FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mr. Ypsi]

A game CCIW (and especially NCC) fans should pay attention to next Saturday is the Cortaca Bowl.  If Cortland St. wins, they will likely be the #1 seed in the East.  But if Ithaca can take them down, I suspect Mt. Union will go East again, and NCC will be #1 in the North.

[dansand]

I think NCC has the inside track for a clean sweep of the postseason CCIW awards.

DPOY Wenger
OPOY Fanthorpe
COY Thorne

The only question in my mind is around Fanthorpe. Since he will have only played in 8 games there is an argument for Podulka--and Podulka may well be very deserving--but I think Fanthorpes numbers are just too good to ignore for his second OPOY award. There is an outside chance for Randy Wright to share the award if he has a monster game saturday and the Bluejays upset the Cardinals. Short of that I think its a clean sweep.

Podulka has had a great year, especially when you consider the fairly drastic change in offensive schemes. He helped make the transition much smoother than I expected it to be. Plus, ya gotta love a 5-7, 150-pound quarterback. But, I think Fanthorpe has to be the favorite for OPOY. North Central was clearly the league's best team and he had excellent games against both Wheaton and Augie, their closest two pursuers.

[usee]

Not going to lie, a little ticked off about the poll question on the front of the page.
The fact that I'm in the 40 hours of no sleep might be a factor ...BUT...

• I realize that UWW got up set
  I realize that UWW beat NCC last year on route to a national title
  I realize that poll questions are supposed to generate conversation, i.e. this
  I also realize that rankings dont mean a whole heck of a lot, maybe they sway post season awards--I don't know

Having said that, I do have some thoughts....

It seems like this poll question is tring to create the same discussion about strength of conference and schedule as the conversation WAS with Penn St.  Is that really the case?  Is UWW's schedule all that more impressive than NCC's?  Sure NCC plays BU and that recently that has been realitively game week that is a little more lax than others, but NCC did have Ohio Northern on the schedule when they were ranked in the top 25 in the nation.  At that time that was a big win, not as great as one might have thought directly after, but a big win nonetheless. 

Not to mention the fact that the Warhawks do have a loss.  I'm not saying that they shouldn't be up there with the top teams in the country.  But isn't it almost always a default that if you are in a "power conference" and undefeated that you belong above another "power conference" team that has one loss?  And I know some of the people who will try to poke holes in my argument here will say well you have a bunch of BIG XII and SEC teams with one loss ahead of Utah and Ball St.  Utah may have a bit of a claim because they proven they can play with the big boys. 

But as far as the polls go, the undefeateds are lining the top of the rankings.  The teams with one loss are there circling like buzzards to get in if one team drops, but they are on the outside looking in no matter if they are playing some of the best ball right now (USC, UF). 

So I guess my argument really boils down to is: Really people, do you really think that UWW deserves to be ahead in the rankings?

Matilda,

Let me first state I DO think NCC should be ranked #2. What that means I am not sure but we will get to find out in a couple weeks. Some of what you say here needs a response. If you compare UWW's schedule and NCC's I don't think its really even close. The WIAC is a better conference than the CCIW. UWPlattevill is one of the worst teams in the WIAC and they beat Augie this year. Their 3 non conference games were against  7-3 St Xavier, the #19 ranked NAIA team, 5-4 UWEC, who has 2 losses to UWW and 1 to #14 UWSP and Puget Sound (2-6 in the NWC). The only cupcake game on their schedule is Puget Sound. UWW's only loss is to 8-1 UWSP who is #14 in the D3.com poll.

NCC played ONU, Benedictine, Olivet, Millikin and NPU--only one of those teams would have any chance of winning even 1 game in the WIAC. You may notice UWW recieves 1 vote for #1 in the coaches poll each week. That vote is from Mt Union's HC Larry Kehres. Tells you what he thinks of UWW.

All I am saying is be careful when you compare schedules of NCC and UWW. I don't think there's a debate there. I do think NCC has earned its #2 ranking. Whether they have closed the gap between them and UWW from last years game we will see.

[ncc58]

CardinalAlum-  I know NC is going to be gunning for Elmhurst, one of their close rivals.  Do you think Thorne plays his starters the entire game?  I think there are two schools of thought here.  A) Go for it all and try to get a perfect 10-0 season.  Or B) Play your starters for a half, and then rest them for the playoffs next week.  What are your thoughts?

I don't think there's even a debate here. If you decide to rest your starters and lose, then you are throwing away a possible #1 seed, or a #2 seed in the North behind MUC. NCC could even slide to #5 in the Regional Rankings with a loss - no home game. You want as many home games in the playoffs as possible. You play to win next week in the Battle of The Birds.

[ncc58]

My opinion is that UWW is the second best team in Division III. However, you can't ignore that UWW has lost a game. Undefeated schools that play in good conferences with respectable non-conference schedules should be ranked above UWW. So, NCC's #2 ranking may say how how the voters perceive the CCIW.

Given that many people (including the gurus) had Augie upsetting NCC, NCC should maintain it's #2 ranking.

Think about all the mentions that NCC has gotten on the Front Page over the last three weeks. That's verification of how far the program has come.

[CardinalAlum]

In my mind there is no way Thorne does not win Coach of the Year. 

Be careful here.  Wouldn't Lester merit huge consideration if Elmhurst wins Saturday and they finish 8-2?

[usee]

We will know a little more on Wednesday when the regional rankings are released again but possible 1st round matchups for NCC (Provided they win saturday) are Franklin or Aurora.

I am very surprised NCC gave up so much offense to Augie. Wheaton held Augie to 47 yds offense in the second half, giving up less than 250 for the game. But its been a wacky season in the CCIW that way.

One resulting issue is that any playoff opponent for NCC will get the film for the last two regular season games so all their playoff opponents will see Augie's success.

[NCC.2008]

I wouldn't like to run into Franklin in the playoffs. They have a great quarterback and a bunch of really good receivers. They gave us a run for our money last year, and I am sure they are going to want to revenge that last second loss that ended their season last year.

[New Tradition]

One resulting issue is that any playoff opponent for NCC will get the film for the last two regular season games so all their playoff opponents will see Augie's success.

Yeah, but they don't all have Podulka!

[FormerCard]

In my mind there is no way Thorne does not win Coach of the Year. 

Be careful here.  Wouldn't Lester merit huge consideration if Elmhurst wins Saturday and they finish 8-2?

No, not at all.  

NC wins the CCIW for the 3rd straight year (outright this year...best team in the conference, no questions asked),  playoffs for the 4th straight year.  When is a good time to reward Thorne for turning this program from a homecoming game to the best team in the CCIW?    Maybe in 2017, when we finish 8-2 and people thought we would be 6-4.....sure, thats fine with me.

[FormerCard]

I think NCC has the inside track for a clean sweep of the postseason CCIW awards.

DPOY Wenger
OPOY Fanthorpe
COY Thorne

The only question in my mind is around Fanthorpe. Since he will have only played in 8 games there is an argument for Podulka--and Podulka may well be very deserving--but I think Fanthorpes numbers are just too good to ignore for his second OPOY award. There is an outside chance for Randy Wright to share the award if he has a monster game saturday and the Bluejays upset the Cardinals. Short of that I think its a clean sweep.

The only question I have is OPOY.  I say Sulo may have the inside track right now.  He has been the premier back for NC for the last 3 years, and with Fanthorpe lacking last years stats and Sulo leading the conference in rushing (both overall and conference), I would say he should at this point be the OPOY. 

[FormerCard]

That being said....4 INTS for Fanthorpe this year.....very impressive.

[ncc58]

One resulting issue is that any playoff opponent for NCC will get the film for the last two regular season games so all their playoff opponents will see Augie's success.

Yeah, but they don't all have Podulka!

Exactly. In addition, NCC  won't see a defense play as soft as Augie did. Augie played a lot of zone, left a lot of receivers open short, and didn't play the option well.

However, the two teams that have played NCC well are Augie and Carthage - and both got good games out of their QBs (with completely different styles).

[usee]

One resulting issue is that any playoff opponent for NCC will get the film for the last two regular season games so all their playoff opponents will see Augie's success.

Yeah, but they don't all have Podulka!

there are 2 problems with that thinking:

1-There is a guy out there named Nate Kmic--I would rather face Podulka than him. (Think Justin Beaver)
2-Augie had 304 yds rushing and Podulka only had 94 yds himself. Someone else gave up over 200 yds rushing.

[CardinalAlum]

One resulting issue is that any playoff opponent for NCC will get the film for the last two regular season games so all their playoff opponents will see Augie's success.

Yeah, but they don't all have Podulka!

there are 2 problems with that thinking:

1-There is a guy out there named Nate Kmic--I would rather face Podulka than him. (Think Justin Beaver)
2-Augie had 304 yds rushing and Podulka only had 94 yds himself. Someone else gave up over 200 yds rushing.

If we take care of business next week, your problem # 1 is hopefully in the finals!!  Lots of other teams to worry about before that is an issue.

#2, you are right BUT Podulka was drawing so much attention that when he did pitch the ball, it was pretty wide open.  That will need to be fixed!