FB: Midwest Conference

[SNCOLDAD]

Beloit at Monmouth 1 p.m.
Grinnell at Carroll 1 p.m.
Knox at Ripon 1 p.m.
Lake Forest at Illinois College 1 p.m.
Lawrence at St. Norbert 1 p.m.

Monmouth
St. Norbert
Ripon
Those are the easy choices. So should we go out on a limb on some of these?

I think Grinnell may catch Carroll.
I would like to go real crazy but I have to stay with Illinois College.

[basil991]

What can LFC expect from IC?

[The Roop]

Lots of down field passing

[scottie]

Grinnell over Carroll 14-11.

[SNCOLDAD]

All right scottie   

[Footballfan99]

Beliot vs Monmouth- Monmouth
Grinnell vs Carroll-  Carroll
Knox vs Ripon- Ripon
Lake Forest vs IC- IC
Lawrence vs St. Norbert- Norbert

[PC]

Its different in the MWC though and there is a large difference in roster sizes between teams.  With the smaller rosters being the schools that are the top academic schools.  Atleast smaller rosters being an observation from my point of view seeing games for that last five or so years

Maybe the smaller rosters are just the schools that appropriate thier athletic budgets more evenly over all sports--both sexes.

[PC]

In my mind acceptance standards are so deceiving in telling how good of an education you actually get and how well a school prepares you for the future.

While schools like grinnell, knox, and lawrence are harder to get into, I think all the schools in the conf. can boast about equally in respect to successful and accomplished alumni.  Isn't that the final goal?

[The Roop]

In 30 plus years of following the MWC the only roster limits I've heard of are related to travel. Post season NCAA play excepted of course. Every school pretty much has a "no-cut" policy. So if school A has 95 football players and school B only has 55, that means that school A has been more successful in the recruiting area.

[Redmen09]

I think the Grinnell vs Carroll game will be a good game this weekend.  those two teams in my mind have had the more surprising outcomes thus far. it will be a good guage of what to expect from either team this year

[MWCalum]

2. MWC does NOT have spring football. How much does that affect success?

Most definitley it does.. I mean your not going to get kids graduating early to participate in spring practice but its extra days of coaching with the depth chart that your going to be using (for the most part minus a couple freshmen) in the fall. If coaches are putting in a new scheme or if there is a new coordinator they can implement that stuff so the kids have a basic understanding of what they are doing and can work on it over summer. I'm sure most schools, at least the successful ones, have players that want to win and work hard and get the guys out there on their own for 7 on 7 and stuff to try and stay sharp. I think its something that shold be implemented to help raise the quality of football in the conference.

Beloit at Monmouth:sorry roop.. scots 42-bucs 14
Grinnell at Carroll-Grinnell moves to 2-0 in the conf. with a 21-18 thriller
Knox at Ripon-Ripon finally plays well against knox and wins 40-7
Lake Forest at Illinois College- IC wins in a barn burner 49-38
Lawrence at St. Norbert-Knights get back on track 45-10

[scottie]

Beloit at Monmouth:sorry roop.. scots 42-bucs 14
Grinnell at Carroll-Grinnell moves to 2-0 in the conf. with a 21-18 thriller
Knox at Ripon-Ripon finally plays well against knox and wins 40-7
Lake Forest at Illinois College- IC wins in a barn burner 49-38
Lawrence at St. Norbert-Knights get back on track 45-10

Do you know something we don't know?   

[SNCOLDAD]

Hello???   

A win is a win in the record books. No matter how ugly!   

[bballer1280]

I think the Grinnell vs Carroll game will be a good game this weekend.  those two teams in my mind have had the more surprising outcomes thus far. it will be a good guage of what to expect from either team this year

I agree.  I believe that this will be a good game and the outcome is certainly in doubt. 

The big question is whether or not Grinnell can finish a game and get a win?  The inability to finish a game is the sign of an inexperienced team that does not know how to win.  Grinnell likely will suffer from this syndrome more than I would like to see this fall.  I hope that I am wrong and that Grinnell can "get off of the field" with defensive stops while finishing offensive drives.  If they can do this, Grinnell will win more games than last year.  I believe it is possible and the game against Carroll is a chance to prove it.

[Redmen09]

Ripon vs Knox is always a good defensive match up since these two defenses are the only ones who get a true triple option look in practice.  We've always stalled on offense against the prairie fire but this year should be a blow out. i hope.