NCAC 2023

[Jumbo]

Big dawg - get a life and move on. Let us support kids who play in this conference and enjoy watching them compete. So much history in the NCAC and potential for the future. Take your bitterness elsewhere. Be well.

I love the NCAC just as much as the next guy. Got to stand up for the programs that some choose to talk down upon so regularly. I refuse to let the ruling elite spit on the common man. And as far as having a life, I make 6 figures each month and have a below average size penis, so suck it.

How are you making those six figures? Do you draw them? Or is it clay models? And what do you do with so many figures? You must have a bunch if you are making 6 of them each month.

[BIGDAWG]

Big dawg - get a life and move on. Let us support kids who play in this conference and enjoy watching them compete. So much history in the NCAC and potential for the future. Take your bitterness elsewhere. Be well.

I love the NCAC just as much as the next guy. Got to stand up for the programs that some choose to talk down upon so regularly. I refuse to let the ruling elite spit on the common man. And as far as having a life, I make 6 figures each month and have a below average size penis, so suck it.

How are you making those six figures? Do you draw them? Or is it clay models? And what do you do with so many figures? You must have a bunch if you are making 6 of them each month.

Of course it is clay, that is my medium of choice. I am glad you are an art connoisseur as well.

[admin]

And as far as having a life...

BigDawg, you were warned. Head to the box...

[oldtimelax]

Denison, OWU and Kenyon rank 2nd through 4th respectively, in the Fall All Sports Rankings for the NCAC Conference....

https://northcoast.org/documents/2022/1 ... df?id=5812

[bulldodge97]

OWU opening the season with a real gauntlet of an OOC schedule including juggernauts like North Central, Albright, and Adrian. Some real fine early season tests. Crazy to see Plantholt waving the white flag in December. How the mighty have fallen...

[oldtimelax]

I would agree this is not the usual OWU schedule -- there's no Salisbury or RIT. I believe that Coach Plantholt knows he is going to have a very young team and he wants to bring them along for the NCAC season. They appear to have some talented players in the incoming class of 15, and several sophomores are primed to take over for the 11 departing seniors. Joey Wiseman was the NCAC Newcomer of the Year for 2022.

They are playing Cabrini (#9 last year) and John Carroll (17-3 last year and an NCAA playoff game winner) and eight of the fourteen teams had winning records in 2022. Part of the NCAA schedule selection is based on playing teams in your region (OWU is in Region IV), so playing John Carroll and Southern Virginia means more than playing a top eastern team not in region.

[InsiderRoll]

I would agree this is not the usual OWU schedule -- there's no Salisbury or RIT. I believe that Coach Plantholt knows he is going to have a very young team and he wants to bring them along for the NCAC season. They appear to have some talented players in the incoming class of 15, and several sophomores are primed to take over for the 11 departing seniors. Joey Wiseman was the NCAC Newcomer of the Year for 2022.

They are playing Cabrini (#9 last year) and John Carroll (17-3 last year and an NCAA playoff game winner) and nine of the fourteen teams had winning records in 2022. Part of the NCAA schedule selection is based on playing teams in your region (OWU is in Region IV), so playing John Carroll and Southern Virginia means more than playing a top eastern team not in region.

The selection criteria is just playing regionally ranked teams. It doesn’t matter what region they are in. However region IV doesn’t have the depth some of the northeastern ones do. So there are some easier opportunities to pick up a regionally ranked win against lesser competition. However dragging your SOS can hurt as well. See Hope last year.

[oldtimelax]

This new site offers their take on the upcoming NCAC season. As you might expect, Denison and their coach Eric Koch are the main focus....

https://www.lacrosseplayground.com/ncac ... 78wWS8LNHQ

[Nosey Ned]

This new site offers their take on the upcoming NCAC season. As you might expect, Denison and their coach Eric Koch are the main focus....

https://www.lacrosseplayground.com/ncac ... 78wWS8LNHQ

Thanks Old ... nice to see some NCAC print to get us ready for the upcoming season.

The Denison roster has been posted. Small-ish class coming in as only 12 First Years listed. That said, 16 seniors makes this roster a flip from typical formation. Kudos to the kids staying with the program! You know they all won't get regular runs so speaks to the character of this senior class ... IMHO. Normally I'd say this experience level would bode well for the prospects to the season but given Covid eligibility expansion, the Big Red will continue to be at a distinct disadvantage on the national front as they offer no Grad degrees. But hey, it is what it is ... couple more years and then back to a more level playing field.

Let's get the chatter going ... I'm picking Denison and OWU as 1 - 2 in that order. No disrespect to Kenyon who will finish 3rd but I just love this rivalry and am pulling for it to continue with the historic intensity.

https://denisonbigred.com/sports/mens-lacrosse/roster

[FannOLax]

This new site offers their take on the upcoming NCAC season. As you might expect, Denison and their coach Eric Koch are the main focus....

https://www.lacrosseplayground.com/ncac ... 78wWS8LNHQ

Very interested to see how Wooster's new head coach fares. After many long, mostly barren, decades of existence, the Oberlin program had a promising season last year; interested to see if they can build on that. Let's see if Ned is right, or if OWU sinks deeper into mucky mediocrity. Can Kenyon take the next step? Can Denison make a run in the NCAA tourney?

[oldtimelax]

I was also surprised to see a smaller first year class on the Denison roster. The twelve all appear to be from solid programs, but I was mildly shocked to see no Ohio kids. Denison has traditionally done well with the local powers like the Dublin schools and Upper Arlington.

Denison will be the clear #1 this year and after that you would have to slot in Kenyon, based on their two wins over OWU. Both schools graduated strong senior classes, so it will be interesting to watch these teams early on to see what they have. Oberlin is definitely in the mix and Wooster and Wittenberg could also make some noise.

[oldtimelax]

NCAC coaches predict Denison to lead the conference again, followed by Kenyon and OWU:

https://northcoast.org/news/2023/2/1/de ... -race.aspx

[BIGDAWG]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=htt ... AdAAAAABAD

[BIGDAWG]

Wooster already getting disrespected from the jump which both excites me and makes me irate. I know they will be better than Wittenberg, who lets face it is junk, Kenyon, who only had a good year because of a good senior class, and Oberlin whose mascot is a squirrel. Everyone knows squirrels don't do well in Ohio. Thinking they come in at the 3 spot in the conference, looking forward to a great year with fun discourse!

[Nosey Ned]

NCAC coaches predict Denison to lead the conference again, followed by Kenyon and OWU:

https://northcoast.org/news/2023/2/1/de ... -race.aspx

I guess there is no surprise in Denison being tabbed as the expected NCAC Champion again this year by the conference coaches. The Big Red return 4 first team and 4 second team all-conference selections. No one else returns more than 2 in total. Additionally, Denison has captured the NCAC’s AQ 7 of the 9 times its been contested, including the last 6 straight.

But with all due respect to the conference, winning the AQ is just the first of the goals on the white board every year for the Big Red. Denison will say they are looking each year to contend for a National Championship. However, after being unceremoniously ushered out of the NCAAs the last 2 years (by 1 goal to Centre in the 1st round in ‘21 and last year losing by 1 million goals to York in round 3), I’ll be very happy when they play deep into May, make at least the Quarters and end the year around the top 10 of the final poll. That’s a realistic set of goals - at least it was under Coach Caravana.

Coach Koch has put together a challenging OOC schedule (saw somewhere it garnered honorable mention for toughest OOC) so we’ll see early on if he and his staff have taken the necessary steps to correct the huge disappointment we Big Red fans have taken away from the last 2 campaigns. I think the Pre-season #16-18 rankings are generous TBH. I’d love to see a semblance of the Big Red teams of 2016-2020 show up in the OOC slate early on and then I’ll know if even my watered down goals for ‘23 are realistic.

But enough with the “negative waves Moriarty”. It’s a new season, we have every goal still on the board and I’m excited for the season to start.

GO BIG RED

[TopCheddar]

Denison to make a NCAA run this year will be interesting. From Centre to York, they were struggling each game. Hopefully they are all revenge mode this year rather than just settling for less.

[oldtimelax]

Denison's biggest problem in the NCAA playoffs is too many gimme games after the spring trip. Koch made a smart move scheduling York on April 8th.

[Nosey Ned]

Denison's biggest problem in the NCAA playoffs is too many gimme games after the spring trip. Koch made a smart move scheduling York on April 8th.

Fair point Old, but I think as important as the date it’s scheduled is just that it was scheduled at all. I can’t recall the last time the Big Red lost by a double digit goal differential! Certainly not in the last 10 years! This group will have the opportunity to erase that embarrassment from both their own memories but hopefully from the leftover Spartans as well. York is a very good team but Denison should be able to comport themselves more competitively than that last game.

So I see this particular matchup as more than a late season OOC. It needs to be more than that for the Big Red. Don’t need to win - but do need to “get off the bus” and actually show up this time!

[MarionBarry]

Is it worse to lose to Centre by 1 or Salisbury by 9 or 10?? Both have happened in the past 10 years. Look at the teams Denison used to have to go through to get to the quarterfinals. It's not exactly the toughest of opponents and those scores are much closer than you would think. I don't think Denison ever played a team as good as york that early in the tournament.

[Nosey Ned]

Fair point about the road to the Qs in the old North / South setup. My point was I want to see the Denison that lost to Salisbury (the eventual National Champ) by 1 goal. That has happened twice in the last 6 years. That's the team I, and all Denison fans are hoping to see this year. One of these years we’re going to win that game too!

BTW - I’d rather lose 19-10 to Salisbury than 16-4 to York - where it’s 15-1 in the 4thQ!!!!

GO BIG RED