SpringfieldNewsSun.com

DELAWARE — There is no overtime in preseason voting. Wittenberg and Wabash will have to wait until Oct. 18 to settle things.

The North Coast Athletic Conference football coaches tabbed the Tigers as the preseason favorite on Friday, Aug. 8, at Oakhaven Golf Course, but for the first time ever, there was a tie in the media poll.

Each team received 227 voting points, with Wabash having a 13-11 advantage in first-place votes.

"Wittenberg, because of the tradition, your expectations are always going to be high, whether you're first or second or third," Wittenberg coach Joe Fincham said. "There's certainly not much separating us and Wabash from a voting — and rightfully so. Wabash has been fantastic over recent years in our league."

Seven of the 10 coaches gave the nod to the Tigers. The other three picked the Little Giants, who will be led by first-year coach Erik Raeburn.

Wabash won the outright title last season and in 2005 and tied for the championship with Wittenberg in 2006. The Tigers have not won the NCAC crown outright since 2001.

A number of factors give Wittenberg reason to hope that will change this fall.

• The Tigers return 16 starters, including third-year starting junior quarterback Aaron Huffman, and 48 letter winners.

• The freshmen who played such a big part in last year's 8-2 season have another year of seasoning. Among them is linebacker Brad McKinley, the NCAC Newcomer of the Year in 2007, and running backs Rod Belcher and Corey Weber.

• Perhaps, most crucially, considering Wittenberg's season so often comes down to the game with Wabash, the Little Giants have to travel to Springfield this year.

That doesn't mean Fincham is feeling as lucky as the lineman from his alma mater, Ohio University, who won $250,000 in the Mega Millions lottery this week.

"The last time expectations or talk was this great about us, we lose Ryan Holmes in the first ballgame (in 2005), and we end up having a disastrous season," said Fincham, who's entering his 13th season. "Yeah, it's exciting, but there's a lot of stuff that can happen between now and November."

2008 NCAC Football

Media poll

T-1. Wabash 227 (13)

T-1. Wittenberg 227 (11)

3. Wooster 171

4. Ohio Wesleyan 162

5. Allegheny 152

6. Oberlin 121

7. Denison 107

8. Kenyon 74

9. Earlham 43

10. Hiram 36

Coaches poll

1. Wittenberg 97 (7)

2. Wabash 93 (3)

3. Wooster 72

4. Allegheny 67

5. Ohio Wesleyan 66

6. Oberlin 46

7. Denison 45

8. Kenyon 31

9. Hiram 17

10. Earlham 16