Co-authored by
Tom Morand and Colby Briceland
The annual Ohio Dodgeball Cup will take place this upcoming weekend at Bowling Green State University. This year there will be 8 teams in attendance looking to take home the cup. The ODC is structured in such a way that if only one team goes undefeated on the day they will win the Cup. In the case multiple teams end with the same record a tie breaker will be played after the conclusion of the scheduled matches to determine which team is the best in the Ohio region.
Click here to see the score sheet and schedule for the Ohio Dodgeball Cup!
Front-Runners:
Colby Briceland: Miami, Akron, Bowling Green
Tom Morand: Miami, Bowling Green, Kent State
Hunter Ford: Miami, Akron, Kent
Kevin Bailey: Miami, Akron, Kent
Team Previews:
#6 Miami University (12-5)
This will be the first time that I can remember that Miami is favored to win a huge event. Miami has never won the ODC before, but winning the ODC has been one of their main goals all season long. Looking at the records Miami is 5-1 against Ohio teams while the only loss coming at the hands of Kent, so I think if they are able to take down Kent the cup’s resting place may already be decided. –TM
I never thought that Miami would be the headliner of the Ohio Region this quickly after rejoining the league, but here we are. These kids are as athletic a roster as I have seen from top to bottom and plays with incredible discipline, anything but a 3-0 tournament from the Redhawks will be an upset for sure.-CB
#8 Bowling Green State University (8-10)
I strongly believe BGSU is the most underrated team in Ohio and that may come to their advantage this weekend. I feel most people take BGSU’s season for face value and look at their subpar record, but don’t take in account how much experience Reid Manger has gotten for his team. BGSU will need to have everything click this weekend to take down Akron, Kent, and Miami all in one tournament, but they are playing with home court advantage and that might be the spark they need to take the cup this year. If they are going to have a chance at the ODC Max Kowalski and Owen Sill are going to perform above and beyond how they played at the WAR to take these teams down. –TM
This team is my dark horse pick to win ODC. It’s on their home turf and the Falcons keep progressing every time they play. I think they have moved past their growing pains from earlier this season and have their eyes focused on the cup, and maintaining top ten before nationals.-CB
#10 Kent State University (12-10)
Kent will be defending last year’s Ohio Dodgeball Cup title. Will they be able to hold on to the title with a few less key players than ever before? I think the WAR was still a huge adjustment for this team and they are finally starting to come to a new style of play. I think if Kent is too passive this weekend you may find a few teams giving them more of a fight that what you would typically expect against Kent. They are really going to have to step up at the ODC to regain some respect for their team. –TM
Kent has the ability to leave Bowing Green with the cup. It all depends on which Kent State we see tomorrow. They have had such a roller coaster of a season that it makes predicting them that much harder. Greg Vinnig had a hell of a tournament at Akron’s WAR, and if he can keep his game up while he and Parker Morris keep the rest of the roster composed and disciplined, they very well may win out.-CB
#11 University of Akron (13-6)
Akron has proven they can get off to a red hot starts a against top tier team with getting up on SVSU 3-1 before eventually losing the match in OT. I think being able to go up 3-1 on two separate occasions at the WAR shows Akron has a solid game plan to strategically take apart the other team, but fails to adapt once the other team makes changes. I am excited to see how Akron matches up to BGSU, and Kent because they have yet to play the higher ranked teams in Ohio in the second half of the season. –TM
This will be a true test for my Zips. We have shown that we can take the fight to top tier teams after taking the first point on CMU and taking SVSU into OT. However, once teams seem to adapt to our play style, it becomes challenging to change our gameplan. If we are able to overcome that obstacle we’ve faced all year, then we have the capability of winning the Ohio Dodgeball Cup and gaining a top ten seed for nationals.-CB
#12 Ohio University (10-7)
I am honestly a little disappointed with Ohio this season. It seems that whenever they take a few steps forward the next tournament forces them back to where they started. They will face Kent, BGSU, and UC and I know they want the cup back from two years ago. Ohio has the means to beat both Kent and BGSU and I expect both of those games to go down to the wire. –TM
I think the Bobcats are my underdog pick. They have shown that they can take the fight to better teams, as evident by their 4-0 win over VCU, but then they can’t get traction sometimes. When they played BGSU they weren’t able to mount a comeback. I believe that if they can put the pieces together, we can see an impressive day from OU.-CB
#20 Ohio State University (3-7)
Ohio State is an extremely young team with a large portion of their roster only playing in a handful of tournaments. I can’t say they are on the same tier as some of the teams listed above them, but I think they have a chance of going 2-1 at the ODC. I think the CSU game will be a great match to watch and I wouldn’t be surprised if it went into OT like their last match against UK.-TM
This team is young and talented for sure. They have a top heavy roster with the likes of Ben Johnson and Dylan Greer at the helm. They have a few good rookies who make big impact plays for the Buckeyes. They have a great chance to go 2-1 in Bowling Green. If they can weather the storm that is CSU, then we could again see the Buckeyes with a winning schedule.-CB
#27 Cleveland State University (5-10)
Every time I look at the score of a match that CSU I am either impressed with how close they kept it against an elite team or seemed like they got blown out. This weekend is going will be vital to determine if they can make a push toward the middle tier of teams in Ohio and they have the schedule to do prove it. They play Akron, UC, and OSU and in all of their games the winner is not already clear.-TM
CSU has a very good schedule for going 2-1. If things get shaken up tomorrow and we have no teams go undefeated, then we very well could see CSU playing for the Cup tomorrow. Joe Walsh is a standout for the Vikings and if he can gain the support from the rest of his roster, we could see some big things coming from this young squad.-CB
NR: University of Cincinnati (0-0)
Technically the ODC will be UC’s inaugural tournament, but a portion of Wes Peters’ roster played at Ball State University in December. I think that many players on their roster such as Brannon McGinn (President/ Assistant Captain), Brett Liming (Captain), and Cory Heitmann will catch CSU, OSU, and Ohio off guard if they aren’t paying attention. I wouldn’t be surprised if they take down a few points even though they will not have a full roster of 12 players.-TM
YES! finally Cincinnati is making their debut into the league. As with all new teams, one can’t expect too much from these guys at the ODC. But, this is a good chance for them to gain some much needed experience from playing against and watching some of the top teams in the country. Very much looking forward to watching them take their first steps.-CB
