FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Stagg Again!!]

NCC is too far away to be a 1 for east. MUC or JCU go east  probably and we get UWW as 1 seed is my guess. NCC will be 2 seed w UWW. Wheaton probably goes west as a 3 or 4.

A UWW team struggling to defeat a 3-6 Stout club doesn't sound like a #1 seed. 

[USee]

Why not? North Central was losing to North Park by 7, that doesn't seem like a top 10 team to me? Come on man.

[Titan Q]

IWU 24
Millikin 13

Congratulations to senior Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore on breaking IWU's single-season rushing record.  He finished the season with 1143 yards, averaging 5.8 per carry and 127.0 per game. 

Shoemaker-Gilmore broke the record on his first carry of the game...he was injured in the 2nd quarter and did not return.  He will really be missed -- a special talent. 

IWU finishes 7-2 overall, 6-2 in the CCIW.  I'm disappointed the Titans didn't compete better vs NCC and Wheaton but a 6-2 conference record, with losses to national #6 and #12, is pretty good.  Overall, a nice season by the Titans...especially considering they never had their expected starting QB (Jack Warner).

It will be interesting to see what happens at the QB spot next year.  Jack Warner will be back, and just a junior.  But I have been very impressed by freshman Brandon Bauer - I think he could develop into a very strong CCIW QB.  Warner and Bauer are actually very similar in styles and abilities.

Thanks to all of the IWU seniors who played their final game today.  This alum appreciates all of the hard work and dedication.

[Stagg Again!!]

Why not? North Central was losing to North Park by 7, that doesn't seem like a top 10 team to me? Come on man.

LOL... Due to a fumble recovery on the opening kick off.  That game was over in the 2Q USee.  Put UWW and St. Thomas in the West as the top two seeds; UWO and MUC in the North as the top two seeds; and NCC and JC in the East as the top two seeds.  MUC didn't earn the right to be in the East as the top seed, and they certainly wouldn't be behind Alfred as the two seed.

[markerickson]

I'd say IWU's season was better than "pretty good."

The other day NCCFAN wrote about the emphasis at NCC football regarding academics first.  I would hope that is true at all CCIW programs.

NPU's O-Line was woeful all year.  Not sure why roll-out-to-avoid-the-rush-and-heave-it-to-Childress was not part of the routine.  Didn't see that play one time today.

[Gregory Sager]

Why not? North Central was losing to North Park by 7, that doesn't seem like a top 10 team to me? Come on man.

LOL... Due to a fumble recovery on the opening kick off.  That game was over in the 2Q USee.  Put UWW and St. Thomas in the West as the top two seeds; UWO and MUC in the North as the top two seeds; and NCC and JC in the East as the top two seeds.  MUC didn't earn the right to be in the East as the top seed, and they certainly wouldn't be behind Alfred as the two seed.

It won't work. Naperville is over 500 miles away from all of the schools in the East Region. You can't move NCC into a bracket containing East Region teams without incurring flights every week that the Cardinals are in the playoffs, and the NCAA is not going to spend money on plane fares when it has limitless possibilities to bus teams around the northeastern corner of the country.

[Gregory Sager]

NPU's ugly season came to a merciful end today with a 40-14 loss to Carthage. The constant Red Men blitzing was too much for the young Vikings O-line to handle, as Jace Bankord was sacked six times. He did manage to make things happen a few times with his feet, a feature of his game that T.D. Conway didn't have, but like most young QBs he doesn't read well on the move and is prone to simply tuck and run once he flees the pocket. I do like his potential, and the silver lining of Conway's two injuries late in the season was that it gave Bankord two starts and a lot more experience to build upon for next year. Counting his garbage-time appearances, he actually got into eight games this season, as many as Conway did. Nevertheless, it was a shame to see T.D. standing on the sidelines in street clothes on Senior Day. He completely rewrote the North Park record book and had a phenomenal four-year career. As difficult as his senior season was, he deserved better than this.

Defensively, the Vikings were simply too banged up to offer much resistance to a Carthage team that has a lot more weapons than Red Men teams of the recent past have had. At least Chaun Maiava had another ten-plus tackles day, as he finished the season as the CCIW's leading tackler.

One bright spot on offense was that Devin Childress caught a Bankord 28-yard touchdown pass, tying Childress with Jon Harris ('05) for the all-time career touchdown reception record at NPU with 24. That's not bad work for someone who's only played 23 games through his junior season. His absence for the first seven games was one of the biggest what-ifs of the 2016 season for the Park.

NPU says farewell to its seven seniors, and I want to thank them for their hard work and dedication. The bright side is that that's a pretty small number of guys who won't be able to return next year, and only three of those seven (Conway, WR Norm Cupiccioti, and CB Frantz Dorcely) were starters. As long as retention stays high, this could be a vastly improved team next year.

This was a forgettable season and a step backwards. NPU couldn't do what it had to do to win the close ones against the other second-division teams, losing by six apiece to Millikin and Augustana and by seven to Carroll, and it couldn't compete with any of the first-division teams at all. But at least the words "wait 'til next year" don't ring hollow in this particular instance.

[thunderdog]

Taking a stab at the pool C bids (in order):
1) UWO
2) SJU
3) Hardin Simmons
4) UMU - all the selction criteria gets tossed aside and common sense prevails
5) WHEATON
6) UWP - Wset is too loaded, 2 losses to 2 of the top 4 teams in the country, strong SOS, they're in!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Taking a stab at the pool C bids (in order):
1) UWO
2) SJU
3) Hardin Simmons
4) UMU - all the selction criteria gets tossed aside and common sense prevails
5) WHEATON
6) UWP - Wset is too loaded, 2 losses to 2 of the top 4 teams in the country, strong SOS, they're in!

My order:

1. UWO (DUH!)
2. HSU
3. Wheaton
4/5 UMU/SJU
6. A mad scramble; 8-2 UWP is probably the strongest, but will the committee select them over 9-1 Frostburg St. or 9-1 Muhlenberg?

Incidentally, I can't imagine the committee not finding a way to select UMU, but by the criteria they are almost certainly not deserving of a spot.  Their 9 wins came against teams who went 35-54 (their two 'best' wins were against 6-4 Heidi and 5-4 NCWes), and even 35-54 is probably inflated by 'incest' - the OAC went 3-7 against non-con teams).  The opponents of UMU and JCU were really, really, really bad.

[Stagg Again!!]

Pat's new playoff bracket is posted on the line:

http://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2016/final-playoff-projection

Switch out the Thomas More v. Olivet game with the Mount Union v. St. John Fisher game and I think it looks very balanced and certainly well thought out.  Can't wait to see how the NCAAs bracket compares (what if they pick UWP over STJF?).  Nice effort Pat... this will give us a lot to think about.

[USee]

As the regular season concludes, I want to congratulate Head Coach Mike Swider, his coaches and the players for a great year. Swider has again produced a top 10 team and is on the verge of another playoff spot. It is really hard to go 3 years and lose only 1 conferenceregular season game. The only other team to do so was Augie during their 4 year run as national champs.  Wheaton has a top 20 defense despite losing the player of the year in the league and is a top ten 10 after replacing his offensive coordinator.

I am even more proud, as an alum, of the men the program continues to produce and the impact they are having in the professions they pursue. It's great to see fellow alums children playing for these coaches and having the same great experience. There is a lot left to accomplish but I think it's important to recognize the long run of excellence Wheaton has had.

[nccfac]

As the regular season concludes, I want to congratulate Head Coach Mike Swider, his coaches and the players for a great year. Swider has again produced a top 10 team and is on the verge of another playoff spot. It is really hard to go 3 years and lose only 1 conference game. The only other team to do so was Augie during their 4 year run as national champs. Wheaton has a top 20 defense despite losing the player of the year in the league and is a top ten 10 after replacing his offensive coordinator.

I am even more proud, as an alum, of the men the program continues to produce and the impact they are having in the professions they pursue. It's great to see fellow alums children playing for these coaches and having the same great experience. There is a lot left to accomplish but I think it's important to recognize the long run of excellence Wheaton has had.

NCC went from 2008 7-0
conference       2009 6-1
record               2010 7-0
                         2011 7-0
                         2012 6-1
                        2013  7-0   
So the entering class from 2008 went 4 years with only one conference loss and so did the class entering in 2010.  Just saying

[USee]

As the regular season concludes, I want to congratulate Head Coach Mike Swider, his coaches and the players for a great year. Swider has again produced a top 10 team and is on the verge of another playoff spot. It is really hard to go 3 years and lose only 1 conferenceregular season game. The only other team to do so was Augie during their 4 year run as national champs.  Wheaton has a top 20 defense despite losing the player of the year in the league and is a top ten 10 after replacing his offensive coordinator.

I am even more proud, as an alum, of the men the program continues to produce and the impact they are having in the professions they pursue. It's great to see fellow alums children playing for these coaches and having the same great experience. There is a lot left to accomplish but I think it's important to recognize the long run of excellence Wheaton has had.

sorry. Fixed it for you NCCfan

[AndOne]

At the conclusion of the NCC/Elmhurst game yesterday the two coaches met at midfield, and engaged in what looked to be a fairly vociferous and demonstrative discussion. The engagement appeared to feature some arms extended with palms up gestures, and a fair amount of rapid up and down index finger jabbing.
Anyone have any clues as to what the subject of that discussion might have been? 

[izzy stradlin]

At the conclusion of the NCC/Elmhurst game yesterday the two coaches met at midfield, and engaged in what looked to be a fairly vociferous and demonstrative discussion. The engagement appeared to feature some arms extended with palms up gestures, and a fair amount of rapid up and down index finger jabbing.
Anyone have any clues as to what the subject of that discussion might have been? 

Saw the tape of this game.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwSp4euEzAI   
Thorne was really the only animated one in the discussion, but I don't know that he was saying anything critical/negative.