FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[pistol]

NCC defensive stats are misleading. They are solid on all levels . If IWU were winning games by 50 plus points, their second and and third string defense would be on the field and points allowed would be very diferent. IMO NCC will blow out IWU, maybe 42-14.

[Crutches McGee 87]

NCC defensive stats are misleading. They are solid on all levels . If IWU were winning games by 50 plus points, their second and and third string defense would be on the field and points allowed would be very diferent. IMO NCC will blow out IWU, maybe 42-14.

Pistol, you make an extremely valid point.  By the third quarter the third stringers are in.  My prediction is NCC 49 IWU 23

[AndOne]

Boy, not much love from the pollsters for such a strong showing against the #3 team in the country...

Oh boy... here we go.

North Central jumps 4 spots and is 14 points from another 2 spots.  Do you honestly expect the voters to vault a 1 loss North Central past all of the other unbeaten teams?

So we're supposed to just blindly accept won/loss records as the only mark of a superior team? Isn't this rather short sided?

[AndOne]

Perhaps the hoariest cliche in sports is "Offense sells tickets; Defense wins championships".  I suspect this is going to sorely test posters this week!

In both overall and conference-only stats, IWU is the conference leader in both total defense and scoring defense.  NCC is the (runaway) leader in all those categories for offense.

Somehow I suspect I may be the Lone Ranger on pickems if I stick with my current inclination to go with the Titans!   [I'd be a close second in pickems right now were it not for a premature 'Hail Mary' - being the only one to pick UD over Coe several weeks ago ; now I could really use a 'Hail Mary'! ]

[And, yes, I am fully aware that if the Cards come anywhere near their past offense, the Titan lead in defense may disappear after Saturday! ]

Wesleyan has showed extremely well to date. However, it should be kept in mind that NCC has achieved a pretty fair amount of success after sustaining the loss of the 1st team preseason All-American middle linebacker, the 2nd team preseason All-American DB, the leading rusher in the country, and some additional serious injuries to key players. Its doubtful many teams would be able to plug such huge holes as well as NCC has.

[AndOne]

Boy, not much love from the pollsters for such a strong showing against the #3 team in the country...

#13 beats undefeated #3 and moves up 4 places. #3 loses for the 1st time and moves down 11 places. Something just doesn't equate here. Or, am I missing something?

Do all the undefeated teams have the stats NCC has built up? Do all the teams above #9 have that much better strength of schedule?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Perhaps the hoariest cliche in sports is "Offense sells tickets; Defense wins championships".  I suspect this is going to sorely test posters this week!

In both overall and conference-only stats, IWU is the conference leader in both total defense and scoring defense.  NCC is the (runaway) leader in all those categories for offense.

Somehow I suspect I may be the Lone Ranger on pickems if I stick with my current inclination to go with the Titans!   [I'd be a close second in pickems right now were it not for a premature 'Hail Mary' - being the only one to pick UD over Coe several weeks ago ; now I could really use a 'Hail Mary'! ]

[And, yes, I am fully aware that if the Cards come anywhere near their past offense, the Titan lead in defense may disappear after Saturday! ]

Wesleyan has showed extremely well to date. However, it should be kept in mind that NCC has achieved a pretty fair amount of success after sustaining the loss of the 1st team preseason All-American middle linebacker, the 2nd team preseason All-American DB, the leading rusher in the country, and some additional serious injuries to key players. Its doubtful many teams would be able to plug such huge holes as well as NCC has.

True.

And IF NCC wins out but comes up short of the Stagg, I may talk of them in the same "what might have been" terms that I've earlier talked about 2007 Wheaton.

And it would not totally shock me if previous posters are right that NCC will paste IWU with 42 or even 49 points.

But I'm a positive and stubborn cuss - the Titans will prevail, 26-20.

[oldnuthin]

NCC defensive stats are misleading. They are solid on all levels . If IWU were winning games by 50 plus points, their second and and third string defense would be on the field and points allowed would be very diferent. IMO NCC will blow out IWU, maybe 42-14.

While I agree with you that having the 2's & 3s in definitely skews NCC numbers against like opponents between IWU and NCC here is how it plays out as far as yards allowed by the defense against like opponents: IWU vs Carthage 173 yds. NCC versus Carthage 581 yards IWU vs Millikin 158 NCC vs Millikin 190. Obviously the millikin game has the 2 & 3 playing time mixed in. Further data is not available against like opponents, but will be in the near future . I just think its great that our conference is so well representeted in the national statistical standings. this is neither a condemnation or a commendation for either team. It just looks like this could be a great game this weekend.

[oldnuthin]

Boy, not much love from the pollsters for such a strong showing against the #3 team in the country...

#13 beats undefeated #3 and moves up 4 places. #3 loses for the 1st time and moves down 11 places. Something just doesn't equate here. Or, am I missing something?

Do all the undefeated teams have the stats NCC has built up? Do all the teams above #9 have that much better strength of schedule?

they are having the same conversation basically on the MWC board regading Monmouth, another monster team that is kicking the hell out of its conference foes

[Mugsy]

Boy, not much love from the pollsters for such a strong showing against the #3 team in the country...

Oh boy... here we go.

North Central jumps 4 spots and is 14 points from another 2 spots.  Do you honestly expect the voters to vault a 1 loss North Central past all of the other unbeaten teams?

So we're supposed to just blindly accept won/loss records as the only mark of a superior team? Isn't this rather short sided?

You are oversimplifying my statement. I don't question how solid the NCC team is, but pollsters will not view a loss to ONU and only 2 victories against reasonably solid teams as worthy of jumping every team above.  Honestly... win all your remaining games and the ranking will take care of themselves.

[Mugsy]

Do all the undefeated teams have the stats NCC has built up? Do all the teams above #9 have that much better strength of schedule?

Stats are not everything and yes... many of the teams above NCC do have a better strength of schedule. 

[ncc58]

I'm ok with where NCC is ranked. I didn't expect them to move up much after beating the #3 team. Keith McMillan had written last week that he would vote the CCIW down as opposed to moving NCC up. Whether anyone likes it or not, people are holding NCC accountable for losing to the #3 OAC team.

Being in the top 5 would be nice, but the Regional Rankings are more important. The focus should be winning the next three games and the CCIW title. That should secure a 2nd or 3rd ranking in the Regional Rankings and a first round home game.

[NCF]

NCC is fine just where they are. They just need to win out the rest of their schedule and not worry so much about rankings right now. It's always better to be a bit under the radar anyway. It's not about where they are now, but how they finish. Keep it up Cards!! Great job Saturday.

[Son of Tailgater]

I know that there is going to be a lot of focus on the NCC vs. IWU game this week but as far as another game that could go either way would be the Millikin vs. Carthage game. I am interested to see how this one plays out.

Millikin has two losses on the season and both have been to Wheaton & NCC (combined score of 99-7). Millikin but ended up beating IWU by a slim margin. Carthage lost pretty badly to IWU so it will be interesting to see how this one plays out. It is always tough to beat Carthage at home and Millikin doesn't seem to have the high power offense I expected them to have. My prediction:

Carthage: 38
Millikin: 21

Jones with 4 TD passes and 1 int (Jeff Koeneman and Nick Merchut 2 TD's each)

I am also predicting that Augie will win as planned and Wheaton will bounce back to knock off Elmhurst.

[Son of Tailgater]

It might be too early but I am already talking about all-conference selections. I have to admit that I have not looked into or followed any other players except those at Carthage this year but here would be my players to put into the hat for this years selections:

Evan Jones QB - 1st Team - 2,400 yards 20 TD's
Nick Merchut WR - 1st Team - 762 yards 7 TD's
Jeff Koeneman WR - 1st Team - 661 yards 8 TD's
Chris Schultz WR - 2nd Team - 220 yards receiving 1TD: 2 passing TD's; 7.8 yard punt return average and a 15.7 kick return average

Joe Busse DL - 2nd Team - 47 tackles 33 solo, 1 sack, 1 int

[New Tradition]

It might be too early but I am already talking about all-conference selections. I have to admit that I have not looked into or followed any other players except those at Carthage this year but here would be my players to put into the hat for this years selections:

Evan Jones QB - 1st Team - 2,400 yards 20 TD's
Nick Merchut WR - 1st Team - 762 yards 7 TD's
Jeff Koeneman WR - 1st Team - 661 yards 8 TD's
Chris Schultz WR - 2nd Team - 220 yards receiving 1TD: 2 passing TD's; 7.8 yard punt return average and a 15.7 kick return average

Joe Busse DL - 2nd Team - 47 tackles 33 solo, 1 sack, 1 int

SoT, you're probably pretty right on.  You can't really argue with numbers like that.