous year's championship" clause to make Mount Union no less than #2 in this tournament.

Yea, Mount would have stayed No. 1 no matter the outcome of that Rowan/Kean game.

Is this clause new, after what happened in 2010?

[umhb2001]

Mount Union has the easier road to the semis by quite a wide margin

Interesting how that works pretty much every year. 

Against the top three runners in the ASC, UMHB has held them in check. You can go back and look at our games against SRS, LC, whomever, and you can see that we keep the run in check. WE regularly  rotate our 1st and 2nd string guys off the line and Javicz Jones is amazing at the linebacker position. Possible D3 defensive player of the year there. Our weakness may be in the secondary as we tend to give up some passing yardage, but most of that is because teams forgo the run and pass only.

It is not UMU's fault that geography is nearly all in the d3 NCAA world, and that the western half is MUCH stronger than the eastern half, and they are in the eastern half. 

Last year and this year I think the committee has done a marvelous job of balancing things out.  I'd agree that UMU seems to have a relatively safe path to the semis (exceeded, perhaps, by St. Thomas), but having to beat consensus #2 UMHB to reach the Stagg itself will be a MAJOR test.

I too like the job the committee did in balancing the regions. 
I hesitate to give MHB too much of a chance vs Mt simply because I don't know that they have the overall defense.  I do think the one thing UWW has shown over the years is the importance of a very strong defense, especially vs. the run.  Stopping the run has been one of the biggest keys to beating Mt.  Does MHB have that type of defense?

I haven't dug real deep into MHB yet, but what I've found so far is that a lot of their points surrendered are late in their games after they have a big lead.  Unlike Mount where the 2nd and 3rd strings have given up less points than the starters (starters = 31 / reserves 14), the MHB 2nd unit seems to be much worse than their starters, which I think would be very typical around D3. 

One of the things that has set Mount apart is their depth.  Their 2nd string could go at least 7-3 if not better with a couple breaks.

And Emma is right, the best way to beat Mount is at the line of scrimmage.  If you can stop the run and get constant pressure on the QB without blitzing you're in good shape.  If you have to get creative & take chances to get pressure, Mount has too many athletes at the skill positions and is too diverse in their scheme to not burn you.    If the game is a stalemate at the line of scrimmage, then I like Mount's chances of our skill people being better than yours.   

What Whitewater has done in the late 2000's is to dominate the line of scrimmage and make the game a slug fest.  When Mount has won, it's been because of their skill people overcoming the deficit at the LOS. 

The inherent weaknesses of this Mount team, much like the recent past, is that the defense is very undersized and will struggle against a big, strong O-line.  It's built perfectly to defend the spread offenses that are typical in the OAC.  It's not built to defend a power running game.   And offensively they are built around a GREAT receiving corps that goes 6 or more deep.  Mount has an effect running game overall, but is missing that stub RB that can get the tough yards.  They're running game is more spread, finesse type schemes than what they were previously.  And none of their RB's are anywhere near as talented as Kmic, they're your typical D3 running backs.   A cold nasty rainy day (Salem in '07) or extreme winds (Salem '02) would have a terrible affect on this offense.

[wally_wabash]

Would have liked to have seen Rowan take on Kean ealier this month. I have a feeling if that game wasn't cancelled, there's a chance Rowan wouldn't be in the playoffs. Rowan caught a little break there.
That would have been a good game.

Would a Kean win over Rowan been enough "secondary criteria" to boost UMHB over UMU for the #2 seed?
Just curious...

Depends on if that hypothetical win would have pushed Kean into the East's regional rankings before the week 11 games (and their subsequent loss to Montclair State).  Even then, I'm kind of doubting it.  I think the committee was probably going to exercise the "previous year's championship" clause to make Mount Union no less than #2 in this tournament.

Yea, Mount would have stayed No. 1 no matter the outcome of that Rowan/Kean game.

Is this clause new, after what happened in 2010?

It was new for 2011 almost certainly because of the jam job the Warhawks got in 2010.  I don't have any inside info on that, but I am great at using contextual clues to figure some things out.   

[pg04]

This is kind of a weird year to me. Did anyone else at least go somewhat outside the box when doing the bracket challenge? The first round or two was rather standard but after that I ended up with some interesting combinations.

[02 Warhawk]

This is kind of a weird year to me. Did anyone else at least go somewhat outside the box when doing the bracket challenge? The first round or two was rather standard but after that I ended up with some interesting combinations.

I think I picked Heidelberg over Hobart, and Salisbury over Widener. Those are my two biggest round-two upsets.

Call me crazy, but I have MHB over UWO in the Stagg Bowl.

[pg04]

This is kind of a weird year to me. Did anyone else at least go somewhat outside the box when doing the bracket challenge? The first round or two was rather standard but after that I ended up with some interesting combinations.

I think I picked Heidelberg over Hobart, and Salisbury over Widener. Those are my two biggest round-two upsets.

Call me crazy, but I have MHB over UWO in the Stagg Bowl.

This may not be smart to say but I'm dead serious in saying that all of what you stated there is exactly what I did. Everything. Those two upsets and the Stagg Bowl.

[pg04]

And I'm going to leave the picks as they are with the timestamp before my post so that it can be shown I didn't cheat 

[02 Warhawk]

This is kind of a weird year to me. Did anyone else at least go somewhat outside the box when doing the bracket challenge? The first round or two was rather standard but after that I ended up with some interesting combinations.

I think I picked Heidelberg over Hobart, and Salisbury over Widener. Those are my two biggest round-two upsets.

Call me crazy, but I have MHB over UWO in the Stagg Bowl.

This may not be smart to say but I'm dead serious in saying that all of what you stated there is exactly what I did. Everything. Those two upsets and the Stagg Bowl.

Really?!?! That's funny.....I thought I would be the only one not have either UMU, Linfield or St. Thomas in the Salem. That would be kind of cool to have two totally different teams in the Stagg Bowl this year (compared to the last seven). I know that's easy for me to say, given that UWW is out.