FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[SaintsFAN]

Congrats are in order for the CCIW as a whole.  Nice season for Wheaton and North Central.  Anytime you get two bids as a conference, you're getting the respect you deserve.

[cardinalpride]

I am pretty surprised they made NCC a #4 seed among the top seeds. that is, the winner of the North goes to Alliance in the semis. I would have thought the North would be seeded as #2 or #3.

Here's where the $ comes into play.  It's a pretty safe bet that MUC wins the East (since they've made at least the semi's every year since 1995).  So by pairing up the North and East, the NCAA is almost 100% sure this semi-final will not require a plane flight.  Almost all of the west and the best of the south require a plane flight regardless of the matchup, so this N/E and S/W pairing will save money.

That makes sense, espeically since NCC was not the "top seed" on the table in the North Region.

How would you like to be Occidental?...The former home of President Elect Obama Has to play a road game as the #2 seed in the west region.  Ouch!!!

[SaintsFAN]

It's great to see Wheaton get in and see that the committee thinks enough of the CCIW to get us two teams even with the Thunder having two losses.  Would love to see a remtach in the final of the North region!  Let's both take care of first round business.  Who knows anything about Thomas More?

I believe that I'm qualified to talk about Thomas More.  The Saints offense is very much like West Virginia's... both in scheme and because they have good speed on offense.  The love to run the ball but have the ability to pass efficiently.  QB Stellman has thrown only 2 INT's this year (both two weeks ago in the loss to Geneva).  The defense has played well this season (well, after the week 1 loss to JCU). 

It will be interesting to see what the Saints do against NCC on Saturday. 

I believe I'm going to be part of a group coming up. 

[matblake]

Trine cumulative stats

Thomas More cumulative stats

[washdupcard]

I remember a few weeks ago comparing Lenny Radtke to Matt Wenger and one thing I said was that Lenny was better in pass coverage....

After watching the last 4 weeks, it is very apparent how good Wenger is playing the pass after he lead the conference in interceptions and has been all over the place tipping balls left and right.

Wenger is a stud, a great overall linebacker that can do anything, no questions asked. 

I think he locked up the Conference defensive player of the year today, and is arguably one of the best linebackers in Division 3. 

I agree.

I don't know if anyone one else got a good view of it but Wenger's hit today on the Elmhurst punter was probably the hardest hit that I have ever seen in D3 football.

That play was interesting.  Elmhurst was facing a 4th and Long with like 3 min to go in the game.  They faked the punt and converted in the order of a 50 yrd TD pass.  Flag, illegal man downfield.  The very next play which is like 4th and 15 they run another fake punt and also pick up the 1st down...even though Wenger murdered the punter on the play.

Two things stand out to me.

1.  Great call by Lester, he defintely has some cojones.

2.  What the hell is NCC doing not being in a safe return coverage?

The more I have though about yesterday's game, the more nervous I am becoming about the playoffs.  The team I watched yesterday was not the #2 team in the Nation and not the #1 seed in whatever region they are going to host. 

Great call???  Its called desperation with 3 minutes to go in the game and needing points just to try to go to overtime.  What was the score at that point?   Wasnt Elmhurst down by 3 touchdowns with 3 minutes left in the game???   What would you have done as a coach, actually punt? (and yes, we should have been in regular defense)

It is very difficult to go undefeated in the CCIW, or any conference for that matter.  I have been at 7 of the Cardinals game this year and after every game I became more and more impressed with this team.  Injuries can kill a team, but this team wins regardless of who is playing QB, RB, DB etc..  THAT is the most impressive thing about the Cardinals, because it is very easy to chalk up a loss to so and so not playing....not happening with NCC.  

This is the #2 team in the nation, and I am looking forward to what they will do in the playoffs.

Well you could put your offense on the field and try to convert...Lester made the Cards think he was going to punt, and put his team in a great position to pick up a first down in a very difficult down and distance.

[New Tradition]

I remember a few weeks ago comparing Lenny Radtke to Matt Wenger and one thing I said was that Lenny was better in pass coverage....

After watching the last 4 weeks, it is very apparent how good Wenger is playing the pass after he lead the conference in interceptions and has been all over the place tipping balls left and right.

Wenger is a stud, a great overall linebacker that can do anything, no questions asked. 

I think he locked up the Conference defensive player of the year today, and is arguably one of the best linebackers in Division 3. 

I agree.

I don't know if anyone one else got a good view of it but Wenger's hit today on the Elmhurst punter was probably the hardest hit that I have ever seen in D3 football.

That play was interesting.  Elmhurst was facing a 4th and Long with like 3 min to go in the game.  They faked the punt and converted in the order of a 50 yrd TD pass.  Flag, illegal man downfield.  The very next play which is like 4th and 15 they run another fake punt and also pick up the 1st down...even though Wenger murdered the punter on the play.

Two things stand out to me.

1.  Great call by Lester, he defintely has some cojones.

2.  What the hell is NCC doing not being in a safe return coverage?

The more I have though about yesterday's game, the more nervous I am becoming about the playoffs.  The team I watched yesterday was not the #2 team in the Nation and not the #1 seed in whatever region they are going to host. 

Great call???  Its called desperation with 3 minutes to go in the game and needing points just to try to go to overtime.  What was the score at that point?   Wasnt Elmhurst down by 3 touchdowns with 3 minutes left in the game???   What would you have done as a coach, actually punt? (and yes, we should have been in regular defense)

It is very difficult to go undefeated in the CCIW, or any conference for that matter.  I have been at 7 of the Cardinals game this year and after every game I became more and more impressed with this team.  Injuries can kill a team, but this team wins regardless of who is playing QB, RB, DB etc..  THAT is the most impressive thing about the Cardinals, because it is very easy to chalk up a loss to so and so not playing....not happening with NCC.  

This is the #2 team in the nation, and I am looking forward to what they will do in the playoffs.

Well you could put your offense on the field and try to convert...Lester made the Cards think he was going to punt, and put his team in a great position to pick up a first down in a very difficult down and distance.

I personally never believed that Lester was going to punt the ball.  I know I certainly would not have in that situation.  Maybe Lester knew something about the NCC punt return team that he knew he could (and did) exploit?

[washdupcard]

CONGRATS CARDS.  Lets get that Championship.

Congrats to Wheaton, I've got a feeling they are going to do some damage....hopefully not to the Cards!

[wheels81]

Well, I had abandoned the football page the last week or so just couldn't imagine Wheaton making it in after the Elmhurst loss given all the conventional wisdom on the D3sports.com site.    Maybe it was the sacrificing of their Men's soccer team in the first round that appeased the regional committee gods.  

Great to have Basketball, football, and the women's soccer seasons overlap.  
drive out to Trine sat. afternoon and get back in time for the final of the pfund c classic.  Now just have to dodge family obligations and schedules  

sorry a lot of grinning going on here.

[wheels81]

I don't expect anything less than a CCIW rep in the final 4.
I thnk Wabash poses the biggest obstacle.  They know wheaton better as they've scrimmaged them the last couple years in the preseason.  I don't expect Naperville red birds to be challenged much as it helps to play at home.
So I hope to be able to see a CCIW rematch 8 miles south of Wheaton.

[Blitz Creed]

Reflecting on the cards 10-0 regular season, it made me think of the greatest CCIW of all time in recent years (post auggie mid-80's)...


I have narrowed it down to 4 teams:

03' Wheaton

04' Carthage

05' Auggie

05' NCC

Personally, I would love a 03' Wheaton/04' Carthage fantasy match-up....

just something to ponder...

[HScoach]

For all the CCIW guys that wander over to the OAC page, I've posted the spreads for Round 1 of the 2008 OAC Playoff Pick-Em Contest.  Join in.

Here's a taste to peek your interest:

#7 WHEATON at #2 TRINE (+7.5) 

[CardinalAlum]

I believe that I'm qualified to talk about Thomas More.  The Saints offense is very much like West Virginia's... both in scheme and because they have good speed on offense.  The love to run the ball but have the ability to pass efficiently.  QB Stellman has thrown only 2 INT's this year (both two weeks ago in the loss to Geneva).  The defense has played well this season (well, after the week 1 loss to JCU). 

It will be interesting to see what the Saints do against NCC on Saturday. 

I believe I'm going to be part of a group coming up. 

SF,

Thanks for your earlier post.  Congrats to your Saints on the season you have had.  Offensively, it sounds as though we are similar in scheme.  Our QB, Fanthorpe,  is a JR, who was the offensive player of the year as a sophomore.  He makes very good decisions with the ball and doesn't turn it over much.  Our defense is also very good, especially against the run.   Our MLB, Wenger is one of the best I believe you will see and should be the defensive player of the year in the conference.  There are a couple of watering holes just West of the stadium that are popular before and after games.  Our stadium is one of the nicest in d3.   Have a safe trip.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Just for fun, I ran some common-opponent scores for Wheaton/Trine - 'The Thunder Bowl'.

Their only direct common opponent is Hope: Trine won by 1, Wheaton by 40: +39 for Wheaton.

One link away, there were several MIAA-CCIW clashes (apologies if I omitted any):

IWU beat Hope by 3, Wheaton beat IWU by 34: +36 for Wheaton.
Carthage beat Hope by 24, Wheaton beat Carthage by 27: +50 for Wheaton.
Trine over Olivet by 11, Elmhurst over Olivet by 17, Elmhurst over Wheaton by 14: +8 for Trine.
NCC over Olivet by 30, NCC over Wheaton by 23: +4 for Trine.
Trine over Alma by 25, IWU over Alma by 14, Wheaton over IWU by 34: +23 for Wheaton.
Trine over Albion by 23, Millikin over Albion by 17, Wheaton over Millikin by 22: +16 for Wheaton.

That's a cumulative +152 for Wheaton in 7 links, or almost +22 per link.  Take away 3 points for home field, and I have just conclusively proven that Wheaton will win by 19 points!

[burly]

While I still have time to dream......I am thinking Wheaton gets a surprise pool C bid. Is #7 north and goes to Trine in round 1.

Great call.

[Mugsy]

While I still have time to dream......I am thinking Wheaton gets a surprise pool C bid. Is #7 north and goes to Trine in round 1.

Great call.

Hey... can't you change your post name now?  What is redman04 changing his too?