FB: American Rivers Conference

[D O.C.]

not just the fact that they have someone on the West region committee  

..and I realized it for the first time ever.

Go Dutch. No mishaps!

[wildcat11]

not just the fact that they have someone on the West region committee 

..for the first time ever.

Go Dutch. No mishaps!

Actually, Coach Smith has been on the west committee for a number of years.  In the end, the National Committee sets the directives that the regional committees follow.  Right now, the numbers favor Linfield and as you all have discussed those can change wildly over the next three weeks.

[MWCfan787]

I think I speak for all of us in the MWC when I say Good Luck to the Buena Vista University Beavers the next two weeks.  A Central loss makes Monmouth a lock for a home game, and a Coe loss opens up an outside chance for a 9-1 St. Norbert to get in.

[coocooforcoekohawk]

There are only six pool C bids.  Why does everyone think that the West is automatically going to get one third of the Pool C bids.  The North with seven AQ's and the toughest (OAC) conference will get one third of the bids leaving four bids for three regions.  The CCIW will get a second bid and if they don't the Conference Wabash is in will get it.  Plus a pool B bid may go north needing to move out two North teams.  One will go to the East and one will go to the West.

My prediction is Mount Union or Otterbein goes East and the winner of the Concordias will go West.

The West will get one Pool C bid which will go to St. Thomas unless they lose to Bethel, then it will go to Coe if they win out. If St. Thomas and Coe both lose the Pool C bid will go to the second place WIAC even if they have two losses.  If USWP loses a close one to UWW they will go with three losses.  Aszuza Pacific in not going to hurt them as a loss and their other two will be close losses to the top two teams being their other loss is a one pointer to Central.  

St. Norberts has NO chance of making the playoffs.

[DutchFan2004]

There are only six pool C bids.  Why does everyone think that the West is automatically going to get one third of the Pool C bids.  The North with seven AQ's and the toughest (OAC) conference will get one third of the bids leaving four bids for three regions.  The CCIW will get a second bid and if they don't the Conference Wabash is in will get it.  Plus a pool B bid may go north needing to move out two North teams.  One will go to the East and one will go to the West.

My prediction is Mount Union or Otterbein goes East and the winner of the Concordias will go West.

The West will get one Pool C bid which will go to St. Thomas unless they lose to Bethel, then it will go to Coe if they win out. If St. Thomas and Coe loses the Pool C bid will go to second place WIAC even if they have two losses.  If USWP loses a close one to UWW they will go with three losses.  Aszuza Pacific in not going to hurt them as a loss and their other to will be close losses to the top two teams being their other loss is a one pointer to Central. 

St. Norberts has NO chance of making the playoffs.

I agree with some of what you say.  With the recent success that the IIAC has had getting to the regional finals the last two years I am not sure that the MIAC will be viewed as a superior conference.  Coe is on the bubble as I posted before.  If UWW does not take care of business against UWSP the WIAC will get two teams in the playoffs, unless UWW has the wheels fall off and loses two games.  All the playoff talk is only guessing at this early stage.  They may be somewhat educated guesses but guesses nontheless.  I think the picture will clear a lot after this week. 

[coocooforcoekohawk]

St. Norberts has NO chance of making the playoffs.

A third OAC team should get in before Norberts!

[Mr. Ypsi]

The North has only six pool A bids, plus CWRU is pretty well guaranteed as a pool B.  The OAC is virtually assured a pool C; the CCIW will probably get one only if Wheaton goes 9-1 (with NCC winning the AQ).  [IWU is hoping to prevent BOTH those CCIW scenarios!]  Otherwise, the CCIW runner-up is at best 8-2.

Probably Wabash is the only other likely pool C team.  The North may export a team or two, but it is no done deal.  [Although IF UWW comes 'North', as seems likely if MUC goes 'East' (we've got some teams I think are strong enough to merit a #1, but once Wheaton lost, probably none by the criteria), we may have to 'export' a couple.]

[DutchHawk]

St. Norberts has NO chance of making the playoffs.

A third OAC team should get in before Norberts!

Agreed

[DutchHawk]

There are only six pool C bids.  Why does everyone think that the West is automatically going to get one third of the Pool C bids.  The North with seven AQ's and the toughest (OAC) conference will get one third of the bids leaving four bids for three regions.

St. Norberts has NO chance of making the playoffs.

Last I checked the WIAC was the toughest conference in the nation

[warthog]

Thought for the day:

The game of life is a lot like football. You have to tackle your problems, block your fears, and score your points when you get the opportunity.

- Lewis Grizzard

[5 Words or Less]

At the risk of talking about something other than playoffs ...

	MOST	LEAST
	PENALIZED	PENALIZED
CONFERENCE	TEAM	TEAM
IIAC	Wartburg (3-2/4-3, T-3rd)	Cornell (0-5/1-6, Last)
MC	Monmouth (7-0/8-0, First)	Knox (0-7/0-8, Last)
MIAC	St. Thomas (5-1/6-1, T-2nd)	Concordia (1-4/3-4, T-6th*)
NC	Linfield (4-0/7-0, First)	Witworth (1-3/3-5, 5th*)
OAC	Otterbein (6-0/7-0, T-First)	Tie - John Carrol (3-3/3-4 5th)
		Tie -Wilmington (1-5/1-6, Last)
SCIAC	Wittier (0-3/2-4, T-Last)	Occidental (3-0/5-1, T-First)
WIAC	UW-Oshkosh (2-2/4-3, T-3rd)	UW-River Falls (2-2/2-4, Last)

* One game out of last place


I find it interesting that teams with more pentalty yards trend upward in the standings, while the bottom of the league standings is where the clean teams reside.  This flies in the face of the notion of "Winners never cheat and Cheaters never win" (SCIAC is the exeption that makes the rule).  I'm sure many arguements could be made as to why this is or even explanations of why some teams always seem to do better than others, but here's my take on it.

Clipping, roughing the punter and facemasking are easy penalties for fans and referees to see and call.  All coaches discourage their players from committing these egregious errors.  Other penalty calls, such as holding, are less easy to see and the referees have to discern shades of gray because technically speaking, a hold is committed on virtually every play.  Referees tend to call roughly the same number of penalties on each side (typical ratios are between 1:1 to 1.5:1) in order to appear impartial, so many "darkish gray" non-calls are allowed.  This encourages O-linemen to push the line as far as they can to see what will and what won't be called.  

O-lines that hold and get away with it have a distinct advantage over their lawful counterparts because they can open bigger holes and provide their QB's more time to deliver the ball.   Just two additional yards per play can add up to 120 yards per game and up to 2 scores per game.

So this brings me to Cornell.  The Rams have been the least penalized team and have finished last in the IIAC in 6 of the last 7 seasons.  I hate to see nice guys finish last and hope that they can prevent future games from slipping out of their grasp.  Committing penalties just for the heck of it isn't going to win games, but hold on to this idea for further consideration the next time your're on an elevator between 3rd and 2.  It's a difficult concept to wrap your arms around, but there's a fine line between winning and losing. 

[doolittledog]

Interesting post 5WOL.

Walston Hoover and some others on here probably have some good observations on that theme. 

[FightnScot77]

Agree with your assessment 

In Monmouth's case, "we only have eight more penalties on the season over our opponents."
                                                     MC            OPP
PENALTIES-Yards...............             58-539       50-419
Average Per Game............               67.4             52.4   (15 yards differential per game.)

but the score and first down differential is 'what it is!...
                                                      MC          OPP

SCORING.......................                    391           77
  Points Per Game.............                  48.9          9.6
FIRST DOWNS...................                 213          113

As a son of an official growing up his remarks were, "We hope to leave the stadium with the fans remembering the final score and not my number on the back of the uniform!" A shout out to the referees when they get it right!

Good thoughts and see you in the playoffs!

[SpeedKills84]

Interesting post 5WOL.

Walston Hoover and some others on here probably have some good observations on that theme.  

I agree...interesting post.  I've always known that Cornell is usually one of, if not the least, penalized teams in the conference.  Never really looked that far into it.  Guess I can't give a really good explanation as to why that is.  I don't ever remember the coaches preaching us to "play nice" or anything of the nature.  I remember a certain lineman who prided himself on the fact that he would hold more often than not and get away with it...sometimes haha.  Logic would say that when Cornell is down in games they would become more agressive and penalties would occur trying to make something happen.  It may just be the coaches bring a more conservative mentality to the team.  The playcalling the last few years has been quite conservative in my opinion, and they don't often score quickly.  The have methodical drives and march the ball first down by first down, down the field.  By preaching fundamentals and being conservative in playcalling has resulted in a low number of penalties.  That's the best explanation I can give for Cornell.  As for the general trend, I would argue that teams near the bottom need to play as cleanly and mistake free as possible to give themselves a chance to win.  Some teams are good enough to make mistakes and get away with it...others not so much.

[Fannosaurus Rex]

Am I the only Central fan who is scared by the big Halloween game with BV?  I just checked the weather forecast and I am relieved to learn that it should be sunny.  It seems like rain or anything else that might have slowed things down would have favored the low scoring Beavers.  Here's hoping no tricks and only treats for the seniors playing their last regular season game in Schipper Stadium.