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2013 Final Standings
Looking back: The 2013 campaign saw two teams from the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC): Wittenberg and Wabash, finish 9-1 at the end of the regular season. But in the one game that decided the league title, it was the Tigers that outlasted the Little Giants, 35-17, on November 9. That win give Wittenberg the NCAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs, while sending the Little Giants home with the loss.
In the Division III playoffs, the Tigers cruised to a convincing 59-17 win over Lebanon Valley in the first round, before being blown out themselves by Mount Union, 56-21, in the second round.
Looking ahead: Expect Wittenberg and Wabash to do battle for the 2014 NCAC crown. But at least two other challengers--Wooster and Denison--could give them a run for their money.
Predicted order of finish (2013 overall record in parentheses):
1. Wittenberg (10-2): In 18 seasons as the Tigers head coach, Joe Fincham has a compiled a career record of 164-37, while not finishing with a sub-.500 record during that span. It's a trend that he hopes to continue in 2014.
2. Wabash (9-1): The Little Giants hope to use the sting of last year's loss to Wittenberg as motivation for this year.
3. Wooster (7-3): The Scots hope that a four-game winning streak to close out 2013 will carry over into 2014.
4. Denison (7-3): The Big Red faithful are looking for bigger and better things as well, after their squad finished 2013 with three straight wins.
5. Ohio Wesleyan (5-5): Tom Watts will start his second season at the Battling Bishops helm with four of their six games on the road. Can anybody say "Ouch!" At least they play Wittenberg and Wabash at home.
6. DePauw (4-6): The Tigers look to reverse a trend of three straight losing seasons dating back to 2011.
7. Kenyon (4-6): A once promising 4-2 start disintegrated into a season-ending four-game skid for the Lords. That's something they hope to rectify in 2014.
8. Oberlin (3-7): Jay Anderson was named the new head coach for the Yeomen in February 2014. He'll look to turn around a program that has struggled to get wins for quite some time.
9. Hiram (2-8): Want to find the last time the Terriers had a winning season? Try 1988, when they finished 6-3. Reversing that trend in 2014 won't be easy however, as they face four teams that had winning records in 2013, all in NCAC action.
10. Allegheny (0-10): A once-proud Gators program--which finished 13-0-1 overall en route to winning the 1990 NCAA Division III national championship--dropped all the way into the NCAC cellar in 2013, going winless in all of their games. Needless to say, they'll have work out cut for them just to win a game in 2014.
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