Just looked at NCAC preseason poll.  Looks pretty true so far.  DePauw, lost a lot from '25 and is the only top team to have a loss.  Still has two big conference games to try to hang onto number two.  Witt looks bad at 0-4, but had a tough early schedule and has several locked-in wins still on the schedule.

For a change of pace, what are your early thoughts on the OAC after a few games... here's some thoughts, order based on OAC site standings

Heidi a pleasant surprise
BW meeting early expectations, lots of returnees and early easy schedule
ONU keeping '25 momentum, tough games ahead
Etta seems to be ok on transition from losing head coach to St Ignatius
Cap & Ott was hoping to see bigger improvement from previous year
Mount Hints of the early season were there with big returnee losses, new coaches and past few years not     dominating each and every OAC team as usual
Wilma same as Cap & Ott
Muskies maybe the biggest disappointment so far. Didn't see 0-3

Good news, a lot of football to be played and no telling where things end up

Unfortunately, I have to admit to the lone vote for BW.  Hopefully, Alma will provide reasoning on Saturday to drop them out.

Gotta' hand it to the Oberlin team for trying, but feel bad for them.  Not sure it's a safe situation.

 

Just after watching the kickoff and 1st offensive series of MU's replay....seems to be more freshmen sprinkled in the lineup than in past years. .

Good start for the two OAC teams playing yesterday.  Wins two years in a row over those same opponents.  Etta surprised me more than Wilma's win over Wooster.  Westmin has some good athletes at wr and qb.  Etta had several of the same coaches in the same roles that may have given them a slight edge.  Onto some good matchups on Saturday.

What happened to Muskingum's wide out Gore?  I don't see him on the roster this year

Hansen's table confirming Mount's lack of experience heading into 2026.

 https://hansenratings.github.io/2026%20Returning%20Production.html

Mount #222 of 240 in D3.  Capital (41) and BW (74) with the most experience returning among the OAC....still like Mount's chances 

Here's my manual attempt to recap NCAC incoming freshmen.  I grouped the teams into four tiers, One non-roster poster (OWU), Obie and the old Lords in a group of their own, 35-40ish, 50 and above.

JCU (largest), DeP, Wab and Witt in the 50 and above.
Woo, Wash and Den in the 35-40ish group

Kenyon, Denison, Woo, Wash, JCU and Oberlin all with over double digit individual states represented.

No surprise that Dep and Wabash were Indiana heavy.  Witt was almost exclusive Ohio and FL. JCU was heavy OH and PA.

Here's my kinda',hopefully, accurate manual perusal of the OAC incoming freshmen.  I grouped the teams intotwo tiers, 50-60 and 70 and above.

Muskies (largest) and Mount with 70 and above.
Everyone else with 50-60. Etta, Ott and Wilma closer to 50 with BW, Cap, Heidi and ONU a bit higher.

Muskie and Mount with the most states represented.  Muskie the outlier betting big on Ga with 30 kids. The Muskie recruiter with the player evaluation side hustle left recently, but brought in a big group for this year's class.

Mount and Heidi are the leading Fl recruiters.

In the individual state representation, Ohio still the biggest by far.  Florida folowed by Ga (Capital with Ga commits too), PA , Wva and Michigan represented

What's the over/under number of games for JCU's Polian to get his coaching record to be a winning one?  Looks like he's currently 23-27.  I'll go under 6.

Seems like playing time would be the recruiting pitch!

I enjoyed seeing the young Melissa Stark doing the sideline reporting, but she did have some trouble saying Mount Union Purple Raiders and Rowan.

It's not our father's college football (any division)

Quick review of the out of conference schedules for 2026 based on 2025 records:

Mount 19-6 Wheaton/Grove City
Etta & Wilm 14-8  Westminster/MSJ, Wooster/Hanover
ONU 13-7 Adrian/Bluffton
Musk 11-10 MSJ/Franklin
Heidi 10-10 Maryville/Rose Hulman
BW 9-12 Bethany/Alma
Ott 7-13 Calvin/Manchesster
Cap 6-14 Waynesburg/Anderson