What it is: Founded in 1983, the North Coast Athletic Conference consists of nine schools in Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Of those members, Wabash is the only all-male school in the league. U.S. News & World Report recognized all but one of those institutions in its most recent ranking of liberal arts colleges.
The NCAC will undergo some changes during the upcoming season, as Earlham College has left that league for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, while another Indiana institution, DePauw University, will take the Quakers place starting in July 2011.
Wittenberg not only has the distinction of winning two of the first three NCAA Division III national championships (1973, 1975), but also the most wins all-time in D-III. Those titles, however, came while the Tigers played in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Meanwhile, Allegheny is the lone current NCAC member to win a national championship (1990).
Website: http://www.northcoast.org
Predicted order of finish (2009 order of finish, overall record in parentheses)
1. Wittenberg (12-1): The Tigers hope the return of 14 starters from last year's national quarterfinal playoff team will propel them past the third round, and their first national championship in over 35 years.
2. Allegheny (8-2): The Gators open NCAC play against defending league champion Wittenberg at home on September 25.
3. Wabash (9-2): The Little Giants have gone 88-23 over the past decade. But they were an average 6-5 in playoff games during that span.
4. Wooster (5-5): The Scots struggled to a modest 4-3 mark in NCAC play last season.
5. Kenyon (3-7): The Lords will play three of their first four games at home.
6. Ohio Wesleyan (3-7): The bright side for the Battling Bishops is that they finally get to play at home, under the lights! They'll make history by playing host to Wooster on September 25.
7. Oberlin (2-8): The Yeomen were outscored 195-92 in NCAC games last season.
8. Denison (3-7): The Big Red have had just three winning seasons over the last two decades. It won six games in each of those seasons (1990, 2004, 2008).
9. Hiram (0-10): The Terriers welcome a lot of newcomers in 2010.
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4 years ago
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