FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[shepherd]

Hardin-Simmons loses possibly opening a pool c spot with Il Wesl., Ursinus and Coe on the table.

Augie 20
IWU 17
Cancel Il Wes. My bad.

[usee]

USee, Carthage up 28-6 w/ about 6 minutes remaining.

Still want to expound?!

Ypsi,

I'll let you decide which is worse, me picking wrong before a game or you picking wrong after. 

I did have a pickem spread on the Augie/IWU game and a 55.5 spread on NCC/NPU. So if you are gonna bust my chops at least give me the appropriate credit!! 

[usee]

In the Wheaton game the thunder had 453 yds rushing and 550 total yds. Dion Wilson had 54 yds and Mllikin held to 109 yds total.

[Mr. Ypsi]

USee, Carthage up 28-6 w/ about 6 minutes remaining.

Still want to expound?!

Ypsi,

I'll let you decide which is worse, me picking wrong before a game or you picking wrong after. 

I did have a pickem spread on the Augie/IWU game and a 55.5 spread on NCC/NPU. So if you are gonna bust my chops at least give me the appropriate credit!! 

Touche!

[CardinalAlum]

In the Wheaton game the thunder had 453 yds rushing and 550 total yds. Dion Wilson had 54 yds and Mllikin held to 109 yds total.

OPOY??  I don't think so!

[Titan Q]

I listened to the entire IWU/Augustana game on WJBC.com.  It was a great game.  I tip my cap the the players on both sides - it was obvious both teams wanted that one very badly.  In the end, Augie made the big play (after it looked like IWU had maybe made the big play to win it) - a 1st down pass on 3rd & 10 to the IWU 5 with under a minute to go.  

Congratulations and good luck to all of the CCIW seniors who played their final game today.  

And a very special thanks to all of the members of the IWU senior class.  These guys decided to come to IWU during the spring of 2007, after 3 consecutive 3-7 seasons in Bloomington.  They leave having been part of 7-3, 6-4, 10-2, and 7-3 campaigns, and have been part of 2 CCIW co-championships.  This group has helped IWU's football program get back on its feet after a tough stretch.

[augiefan]

Congrats to Augie for another winning season and a good comeback from their ugly loss to Elmhurst last week. Also much good luck to NCC and Wheaton in the playoffs.

As for the rest of us, it's now time to focus on the really important CCIW season: MBB. We should have a doozy of a BB season with a really talented group of teams this season.

[Titan Q]

As far as the 2011 IWU football season goes (while this is all fresh in my mind)...

Key Returnees
* 8 defensive starters, including Ryan Gresko, Michael Wennington, P.J. Cummings, and Scott Wenzel.

* 2 offensive linemen - Jeremy Adams, Trace Hummel.

* The 4 top receivers - Joey Driver, Dayton Burnett, Brett Robinson, Michael Sloboda.

* Kicker Tim Hollowed, who was 5-5 on FG's as a freshman and gives IWU some hope in an area they've really struggled in for years.


Biggest Questions
* Not many bigger questions for a football team than, "Who the heck is the quarterback going to be??"  Brien Rooney took every meaningful snap for the Titans this year.  There wasn't even an opportunity for a clear backup to emerge in 2010.  I think FR Robert Gallik (St. Rita H.S.), who was a heavily recruited player last year, is the guy...but he has zero experience obviously.

http://www.iwusports.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=1412&path=football

http://yourseason.suntimes.com/football/1776746,091709-football-st-rita-rob-gallik.article

Other FR QB's that seem to have been heavily recruited are Dylan Sturgeon (Tolono Unity) and Mike Wismer (Moline H.S.).  

Hopefully the Titans can find a solid throwing QB and solidify the OL (see below), as they'll have a really good group of WR's next year.

* Who will step in for Eli Williams and Bo Lanter at RB?  I think the coaches are very excited about the future of IHSA record setting FR T.J. Stinde (Lexington H.S.), but he was basically just a kick returner this year.  And obviously a huge step from little Lexington to the CCIW.

* Who will fill the OL spots vacated by Ray Krishock, Michael Handke, and James Mosterd?

* Who will the defensive coordinator be?  Today was Mike Murray's final game...he now moves to his new job as head coach of the Bloomington Extreme.  The search begins immediately as I understand it.


So lots of good players returning, and lots of big questions to answer.  I'll say this though - it seems like IWU's football program is heading in a good direction.  I know they're very high on the FR class.

[Titan Q]

As for the rest of us, it's now time to focus on the really important CCIW season: MBB. We should have a doozy of a BB season with a really talented group of teams this season.

Amen.  I'll be rooting for North Central and Wheaton in the football playoffs, but very excited about the start of basketball season.

[usee]

I think these are 2 of the stronger teams the CCIW has sent to the playoffs in recent memory. I think NCC is better than almost any team the CCIW has sent in the last 10 years. Defensively I don't know if we have had a playoff defense like this since the Augustana teams in the 80's. Their offense is good, not great but that combination will win a lot of playoff games.

This Wheaton team is better than many of the teams Wheaton has sent. Probably most similar to the 2003 team that played Mt Union the closest that year. It will be interesting to see how they matchup in these playoffs.

I am also excited about the bball season but not yet ready to let go of this fball season. Next weekend Wheaton will likely host a home playoff game and then play the championship game of the Lee Pfund tournament with the likely opponent University of Wisconsin Whitewater.

[Gregory Sager]

As for the rest of us, it's now time to focus on the really important CCIW season: MBB. We should have a doozy of a BB season with a really talented group of teams this season.

Speaking of which, those of you who are still jonesing to do some prognostication, even if basketball is not your preferred sport, are welcome to join the annual CCIW pick'em contest in the CCIW men's basketball pick'em room. And, unlike the CCIW football version of pick'ems, I promise not to throw any tricky tiebreaker questions your way.

[Pat Coleman]

I wanted to thank the person who suggested North Central to the West bracket instead of Wheaton. It makes tonight's bracket much easier and allows me to put Benedictine at UW-Whitewater, which I have wanted to do for a couple weeks now.

And I apologize for not taking the time right now to get the poster's name.

[usee]

It was Stagg or Bust on here whom you debated about it and hornet who asked about it on the ATN thread.

[usee]

Pat's projected bracket is out.

http://d3blogs.com/d3football/2010/11/14/our-final-playoff-projection/

He has NCC hosting Franklin and then playing the winner of Bethel/Wartburg in the St Thomas bracket.

He has Wheaton as a #2 seed hosting Depauw and then the winner of wabash/ ONU

I would love to see both those scenarios play out.

[Stagg Again!!]

So, I spent the last two hours looking at this new projected bracket (partially because perhaps I may have come across as overly critical of the first projection two days ago -- though that was never my intention).  This version seems a bit more balanced overall.  By shifting NCC and FC into the STU bracket and WC and the Eagles to the UWW bracket, it serves to slightly "lighten the load" in the north (average D3 ranking based on last week's poll drops from 12th to 17th and average regional ranking drops from an insane 4.125 to 5.125) while enhancing the "strength" of the west (average D3 ranking based on last week's poll increases from 20th to 16th), which is in more in line with what I would expect/hope for.  Additionally, by shifting Rowan into the MU bracket and Muhlenberg out, there is a slight slight slight increase in the overall quality of competition for the Purple Raiders.  A couple of the first round games in the UWW and STU brackets stick out to me -- Trine at Wittenberg and Bethel at Wartburg could be excellent matchups.  Additionally, there are clearly games which present an opportunity for a lower seed to pull a first round upset (though I won't say which games present the best opportunity at this point).  

Pat, this projection is more in line with what this second-stringer would expect/hope for later today.  I only have one suggestion for the projected bracket though -- perhaps you could switch DePauw and FC.  That way, the cannon-blasting, fun-loving, tail-gaiting fans from Southern Indiana could visit the Thunder/Crusaders on the WC campus -- a clash of two different worlds, so to speak.