As I've been reading various previews, blogs, columns and message boards heading into Week 1 I continue to see this lazy trope about the MAC that goes something like-

"Well, its obvious team X will win because they are playing a MAC team and MAC teams can't match the size of teams from the Y conference."

It's annoying when someone posts it on a message board but I see paid professionals fall back on this nonsense as well. So I decided to see if this old folk tale had any truth to it and pulled the 2 deep for the Ohio v Lville game. I took the average height and weight for each team's 10 offensive linemen and 8 defensive linemen and here's how they stack up-

Offensive Line
Ohio- 6'4", 301.7lbs
Lville- 6'3", 303.7lbs

Defensive Line
Ohio- 6'2.75", 267.63lbs
Lville- 6'3.25", 270.25lbs

As I guessed, not much difference.

I didn't feel like pulling the data for all of the Week 1 match ups in the MAC but I encourage you to pull your team's info if you get a chance and share the numbers here on this thread. My guess is that more often than not the numbers will show this myth about the MAC being a lot smaller to be not true.

(08-28-2013 10:43 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  It's annoying when someone posts it on a message board but I see paid professionals fall back on this nonsense as well. So I decided to see if this old folk tale had any truth to it and pulled the 2 deep for the Ohio v Lville game. I took the average height and weight for each team's 10 offensive linemen and 8 defensive linemen and here's how they stack up-.

It can be misleading sometimes to use the average...it is better to use the median, as some teams (maybe MAC teams) can have the majority of their players be right around that average, whereas a P5 team might have a couple of extremely huge bubbas and maybe some extremely fast smaller guys that can skew the average to looking the same for both teams...

While I may agree that the disparity in size doesn't always happen, it is the depth difference that really hurts most mid-major teams. Most are lucky to get several of the more highly sought after recruits and injuries can decimate a team. Mid-major programs don't usually have 2nd teamers as good as the starters. Ask Ohio.

(08-28-2013 10:43 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Offensive Line
Ohio- 6'4", 301.7lbs
Lville- 6'3", 303.7lbs

Defensive Line
Ohio- 6'2.75", 267.63lbs
Lville- 6'3.25", 270.25lbs

As I guessed, not much difference.

When you see who each unit competes against, it looks similar.

Offensive Line vs. Defensive Line

Ohio - 6'4", 301 vs Lville - 6'3" 270
Lville - 6'3", 303 vs Ohio - 6'2, 267

I suspect that Louisville is not a good example. Against a B1G team, I'd expect the DL to be bigger.

The measurable differences that top programs look at.

1) Speed. This is now one of the most important factors when looking at an offensive lineman. A great bench press doesn't mean anything if you can't get to the opponent quick enough.

2) Success. Players coming out of the most competitive and successful environments are the ones most sought after. They know how to win and are driven to improve performance.

3) Injuries. The top programs always back off on players that have major injuries. Some of these guys end up at programs like Ohio because of an injury and then end up requiring a medical redshirt season sometime in their career.

-Size and height was more important of a gage 20 years ago when the amount of 300 pounders available was limited. H.S. and College nutrition has changed tremendously in recent decades.