Facing new challenges in the NCAC

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This week after my conversation with men's basketball head coach Bill Fenlon, I couldn't help but think of all the new factors playing into sports next year as we switch from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference to the North Coast Athletic Conference.

One point Fenlon was quick to mention is that DePauw will have to adjust to 10 new opponents and their tendencies, while the other teams in the conference only have to learn about DePauw. For those who do not know a lot about scouting opponents, it is hard enough to learn a familiar opponent in one week let alone a brand new one.

However, joining the NCAC will make athletics simpler in at least one respect: less travel expenses. Less overnight trips equals less hotel spending and more money for the athletic department. Who knows? Maybe they'll build a new weight room.

One thing that not many know about is the predicament that football has been put in for the next season. Because of the two-year scheduling that football does they cannot completely transition to the NCAC until the 2012 season. This means that the team is technically not in a conference and that makes a post-season birth much harder for the Tigers.

Athletes must now make a statement in their first years of the new conference. We have implemented our name in SCAC history by the number of President's Trophies, but this past year, Wabash beat us up in most sports, including football, basketball and baseball.

The pressure is on our athletes more than ever to succeed. Getting to the postseason has become harder for most sports. Track will have to get used to actually competing in Indoor Track Meets, which they have blown off and used as warm up meets in the past.

As both a fan and a player, it will be an interesting year to witness next year's athletics to say the least. We will be seeing teams and players we have never seen before and challenges that teams have never faced. I think it can only make us better and will help set us apart from other athletic programs in the country.

Personally, I think our athletes have the skill, devotion and love of the game to make the transition to a new conference seem like nothing has ever happened. The school motto "uncommon success" could become the motto of the athletic programs at this school next year.

So athlete, from me to you, good luck with the upcoming transition and playing in the NCAC for many years to come.

— Brown is a junior from Poway, Calif., and is majoring in communication. sports@thedepauw.com