FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[matblake]

With all the Norris talk, here is a short interview with him from the Wheaton website
http://athletics.wheaton.edu/awards.aspx?aow=5

[Mr. Ypsi]

In gearing up for the 2009 season, I reviewed the all-time records of IWU vs. current CCIW opponents.

Somewhat to my surprise, the biggest deficit was to Millikin (considering we beat them 3 of the 4 years I was there, and their recent ineptitude).  Coming after I graduated, but before d3football.com, I was unaware that we lost 13 of the 14 games from 1977-1990, the entire deficit in an all-time 41-53-7 record.

The only other deficit is to Wheaton, 24-28-2.  Of the 12 games from 1922-1962, the then-Crusaders won 9 (mainly in the 50s when they got so dominant in both fb and bb that they were 'invited' to leave the conference).  When they returned in a greatly weakened state, IWU went 9-0-1 over the '65-'76 period.  Since then, Wheaton is up 18-12-1.

Perhaps my greatest surprise was that IWU still holds an all-time lead on Augie, 39-34-1.  From the first game in 1912, thru 1959, the Titans went 18-6-1 (including 9-1 in the '50s).  In the '60s and '70s the Titans still led strongly, but it got much more respectable: 13-7.  In the '90s, they split 5-5.  But Augie won the '80s, 9-1 (with four consecutive national titles, I suspect a lot of teams may have fared about that well against the Vikes!), and we've lost 7 of 9 so far this decade.  While I doubt that Augie can even the series in 5 years, if we don't gear back up soon they may catch us in 9 or 11 years.

The records against the rest of the conference reflect the perennial 'big 4, little 4' that prevailed for much of the first decades of the CCIW:

NCC is 20-36-3 all-time against the Titans, but recently cutting the gap quickly (well, as quickly as you can do in a once-a-year sport ).

Carthage is 19-34, but recent years have seen (mostly) very equal battles .

Elmhurst is 10-46-1, though has been putting up a much better fight in recent years.

Since I value sportsmanship even more than winning, the final record embarrasses me: NPU is 3-46.

Anyone else feel like tripping down memory lane with your all-time records?

[79jaybird]

Wheaton is slowly starting to seal up the gap in their series vs. Augustana

Elmhurst is also slowly starting to seal up the deficit in their series vs. Carthage. 

There are still certain teams where the overall series is dominated by 1 team, but As Mr Ypsi points out,  EC has been more competitive against the IWU's Millikin's, etc. that during the 50's-60's were dominated by the other school.

[dansand]

In case anyone hadn't seen this, the CCIW is conducting an interactive online discussion with the league's coaches on August 6.

http://www.cciw.org/fall_football/2009chatstory.php

[usee]

Why don't those guys just come on CCIW chat? Its cost efficient and easy to use.

[CardinalAlum]

Why don't those guys just come on CCIW chat? Its cost efficient and easy to use.

Can I ask Norm the first question? <EG>

[robertgoulet]

Congrats to the CCIW players who made the D3Football.com Pre-Season All-American Team!

http://www.d3football.com/tow/09/preallamericans.htm

1st Team:
QB Aaron Fanthorpe, Sr., North Central
T Blaine Westemeyer, Sr., Augustana
LB Matt Wenger, Sr., North Central

2nd Team:
G Kyle Antos, Jr., North Central
CB Derek Sulo, Sr., North Central

[lakeshore]

With all the Norris talk, here is a short interview with him from the Wheaton website
http://athletics.wheaton.edu/awards.aspx?aow=5

With all the QB talk which school can be deemed QB U as the CCIW school with the best all-time quarterbacks?

I would say Wheaton and Wesleyan would have to be among the top couple.

[washdupcard]

http://www.d3football.com/top25/2009/week-0

NCC ranked 4th
Wheaton ranked 6th

[washdupcard]

Why don't those guys just come on CCIW chat? Its cost efficient and easy to use.

Can I ask Norm the first question? <EG>

Isn't there an Order of Protection that prevents all contact.

[Mugsy]

http://www.d3football.com/top25/2009/week-0

NCC ranked 4th
Wheaton ranked 6th

I know Pat & team qualified at the beginning of the article that you can't place too much value on pre-season polls.  There are almost always highly ranked teams that end up struggling or teams below the radar that exceed expectations.  The 07' semi-final Bethel team comes to mind that had a stellar 07' campaign and was somewhat highly ranked going into 08', only to struggle a bit.

I can see the NCC ranking at #4, but I'm a bit surprised by Wheaton at #6. Don't get me wrong, I like seeing them there, but it'll be interesting to see how they will replace so many defensive starters gone from the 08' team.  Hopefully Wheaton is truely in a "reload" mode now as Swider alludes to in the season preview.

[Mr. Ypsi]

While it's been mentioned that NCC is #4 and Wheaton is #6 (congratulations to both), no one has mentioned that Elmhurst got two points.  At least one national voter evidently thinks Elmhurst is #3 in the conference.

Agreement or dissent?

[FormerCard]

While it's been mentioned that NCC is #4 and Wheaton is #6 (congratulations to both), no one has mentioned that Elmhurst got two points.  At least one national voter evidently thinks Elmhurst is #3 in the conference.

Agreement or dissent?

Agreed.

No explanation...just agreed.

Very exciting preseason rankings and accolades for the Cardinals.   
Lets hope the good lord keeps them healthy.

[79jaybird]

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.

[Mugsy]

2009 CCIW Preseason Football Poll (Coaches Poll) was released this morning after the coaches on-line chat.

Not surprisingly, North Central is the favorite receiving 6 1st place votes and 48 points.  Wheaton received a 1st place vote and was 2nd with 42 points.   Augustana received the other 1st place vote and was 3rd with 36 points.

http://www.cciw.org/fall_football/2009preseasonfbpoll.php