FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mugsy]

Hey all,
I'm guilty of the drop off in participation.  Things are tight at work right now, so I don't have as much down time as in previous years.  I do enjoy checking in to the boards.  Anyone know why the Thunder/East Vikings game starts at 2 PM?  Just seems different to me, but I haven't really paid attention to North Park start times before, maybe they all start at 2. Carthage v IWU should be a burner.  I'm going to go with Carthage because of the home field advantage, not very confident though. 

Just a guess, but it is North Park's homecoming on Saturday.  I'm wondering with other homecoming festivities they decided to bump the starting time by an hour?

[Mugsy]

Mugsy, you were right.....a pretty quiet board for it being the first week of CCIW play.....I wonder what is going on?

Well for one... some of the primary posters over the years who would drive topics of conversation have been seen briefly lurking, but not heard from much.  USee for Wheaton, CardinalAlum for NCC come to mind.

There has been very, very little from the Augie nation thus far.  Jaybird is recently married and expecting a family so he has undergone "a change in priorities."   

There are far fewer people posting with their thoughts, insights and questions on the CCIW board than in past years.  I'm not sure why, but I don't think it is isolated solely to this board.  It makes me wonder if there aren't other factors involved?  The economy resulting in people focusing their time on more critical tasks (less leisure)? 

Not sure I want to ask Pat the general question as to whether or not there has been a dropoff in traffic to D3Football compared to previous years?

I dunno... hopefully things will pickup soon.  The past few Saturdays I feel like "I'm talking to myself" on the in-game updates board.   

Traffic has been just steady, neither up nor down, so far this year. We used to see significant growth, though, from year to year, so even holding steady is troubling.

I have one significant thought in mind as to how this happens -- back in the day, you know, up until about 18 months ago, when all of the schools' athletics web sites were homegrown, SIDs had control over where everything was placed and we had links to D3football.com from many schools.

But lately, the two major templated companies have moved in and taken a bunch of that market away. Schools have less control over how they link to us and since it wasn't in the default setup, many aren't linking to us at all anymore. We are trying to rectify that situation by sending out emails when we notice that schools no longer link to us, but to be honest, a link buried on a "Related links" page has a lot less impact than a logo right on the football main page.

Hmm... interesting perspective.  Thanks Pat.

[Mugsy]

I believe it was Mr. Ypsi who asked about how this years 20-4 CCIW non-conference record stacked up historically.  From the CCIW Notes on the CCIW website:

Non-conference breakdown
The CCIW concluded its non-conference season with a 20-4 record, marking only the second time in the last 22 seasons that the conference has won 20 or more non-conference games. It was the best finish since 2005 when the CCIW went 21-3. Elmhurst and Wheaton finished 3-0 in non-conference regular season games for the seventh straight season. The Bluejays have won 22 straight outside the CCIW while Wheaton has a 23-game winning streak in nonconference regular season action.

[bash06]

Mugsy, you were right.....a pretty quiet board for it being the first week of CCIW play.....I wonder what is going on?

Well for one... some of the primary posters over the years who would drive topics of conversation have been seen briefly lurking, but not heard from much.  USee for Wheaton, CardinalAlum for NCC come to mind.

There has been very, very little from the Augie nation thus far.  Jaybird is recently married and expecting a family so he has undergone "a change in priorities."   

There are far fewer people posting with their thoughts, insights and questions on the CCIW board than in past years.  I'm not sure why, but I don't think it is isolated solely to this board.  It makes me wonder if there aren't other factors involved?  The economy resulting in people focusing their time on more critical tasks (less leisure)? 

Not sure I want to ask Pat the general question as to whether or not there has been a dropoff in traffic to D3Football compared to previous years?

I dunno... hopefully things will pickup soon.  The past few Saturdays I feel like "I'm talking to myself" on the in-game updates board.   

Traffic has been just steady, neither up nor down, so far this year. We used to see significant growth, though, from year to year, so even holding steady is troubling.

I have one significant thought in mind as to how this happens -- back in the day, you know, up until about 18 months ago, when all of the schools' athletics web sites were homegrown, SIDs had control over where everything was placed and we had links to D3football.com from many schools.

But lately, the two major templated companies have moved in and taken a bunch of that market away. Schools have less control over how they link to us and since it wasn't in the default setup, many aren't linking to us at all anymore. We are trying to rectify that situation by sending out emails when we notice that schools no longer link to us, but to be honest, a link buried on a "Related links" page has a lot less impact than a logo right on the football main page.

Hmm... interesting perspective.  Thanks Pat.

another possibility is the increase use of twitter... I used to check d3football on game days but with twitter taking hold i can follow my teams easier with the SID posts than these forum pages

[Mugsy]

Ok, we've completed the non-conference portion of the schedule, so we now have a little better picture of where each team is at and some initial indications of strengths & weaknesses.

So... what are the prognostications for the CCIW portion of the schedule?

Here is my guess on how things will play out:

1. North Central: 7-0
2. Illinois Wesleyan: 6-1
3. Wheaton: 5-2
4. Carthage 3-4
   Augustana: 3-4
5. Millikin: 2-5
6. Elmhurst: 1-6
    North Park: 1-6

[New Tradition]

Ok, we've completed the non-conference portion of the schedule, so we now have a little better picture of where each team is at and some initial indications of strengths & weaknesses.

So... what are the prognostications for the CCIW portion of the schedule?

Here is my guess on how things will play out:

1. North Central: 7-0
2. Illinois Wesleyan: 6-1
3. Wheaton: 5-2
4. Carthage 3-4
    Augustana: 3-4
5. Millikin: 2-5
6. Elmhurst: 1-6
    North Park: 1-6

I sat down and tried to do this for about a half hour and couldn't come up with anything that I liked.  Of Wesleyan, Carthage, Millikin, Augie and Elmhurst, I can't decide who will finish ahead of who.  It all seems so evenly matched.  If I absolutely had to put something down:

1. North Central 7-0
2. Wheaton 6-1
3. Wesleyan 4-3
    Carthage 4-3
5. Augie 3-4
    Millkin 3-4
7. Elmhurst 1-6
8. North Park 0-7

I really don't like where I have Augie, Millikin and Elmhurst because I think that they are all better teams than that, but somebody has to lose. 

[Mugsy]

I sat down and tried to do this for about a half hour and couldn't come up with anything that I liked.  Of Wesleyan, Carthage, Millikin, Augie and Elmhurst, I can't decide who will finish ahead of who.  It all seems so evenly matched.  If I absolutely had to put something down:

1. North Central 7-0
2. Wheaton 6-1
3. Wesleyan 4-3
   Carthage 4-3
5. Augie 3-4
   Millkin 3-4
7. Elmhurst 1-6
8. North Park 0-7

I really don't like where I have Augie, Millikin and Elmhurst because I think that they are all better teams than that, but somebody has to lose.  

I agree with the difficulty in figuring this out.  I struggled with Augie, Carthage and Millikin.  I consulted the schedule and went week by week to figure out who I thought would win. After totaling up the wins and losses was shocked that I had Elmhurst at 1-6, and both Augie & Carthage at 3-4.

I see IWU as the surprise team, though not too big of a surprise.  While trying to come up with a wild card question for the Pick-Em's, I was pouring over their stats thus far and was amazed at the balance of their offense and relative strength on defense.  I had them beating Wheaton due to the home field advanage.  I think Wheaton's youth on defense will result in 2 conference losses - pains me as it may and I hope I'm way off on that.  I'd love to have Wheaton coaches and alum mock me at seasons end for this prediction.

[Gregory Sager]

Mugsy, you were right.....a pretty quiet board for it being the first week of CCIW play.....I wonder what is going on?

Well for one... some of the primary posters over the years who would drive topics of conversation have been seen briefly lurking, but not heard from much.  USee for Wheaton, CardinalAlum for NCC come to mind.

There has been very, very little from the Augie nation thus far.  Jaybird is recently married and expecting a family so he has undergone "a change in priorities."   

There are far fewer people posting with their thoughts, insights and questions on the CCIW board than in past years.  I'm not sure why, but I don't think it is isolated solely to this board.  It makes me wonder if there aren't other factors involved?  The economy resulting in people focusing their time on more critical tasks (less leisure)? 

Not sure I want to ask Pat the general question as to whether or not there has been a dropoff in traffic to D3Football compared to previous years?

I dunno... hopefully things will pickup soon.  The past few Saturdays I feel like "I'm talking to myself" on the in-game updates board.   

Until NPU stops being the scrawny kid who gets a wedgie every week on the playground, my participation here will always be limited. There just isn't that much that you can say on behalf of a program that hasn't won a conference game since Bill Clinton was in the White House -- not unless you've gone beyond being a mere spin doctor and are now a full-blown whirling dervish.

Hey all,
I'm guilty of the drop off in participation.  Things are tight at work right now, so I don't have as much down time as in previous years.  I do enjoy checking in to the boards.  Anyone know why the Thunder/East Vikings game starts at 2 PM?  Just seems different to me, but I haven't really paid attention to North Park start times before, maybe they all start at 2. Carthage v IWU should be a burner.  I'm going to go with Carthage because of the home field advantage, not very confident though. 

Just a guess, but it is North Park's homecoming on Saturday.  I'm wondering with other homecoming festivities they decided to bump the starting time by an hour?

NPU has a large campus block party in the morning that has become the major daytime focus of Homecoming in recent years. The block party is undoubtedly what is pushing the kickoff time back an hour.

Wait a minute, you ask; isn't the football game supposed to be the main thrust of a college's Homecoming activities? If you think that this rule applies to NPU, then you don't know much about North Park and its football history. In fact, given both attendance trends and the comparative states of the two programs, I would not be at all surprised if North Park's soccer team draws more students for its match against Dominican on Friday night than the North Park football team draws for its game against Wheaton on Saturday afternoon. (The overall attendance will favor the football game, of course, both because Wheaton will bring a bunch of people on Saturday and the NPU alumni will be in the stands for the football game as well, catching up with former classmates and trying to watch as little of the carnage on the field as possible.)

Seriously, if competing well on the gridiron in front of the alumni was a bigger concern for the NPU administration, then Homecoming would've been scheduled for two weeks from this coming Saturday, when the Vikings host Elmhurst. Not that NPU will be favored in that game, either, but the Bluejays are a far more realistic opponent for the Vikings to shine against than Wheaton -- plus, no Parker worth his or her salt really wants to sit through a game in which the dear ol' blue and gold gets pasted by Wheaton in anything, as will undoubtedly occur on Saturday. It's just that the weather is much more likely to be good on Saturday than it will be two weeks hence -- and good weather for the block party is what is driving the scheduling of Homecoming, and that goes for both the date itself and for the kickoff time.

(And, yes, I realize that intermittent showers and a high of only 54 degrees are forecast for the city on Saturday, whereas the weather might actually be nicer two Saturdays later. But keep in mind that Homecoming is scheduled over a year in advance.)

[Son of Tailgater]

CCIW Predictions 2009

I was waiting for someone to make the first move on this but have had this written down since the beginning of the week. Here are my predictions:

1. North Central 6-1 (Winning the head to head vs. Wheaton)
2. Wheaton 6-1
3. Augie 4-3
4. Millikin 4-3
5. Carthage 3-4
6. IWU 3-4
7. Elmhurst 2-5
8. North Park 0-7

[Son of Tailgater]

Mugsy,

The number one question from your predictions that I have: Who will North Park get their win against? I thought this year would be their year as well especially when they beat Carrol but losing last week to Benedictine made me lose confidence in them.

[oldnuthin]

CCIW Predictions 2009

I was waiting for someone to make the first move on this but have had this written down since the beginning of the week. Here are my predictions:

1. North Central 6-1 (Winning the head to head vs. Wheaton)
2. Wheaton 6-1
3. Augie 4-3
4. Millikin 4-3
5. Carthage 3-4
6. IWU 3-4
7. Elmhurst 2-5
8. North Park 0-7

Just a question from a relative newbie; Why is Elmhurst picked to finish so low? With 14 returning starters, 8 on d 6 on o, I would think they would have higher expectations, especially after last year. I realize they have struggled in the non con schedule, but shouldn't they be picked much higher?

[robertgoulet]

I'm going to be honest, I assumed many would drop NCC to 2nd (or lower?) due to the losses of Wenger and De Sulo.


Losing your 2 best defensive players would normally be cause for concern. Coach Thorne must have some very quality depth to plug in.

[New Tradition]

CCIW Predictions 2009

I was waiting for someone to make the first move on this but have had this written down since the beginning of the week. Here are my predictions:

1. North Central 6-1 (Winning the head to head vs. Wheaton)
2. Wheaton 6-1
3. Augie 4-3
4. Millikin 4-3
5. Carthage 3-4
6. IWU 3-4
7. Elmhurst 2-5
8. North Park 0-7

If NCC beats Wheaton, who do they lose to?

[Son of Tailgater]

CCIW Predictions 2009

I was waiting for someone to make the first move on this but have had this written down since the beginning of the week. Here are my predictions:

1. North Central 6-1 (Winning the head to head vs. Wheaton)
2. Wheaton 6-1
3. Augie 4-3
4. Millikin 4-3
5. Carthage 3-4
6. IWU 3-4
7. Elmhurst 2-5
8. North Park 0-7

Just a question from a relative newbie; Why is Elmhurst picked to finish so low? With 14 returning starters, 8 on d 6 on o, I would think they would have higher expectations, especially after last year. I realize they have struggled in the non con schedule, but shouldn't they be picked much higher?

I have mixed feelings about Elmhurst getting votes to be included in the Top 25.  Don't get me wrong, I love seeing EC getting some recognition.
Last year CardinalAlum talked about if Elmhurst had 1 more win and the game vs. IWU comes to mind, where EC had their chances... Elmhurst would have been right on the cusp of the playoff picture.

Elmhurst lost a lot  of people  talent last year.  The real test for Coach Lester and co. is can they replenish these vacancies.  It can't be the Randy Wright show on defense as he will need some help.  Similarly, EC has to find a replacement QB who can operate the offense.   

Personally, I think this is going to be a challenging year for Elmhurst. I could see us challenging for the front spots, just as easily as I could see us being a middle of the pack team.   

Still way too early to tell and I will wait to jump into the "polls" picture until we have played a few games.

Here is a quote from 79jaybird from earlier in the year (one of his few posts since he has been busy). I have yet to see them in action this year but I know that "we" (carthage 2006) returned 6-7 starters on the o-line, a TE and a WR or two and really struggled on offense and ended up going 6-4 on the year. Was it chemistry or play maker ability?? I am not sure but we sure struggled in the CCIW with an all senior o-line that year.

I do not think Elmhurst is a bad team by any means but once again someone has to lose in this conference and I think if Elmhurst drops a couple in a row it could end up being a long year for them.

[Son of Tailgater]

CCIW Predictions 2009

I was waiting for someone to make the first move on this but have had this written down since the beginning of the week. Here are my predictions:

1. North Central 6-1 (Winning the head to head vs. Wheaton)
2. Wheaton 6-1
3. Augie 4-3
4. Millikin 4-3
5. Carthage 3-4
6. IWU 3-4
7. Elmhurst 2-5
8. North Park 0-7

If NCC beats Wheaton, who do they lose to?

While NCC did it last year, I think that it is very difficult and says a lot about a team to go 7-0 in this conference. CCIW teams typically go deep into the playoffs because of the difficult conference schedule (one of the reasons I wanted to play in the CCIW). This is not a knock on NCC by any means but they have had a couple key injuries and I also feel that some of the "middle of the pack" teams have really improved this year (Millikin, Carthage, IWU).

To answer your question: I picked Augie to beat them but could see an upset from IWU/ Carthage this year. My reasons for IWU/ Carthage: key injuries to the NCC defense and both high yardage/ scoring offenses.