FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Illinois Wesleyan 56
North Park 6

The IWU O-line absolutely blew back NPU's defensive front all day, and got to the second level plenty and put pads on Vikings LBs as well. Titans RBs ran riot all day, often not getting touched at all on long runs into the end zone, but if the Titans had chosen to focus on passing they could've done that at will, too, as their QB had all day to throw.

The Vikings were embarrassed in all three phases of the game. The one guy who put up decent numbers was A.J. Harris (9 catches for 171 yards), and even he gets downgraded because, like his fellow NPU wideouts, he was unable to secure several catchable passes.

I don't typically come down hard on the Vikings, because I don't usually expect anything of them. But over the past four weeks the Vikings have earned enough respect to attain the level at which their fans can demand at least a competitive game against the other teams in the CCIW's bottom seven. In an odd way, then, my criticism is a compliment -- NPU fans ought to feel disappointed in the poor performance by North Park today, because the Vikings have earned the right to disappoint their fans.

IWU colorman Pup said of his team's O-line, "Imagine if they had performed like this all season," and IWU fans probably wonder about those what-ifs, especially since they bulldozed North Park to record levels on a day when the Titans didn't even have their best RB in uniform.

[Gregory Sager]

Augustana 42
Carthage 14

Looks like I owe the Augie offense an apology. Their capacity to overcome their inability to put points on the board is definitely better than the Carthage defense's capacity to overcome their inability to stop anybody.

Wash U 35
Carroll 12

Pretty much what everybody expected.

Wheaton 44
Elmhurst 0

Congratulations to the Orange and Blue on getting past their fears and dealing with the scariness of facing Elmhurst at Langhorst.

[devildog29]

Wow!
This week they looked liked the defending national champs. One of the most impressive wins in the Norm era

All due respect to Mr. Sager and any other NP fans here, but this is just silly.  "The Norm era" goes back 35 years+.  There's been countless better victories than a lopsided NP victory at home.

[D3FLETCH]

Big Blue up 7-0. Summoning that IWU first half magic.

[USee]

Wow!
This week they looked liked the defending national champs. One of the most impressive wins in the Norm era

All due respect to Mr. Sager and any other NP fans here, but this is just silly.  "The Norm era" goes back 35 years+.  There's been countless better victories than a lopsided NP victory at home.

The dude is a troll. Ignore him.

[lmitzel]

I'm trying to decide how to feel about Millikin using all of its timeouts to put up a meaningless score in the closing seconds against NCC's backups to lose 54-27 instead of 54-21.

[Gregory Sager]

As for me, I'm wondering if the gamer on the Millikin website is going to point out that:

GLASS HALF FULL: Despite a 55-7 54-27 loss to North Central this past on Saturday, the Titan Big Blue defense held the No. 1 ranked Cardinals to their second-lowest point total of the season.

[lmitzel]

As for me, I'm wondering if the gamer on the Millikin website is going to point out that:

GLASS HALF FULL: Despite a 55-7 54-27 loss to North Central this past on Saturday, the Titan Big Blue defense held the No. 1 ranked Cardinals to their second-lowest point total of the season.

I feel like I missed a golden opportunity to remake the "Congratulations to Illinois Wesleyan" meme with a photo from that game. Maybe the Kamienski somersault. Doesn't seem timely anymore though.

[Next Man Up]

I'm trying to decide how to feel about Millikin using all of its timeouts to put up a meaningless score in the closing seconds against NCC's backups to lose 54-27 instead of 54-21.

Young guys who play for the love of the game using every tool at their disposal to compete as hard as they possibly can until no time remains on the clock. No mystery, and nothing to figure out here. Millikin players just respecting themselves and the game by giving their all until the clock says stop. They could walk off the field with their heads held high. You can knock their ability but not their effort.

[blue_jays]

As for me, I'm wondering if the gamer on the Millikin website is going to point out that:

GLASS HALF FULL: Despite a 55-7 54-27 loss to North Central this past on Saturday, the Titan Big Blue defense held the No. 1 ranked Cardinals to their second-lowest point total of the season.

Since they put up 20 more points than IWU did, it means nearly 3x the moral victory!

[blue_jays]

[TrueGreen]

Obviously, I shouldn't have been so nervous about the Titans. Wow. There must be something about that Defense playing in McLean County! (great home schedule this year).

And WHAT a surprise in Augie land! I didn't think they had it in them. Carthage has fallen off the cliff.

[kiko]

As for me, I'm wondering if the gamer on the Millikin website is going to point out that:

GLASS HALF FULL: Despite a 55-7 54-27 loss to North Central this past on Saturday, the Titan Big Blue defense held the No. 1 ranked Cardinals to their second-lowest point total of the season.

I feel like I missed a golden opportunity to remake the "Congratulations to Illinois Wesleyan" meme with a photo from that game. Maybe the Kamienski somersault. Doesn't seem timely anymore though.

Got your back here...

[D3FLETCH]

As for me, I'm wondering if the gamer on the Millikin website is going to point out that:

GLASS HALF FULL: Despite a 55-7 54-27 loss to North Central this past on Saturday, the Titan Big Blue defense held the No. 1 ranked Cardinals to their second-lowest point total of the season.

Since they put up 20 more points than IWU did, it means nearly 3x the moral victory!

The Big Blue never lost the game... they just ran out of time.

[SpartanHouse]

I don't know where the SOS will settle out but that seems to be where WW is pinning his hopes that Chicago ends up above Wheaton in the Regional Rankings (should Chicago's SOS be higher than Wheatons, which is far from certain). The criteria is pretty clear and emphasizing SOS while dismissing other known nuances in the criteria as "eye test" seems more hopeful than realistic. I (and most of the rest of D3) will be shocked if Wheaton isn't the #1 pool C team in the region and the criteria supports it.

I am not at all worried about the regional rankings but I am deeply concerned about selection Sunday and the criteria that will bear out in the process. Pat always says having only 10 games as data points makes this process a lot harder to sort out accurately. Seems like they got it right in 2019 with North Central.  As Wally has said, we will know a lot more after Saturday.

Actually, that is certain as far as I can tell. There is no remaining combination of outcomes that can elevate Wheaton's SOS equal to or past Chicago's. While it's possible that the difference could be negligible (as little as .005), that would require a few unlikely game outcomes, namely 2-5 Northwestern winning out, and 5-2 WUSTL losing out. A more likely scenario, in which WUSTL finishes 7-3 and NW finishes at 4-6, would leave the differential at around .035. In other words, considerable, and in requirement of lots of nuance to make Wheaton the #1 Pool C team in Region 5.

A more hopeful path for Wheaton could be a Lake Forest win at Monmouth Saturday. That would make Monmouth 8-2. Then LF vs Chicago in the season ender either results in a 3-way tie (have no idea how they'd break that) for the Pool A bid or an outright Lake Forest Pool A bid and a 8-2 Chicago team. If U of C is granted Pool A entry in the 3-way scenario, neither Monmouth at 8-2 or LF (with a comparable SOS to Wheaton on the basis of having played 2-5 Wiscosnin Lutheran in their NC game) would be a pool C threat to Wheaton.

Hickory, I think you're correct. WUSTL losing games hurts Chicago, but is basically a net-zero for Wheaton, since a WUSTL loss is a win for somebody else they've played.

This looks highly likely now. Looks very possible for a 3-way tie in the MWC. I'd be curious.....if Chicago beats LF in a close one, could Chicago and LF both get in?

The tie breaker for a three way tie is number of quarters led. If I were a betting man, I'd put $$$ on Chicago beating LF but LF still winning the conference. LF just needs to be ahead for one quarter to win the conference title based on quarters led.

In this scenario, does 9-1 Chicago make the playoffs w wins over Wash U and LF?