FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[usee]

augiedogie- ncc playing np had little to do w their QOW index falling. a bigger factor was wheaton losing at home to augie. that makes ncc's qow weaker and made augies much bigger. I don't think you lose points in the qow index w a win on the road, but np's qow does become part of the calculation once you play them.

[dansand]

augiedogie,

If Augie moves into the second seed, I think I'll like the QOW a lot better .

vikes35,

Does MSJ run the spread? It looks like they run the ball about 60% of the time, but one back gets the vast majority of their carries.

[usee]

if i remember right on mt st joe they are predominantly a pro set (i backs, tight end, 2 wr). they get into some different sets but are based on the run and play action with the tailback getting majority of the work. they have 1 really good wr. he is their best player. their defense is a 4-3 cover 2 i believe.

[jdean]

dansand
Don't worry about MSJ. They come from a very weak conference that has shown nothing in the post-season.
However, don't go hoping for a matchup with Capital to avoid Mount. Mount is not a powerhouse this year, good but defintely beatable. Mount beat Capital but if I were Mount I wouldn't want to play them again. They have a very good defense and an excellent QB.
Usee
You should be upset. This is the year you've been waiting for, a beatable Mount, and Wheaton won't be in the show.

[usee]

jdean-unfortunately wheaton wasn't good enough to get to the show this year. the good news is we send our best two teams who are both similar, if not better, than our reps a year ago. shoud be a great run.

i always looked forward to november in alliance. crawfordsville is closer though. 

[vikes35]

dansand,

I have to agree with USee that I am pretty sure it was pro set. To be honest however, and I think the Wheaton guys can back me up on this one, I remember seeing a bunch of 3 and out and couldn't really get a feel for what they were trying to do. Like jdean said we shouldn't worry to much about them. Our offense will wear their D down and their offense should not be a huge factor. Put Anthony on that #1 WR and watch him get a couple more INT's then watch that potent running game work its magic. If the MSJ team is like they were last year I see this game somewhere between a 10 to 21 pt win for the home team.

Of course we have to make sure that is who we play, but if so that is the early situation I have playing out in Rock Island on Saturday.

[dansand]

On the OAC board there's some speculation that Augie might be matched up with Capital in the first round. From what little I know about the two teams (MSJ & Cap), that would appear to be a much tougher matchup for Augie. Not only are the Crusaders from a lot better conference, but it looks like they have a terrific QB and very good run defense, as jdean said.

[vikes35]

dansand,

If you look on the home page they have the final projected pairing laid out by d3football.com and it has Cap as the 5 seed having to travel into Naperville next week and MSJ going into The ROCK (I like that). I know these are speculations but I would be a little more confident about Pat and the boys picks than some of us fans. Either way it will be hard to go all the way from Ohio on the road and win against a fired up ready to go Augie team.

[augiedogie]

Usee:
Unless I'm looking at the Q.O.W. index wrong,  NCC's Q.O.W doesn't change because Wheaton lost to Augie because an 8-2 Wheaton team and a 7-3 Wheaton team is still a team that is at or above .667.  If Augie would have lost to Wheaton they would have gotten 1 less Q.O.W. point than NCC got by beating NPU at home. NCC lost points in Q.O.W because they only got 8 pts for winning against a team at .334 or below.

[jdean]

Ausutana draws an easy first game vs Lakeland and NCC hosts Capital. Cap matches up much better against NCC than they would have Augustana. Should be a good one.
Augie winner plays the winner of the two "Mount" game.

[washdupcard]

I think NCC faired well in the playoff draw...getting a first round home game is very nice (although Capital is tough)....however I think some are disappointed that they may not get to play Augie until the third round should both teams advance.  Good luck to both CCIW teams.  Augie/Mt Union is going to be a battle (if it happens).

[Brick]

I'm not upset that we won't see NCC till the third round...If both teams get to the quarters that is just more good press for the confrence, and then maybe our teams will get the respect they deserve from the NCAA selection team.  Are you kidding me Augie IMO is one of the hottest teams in DIII and they still get put behind Mount, with the same record but a better QOW....I'm shocked.

[usee]

"shocked"?? at what? MUC has earned its spot just as augie has. that will be a great matchup.

the ncc/cap game will  be a great one. as i understand it cap has a great defense (i think they lost their dominant player early in the year but are still good). ncc has played v a couple great defenses this year. strength v strength. having this game in naperville is a huge advantage for ncc. augie will roll lakeland.

you couldn't ask for a better setup in the north. two great conferences w 2 teams each. will make for some great fodder for oac/cciw discussions. we both get to see each other's best. wabash in the mix as well. will be some good football.

[washdupcard]

Here are my predictions for the awards coming out this week...I know i'm going to take some flak for this.

OPOY- Kniss      Can't imagine any serious arguments with this.

DPOY- Radtke    Doesn't have the numbers he had last year, but he still made plays all over the field and every team had to account for him on every play.  Wouldn't be surprised to see Carthage LB, or Augie DB here.

COY-   I think this should be a tie between between Barnes and Thorne.  Barnes for getting a conference championship when most thought it couldn't be done, Thorne for a tremendous job on getting NCC to the playoffs and getting the most out of his talented (yet slightly flawed) team.  Barnes likely will get it simply because he beat Thorne for the championship.

[usee]

washdup-no arguements from me. the only possibility is anthony from augie as DPOY. thanks to wheaton saturday, his INT #s are pretty good....AND he is a great corner.