FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[CardinalAlum]

Interestingly for Washington University, they will not play UChicago this year for the first time in forever, if my memory serves me.  The Bears have played Chicago more than any other school (save for Missouri S&T, Rhodes, Wabash and maybe a few others) and it is quite the rival.

How is Hendrix?

[WUPHF]

Hendrix was 3-7 last season against a good schedule.

https://hendrixwarriors.com/sports/football/schedule/2021

Notably, Washington University played briefly in the Southern Athletics Conference before the CCIW.  I was thinking, that happened in 2018 so basically no current players remember a time when the Bears were not part of the league.

[Next Man Up]

Hendrix was 3-7 last season against a good schedule.

https://hendrixwarriors.com/sports/football/schedule/2021

Notably, Washington University played briefly in the Southern Athletics Conference before the CCIW.  I was thinking, that happened in 2018 so basically no current players remember a time when the Bears were not part of the league.

It's interesting to note that of Hendrix' three wins last season, two (yes, 2) of them were against 0-10 Sewanee. 

[Thunderdome21]

North Central opens the season ranked #2 by D3Football.com
Wheaton is #8

https://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2022/7/26/football-cardinals-open-2022-ranked-second-by-d3football-com.aspx

https://d3football.com/top25/2022/preseason

I think NCC should be top 5 for sure. Wheaton is way too high at this point given what they lose vs what is coming back. I don't think the Thunder is Top 25 at this point, certainly not top10. They may get there depending on who is in the pipeline but they have a long way to go.

In the CCIW I think Wheaton will start the season closer to the 3rd/4th place teams than what should be the consensus #1 in NCC.

Oh no, am I really going to have to defend Wheaton against you?  I still see Wheaton as a clear #2 this year until someone steps up and beats them. Weeks is fantastic and will have to take the load off of whoever lines up at QB. Of course, that means actually running the football!    Offensive Line will need to plug a couple of positions but I believe it is still more than anyone else in the conference has. I believe Augie thinks they will be considerably better and when doesn't Norm feel like he's in the running?  Wash U? They'll be in the top 4 somewhere. Millikin is always a mystery to me but they have some quality kids down there.

I would've ranked Wheaton somewhere between 10-15 and 2nd in the conference. Although they do lose 17 starters, some of last years 2's that are coming back (e.g. Tucker, Shaffer) would've started at most small colleges around the nation. And they still have at least 35 4th and 5th year seniors for this season. Their 2019 recruiting class was among their best recruiting classes in the past decade. This is not a young team by any stretch, but it does lack some experience, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Their O-line is still steller, including 3 starters coming back and All American RB Weeks is probably the best all-purpose back in D-3.   

[kiko]

North Central opens the season ranked #2 by D3Football.com
Wheaton is #8

https://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2022/7/26/football-cardinals-open-2022-ranked-second-by-d3football-com.aspx

https://d3football.com/top25/2022/preseason

I think NCC should be top 5 for sure. Wheaton is way too high at this point given what they lose vs what is coming back. I don't think the Thunder is Top 25 at this point, certainly not top10. They may get there depending on who is in the pipeline but they have a long way to go.

In the CCIW I think Wheaton will start the season closer to the 3rd/4th place teams than what should be the consensus #1 in NCC.

Coach Holtz! Great to see you again!

[WUPHF]

Hendrix was 3-7 last season against a good schedule.

https://hendrixwarriors.com/sports/football/schedule/2021

Notably, Washington University played briefly in the Southern Athletics Conference before the CCIW.  I was thinking, that happened in 2018 so basically no current players remember a time when the Bears were not part of the league.

It's interesting to note that of Hendrix' three wins last season, two (yes, 2) of them were against 0-10 Sewanee. 

So, maybe 0-7 against a good schedule.

Most every good schedule is going to have an easy win or two.

Incidentally, how do you turn around a 0-10 season?  That is tough.

[Next Man Up]

North Central opens the season ranked #2 by D3Football.com
Wheaton is #8

https://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2022/7/26/football-cardinals-open-2022-ranked-second-by-d3football-com.aspx

https://d3football.com/top25/2022/preseason

I think NCC should be top 5 for sure. Wheaton is way too high at this point given what they lose vs what is coming back. I don't think the Thunder is Top 25 at this point, certainly not top10. They may get there depending on who is in the pipeline but they have a long way to go.

In the CCIW I think Wheaton will start the season closer to the 3rd/4th place teams than what should be the consensus #1 in NCC.

Oh no, am I really going to have to defend Wheaton against you?  I still see Wheaton as a clear #2 this year until someone steps up and beats them. Weeks is fantastic and will have to take the load off of whoever lines up at QB. Of course, that means actually running the football!    Offensive Line will need to plug a couple of positions but I believe it is still more than anyone else in the conference has. I believe Augie thinks they will be considerably better and when doesn't Norm feel like he's in the running?  Wash U? They'll be in the top 4 somewhere. Millikin is always a mystery to me but they have some quality kids down there.

I would've ranked Wheaton somewhere between 10-15 and 2nd in the conference. Although they do lose 17 starters, some of last years 2's that are coming back (e.g. Tucker, Shaffer) would've started at most small colleges around the nation. And they still have at least 35 4th and 5th year seniors for this season. Their 2019 recruiting class was among their best recruiting classes in the past decade. This is not a young team by any stretch, but it does lack some experience, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Their O-line is still steller, including 3 starters coming back and All American RB Weeks is probably the best all-purpose back in D-3.

I predict whoever emerges at QB, and how he performs will be the major consideration as to the ultimate fate of this year's Wheaties squad. As we all know the QB is the single most important position on the field so I'm not really going too far out on a limb here. Specifically, in Wheaton's case, it seems the rushing game will be the strength on the offensive side of the ball. Accordingly, in the battle for starting QB, it would appear that whoever can most often deliver the mail through the air successfully and make the passing game hum will provide what the orange and blue need most offensively. Absence of an acceptable passing attack will allow defenses to more effectively concentrate on, and at least partially negate the expected superior contribution of Weeks and the rest of the runners.

[USee]

North Central opens the season ranked #2 by D3Football.com
Wheaton is #8

https://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2022/7/26/football-cardinals-open-2022-ranked-second-by-d3football-com.aspx

https://d3football.com/top25/2022/preseason

I think NCC should be top 5 for sure. Wheaton is way too high at this point given what they lose vs what is coming back. I don't think the Thunder is Top 25 at this point, certainly not top10. They may get there depending on who is in the pipeline but they have a long way to go.

In the CCIW I think Wheaton will start the season closer to the 3rd/4th place teams than what should be the consensus #1 in NCC.

Oh no, am I really going to have to defend Wheaton against you?  I still see Wheaton as a clear #2 this year until someone steps up and beats them. Weeks is fantastic and will have to take the load off of whoever lines up at QB. Of course, that means actually running the football!    Offensive Line will need to plug a couple of positions but I believe it is still more than anyone else in the conference has. I believe Augie thinks they will be considerably better and when doesn't Norm feel like he's in the running?  Wash U? They'll be in the top 4 somewhere. Millikin is always a mystery to me but they have some quality kids down there.

I think Wheaton is still the choice at #2 in the conference. My point was that, as #2, they are closer to #3 than #1. In past years it was a clear #1/#2 with NCC in either order and then the rest of the conference. I think this year the Thunder have a longer road to go to challenge for #1.

It's a lot harder to project teams these days with all the transfer activity and 5th/6th year seniors so I really have to wait until rosters are posted to make any solid projections on teams. Right now Wheaton listed 30 JR's on last years team. So if they are going to have 5 other seniors who are coming back for 5th years, that helps tremendously. They also have 5 transfers coming in including a QB from Liberty and an OL from Princeton. But based soley on last year the Thunder have zero returning starters on defense and only 2 who were backups to starters. On offense they have  4 starters returning and 6 others who were backups so 10 out of 22 from the 2 deep.

4 total starters returning? and 8 others who were on the 2 deep? That is an incredibly low number with little to no playing experience. Top 15 teams generally have a lot more experience coming back than that.

And for the record, I said all of last preseason Wheaton was a top 5 team with real title chances, so I am not a complete Lou Holtz!   

[Thunderdome21]

North Central opens the season ranked #2 by D3Football.com
Wheaton is #8

https://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2022/7/26/football-cardinals-open-2022-ranked-second-by-d3football-com.aspx

https://d3football.com/top25/2022/preseason

I think NCC should be top 5 for sure. Wheaton is way too high at this point given what they lose vs what is coming back. I don't think the Thunder is Top 25 at this point, certainly not top10. They may get there depending on who is in the pipeline but they have a long way to go.

In the CCIW I think Wheaton will start the season closer to the 3rd/4th place teams than what should be the consensus #1 in NCC.

Oh no, am I really going to have to defend Wheaton against you?  I still see Wheaton as a clear #2 this year until someone steps up and beats them. Weeks is fantastic and will have to take the load off of whoever lines up at QB. Of course, that means actually running the football!    Offensive Line will need to plug a couple of positions but I believe it is still more than anyone else in the conference has. I believe Augie thinks they will be considerably better and when doesn't Norm feel like he's in the running?  Wash U? They'll be in the top 4 somewhere. Millikin is always a mystery to me but they have some quality kids down there.

I think Wheaton is still the choice at #2 in the conference. My point was that, as #2, they are closer to #3 than #1. In past years it was a clear #1/#2 with NCC in either order and then the rest of the conference. I think this year the Thunder have a longer road to go to challenge for #1.

It's a lot harder to project teams these days with all the transfer activity and 5th/6th year seniors so I really have to wait until rosters are posted to make any solid projections on teams. Right now Wheaton listed 30 JR's on last years team. So if they are going to have 5 other seniors who are coming back for 5th years, that helps tremendously. They also have 5 transfers coming in including a QB from Liberty and an OL from Princeton. But based soley on last year the Thunder have zero returning starters on defense and only 2 who were backups to starters. On offense they have  4 starters returning and 6 others who were backups so 10 out of 22 from the 2 deep.

4 total starters returning? and 8 others who were on the 2 deep? That is an incredibly low number with little to no playing experience. Top 15 teams generally have a lot more experience coming back than that.

And for the record, I said all of last preseason Wheaton was a top 5 team with real title chances, so I am not a complete Lou Holtz!

I believe there are 10 5th year seniors that made the commitment to return and were involved in the spring season.  8 of 10 of this year's 5th year serniors were part of last year's 2 deep. I believe there are 18 coming back who were part of last year's 2-deep, so I misspoke. Here are the 10 5th year seniors who are returning and what position they played last year.

Jeremiah Tucker (2nd string QB)
Graham Wall (starting RT)
Daniel Ledbetter (2nd string WR)
Braydon Anthony (starting DE)
Jalen Shaffer (2nd string LB)
Virgil Cannon (2nd string LB)
Stephen Watson (2nd string SS)
Dimitri Skakovac (2nd string DT)
Brandon Bentley (3rd string DT that has struggled with injuries during the past 3 years)
Caleb Erickson (3rd or 4th string DE)

***I wouldn't put this list in stone because it was based on what players knew during the spring. 

The 10 5th year seniors and the large class of 4th year seniors gives me hope because they're still not relying on Freshman and Sophomores to win games for them.

[New Tradition]

North Central opens the season ranked #2 by D3Football.com
Wheaton is #8

https://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2022/7/26/football-cardinals-open-2022-ranked-second-by-d3football-com.aspx

https://d3football.com/top25/2022/preseason

The thing I find interesting is that NCC is ranked 2 in spite of having no first place votes, while UMU trails us by 10 points overall and has 2 first place votes.  Couple of voters still pretty high on The Machine--most of the rest, it would appear, not so much.  I don't know much about what they have coming back, but if they're able to make a run and win it, it'll be their first trip back to the Stagg since 2018 and first win since 2017.  Maybe they're high on Plunk doing something special, but he won't have Petruccelli to help share some of the offensive load this season, I believe. 

[D3fanboy]

North Central opens the season ranked #2 by D3Football.com
Wheaton is #8

https://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2022/7/26/football-cardinals-open-2022-ranked-second-by-d3football-com.aspx

https://d3football.com/top25/2022/preseason

The thing I find interesting is that NCC is ranked 2 in spite of having no first place votes, while UMU trails us by 10 points overall and has 2 first place votes.  Couple of voters still pretty high on The Machine--most of the rest, it would appear, not so much.  I don't know much about what they have coming back, but if they're able to make a run and win it, it'll be their first trip back to the Stagg since 2018 and first win since 2017.  Maybe they're high on Plunk doing something special, but he won't have Petruccelli to help share some of the offensive load this season, I believe.

what kind of crap program misses two straight Stagg Bowls?  not winning a title for three years?  might as well shut the program down

[USee]

North Central opens the season ranked #2 by D3Football.com
Wheaton is #8

https://northcentralcardinals.com/news/2022/7/26/football-cardinals-open-2022-ranked-second-by-d3football-com.aspx

https://d3football.com/top25/2022/preseason

I think NCC should be top 5 for sure. Wheaton is way too high at this point given what they lose vs what is coming back. I don't think the Thunder is Top 25 at this point, certainly not top10. They may get there depending on who is in the pipeline but they have a long way to go.

In the CCIW I think Wheaton will start the season closer to the 3rd/4th place teams than what should be the consensus #1 in NCC.

Oh no, am I really going to have to defend Wheaton against you?  I still see Wheaton as a clear #2 this year until someone steps up and beats them. Weeks is fantastic and will have to take the load off of whoever lines up at QB. Of course, that means actually running the football!    Offensive Line will need to plug a couple of positions but I believe it is still more than anyone else in the conference has. I believe Augie thinks they will be considerably better and when doesn't Norm feel like he's in the running?  Wash U? They'll be in the top 4 somewhere. Millikin is always a mystery to me but they have some quality kids down there.

I would've ranked Wheaton somewhere between 10-15 and 2nd in the conference. Although they do lose 17 starters, some of last years 2's that are coming back (e.g. Tucker, Shaffer) would've started at most small colleges around the nation. And they still have at least 35 4th and 5th year seniors for this season. Their 2019 recruiting class was among their best recruiting classes in the past decade. This is not a young team by any stretch, but it does lack some experience, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Their O-line is still steller, including 3 starters coming back and All American RB Weeks is probably the best all-purpose back in D-3.

I predict whoever emerges at QB, and how he performs will be the major consideration as to the ultimate fate of this year's Wheaties squad. As we all know the QB is the single most important position on the field so I'm not really going too far out on a limb here. Specifically, in Wheaton's case, it seems the rushing game will be the strength on the offensive side of the ball. Accordingly, in the battle for starting QB, it would appear that whoever can most often deliver the mail through the air successfully and make the passing game hum will provide what the orange and blue need most offensively. Absence of an acceptable passing attack will allow defenses to more effectively concentrate on, and at least partially negate the expected superior contribution of Weeks and the rest of the runners.

I understand that last year's backup to Luke Anthony, Jeremiah Tucker, is back as a 5th year SR. Last year he was 23-40 for 254 yds and 4 TD's vs 0 INT's last season. He also rushed for 401 yds (6.8 ypc) and 4 TD's. He is an excellent athlete and knows the offense, which is a big plus.

The other's who are competing for the #1 job appear to be:

Ben Thorson, 6-3 206 lb Sr transfer. He is the younger brother of a couple Wheaton Football players and of former Northwestern and NFL QB Clayton Thorson. Of course his father is the stuff of legends as a Wheaton LB in the 80's.

Xavier Jones, 6-0 165 lbs Soph. He is a lefty and very athletic. Lot's of upside here.

Will Bowers, 6-0 195 lbs Soph/Jr who is a transfer from Liberty. He has all the skills...can he pick up the offense enough to move ahead of the more experienced returnees?

There are one or two others in the mix but it appears likely this year's signal caller will come from this group.

[Next Man Up]

Based on my admittedly limited knowledge of the Wheaton program, it would seem (as I've previously indicated) that their running program will be a strength this season. Accordingly, in order to prevent opposing defenses from keying so much on the run, I sense the best choice for Wheaton QB would be the guy who can best make the passing attack hum at the most efficient level.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park has announced its crop of newbies for 2022. It includes 61 players, 58 of them freshmen plus three transfers.

[markerickson]

Those Viking newbies will get a taste of true battle grit during North Park's opening game, in Chicago.  The comparable foe, Manchester, ended last season with statistics similar to North Park.  That is, a 3-7 record v 2-8 and outscored by a wide margin - MU @ 117-331 and NPU @ 171-403.  In the critical department of punting, averages were similar.  One major difference is MU threw for a grand total of 7 TDs and NP doubled that amount.  Should be the CCIW's #1 nonconference matchup game of the season.

NP returns its QB/WR threat.  Western Michigan transfer QB, Matt Little, does not appear on the 2022 Viking roster.  In fact, North Park list only one person at the QB position.  The Samoan Viking/Conway pipeline has dried up as quickly as Lake Mead.