FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[CardinalAlum]

Regional Rankings are out (NCC fans can breathe a sigh of relief)

1   Mount Union   8-0   8-0
2   Wheaton (Illinois)   8-0   8-0
3   North Central (Illinois)   7-1   7-1
4   Hope   7-1   7-1
5   Baldwin Wallace   7-1   7-1
6   John Carroll   7-1   7-1
7   Aurora   7-1   7-1
8   WashU   6-2   6-2
9   Wabash   6-2   6-2
10   Denison   7-1   7-1

Whew....

[ncc_fan]

Let's go (WashU) Bears!

[USee]

Here is the D3.Com link with all the SOS and rankings for every region:

https://d3football.com/playoffs/2019/first-regional-ranking

[HScoach]

Regional Rankings are out (NCC fans can breathe a sigh of relief)

1   Mount Union   8-0   8-0
2   Wheaton (Illinois)   8-0   8-0
3   North Central (Illinois)   7-1   7-1
4   Hope   7-1   7-1
5   Baldwin Wallace   7-1   7-1
6   John Carroll   7-1   7-1
7   Aurora   7-1   7-1
8   WashU   6-2   6-2
9   Wabash   6-2   6-2
10   Denison   7-1   7-1

My Magic 8-Ball says where NCC sits regionally has a #3 or #4 seeding written all over it.  If they end up on the 4 line, that's an awfully tough 2nd round game for #1 seed. 

Outside of the NCAA throwing caution to the wind, or being drunk, three of the top seeds are clearly MHB, Mount and UWW.   Then the question becomes Wheaton vs. Salisbury vs. Muhlenberg for the last #1 seed.  Logic and a bit of history points toward Mount being shipped East to carry that region and letting Wheaton carry the North. 

[MRMIKESMITH]

Regional Rankings are out (NCC fans can breathe a sigh of relief)

1   Mount Union   8-0   8-0
2   Wheaton (Illinois)   8-0   8-0
3   North Central (Illinois)   7-1   7-1
4   Hope   7-1   7-1
5   Baldwin Wallace   7-1   7-1
6   John Carroll   7-1   7-1
7   Aurora   7-1   7-1
8   WashU   6-2   6-2
9   Wabash   6-2   6-2
10   Denison   7-1   7-1

My Magic 8-Ball says where NCC sits regionally has a #3 or #4 seeding written all over it.  If they end up on the 4 line, that's an awfully tough 2nd round game for #1 seed. 

Outside of the NCAA throwing caution to the wind, or being drunk, three of the top seeds are clearly MHB, Mount and UWW.   Then the question becomes Wheaton vs. Salisbury vs. Muhlenberg for the last #1 seed.  Logic and a bit of history points toward Mount being shipped East to carry that region and letting Wheaton carry the North.

Or similar to last year where Muhlenberg replaces Johns Hopkins, Salisbury replaces Frostburg, and Susquehanna replace Muhlenberg. At the end of the day Mount will have  all home games, but maybe instead of playing Muhlenberg/Salisbury (Johns Hopkins/Frostburg - PY), you'd play Wheaton and Muhlenberg/Salisbury will be shipped to UMHB since they are the recent NCAA champion.

[USee]

Wheatons competition is Salisbury and if UWO loses to UWW Wheaton will have a big advantage in criteria over them in both SOS and RRO.  If UWO beats UWW then both Salisbury and Wheaton could be 1 seeds as UWW drops out of consideration.

I don't see the difference, from the committee perspective of Muhlenberg East vs UMU east oriented bracket.  Muhlenberg would be a #2 from another region with inferior criteria to Wheaton in RRO and likely sos.  UMU can help geograohically just as easily at Muhl.

[thunder38]

Wheatons competition is Salisbury and if UWO loses to UWW Wheaton will have a big advantage in criteria over them in both SOS and RRO.  If UWO beats UWW then both Salisbury and Wheaton could be 1 seeds as UWW drops out of consideration.

I don't see the difference, from the committee perspective of Muhlenberg East vs UMU east oriented bracket.  Muhlenberg would be a #2 from another region with inferior criteria to Wheaton in RRO and likely sos.  UMU can help geograohically just as easily at Muhl.

I think Wheaton can wrap up a #1 if Monmouth finds a way to sneak into the West Rankings, giving Wheaton 3 wins over RROs. They currently have the top SoS in the country but will have a significant drag in Knox and Lake Forest or St. Norbert again coming up. The good news is that Wheaton benefits with either outcome of the UWW/UWO game as UWO would likely drop out and UWW loss drops them off the 1 line. Additionally, if Wartburg beats Central that also opens up a spot in the West rankings. Monmouth should also get a resume boost next week when RROs are considered for the first time and their games against Wheaton and Wartburg carry a little more weight for them.

[hazzben]

Monmouth probably has company from GAC, UWP, and UWL for those spots. Also, the committee could be in wait and see mode since SNC, LF, and Monmouth still need to sort out the MWC.

[tf37]

So if the Mount bracket is predominantly east teams, does that elevate NCC to a #2 seed in a Wheaton bracket?

[hazzben]

So if the Mount bracket is predominantly east teams, does that elevate NCC to a #2 seed in a Wheaton bracket?

Possible. But NCC could also end up in the West too, with UWW and Chapman headlining. There's a lot of ways the committee can build in the North and West with all the proximity between MN, WI, IA, and IL schools.

[thunder38]

So if the Mount bracket is predominantly east teams, does that elevate NCC to a #2 seed in a Wheaton bracket?

Have to think NCC gets traded for the MIAC or WIAC runner up (if UWO is able to beat UWW and sneak in) in order to help separate the two bid leagues. As we saw in 2016, it's certainly possible they remain together, but that bracket was complicated by 3 WIAC teams and two one-loss OAC schools.

[USee]

I would not count on Monmouth getting ranked. Last year they beat Wartburg and snuck in late til they choked late possibly costing Wheaton a bid. 

I don't get how Wartburg beating Central opens a 1 seed?

I would guess StJ to go to a Wheaton bracket as #2 with NCC going West and maybe hosting Bethel in round 1. Wouldn't that be neat? It would be easy to do this avoiding rematches for both teams.

I would guess Wheatons Sos will end up around .560 and they will stay about .30 above Muhl and .60+ above Salisbury. Wheaton gets a slight boost this week from Carthage and a bump from the UWO game as well as rest of WIAC. The. They will fall about .40 the last week vs Elmhurst.

Again, Carthage is talented enough to beat Wheaton so they better be ready. 

[wally_wabash]

I would not count on Monmouth getting ranked. Last year they beat Wartburg and snuck in late til they choked late possibly costing Wheaton a bid. 

I don't get how Wartburg beating Central opens a 1 seed?

I would guess StJ to go to a Wheaton bracket as #2 with NCC going West and maybe hosting Bethel in round 1. Wouldn't that be neat? It would be easy to do this avoiding rematches for both teams.

I would guess Wheatons Sos will end up around .560 and they will stay about .30 above Muhl and .60+ above Salisbury. Wheaton gets a slight boost this week from Carthage and a bump from the UWO game as well as rest of WIAC. The. They will fall about .40 the last week vs Elmhurst.

Again, Carthage is talented enough to beat Wheaton so they better be ready.

I think it's really difficult to see St. John's as a #2 seed in any quadrant of the bracket when they are ranked 5th in their own region. 

[USee]

Good point.  My point stands as I think swapping NCC for an MIAC team is an easy thing to avoid rematches.

[wally_wabash]

Yes, they can certainly get SJU/Bethel and Wheaton/NCC into different quadrants if they really want to.