FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Good luck to WC and NCC this weekend.  Hope it's a great contest, without injuries, and without the pre-kickoff dust-ups, swagger etc.  May the best team win.

I have NCC by 2 TDs, at least.

IWU70

[79jaybird]

Elmhurst is planning on unveiling some camo jerseys in honor of Military Appreciation Day vs. Carthage. Always great to honor our military men & women who help us have the freedoms we have today.

[New Tradition]

Elmhurst is planning on unveiling some camo jerseys in honor of Military Appreciation Day vs. Carthage. Always great to honor our military men & women who help us have the freedoms we have today.

That's awesome!!  I know Northwestern is doing something similar with 'Murica unis.  Props to Coach Adam and the Elmhurst program for helping those who sacrifice so much for us!

[79jaybird]

Many more schools & leagues (i.e. Hawks honoring the soldiers during the Nat'l Anthem) are honoring our military personnel in various fashions. I think it is wonderful and we can't thank the TRUE HEROES enough for what they do on a daily basis.

[iwu4ever]

Do we know when Regional Rankings come out? I see the AFCA has Wheaton back ahead of the Titans, while D3 has Titans on top. What will the region rankings show?

[badgerwarhawk]

I think the regional ranking will come out tomorrow.

I'm not sure that it's fair for Elmhurst to wear camo uniforms.  How will their opponents be able to see them if the blend in with the background? 

[NCF]

Elmhurst is planning on unveiling some camo jerseys in honor of Military Appreciation Day vs. Carthage. Always great to honor our military men & women who help us have the freedoms we have today.

That's awesome!!  I know Northwestern is doing something similar with 'Murica unis.  Props to Coach Adam and the Elmhurst program for helping those who sacrifice so much for us!

very cool, jb! our local high school did this a few weeks ago. The kids paid for their own jersey's.

[AndOne]

Good luck to WC and NCC this weekend.  Hope it's a great contest, without injuries, and without the pre-kickoff dust-ups, swagger etc.  May the best team win.

I have NCC by 2 TDs, at least.

IWU70

I think a degree of swagger is one of the characteristics of a good team.
The trick is to not let the swagger degenerate into arrogance.
JMHO

[markerickson]

I do not agree to conflating militarism with intercollegiate athletics.  Postsecondary institutions, especially D3 schools, should not succumb to the gimmickry.

[Pat Coleman]

Do we know when Regional Rankings come out? I see the AFCA has Wheaton back ahead of the Titans, while D3 has Titans on top.

Why would Wheaton be ahead of IWU? Seems like they just played recently ...

[ncc58]

Well, it depends whether SOS is considered more important than H2H. Wheaton is #65, IWU is #101. The first Regional Rankings always anger some schools and give us something to talk about mid-week.

[AndOne]

Do we know when Regional Rankings come out? I see the AFCA has Wheaton back ahead of the Titans, while D3 has Titans on top.

Why would Wheaton be ahead of IWU? Seems like they just played recently ...

Lord knows I'm not the world's biggest IWU fan, but if the Wheaties are ranked above the Weenies, then their 10/26 game seems meaningless. Appears there are some screws loose in the AFCA ranks.

[wally_wabash]

Well, it depends whether SOS is considered more important than H2H. Wheaton is #65, IWU is #101. The first Regional Rankings always anger some schools and give us something to talk about mid-week.

The SOS page seems to be a little wonky at the moment so I can't check for sure, but I would note that when you're comparing SOS's using simply the ranking can be a bit misleading.  It is much more meaningful to look at the actual numbers.  One team may be 65th and another 101st but there really may not be a significant difference in the actual SOS. 

And then, if you're really paying attention to detail, you could look at who the teams actually played.  IWU played Aurora, Alma, and Hope.  Wheaton played Benedictine, Albion, and Luther.  Quantitatively there is a difference there (which shows up in the SOS calculus), but if we're being honest here, is there really much of a qualitative difference?  Can we sit here and say that Wheaton played a really hard non-league schedule while IWU cupcaked their way through September?  No...no, I don't think we can say that.  Certainly not to a degree that should trump a h2h result (and a decisive one at that...IWU won the game by multiple scores) from one week ago. 

The AFCA got it wrong wrong wrong.  I would be surprised if the regional rankings don't get this one right. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

Well, it depends whether SOS is considered more important than H2H. Wheaton is #65, IWU is #101. The first Regional Rankings always anger some schools and give us something to talk about mid-week.

The SOS page seems to be a little wonky at the moment so I can't check for sure, but I would note that when you're comparing SOS's using simply the ranking can be a bit misleading.  It is much more meaningful to look at the actual numbers.  One team may be 65th and another 101st but there really may not be a significant difference in the actual SOS. 

And then, if you're really paying attention to detail, you could look at who the teams actually played.  IWU played Aurora, Alma, and Hope.  Wheaton played Benedictine, Albion, and Luther.  Quantitatively there is a difference there (which shows up in the SOS calculus), but if we're being honest here, is there really much of a qualitative difference? Can we sit here and say that Wheaton played a really hard non-league schedule while IWU cupcaked their way through September?  No...no, I don't think we can say that.  Certainly not to a degree that should trump a h2h result (and a decisive one at that...IWU won the game by multiple scores) from one week ago. 

The AFCA got it wrong wrong wrong.  I would be surprised if the regional rankings don't get this one right.

Excellent post.  Nothing to add.  +K

[ncc58]

Well, it depends whether SOS is considered more important than H2H. Wheaton is #65, IWU is #101. The first Regional Rankings always anger some schools and give us something to talk about mid-week.

The SOS page seems to be a little wonky at the moment so I can't check for sure, but I would note that when you're comparing SOS's using simply the ranking can be a bit misleading.  It is much more meaningful to look at the actual numbers.  One team may be 65th and another 101st but there really may not be a significant difference in the actual SOS. 

And then, if you're really paying attention to detail, you could look at who the teams actually played.  IWU played Aurora, Alma, and Hope.  Wheaton played Benedictine, Albion, and Luther.  Quantitatively there is a difference there (which shows up in the SOS calculus), but if we're being honest here, is there really much of a qualitative difference?  Can we sit here and say that Wheaton played a really hard non-league schedule while IWU cupcaked their way through September?  No...no, I don't think we can say that.  Certainly not to a degree that should trump a h2h result (and a decisive one at that...IWU won the game by multiple scores) from one week ago. 

The AFCA got it wrong wrong wrong.  I would be surprised if the regional rankings don't get this one right.

I understand all that. It's just my perception that the first Regional Rankings go strictly by Record and SOS. Teams may not be ranked in the same order by the "real experts."