As far as I can tell, getting one or two elite talents (D1 run-offs) is what it takes to get to the top. When Monmouth had an NFL QB, they were world beaters. When Carroll had a great RB, they had 8 wins. The trick is recruiting a few every year. As far as I can tell, SNC has been the only one capable of doing so. That is why I am so scared of the massacre we are in for after we leave the MWC. Here's hoping that the up in the prestige of the conference leads to better recruiting. In terms of this Carroll team, the lack of mental toughness is alarming. Chances to win the game on a 1yrd play in both of our losses, and both times we have been piss pounded. Burlingame has been so sloppy in the first two games and our running game has suffered because of it. This week marks the make or break for the season. Homecoming at CU... I guess we shall see

Just got back from taking in some live Carroll football at Benedictine. Gutsy come from behind win for the Pioneers.

This was a tale of two halves. In the first, the Pioneer offense was atrocious. Burlingame continued with his rollercoaster tendencies, throwing two picks which both were devastating in nature (the first was a 70 yard pick-6 and the second in the end zone after a 60+ yard drive). However the defense kept the Pios in it with some key stops and interceptions.

In the second half it seemed like Burlingame settled down, and the team followed suit. Also, the coaching staff made some key adjustments at the half and called a much better game in the 2nd. The screen pass game was also extremely impressive.

All-in-all a solid team win, without any individual stand outs. You've got to be happy with a defense that allowed only 6 points. Benedictine is head and shoulders better than they were last year, but their lack of discipline helped our cause greatly as well. Be that as it may, I'll take the W going in to the bye week. Time to get healthy and prep for conference action.

Great Great Great post Scottie.

Lakeland puts us in rebuild mode after 1 game... Piss poor in every facet of the game for the Pioneers. Interceptions, blocked extra points, botched punt snaps, an 8 point lead blown with 5 min left, and the inability to score from the 1 yard line to win in overtime. The young talent in the secondary was not used to the pace of 4 quarters of college football and the immaturity wound up biting us in the ass. A few good things, but this is a far cry from last season... At least it's non conference I guess... Lots of work to be done in Waukesha... Until then, I'm going for a drink

Whats up men,

That time of year is again upon us...
 
I will have a much more complete breakdown of the 2015 CU roster once camp breaks, but my initial thought = I am somewhat puzzled as to how we are picked to win the North as well.  I know that MAC suffers a huge hit by losing their QB (He pretty much put the team on his back and took over in the Carroll game), but does that really make up for the losses that Carroll had?  In my opinion, Carroll said goodbye to three of the best players in the school's history (Williams at RB, Klapper at SS and Blank at TE).  They will also struggle to replace great players like Tamblyn on the OL, Nass at DE, and Sahli at LB.  These are huge holes that were filled last season by quality all-conference players...

Now... Saying all that... I still am in shock that I am even discussing a Carroll team that is predicted to win the North.  The program has come such a long way and I could not be more proud of the team and the staff.  Hopefully the return of Burlingame under center and the return of several other all-conference players ends with the Pioneers living up to the expectations.  There are also rumors out of Waukesha that some of the incoming freshman are true world-beaters.  I guess only time will tell. Until then, let the Midwest Conference intensity begin.

Spring ball jumps off next week...

One of the best seasons in Carroll history will be promptly followed by one of the biggest rebuilds in Carroll history.  Looking forward to everyone's analysis regarding how the winter recruiting panned out for your respective squads and how things will be looking in 2015.

Go you CU

Carroll plays Monmouth in the 3rd place game...

Side note. Another 4 rushing touchdowns for LaMont Williams... I will be sad to see him go

From my accounting MAC is the division champ regardless of the outcome now... Even if they were to lose the lead in the 3rd it would only result in a tie with Carroll on the quarters lead... And from what I know it reverts back to head-to-head

A note from a Carroll Perspective,

Despite what many may have thought, I will not run from facing the music over Saturday's result.  I have only waited until tonight because I am prepping for a jury trial.  Anyway... My thoughts....

Carroll got beat by a great team that played a better game.  I am not willing to go all out and say that MAC is clearly the "better team", but they outplayed the Pioneers in every aspect of the game when they played... so they deserve to be treated as the better squad. 

Carroll's defense struggled all day.  They never found a way to slow down the mythodic pace of the MAC running game and they pounded them into submission.  Carroll's offense in turn did not play poorly, but could never make the big play to get them over the top.  Furthermore, MAC pushed a few buttons that were key in the game.  Specifically, an onside kick that was recovered late in the 3rd (they did not score, but it changed the sidelines for both sides right after Carroll had scored and MAC had answered).  Finally, I think it being Carroll's first overnight trip and true road game hurt them.  It's tough to have your first true roadie be against such a tough MAC team.

Mac is in the driver's seat and it appears that Carroll is going to need all sorts of help from the Green Knights.  However, because MAC has to travel to the land of green and gold, anything is possible.  I still hold out hope for this weekend, and I am excited to see how it turns out.

Post Script:  This week made it abundantly clear that Carroll did not deserve a national ranking, and that d3football.com had it right from jump street. 

I am hoping that someone smarter than I can explain the three scenarios where MAC, SNC and CU can make it to the title game... Because I think it's mathematically possible for all 3... If I understand, the way it goes is MAC simply just needs to lead 2 quarters next week to be in. Carroll needs SNC to beat MAC and lead 3 of the 4 quarters and they need to blow out Beloit and SNC needs to beat MAC and have Beloit beat CU as well... Too many lawyers, not enough mathematicians in this world.

Carroll is what this board thought they were (proper evaluation done by this crew).

Boy is it fun to see people with an extraordinary amount of DIII football knowledge and passion debate a topic.  I truly think that everyone who has posted has made solid points.  I challenge any D1 board to have an entire conversation without some idiot screaming Roll Tide! and not making one solid point.  Kudos to all of you.

That said, I am now going to make the somewhat useless comparison to the Div. 1 AP top 25 and how that poll is set up.  In analyzing that poll it is clear to see that teams from marginal conferences get recognition for doing "all that they can with the games on their schedule" in order to crack the top 25.  The team I equate this year's Carroll to is Marshall.  In the AP poll Marshall is ranked 23rd and has an overall 8-0 record. They have dominated C-USA, which is a mid-major conference with several automatic bowl bids.  However, when looking at their schedule (Miami OH, Akron, Rhode Island, Ohio, Old Dominion, Mid Tenn State, FAU and FIU), it is pretty weak.  They have blown out each team they have faced, and done the best they can with the schedule they play... and thus the AP has awarded them for doing so.  However, I was in Lexington Kentucky last week for the Miss. St. v. UK game and I can tell you this... Marshall is a .500 team at best in the SEC.... At Best.... Furthermore, I think that if they were to play either USC, Wisconsin or Stanford (the teams who are in the AP "others receiving votes" category), they would likely lose at least 2 of 3 in those games.  However, it is clear that the AP recognizes the communal nature of Div. 1 football, and the idea that dominance in a sanctioned conference in Division 1 athletics deserves a nod as the nations best.   

So, I guess my overall point is that I am just trying to find any logic I can to get my 7-0 Pioneers some recognition and I think that if the Associated Press can do it, so can D3football.com.  Ranking systems are  imperfect, but I think that one main element to them is a human one, that recognizes the accomplishments of teams playing well in a league.

Note:  I know that in 99.9% of circumstances there is a fundamental flaw in comparing DIII and D1 football (for better or worse... half of the big ten sent less players to NFL rosters last year than teams from Div. III) , but when it comes to national rankings I think the comparison isn't so bad.

A Note from a Carroll Perspective,

This week's game needs little recap.  Carroll remained dominant in all three phases and Ripon continued to look lost (To be honest, there is absolutely no love lost between myself and Ripon so I am not looking to fluff them up... they suck and I don't mind it at all). 

I instead would rather discuss the lack of national recognition for the Pioneers/Midwest Conference.  While I think that the blame for this can be spread around to several different recipients, I think that absolutely zero recognition is ridiculous. 

First, I am aware that the Conference is not an A-1 top tier league.  In fact, Carroll is so aware that they have decided to leave (and will probably feel the pain of that for some time while they try to ramp up to compete with the big boys).  That said, this conference is not a total dog either.  Schools like SNC and Monmouth have great traditions of winning with excellent student athletes on their roster.  Furthermore, the recent resurgence of the programs at IC and LFC (this year has been a disappointment I know, but that program is headed in the right direction for the long team after their amazing run to a league title last year) should get a bit more credit than it does.  Nobody in the world thinks that this Conference's champion is ready to hang with the likes of Whitewater and Mt. Union, but the fact that there is absolutely zero credit given I feel is a bit outrageous. This is an automatic-bid conference who sends a winner to the NCAA tournament.  That isn't just a throw-away.   I am in agreement that non-conference scheduling could be better, but its not the easiest thing in the world to schedule a bunch of top-tier talent to start a season (especially if your program is a bit of a nation unknown itself). 

Which brings me to my second gripe with Carroll receiving no love nationally (I would like to state for the record that I am not even sure if they are a top 25 team, but I do think that they should have at least one "others receiving votes" by now).  One of my major problems with the lack of recognition is not just because they are 7-0, but because of the dominant numbers they are putting up.  1st, Carroll is amongst the tops in Div. III in total defense and points allowed.  It has been a dominant season on the defensive side of the ball and their numbers put them at the top of the nation.  2nd, the same can be said for the seasons that LaMont and Burlingame are putting up.  Each of these guys are putting up numbers that compete league wide on a week-in and week-out basis.  It is a shame that it is being ignored.  Finally, the special teams scoring this season has been pretty amazing.  Returns for touchdowns have been abundant, but it goes by the wayside.  All-in-all, I think that these numbers being kicked to the curb is an injustice and should at least be worthy of  "others receiving votes" recognition.   

Next week we are off on an overnight road trip and the toughest test remaining on the schedule.  A win all but solidifies their spot in the title game... but "perfect regular season" does have such a nice ring to it.  Until next week...

http://gopios.com/news/2014/10/23/FB_1023143453.aspx

I'm just going off the last paragraph of the Carroll kool-aid article

I'd be happy to donate free legal services for the betterment of the board... As far as the top 25... D3football.com has them at 26... So a road win with strong numbers should have them cracking the top 25... Part of me never thought I'd see the day... Here's hoping