FB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[scandihoovian]

So . . . have you all noticed that Oxy is ranked 4th in the West Region and Cal Lu 10th?  But even more key is that the  West Region's No. 1 (Linfield), No. 2 (UW Whitewater) and No. 3 (St. John's) teams also happen to be 1st, 2nd and 3rd nationally.

Thanks for bringing that up, Sabretooth - but doesn't that fly in the face of toballer's "confirmed fact" that the "SCIAC sucks and everybody knows it"?

It's great for the conference to have two teams in the top ten of what is clearly the toughest region in the country this year.  I hope that Oxy and Cal Lu finish strong and give the SCIAC a shot at putting two teams into the post season.

[rockcat]

I think if Cal Lu would have been at least competative in the game against Oxy they would have a legitament chance of making the playoffs.  The thing they have going against them is that they have only beaten on team that is over .500.  If you only play two .500 teams in your whole season you better go undefeated.  Besides that I saw that game against Oxy and they looked horrible.  I'm not so sure they are really good enough to be a playoff team.

[scandihoovian]

You're right about the loss at Oxy, RockCat.  It was by far and away the worst performance of the year for the Kingsmen.  Even a close loss to Oxy would vastly improve their playoff chances.

The one thing they have in their favor is their similar results against the common opponents they share with Whitworth.  I understand that Whitworth is likely to get the slot if they win out, I'm just glad the Kingsmen are in the hunt.  As poorly as they played at Oxy, they have not let that one game define their season.  A strong finish against Whittier and Chapman goes a long way - regardless of whether or not the Committee deems Cal Lu playoff worthy.

[Pat Coleman]

Totally random and opinionated without any evidence, but I truly believe the midwest is over-rated. The south and west coast conferences simply have better athletes. I'm not buying into the St. John/Concordia/Whitewater hype. Its a region living off its rich history, tradition and the love of D3 analysts. 

Some of that rich history and tradition is still playing, you know. St. John's won the title just two years ago. Players from that team are still there.

[rockcat]

You're right about the loss at Oxy, RockCat. It was by far and away the worst performance of the year for the Kingsmen. Even a close loss to Oxy would vastly improve their playoff chances.

/quote]

It's to bad that PLU wasn't better this year.  Most years a win against the Lutes is more meaningful. 

[EMAN51]

<<Except if the Nigerian Nightmare returns and runs all over the field>>
Hey Brown Eagle, was there a player with that nickname on Laverne?  I thought the only Nigerian Nightmare was Okoye from APU?

[tigersports]

I'll back off a little.  Elliott is an unbelievable talent and Oxy did move the ball on Linfield until they got totally demoralized by Elliott's 12 td's in about 3 minutes. (Or so it seems).  Thus, there defense is a bit pedestrian.   My thought was that he's the engine that drives that team to greatness, imho.  Maybe I was a little off with that, especially since his receivers are better than anyone in the SCIAC.  Plus, the only possible loss in that was the 47-32 pasting v. Whitworth.  How's that for lawyerly equivocation!

As for the whole Collins thing, Oxy would still be 5-2 or 6-1 with Goltz and skill players.  Maybe not ranked, but still at the top of the SCIAC.  Bottom line is that this used to be Redlands' conference with an occasional interloper.  The conference now goes through both Redlands and Eagle Rock, Collins or no.

Ok, I'll let it rest.  (Dam lawyers).

[tigersports]

Bold predictions for tomorrow:

Pomona-Pitzer   38, Colorado College   16
Occidental 45, La Verne   22
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps   13, Redlands   37
Cal Lutheran 30, Whittier 24

[scandihoovian]

Tigersports-

I have seen Collins play twice now, and I think he is a larger difference maker than you give him credit for.  Oxy's receivers and backs make great plays and are talented individuals, but without Collins in the mix I think they would get fewer chances to shine.  Collins makes defenses commit to containing him, freeing up the other offensive weapons the Tigers have.  Collins is especially a nightmare on third and long, situations defenses usually thrive on.  His mobility and arm strength help Oxy convert third downs they would not without him on the field, sustaining drives and helping to rest the defense. 

[tigersports]

Good points, Scandi.  I think the midpoint of this dialogue  is that he's made a decent to very good team into a special one, and I can live with that assessment.  There are a lot of open receivers in this conference, but time after time, he's delivering a lot of "wow" balls.    At least once or twice a game, we're caught saying, "that's a throw you don't see too often in D-III."  Guys who can throw the deep out and deep post like him are usually, at the very least, sitting around on Saturdays giving signals to a D-I QB, hoping that that same QB gets hurt on the next play. :-)   Thanks for the discussion.

[rockcat]

Tigersports,

I was at the game last year between Linfield and Oxy.  Oxy did a good job in the first quarter moving the ball and showed a spark.  To say that Linfield wasn't special before Elliott is a bit of a stretch.  The Cats haven't lost a regular season game since early in 2001.  The guy who Elliott replaced, Tyler Matthews was no average QB himself.  He was first team all-american his senior year.

The offense did carry the team at times last year but when I counted, like the national semi's and finals the defense stepped up big.  This year the defense has been tough all year...or as the NWC posters would say, "salty."  Teams will have to play much better this year to be able to move the ball against the Cats.

[wildcat11]

I'll back off a little.  Elliott is an unbelievable talent and Oxy did move the ball on Linfield until they got totally demoralized by Elliott's 12 td's in about 3 minutes. (Or so it seems).  Thus, there defense is a bit pedestrian.   

Tigersports,

Oxy does have a good offense and did move the ball on Linfield early.  However, once Linfield's defense made their adjustments to what Oxy was doing scheme wise...Linfield put Oxy's offense in check for the rest of the afternoon.

That's the difference between Oxy and Linfield.  Linfield's defense made adjustments and took Oxy's offense out of it's game plan but Oxy could make defensive adjustments all day long but could not stop all of the Linfield weapons.

To call Linfield's defense a bit pedestrian is pretty funny.

[scandihoovian]

At the half in Thousand Oaks:

CLU 17
Whittier 0

[OxyFan21]

At the half:

Oxy  24

La Verne  23

191 yards rushing for La Verne in the first half.

Collins has 3 TD passes.

347 total yards for La Verne
220 total yards for Oxy

Could be an interesting 2nd half.

[desertcat1]

any score in the  second half?