Quote from: wally_wabash on October 07, 2025, 11:26:08 AM

Quote from: WabashBob on October 07, 2025, 08:31:18 AMThis is getting ahead of ourselves quite a bit, but I found myself thinking about this in the wake of the Wabash/JCU result.  It is not unfathomable that the top three in the conference each end up with one loss and a tie (DePauw beats JCU, Wabash beats DePauw): if that happens, I assume the NCAC tie break rule is still "tie goes the team that hasn't been to the playoffs most recently," so would that be automatically JCU even though they are a new member?  Or has the tie-break rule changed to something a little more practical? This also rules out the possibility of the NCAC getting two teams in, which hasn't happened in some time.

In the 40-team tournament, nearly all 9-1 teams are essentially locks for the playoffs so two teams from the NCAC looks incredibly likely right now. John Carroll needs to beat DePauw to be totally safe, but if a three-way tiebreak falls in favor of JCU, three teams is possible (barring any upsets of course). 

If JCU makes the playoffs (and I hope they do as well as Wabash 😉) JCU will probably get Mount Union in the first round of the playoffs.

Just watched the second half of the John Carrol vs Wabash game on JCU's web site.  Disappointed in Wabash's loss but Wabash played well in the second half.  Will be interesting game in two weeks with JCU at Depauw.

Oh my Depauw was up 14 - 0 before they had an offensive play and up 42 - 0 after about 14 offensive plays!   I fear for the safety of the Oberlin students.

Quote from: maripp2002 on September 29, 2025, 08:31:40 PM

Quote from: Crawford on September 29, 2025, 08:14:50 PM. I spent some time at Saint John's University in Collegeville, MN. JCU reminded me of the size and athleticism of the Jonnie's.

The MIAC is always a bit of a mystery to me. The top end of the conference (St. Johns and Bethel currently, and St. Thomas historically) are usually quite competitive on the national scene. But the bottom of the conference is so bad, it's really hard to get a feel for how good they really are. It's not all that different than the NCAC in some ways. I trust your gut on the size and athleticism of the team, but comparing them to Hamline or Augsburg is tough. Either way, if I were a betting man, I'd bet the Johnnies will be in the playoffs this year. They've got a tough matchup of their own this week against Bethel, maybe their only tough game this regular season.

That is definitely true about the disparity of the teams in the MIAC (and the NCAC).  I was in Collegeville, MN when the MIAC forced St Thomas out (that was quite the controversy).  I also was at the St John's - Rose Hulman game in 2019. On paper it looks like Rose played as well as most of the Jonnie's MIAC competition but in person St John's "looked" bigger and more physical. 

Quote from: maripp2002 on September 29, 2025, 03:29:16 PMWhile not the D3football poll, Wabash is ranked at 25 in the AFCA poll. Which makes Wabash vs. JCU a ranked match-up. I'm really excited to see how both teams play. I got to watch JCU earlier in the season at JHU, where they looked a bit out gunned, more in depth than in talent - JHU is for real, but that means so is JCU.

They have an excellent wide receiver who is a FCS graduate transfer, and an excellent graduate student tight end who was an FCS transfer as well. I'm not sure if those are leftovers from the COVID years, or just a boon to having one of the few graduate schools in the conference, but both guys caught my eye in the JHU game - both can play.

Win, lose or draw, I'm excited to see the top of the conference get a few more tough games. That should help anyone who makes it come playoff/bowl game time.

Welcome JCU to a new NCAC rivalry!

I watched JCU's first game on the internet, I thought they looked a lot bigger and more athletic than your average NCAC team. I spent some time at Saint John's University in Collegeville, MN. JCU reminded me of the size and athleticism of the Jonnie's.

Quote from: Crawford on September 28, 2025, 07:32:51 PM

Quote from: CollegeGolf18 on September 28, 2025, 05:33:18 PM

Quote from: Crawford on September 21, 2025, 09:26:56 PMHey Pat, Wabash moved up to #33 in my fictitious poll! 😉

Wabash up to #28

If Wabash can pull off an upset this coming weekend my fictitious poll will have to be dismantled 🤣.

All four games this week ended in shutouts.  Can't remember that happening before.

Wabash's Brody Rucker hit a 50 yard field goal!

Congratulations to Wabash's Xavier Tyler for his honor of being NCAC offensive player of the week and for surpassing the 2,000 yard mark in his career. 

Congratulations too to Trenton Carter of Wittenberg for Defensive player of the week. His 4 tackles (behind the line of scrimmage) helps to explain the final score of Witts big win over OSU.

Hey Pat, Wabash moved up to #33 in my fictitious poll! 😉

Quote from: Whitecarrera on September 21, 2025, 10:45:04 AMCrawford - again, happy to have differing opinions, but you can't cite something that's specifically allowed in the rulebook to justify something that isn't.

I know you can't trust Ai for everything but I just looked up if an NCAA game must be played on an NCAA approved field :

NCAA football game can be legally played on a high school field, as the NCAA does not mandate that all games must take place on an official NCAA-branded facility. The primary requirements are that the field meets safety and regulatory standards, and the school or host institution agrees to the use of their facility.

Also asked if Wabash College violated any NCAA rules by moving the game and got this:

No, Wabash College did not violate NCAA rules by moving its football game to a high school field; the change was due to weather and the host stadium's lack of lights, making it a necessary response to an unusual circumstance to allow the game to continue. The relocation to Crawfordsville High School was a practical solution to continue the game after multiple lightning delays and to avoid playing in the dark.

Quote from: Whitecarrera on September 21, 2025, 10:45:04 AMCrawford - again, happy to have differing opinions, but you can't cite something that's specifically allowed in the rulebook to justify something that isn't.

Is it in the rule book that two schools can decide to declare the game a tie, even if the game is not over and one team had the lead?  Seriously. Is there a rule that allows that? I suspect there are many example of things that happen in games that are not in the rule books.  Anyone else have any example?

Watched the first half of the Wittenberg / Ohio Wesleyan game.  What happened to Ohio Wesleyan?  They looked terrible.  No one covered a 35 yard kick off, blown coverages and a porous defense line. OWU seemed to be turning their program around the last few years.  Was this just a really bad showing, or has something happened with the program?  Nice win for Wittenberg.

Quote from: Whitecarrera on September 20, 2025, 10:36:40 PMCrawford - I did not see that, but it makes sense. It's also a situation that is specifically addressed and allowed in the NCAA rulebook. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know what Wabash did last week is neither addressed nor allowed anywhere in the rule book.

I said early on that I'm happy to agree to disagree, but when folks keeps citing situations that are just not the same, I'm going to respond.

You can respond all you want.  It just seems you are making an issue where no one other than you seems to care.  As I've mentioned several time, both teams agreed to the change of venue.  So there is no issue.  Imagine if the Case Western players had had to drive back to Cleveland because it got too dark to play. That would have been two games in a row (20% of their season) that they didn't get to finish a game.

Quote from: Whitecarrera on September 17, 2025, 09:35:05 AMDr - that is a perfect example, as this Twitter post confirms. And if you look at the pictures you'll see two sets of hash marks (pic 1) and adjustable goalposts (pic 2).

https://x.com/ohiostadiums/status/690325494827474945?s=46&t=57Idl2kdBt4XRffKcNPGpA

Whitecarrera, Did you see both teams and the NCAC officials allowed the Oberlin / John Carroll game to have 12 minute quarters instead of 15 minutes?  Perfect example if both teams agree to a slight change from the normal NCAA regulations, it is fine.  The shorter game potentially hurt John Carroll players from making more yardage or setting records, and thus not getting potential awards or recognition.  But the shorter game was for player safety, so a good move.