FB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[OXY Oswald]

Great game today from the Stagg Bowl.  Congrats to Mt. Union, they played a hell of a game.  That Nate Kmic is a great back, its hard to believe that he's a true freshmen.  Then again, Beaver is a hell of a back too and he's a soph.

I didn't get to listen to the Aztec Bowl but a friend gave me the short and dirty version -- Mike Bryant had a few tackles (around 5ish), a big hit on the opening kick-off, and blocked a punt that resulted in a safety for the US.  The US won 53-15 over Mexico.  Great day Mike, awesome job.

Back to Back to Back SCIAC Champs in '06
Go Tigers!

[scandihoovian]

Based on my experience with President Luedtke I guess I'd describe him as "athletically neutral".  I never saw him as a real pro-athletics president but I also never observed any real anti-athletics behavior either.  So while I don't fully agree with Tom's assessment, I do agree that there is room for greater support for the athletic programs from the administration.

The university is in the process of finalizing the search for a new provost, and when you look at that in combination with the upcoming presidential search it is clear that there is great potential for change at CLU - especially as it approaches its 50th anniversary, a time often thought of as the end of institutional adolesence.  It will indeed be interesting to see where things go from here.

I do think that the completion of the new athletic facilities will make CLU more attractive to candidates who take a favorable view of the role of sports in a liberal arts education, and therefore make it more likely that CLU will end up with a pro-athletics president

[Browneagle64]

Looks like the Aztec bowl was won by the U.S. in a landslide. I hope all the seniors that had the opportunity to play had fun. Congrats to Mike Byrant for representing the school at the game. Best of luck to him and his future.

To all of you SCIAC fans and frequent posters, Happy Holidays. Hope that you guys spend it well and wise. Good luck to everyone during the offseason. I was great chatting with all of you through good and bad post..

[Tom Brady]

Hello All, now I know I am going to take some abuse for asking this, but I really am wondering how OXY stays at #9 after getting smoked in the first round?  Like I said, not trying to take anything away here cause they had a great year.  Just wondering...thoughts??

[D O.C.]

Because their season was brutally cut short by playing LINFIELD at home first round? Sympathy? Probably start at 9 next year too?
Shame Collins cannot be seen by east of the Rockies.

[Tom Brady]

I guess thats a pretty darn good reason.  I am sure they could have done pretty good in the playoffs if they would have played some of the Patsy's that made it.

[Sabretooth Tiger]

I'm thinking that there are a number of western teams that wish they'd been seeded in Wesley's region.

[scandihoovian]

Well put, Sabretooth, although I think Wesley does deserve some props for beating UMHB.  Seems like the wheels really came off when they played UWW.

It's too bad the Whitewater kids had a couple of quarters where they looked stunned just to be there - it's hard to believe that Saturday was the best representation of how good they were this year.

[scandihoovian]

Well, Bob, look at it this way.  The only other team in the Top 16 (there were, after all, only 16 teams left after the first round) that lost a first round playoff game is North Central at #16.  Wesley won an entire region and came in behind Oxy.  The fact that Cal Lu got little respect in the final national poll is something we all expect after the way the playoff selections went down - I don't see how it supports any kind of argument for why Oxy should stay at #9, especially as the Kingsmen were the only team Oxy beat this year with a record of better than 5-4.

[Pat Coleman]

The placement of teams in the bracket, however, was not according to quality, it was according to the map. Just because someone lost in the first round doesn't mean they cannot be a Top 16 team.

[scandihoovian]

The placement of teams in the bracket, however, was not according to quality, it was according to the map. Just because someone lost in the first round doesn't mean they cannot be a Top 16 team.

Point taken, Pat.  I think you know how many of us felt about team distribution out here in the West region.  Regardless, OxyBob's glee at Cal Lu receiving only 1 vote in the national poll does little to support a #9 national ranking for Oxy.

[Sabretooth Tiger]

I didn't see O-Bob as being gleeful at Cal Lu's single vote, so much as perhaps lashing out a little at Mr. Brady's "smoked" comment related to Oxy's final ranking . . . which I did not find as objectionable as others may have.

At any rate, I think 9 sounds about right . . . dropping from 6th to 9th in the nation, 4th to 5th in the region . . . if the West had not been so strong overall, then perhaps Oxy's loss would have caused a bigger drop, but all in all, the final placement sure seems reasonable to me.  Especially if you look at the fact that Wesley is no. 10 . . . given Wesley's showing at UWW, I don't see how that could move them in front of the Tigers . . . if that game had been close, then I'll bet the Tigers would have dropped a few more places.  But as the wheels seem to have come off for Wesley, I think that helped Oxy to stay as high as 9.  I think where Oxy finished was both fair and fortunate.

Next year will be a challenge . . . good recruiting is needed for the D and we may need a little O line help as well.  I'm sure Widolff and the crew will find some gems.

The West will undoubtedly remain as tough, if not more so.  UWW doesn't graduate many, Linfield is set to reload, Concordia and St. Johns will both remain in the hunt . . . Oxy will have a row to hoe to stay on top of the SCIAC and to be competitive in the region.

That's why they play the games, eh boys?

Looking forward to next year, happy holidays to all . . . see you on the hoops boards?

Go Tigers!
Eat'em up Tigers!
Io Triumphe!

[scandihoovian]

Sabretooth-

Thanking you for making a well constructed argument in favor of Oxy's ranking, I do think the fact that they stayed as high as #9 says a lot for the national respect they earned last year.  I can only hope that translates into a little more overall respect for the conference as a whole. 


Bob-

I think anyone who's read my posts on this board over the entirety of this season knows I respect the Oxy program and wish them well whenever they play on the national stage.  If you feel that I'm a bitter guy because I challenged you to present an actual argument, so be it...

[Tom Brady]

Report from ESPN.com

Tom Brady regrets the words he chose to describe the game between OXY and Linfield during the first round of the 2005 Division III Playoffs.  Mr. Brady has a lot of respect for the entire SCIAC and did not mean to use such a term.   Mr. Brady was heard saying "I send out an appology to all OXY fans, especially Bob and Sabretooth.  We were getting along for so long and I was wrong."
The entire SCIAC is happy to see the respect coming from the voters from around the nation.

See guys, that Brady guy isnt all that bad...

[downtown48]

Scandi...I don't know that it will gain the SCIAC more respect considering OXY blew out the #2 team in your conference and that team didn't get in the dance with one loss...