FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mugsy]

Just a heads up that me and Mrs. matblake will be at the Wheaton v Albion game on Sept. 11.  If any of you are there, we'd be happy to say hello!

High probability I'll be there with 1 to 3 kids, depending on how the day goes.  Look forward to seeing you there.

Don't remember your kids ages, but brave man bringing the kids to Michigan for a football game!

Umm... no.  Neglected to check the schedule and assumed the game was here.

[matblake]

As a teaser, there is a good Q & A section in Kickoff with Doug Neibuhr from Millikin.  If you are on the fence about ordering, lots of good nationwide stuff this year.

[lakeshore]

Kickoff's CCIW predictions...WOW!

Predicted record:  

[deleted]

[K-Mack]

More matblake teasers, less giving away of content. 

But since you posted the predictions, any thoughts besides 'Wow?'

[Mr. Ypsi]

More matblake teasers, less giving away of content. 

But since you posted the predictions, any thoughts besides 'Wow?'

I haven't gone thru the non-con schedule game-by-game, but if we really go 22-2, I'm pretty sure that would be an all-time record!

[Pat Coleman]

I decided to remove the post listing our projections. There's places to discuss Kickoff within Kickoff, too -- that was one of the reasons we put that in, was because we would prefer that the stuff not get copied and pasted out here but we know people want to discuss around it.

[devildog29]

More matblake teasers, less giving away of content. 

But since you posted the predictions, any thoughts besides 'Wow?'

I haven't gone thru the non-con schedule game-by-game, but if we really go 22-2, I'm pretty sure that would be an all-time record!

But what about the preseason?  Ha!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Mugsy,

You running CCIW Pickems again?

(I've put up the first slate of games for MIAA Pickems, in case you have the guts to attempt redemption! )

[Mugsy]

Mugsy,

You running CCIW Pickems again?

(I've put up the first slate of games for MIAA Pickems, in case you have the guts to attempt redemption! )

Hadn't thought about it yet.  Let me think about this tonight to make sure I can commit to it.  I don't want to say yes and then do a poor job organizing and running the contest.

[usee]

I haven't logged into my kickoff yet so don't know what "wow" means. I do think 22-2 is very possible (I think my analysis a month or so ago I thought 20-3 is likely). This is mainly due to how incredibly weak the CCIW non conference slate is. I am sure the winning percentage of the teams we are all playing will be at the low end of any range we could fathom. The only games worth noting are Augie/Central and maybe Wheaton/Platteville. That's not very good when Platteville is the best opponent.

Separately, I think Ypsi should run pickems this year if Mugsy can't do it.

[usee]

I have read the CCIW team previews and predictions from Kickoff. There is a lot of great info and I will parse through it over the coming weeks as the season comes upon us.

As for "WOW" I don't see anything that strikes me as out of the ordinary. My predicted order of finish and D3.coms isn't too different. I believe (as do they) that Millikin will be really good and will surprise some people. I think IWU is going to reload vs rebuild which will be a bit of a change from their recent past. I could argue a place or two here or there but I think they got the winners and losers fairly right.

What I do argue with is the overall conference rankings. I totally agree with WIAC and OAC being 1-2. I just haven't seen enough from the conferences ranked 3-5 that say they are nearly as strong as the CCIW top to bottom. I have seen Bethel play and I can't imagine the MIAC's 3-8 are better than the CCIW's 3-8. I would say the same for the other two conferences ranked ahead of the CCIW.

That said, we aren't doing ourselves any favors by playing the VERY soft non conference schedule we have now. 20-3 or whatever we finish isn't impressive against the likes of Benedictine, Greenville, U of Chicago, Olivet, Albion, MacMurray etc, etc,. I know there is a culture within the CCIW coaching crowd that doesn't want to get beat up by OAC, WIAC and MIAC schools prior to what will be a brutal week-in-week-out CCIW slate, but they also need to realize the criteria for picking pool C is increasingly quantitative and the weak schedules of non conference opponents is going to come back and bite us in the form of OWP and OOWP.

Further teaser: Mr. Flynn and Hornet, there is good stuff in Kickoff for you and the others wearing Cardinal glasses. Even a very detailed, indepth analysis of NPU for guys like Sager.  Impressive data. You guys did your work well!! Lot's of info on who is and isn't returning (some surprises). Also, a new defensive scheme in Naperville? hmmmmm.

[lakeshore]

Pat sorry for posting the predictions as I totally understand the push to purchase.  For those who have not bought kickoff its truly worth it and the detail is amazing considering the total number of D3 teams. (The pics for each team capsule are awesome.)

I question whether Millikin will be good enough on defense to win 8 games but time will tell. 

I agree that the CCIW conference ranking is far to low.  IMHO it should be the 3rd ranked conference in the country and the 2nd - 7th teams would compete to win almost every other conf. 

[matblake]

That said, we aren't doing ourselves any favors by playing the VERY soft non conference schedule we have now. 20-3 or whatever we finish isn't impressive against the likes of Benedictine, Greenville, U of Chicago, Olivet, Albion, MacMurray etc, etc,. I know there is a culture within the CCIW coaching crowd that doesn't want to get beat up by OAC, WIAC and MIAC schools prior to what will be a brutal week-in-week-out CCIW slate, but they also need to realize the criteria for picking pool C is increasingly quantitative and the weak schedules of non conference opponents is going to come back and bite us in the form of OWP and OOWP.

I agree completely.  As an example, say Olivet goes 0-4 in their non-conference slate (completely possible, see post 20295).  Then, they finish 4-2 in the MIAA (not projected to happen by the MIAA preseason poll but not impossible).  You are still dealing with .400 OWP.  Granted in this scenario the OOWP might help, but OWP definitely could play a factor in the difference in getting a Pool C slot for a second CCIW team.

[CardinalAlum]

Also, a new defensive scheme in Naperville? hmmmmm.

uhh, uhhh, why, no, not ,uhh sure what you are speaking of.....     hehe

[Pat Coleman]

Pat sorry for posting the predictions as I totally understand the push to purchase.  For those who have not bought kickoff its truly worth it and the detail is amazing considering the total number of D3 teams. (The pics for each team capsule are awesome.)

I question whether Millikin will be good enough on defense to win 8 games but time will tell. 

I agree that the CCIW conference ranking is far to low.  IMHO it should be the 3rd ranked conference in the country and the 2nd - 7th teams would compete to win almost every other conf. 

I think you're overestimating the 6th and 7th teams. It's correctly noted earlier that the CCIW isn't playing a particularly strong non-conference schedule this year but I don't think the gaudy record is going to translate into a big rise up the rankings -- postseason performance does that and this past year the CCIW performed pretty much as expected, not overperforming, not underperforming.

I'll say that we moved the MIAC up more than we moved the CCIW down because the MIAC won a road game in the playoffs. Later, playing at Linfield vs. playing at UW-Whitewater last year were fairly comparable and UST was competitive. No. 5 and No. 6 are fairly close and a toss-up most years but I don't think that getting above that is realistic until the conference gets to a Stagg Bowl. (And remember that conference No. 4 has won at Mount Union to do so.)