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Started by Pat Coleman, September 22, 2005, 03:16:50 PM

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ktroutvon

That is an excellent response.  I kind of wasn't expecting to get one at all.  I don't want to compare Hobart's defense to St. John's, for example, but I was surprised to see a totally negative outlook on Hobart's D after the RPI game.  I know you guys do a great job, with little support/resources, covering the nation.  I am obviously biased, but I looked at two bad quarters and thought it was more due to a pretty good RPI team having some great success against an above average defense.  I guess a couple of more games will mean a lot more.  Hobart's next game is against Coast Guard and I think CGA's offense plays right into the Hobart D's sweet spot so there may be some more good D stats after next week.

K-Mack

Quote from: ktroutvon on October 02, 2005, 07:20:49 PM
That is an excellent response.  I kind of wasn't expecting to get one at all. 

We surprise you every now and again, eh?

I don't have a problem discussing, explaining or articulating most of the issues in Division III, as I understand them, so readers should not hesitate to ask. Just about everything is fair game.

As far as polls, they are inexact sciences. Different people pick up on different things, or vote differently, and of course the nature of football involves surprises from time to time.

If one person could master it all, we wouldn't need 25 voters, would we?

Thanks for the feedback.
Former author, Around the Nation ('01-'13)
Managing Editor, Kickoff
Voter, Top 25/Play of the Week/Gagliardi Trophy/Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year
Nastradamus, Triple Take
and one of the two voices behind the sonic #d3fb nerdery that is the ATN Podcast.

K-Mack

Folks,
another week in the bag. That thing takes forever to finish up!

It looks like no one ever posts here, but I think we lost about 9 pages in a mysterious deleting mishap.

Anyway, I've been getting a lot of top 25 e-mail, and I addressed it in the column this week. Hopefully that works, or starts a conversation. Anyone with specific questions, beefs or observations, shoot ...

I'll be back later in the week or early next week to share some e-mail. I haven't quite been able to sit down with all of it, just getting bits here and there.
Former author, Around the Nation ('01-'13)
Managing Editor, Kickoff
Voter, Top 25/Play of the Week/Gagliardi Trophy/Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year
Nastradamus, Triple Take
and one of the two voices behind the sonic #d3fb nerdery that is the ATN Podcast.

dewcrew88

K-Mack,
What are your thoughts on Utica College being 3-1 and in the top half of the Empire 8?

smedindy

It still may be too early to think about playoffs. Wow! How can you specualte who is going to go from the SCAC, or the NCAC, and if the runner ups deserve a "C" or not?

I guess you could start with the teams you KNOW aren't going and work your way from there.  :D

K-Mack

The key word is "speculate."

Some of the brackets we filled out (assuming you're referring to the part in the column) just said "CCIW #1, CCIW #2, IIAC champ," and others said "Bridgewater, Mount Union, Linfield" ... And the SCAC was very interesting, because if it's Trinity, that means someone from Texas probably plays them in the first round, or do we send a flight there. If Huntingdon makes it, they've already played ... but if it's DePauw, they can go in that north-ish bracket.

It's fun but crazy unsolved at this point.

As for Utica, 3-1 is definitely curious. The teams they've beaten are a combined 1-9. Normally the win over Springfield would be an eye-opener, but when it sits next to a 41-10 loss to RPI ... I'm afraid the Pioneers still have a lot to prove.

Since they have four road games in five weeks, with a home date with Ithaca sandwiched in between ... that won't leave any doubt about good Utica really is.
Former author, Around the Nation ('01-'13)
Managing Editor, Kickoff
Voter, Top 25/Play of the Week/Gagliardi Trophy/Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year
Nastradamus, Triple Take
and one of the two voices behind the sonic #d3fb nerdery that is the ATN Podcast.

Ron Boerger

#21
Quote from: K-Mack on October 06, 2005, 04:59:25 PM
... And the SCAC was very interesting, because if it's Trinity, that means someone from Texas probably plays them in the first round, or do we send a flight there. If Huntingdon makes it, they've already played ... but if it's DePauw, they can go in that north-ish bracket.

If Trinity makes it, it will mean they were undefeated.  DePauw will have a leg up on the tiebreaker (opponents' record) if both go 8-1, 5-0 SCAC.  I don't think an 8-1 Trinity gets a Pool C bid with a loss to Huntingdon (unless HC makes the playoffs, which will be difficult even if they do go 9-0 (8-0 against D3 opponents)).  DePauw's chances to get a Pool C aren't the best given that nobody has ever mentioned "SCAC" and "Pool C" in the same sentence.   ;D  But even if both Trinity and DePauw get in, I don't think DPU gets matched up with Trinity, at least not in the first round.  It would be interesting, tho. 

So let's look at what I feel is the most likely scenario.  Trinity gets in, as do the ASC champ and the ASC runner-up.  The ASC winner gets a #1 seed.  If Trinity goes undefeated they should get a higher seed than a one-loss ASC team. You send the #2 ASC team to Trinity and fly in someone to play the ASC winner.  The winner of those two games play in the second round, and the NCAA does what it likes best, e.g. saves on airfares unless the ASC winner gets upset by a #8 seed.   Not likely. 

smedindy

If DPU gets in they most certainly will be shifted to the North.

And Ron, with the expanded field, I could see the SCAC having a good shot at a "C" in many years. Those extra few slots really open things up a bit.

Ron Boerger

Quote from: smedindy on October 07, 2005, 12:39:34 AM
If DPU gets in they most certainly will be shifted to the North.

And Ron, with the expanded field, I could see the SCAC having a good shot at a "C" in many years. Those extra few slots really open things up a bit.

You're right.  Not playing a tenth game could be a problem for either team this year, all other things being equal.   

Bob.Gregg

This might give away some clue to my age, but just listened to Paul Harvey News and was thrilled to hear about D-III Northwestern's Saturday doubleheader getting some national press.

Good day!
Been wrong before.  Will be wrong again.

Hawks88

Quote from: bobgregg on October 10, 2005, 01:01:01 PM
This might give away some clue to my age, but just listened to Paul Harvey News and was thrilled to hear about D-III Northwestern's Saturday doubleheader getting some national press.

Good day!

Heard that too. Funny thing was, in an unrelated bit a few spots later, he mentioned a story about Macalester(one of Northwestern's opponents) going to coed dorms.

Knightstalker

Northwestern was also in Chris Bermans top plays of the Weekend on ESPN.

"In the end we will survive rather than perish not because we accumulate comfort and luxury but because we accumulate wisdom"  Colonel Jack Jacobs US Army (Ret).

Matt Barnhart (kid)

I've ranked the remaining undefeated Division III teams by their opponent's combined winning percentage.  I did not count the undefeated team's win in their opponent's record and winning percentage.


Pos.SchoolRecordOpp. Win%Opp. RecordScoring Off.Scoring Def.QoWI Rank
1#2 Mount Union5-0.71415-648.28.82nd
2#20 Coe5-0.68215-729.813.25th
3#4 Rowan4-0.66710-533.816.3t-14th
Bowdoin3-0.6674-216.014.0t-217th
5#7 UW-Whitewater5-0.64711-644.811.6t-7th
6Monmouth6-0.62118-1145.820.76th
7#12 Trinity (TX)5-0.60012-822.413.410th
Hobart5-0.60012-835.413.6t-3rd
9Alma*4-1.59113-934.225.8t-7th
10#19 Thiel5-0.56513-1038.015.69th
11#8 Ithaca5-0.54512-1044.224.2t-11th
12#5 St. John's6-0.51914-1341.310.8t-36th
13#24 Wesley6-0.47811-1242.813.8t-14th
14#9 Delaware Valley5-0.47610-1133.211.822nd
15Union5-0.45510-1230.413.8t-23rd
16#6 Occidental5-0.4387-939.015.2t-14th
17St. Olaf5-0.4299-1246.417.827th
Johns Hopkins5-0.4299-1219.26.8t-14th
19Wabash5-0.4099-1338.05.8t-39th
East Texas Baptist*4-1.4099-1318.023.4t-34th
21#1 Linfield4-0.3575-945.814.828th
22#10 UW-La Crosse*3-1.3536-1129.018.8t-74th
23#13 Concordia-Moorhead5-0.3337-1430.614.0t-56th
#3 Hardin-Simmons5-0.3336-1238.014.4t-47th
Trinity (CN)3-0.3332-446.32.0t-217th
26#16 North Central5-0.3187-1540.818.4t-14th
27Ferrum6-0.2697-1943.022.2t-56th
28Elmhurst5-0.2275-1735.212.8t-36th
29Colby3-0.1671-527.710.0t-217th

*lost to a non-Division III school
Former Publisher of BridgewaterFootball.com

Ron Boerger

Quote from: eh ... just call me 'kid' on October 12, 2005, 01:25:17 AM

Pos.SchoolRecordOpp. Win%Opp. RecordScoring Off.Scoring Def.QoWI Rank
27Ferrum6-0.2697-1943.022.2t-56th

Don't let the Ferrites see this.  They'll be all over you for disrespecting the program, etc. etc. etc. ..   ::)

ktroutvon

Hobart is looking good by this analysis.  I'll take it for lack of other support.  Hopefully we'll take Union by a couple of TD's on Nov. 5th and get a decent east region seed for the playoffs.