NCAC 2024

[oldtimelax]

John Carroll will be a great addition to the NCAC. They are competitive across all sports, and will be definitely be among the Top 4 teams in Men's Lacrosse. The other plus is that other teams can schedule them now for April instead of February or early March. OWU has had some memorably chilly and snowy encounters up there -- by the banks of Lake Erie. Sounds like this is going to happen.

https://www.d3sports.com/notables/2024/ ... r-from-oac#:

Official, 2025-2026 school year. 2026 for lax season. Will make it less likely for JCU to make the NCAA tourney and weaken the midwest competition in the NCAA tournament overall.

Agreed, I think they instantly become the third-best team in the NCAC behind Denison and Kenyon but will struggle to win conference championships as they did in the OAC. This does make Baldwin Wallace's road to the NCAA tournament so much easier.

Could this help the NCAC become a consistent 2-bid conference if JC is able to pick up some good out-of-conference wins?

I would take exception to your claim that JCU would 'instantly become the third best team in the NCAC'. They have split the four games with OWU and won one by a goal in the final minute, while the Bishops have beaten them handily in the recent past. They are a welcome addition and are another competitive team in the mix that plays a tough OOC schedule, is trying to get ranked, and find a place in the NCAA tournament conversation.

[Leonard Washington]

Agreed, I think they instantly become the third-best team in the NCAC behind Denison and Kenyon but will struggle to win conference championships as they did in the OAC. This does make Baldwin Wallace's road to the NCAA tournament so much easier.

Could this help the NCAC become a consistent 2-bid conference if JC is able to pick up some good out-of-conference wins?

Great that JCU is making the move over to the NCAC. When it comes to lacrosse, they may not win as many championships as they did in the OAC, but, IMO, will claim a couple within the next decade.

I had a chance to watch their OWU game from last year. 7-2 at halftime and it wasn't that close (they have won their last two matchups in back to back years against the Bishops). Good to see that they are playing 3 out of their first 4 opponents this season from the NCAC (Wooster, OWU and Denison).

There real question is (as long as Hiram sticks around), since there will be 10 teams sponsoring men's lacrosse, do the NCAC playoffs expand to 6 teams?

[Nosey Ned]

Agreed, I think they instantly become the third-best team in the NCAC behind Denison and Kenyon but will struggle to win conference championships as they did in the OAC. This does make Baldwin Wallace's road to the NCAA tournament so much easier.

Could this help the NCAC become a consistent 2-bid conference if JC is able to pick up some good out-of-conference wins?

Great that JCU is making the move over to the NCAC. When it comes to lacrosse, they may not win as many championships as they did in the OAC, but, IMO, will claim a couple within the next decade.

I had a chance to watch their OWU game from last year. 7-2 at halftime and it wasn't that close (they have won their last two matchups in back to back years against the Bishops). Good to see that they are playing 3 out of their first 4 opponents this season from the NCAC (Wooster, OWU and Denison).

There real question is (as long as Hiram sticks around), since there will be 10 teams sponsoring men's lacrosse, do the NCAC playoffs expand to 6 teams?

I don’t think so. On either question - 1) I suspect the NCAC will for the most part remain a 1 bid conference with an occasional 2nd bid every few years. 2 bids will not be the norm. 2) JCU, for all intents and purposes replaces Allegheny. So the NCAC has been a 10 team league the past few years and the format remained a 4 team tournament. But the tournament competition will be stiffer for sure.

As a Denison fan I welcome JCU because they make the conference better. The likes of OWU (and even Denison down the road) better recognize the sport is not stagnant and if they don’t continue to grow and invest in their program, they run the risk of being left behind.

[D3LaxFan2]

I don’t think so. On either question - 1) I suspect the NCAC will for the most part remain a 1 bid conference with an occasional 2nd bid every few years. 2 bids will not be the norm. 2) JCU, for all intents and purposes replaces Allegheny. So the NCAC has been a 10 team league the past few years and the format remained a 4 team tournament. But the tournament competition will be stiffer for sure.

As a Denison fan I welcome JCU because they make the conference better. The likes of OWU (and even Denison down the road) better recognize the sport is not stagnant and if they don’t continue to grow and invest in their program, they run the risk of being left behind.

NCAC moving to Region 5 will most likely result in 5 or even 6 regionally ranked teams. This will make the 3rd and 4th place teams Pool C resumes look very appealing, especially if the league playoffs expand to 6 teams. 2nd place team getting a Pool C bid is a virtual lock at this point, I think.

[Nosey Ned]

I don’t think so. On either question - 1) I suspect the NCAC will for the most part remain a 1 bid conference with an occasional 2nd bid every few years. 2 bids will not be the norm. 2) JCU, for all intents and purposes replaces Allegheny. So the NCAC has been a 10 team league the past few years and the format remained a 4 team tournament. But the tournament competition will be stiffer for sure.

As a Denison fan I welcome JCU because they make the conference better. The likes of OWU (and even Denison down the road) better recognize the sport is not stagnant and if they don’t continue to grow and invest in their program, they run the risk of being left behind.

NCAC moving to Region 5 will most likely result in 5 or even 6 regionally ranked teams. This will make the 3rd and 4th place teams Pool C resumes look very appealing, especially if the league playoffs expand to 6 teams. 2nd place team getting a Pool C bid is a virtual lock at this point, I think.

NCAC moved to Region V? Have to admit I missed that. Do you have a link with the new Regional placements?

[D3LaxFan2]

NCAC moved to Region V? Have to admit I missed that. Do you have a link with the new Regional placements?

https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2013/11/5/d ... rosse.aspx

[Nosey Ned]

NCAC moved to Region V? Have to admit I missed that. Do you have a link with the new Regional placements?

https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2013/11/5/d ... rosse.aspx

Thanks!

[laxfan13]

NCAC moved to Region V? Have to admit I missed that. Do you have a link with the new Regional placements?

https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2013/11/5/d ... rosse.aspx

That's a relatively easy path for an NCAC team to get to the Sweet 16. I don't really see any of those other midwest conferences providing a team that could challenge the top of the NCAC. TBH, that's probably how it should be. Top half of NCAC is better than most any other midwest conference champion.

[Leonard Washington]

JCU, for all intents and purposes replaces Allegheny. So the NCAC has been a 10 team league the past few years and the format remained a 4 team tournament. But the tournament competition will be stiffer for sure.

Thanks for the update. I was unsure if Allegheny was on a probation period for 4 years or so and whether or not they were eligible for the NCAC playoffs.

[Nosey Ned]

Denison scrimmage Cleveland State (11am) and Mercyhurst (1pm) - last year’s D2 National runner up - this Saturday at Cleveland State. Then Cleveland St v Mercyhurst (3pm) for those of you in the Cleveland area “jonesing” for some January lacrosse.

[ohiolax]

Resigned as he got out of coaching supposedly. So that must have been the NCAC coach leaving that was said earlier this fall from another poster

Wasn't able to connect the dots but definitely makes sense now. Thank you

Leonard this isn’t true. Welch had no commits and was struggling. He got let go.

[Nosey Ned]

The Big Red getting after it. Watch out NCAC!

The new stadium field looks sweet!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2ieTbcL ... hnbnRkZjhj

[oldtimelax]

Both Denison and Kenyon post their 2024 rosters....both have fifteen first-years on their rosters...heavily filled with prep school kids

https://denisonbigred.com/sports/mens-l ... sort=class

https://athletics.kenyon.edu/sports/men ... sort=class

[oldtimelax]

Oberlin also posting their roster....22 new first years!

Wooster too...only eight new players?

https://goyeo.com/sports/mens-lacrosse/roster?view=2

https://www.woosterathletics.com/sports ... ?sort=year

[MidwestSharp]

The Big Red getting after it. Watch out NCAC!

The new stadium field looks sweet!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2ieTbcL ... hnbnRkZjhj

[BallHunt]

Both Denison and Kenyon post their 2024 rosters....both have fifteen first-years on their rosters...heavily filled with prep school kids

https://denisonbigred.com/sports/mens-l ... sort=class

https://athletics.kenyon.edu/sports/men ... sort=class

Curious to hear from this bunch how Kenyon winds up this season...

[oldtimelax]

I think Kenyon will be right there in the hunt again for the NCAC title. Along with the Bishops, they will provide the only real challengers to Denison.

While they have some holes to fill with the departure of Guiffre and Boesel on the offense, that young group of Chintala, Heath and Gumucio should pick up the slack and keep the Owls rolling. I thought Chintala should have earned better then 3rd team last year -- he's the point guard back there, and is a very smart player. Kenyon also have an All-American caliber FOGO in Nelson (.732 win %) and his second, Jordan, is pretty good too. They did lose some solid d-middies in Murray and Bazzano, but their goalie and solid group of young d-men are returning.

For many years, Kenyon was solid but couldn't get past Denison and OWU. They finally beat Denison last year (though they are 1-15 in the recent past) and they have won three out of the last four against the Bishops, but are 4-14 since 2010. Denison is potentially a Top 15 team, talent-wise, but has the most difficult out-of-conference schedule ever. I believe OWU will be much better -- as all of their top seven scorers are back and they were all freshman or sophomores last year. Their FOGOs, defensemen, d-middies, LSM and goalie all return and they have a large and talented group of freshmen coming in.

[alwaysalord]

Does anyone have any reports out of the Denison vs Cleveland scrimmage?

[DeepPocket]

Does anyone have any reports out of the Denison vs Cleveland scrimmage?

Quoting a post in the endless argument over on the NESCAC thread- It was stated that they both went with starters for the first 3 quarters.
“Denison led Cleveland State 12-8 after the first three quarters of their scrimmage. Both teams substituted liberally in Q4 and CSU eked out a one-goal win.”

[MidwestSharp]

Does anyone have any reports out of the Denison vs Cleveland scrimmage?

Quoting a post in the endless argument over on the NESCAC thread- It was stated that they both went with starters for the first 3 quarters.
“Denison led Cleveland State 12-8 after the first three quarters of their scrimmage. Both teams substituted liberally in Q4 and CSU eked out a one-goal win.”

+1. This is accurate