FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[USee]

Since Wheaton has had their bye week in week 8, they have come out and run the ball at least 60% and passed about 40%. Saturday vs Carroll they were 70/30. Jesse Scott made the comment on the post game after North Park they had seen some things on their self scout and were trying to correct them. I hope this is a trend that continues as Sola Olateju is one of the most dynamic backs in the country. They gave it to him 19 times and he gained 148 yds on Saturday. I think the offense is much better when they run it through #23. I hope this continues through the playoffs.

Concerning is the penalties the Thunder are incurring. 17 for 132 yds is obscene. Swider made mention of this in his post game comments and appears to have no answer:

http://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2016/11/12/the-thunder-football-team-closes-out-the-regular-season-with-a-42-10-win-at-home-against-carroll.aspx

Incidentally, he also referred to Wheaton as the #10 team in the country.

[ncc_fan]

Should be an interesting trip for Huntingdon. We went over and watched the selection show with the team and friends. It was a weird couple of minutes as soon as Redlands at UMHB came up we were all sure we were headed to Hardin Simmons and didn't have to wonder what was going on for long with Linfield at HSU when we came up next. Found a flight out of ATL late Friday night for a good price and booked it. Any suggestions on where to stay and anything to see in the Wheaton area? Looking forward to a fun trip.

Stay in Naperville.  Lots of hotel options and 10 minutes away from Wheaton and plenty of restaurants and nightlife.

Agreed - why stay in Wheaton when you can treat yourself to Naperville?  If you can afford it book a room at the new Hotel Indigo in downtown Naperville.  Also, the nearby Morton Arboretum's annual nighttime Illumination starts on Friday.

[Gregory Sager]

Go see the city of Chicago. 20 miles East. Plenty of things to do and see. I recommend the architectural boat tour on the river. Book online in advance. It's memorable. Get Chicago pizza at Giordanos or Gino's. Should be a great game.

Agree except Lou Malnati's or Pequods have by far the best Chicago deep dish pizza.

Now you've done it.  Here comes the great pizza debate on who has the best Chicago pizza.

Well, those guys are both wrong. While I would never turn up my nose at Giordano's, Gino's, or Malnati's, the best Chicago pizza isn't made by a chain restaurant that cranks out thirty pizzas an hour in industrial-sized ovens. The best pizza, at least here in the city, is found in the smaller mom & pop joints, where somebody who cares about what they're doing and has probably been doing it for thirty or forty years is the person making your pizza.

Architectural boat tour is an amazing way to see the city.

Absolutely true.

Agree on the architectural tour -- it should be top of list if you only have a day.  But if you opt for that, be sure to pack a windbreaker.  Because wind.

Pack a lot more than a windbreaker. Because winter.

(Next Saturday it'll be in the low-to-mid-40s here in the city.)

[izzy stradlin]

Go see the city of Chicago. 20 miles East. Plenty of things to do and see. I recommend the architectural boat tour on the river. Book online in advance. It's memorable. Get Chicago pizza at Giordanos or Gino's. Should be a great game.

Agree except Lou Malnati's or Pequods have by far the best Chicago deep dish pizza.

Now you've done it.  Here comes the great pizza debate on who has the best Chicago pizza.

Well, those guys are both wrong. While I would never turn up my nose at Giordano's, Gino's, or Malnati's, the best Chicago pizza isn't made by a chain restaurant that cranks out thirty pizzas an hour in industrial-sized ovens. The best pizza, at least here in the city, is found in the smaller mom & pop joints, where somebody who cares about what they're doing and has probably been doing it for thirty or forty years is the person making your pizza

Although they get national attention, I would still say Pequod's fits that description.

[Gregory Sager]

I've never had Pequods, so you may be right. It has two locations, but it's probably closer to the mom & pop ethos than it is to the large chains like Malnati's and Giordano's.

[AndOne]

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.

http://www.d3football.com/top25/2016/week11



Fixed it for you USee. 

Seriously, from a rival fan, congrats indeed to the 2014 and 2015 CCIW championWheatie teams who went undefeated in conference both years.

Congrats also to the new and current CCIW champs, the 8-0 2016 NCC Cardinals who also won the 2013 championship outright with a perfect 7-0 record, and who won or shared the title for the 7 years before that.

Over the last 11 years, from 2006-2016, NCC and WC have dominated the CCIW.
NCC is 72-6 over that period, and WC is 63-15 over the same period.
From 2013 through the just concluded 2016 conference season, NCC is 27-2 with WC just behind at 26-3.

Fixed it back. 

https://www.afca.com/article/article.php?id=2815

Fixed it? Really? With last week's rankings by the AFCA?   Doesn't seem like much of a "fix." 
And, are we now discounting the D3Football rankings? 

[Pat Coleman]

Moving JCU from 16-7, while I understand why voters did it, implies that somehow JCU is better than we thought when the reality may be that Mt Union isn't as good as we thought.

And it can't be both?

[USee]

Moving JCU from 16-7, while I understand why voters did it, implies that somehow JCU is better than we thought when the reality may be that Mt Union isn't as good as we thought.

And it can't be both?

It could be both. In this case however JCU went to a place above previous #1 Mt Union, which makes logical sense but this poll has notoriously ignored HTH matchups in favor of other agendas (see Franklin/Thomas More this year and many previous examples). Curiously voters moved JCU up 9 spots, vaulting teams that won and have been ahead of them (with much stronger criteria) all year and Mt union moved down 6 spots, which wasn't surprising.

[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.

http://www.d3football.com/top25/2016/week11



Fixed it for you USee. 

Seriously, from a rival fan, congrats indeed to the 2014 and 2015 CCIW championWheatie teams who went undefeated in conference both years.

Congrats also to the new and current CCIW champs, the 8-0 2016 NCC Cardinals who also won the 2013 championship outright with a perfect 7-0 record, and who won or shared the title for the 7 years before that.

Over the last 11 years, from 2006-2016, NCC and WC have dominated the CCIW.
NCC is 72-6 over that period, and WC is 63-15 over the same period.
From 2013 through the just concluded 2016 conference season, NCC is 27-2 with WC just behind at 26-3.

Fixed it back. 

https://www.afca.com/article/article.php?id=2815

Fixed it? Really? With last week's rankings by the AFCA?   Doesn't seem like much of a "fix." 
And, are we now discounting the D3Football rankings? 

AndOne,

This post started as a tribute by me to Wheaton's program and the fact you turned it into a petty argument over which poll is more valuable is pretty weak. I won't take the bait.

[02 Warhawk]

Moving JCU from 16-7, while I understand why voters did it, implies that somehow JCU is better than we thought when the reality may be that Mt Union isn't as good as we thought.

And it can't be both?

It could be both. In this case however JCU went to a place above previous #1 Mt Union, which makes logical sense but this poll has notoriously ignored HTH matchups in favor of other agendas (see Franklin/Thomas More this year and many previous examples). Curiously voters moved JCU up 9 spots, vaulting teams that won and have been ahead of them (with much stronger criteria) all year and Mt union moved down 6 spots, which wasn't surprising.

They did have stronger criteria....until Saturday that is. JC beat the #1 team in the country, no other team can say that this year. I'm fine with JC in the top 10, ahead of Mount Union. As long as they're both behind UWO.

I think the poll got it right. UWW>UWO>John Carroll>Mount Union. All based on Head to Head matchups.

[thunderdog]

Since Wheaton has had their bye week in week 8, they have come out and run the ball at least 60% and passed about 40%. Saturday vs Carroll they were 70/30. Jesse Scott made the comment on the post game after North Park they had seen some things on their self scout and were trying to correct them. I hope this is a trend that continues as Sola Olateju is one of the most dynamic backs in the country. They gave it to him 19 times and he gained 148 yds on Saturday. I think the offense is much better when they run it through #23. I hope this continues through the playoffs.

This is a very encouraging sign, IMO. Good stuff USee...

[USee]

Who had strong criteria? Mt Union? And I think everyone knows Mt Union wasn't really a #1 team. MHB or UWW had much better resumes but until the defending champ loses they get the ranking. When they finally lost, in a tight game, to a team that has a non-competitive loss to UWO, that is another indication (not to mention the opinions of forever Raider fans who said this team was average) that JCU/Mt Union probably would be better placed just outside the top 10 in my view.

[Pat Coleman]

The 13-10 split in No. 1 votes in last week's poll definitely shows the lack of consensus over Mount Union as the best team in the country.

[USee]

The Huntington @Wheaton matchup has some serious intrigue.

H is #2 in Total Offense 567 yds per game
W is #12 in Total Defense 255 yds per game

H is #7 in rushing offense 282 yds per game
W is #2 in rushing defense 46.5 yds per game

H is #5 in scoring offense 48.8 pts per game (35 rushing TD's)
W is #18 in scoring defense 14.2 pts per game (only 2 rushing TD's)

H is #1 in 3rd down conversions (which you would expect from a team averaging 7 yds per rush)
W is #83 in 3rd down defense (they have been top 10 the last two years)

Something has got to give here. Some more interesting data:

W averages 435 yds a game
H gives up 379 yds a game

W averages 171.5 yds a game rushing
H gives up 140.6 yds a game rushing

W averages 263.4 yds a game passing
H gives up 238.9 yds a game passing

Wheaton is ranked 204 out of 244 in penalties

[robertgoulet]

The Huntington @Wheaton matchup has some serious intrigue.

H is #2 in Total Offense 567 yds per game
W is #12 in Total Defense 255 yds per game

H is #7 in rushing offense 282 yds per game
W is #2 in rushing defense 46.5 yds per game

H is #5 in scoring offense 48.8 pts per game (35 rushing TD's)
W is #18 in scoring defense 14.2 pts per game (only 2 rushing TD's)

H is #1 in 3rd down conversions (which you would expect from a team averaging 7 yds per rush)
W is #83 in 3rd down defense (they have been top 10 the last two years)

Something has got to give here. Some more interesting data:

W averages 435 yds a game
H gives up 379 yds a game

W averages 171.5 yds a game rushing
H gives up 140.6 yds a game rushing

W averages 263.4 yds a game passing
H gives up 238.9 yds a game passing

Wheaton is ranked 204 out of 244 in penalties

USee,
Do you happen to have the SOS numbers for each? Just curious as to how Huntington's competition stacks up.