CCIW

[petemcb]

Yellow card and a warning to both blue_jays and sock heir.  Now play on.

[Jim Matson]

I don't know if the Park's chances are high, but as the third ranked team in the Central, and now the #1/#2 ranked Pool C team in the Central, it seems likely that they would be a strong candidate for the committee.

But the Pool C selection is compared on a national basis, and with Vassar winning the Liberty League, you have added St. Lawrence to Pool C; Vassar was never going to be a strong consideration, so there is one spot. Ohio Wesleyan falling to DePauw isn't that bad as DePauw would have been considered. Centre taking down Trinity is a negative as Centre is like Vassar in regards to Pool C consideration.

But you have to ask yourself, how many better Pool C teams are out there? Rank it by the NCAA regionals, and I think you will see a possible and probably chance of North Park seeing the post-season.

[Jim Matson]

North Park is in.

Luther will host and will face North Park, while St. Olaf plays Carroll. Luther was a Pool C as is North Park. St. Olaf won the MIAC and Carroll took the Midwest Conference.

It is the Norwegians versus the Swedes in an epic battle to establish once and for all that age old question...oh, wait...that was already solved in the winter olympics 

[thePietist]

Good to see 2 CCIW teams make the tourney again.  Though it hurts me to say it, it's a pity that Wheaton or Elmhurst couldn't bring that number up to 3.
NPU will face a tough Luther team that split 2 matches with Loras this year--at Luther's place to boot. The Vikings have a tough row to hoe.  Perhaps someone can explain to me how Luther got the honor of hosting when St Olaf was an AQ and has beaten Luther this season. 
Carthage draws Calvin.  Having watched the Calvin vs Hope matchup at Hope earlier this fall, I wasn't terribly impressed with either side.  The infamous physicality of the past was seemingly gone and the match was a snoozer until the last 10 minutes of the game.  For my money (having never seen Carthage play this year), Carthage can win this one.

[GarbageGoals33]

The St. Olaf/Carroll/Luther/NPU bracket is pretty wide open.  No team is very dominant.  If NPU regains a bit of there mid/early season form they can make it out of this group. 

Luther is a very defensive team and will hope to win a low scoring affair.  St. Olaf has some nice results this season but also some ugly results.  The Oles will give up goals, it is just a matter of being able to counter attack and score on their chances.  I know nothing of Carroll, but, the MWC rarely makes any noise in the NCAA tournament so I expect them to be the weakest team of the group. 

[FR_Sam]

St. Olaf must not have put in to host.  You do have to complete an application and submit it by a deadline.  That is the only logical explanation for Luther hosting over STO.

[Jim Matson]

I agree with FRSam.

This might call for a trip to little Norway!

[thePietist]

anyone know of any tournament pick-em sites?  i'm surprised i haven't seen any mention of anyone collecting bracket picks by tomorrow.  anyone care to take that on?

[markerickson]

OT:  In the preview of the Colbie Calliat concert at NCC, the writer encouraged people to go because the performer is trendy.  The author advised people to reconsider their attendance if they were "a North Central rival/hater from North Park University."  Huh?

BTW - tix were $75-100 for this artist I've never even heard of.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park is in.

Luther will host and will face North Park, while St. Olaf plays Carroll. Luther was a Pool C as is North Park. St. Olaf won the MIAC and Carroll took the Midwest Conference.

It is the Norwegians versus the Swedes in an epic battle to establish once and for all that age old question...oh, wait...that was already solved in the winter olympics 

Jim, Luther may have the Norwegian nickname and heritage, but take a look at the rosters of the two respective sides. NPU has two Norwegians, Siggy Pryser and Markus Fodstad. Luther has only one, Robert Vangen. Therefore, NPU out-Norsks Luther, 2 to 1.

The rest of Luther's foreign contingent consists of a Ugandan (Dickson Kwatampora) and a Ghanian (Muluken Taye).

It's not Sweden versus Norway; it's Scandinavia versus Africa.

OT:  In the review of the Colbie Calliat concert at NCC, the writer encouraged people to go because the performer is trendy.  The author advised people to reconsider their attendance if they were "a North Central rival/hater from North Park University."  Huh?

BTW - tix were $75-100 for this artist I've never even heard of.

Pretty girl. But I'm sure that, it being Naperville and all, they'd much rather have Pat Benatar.

Who knows why the Tribune's A&E writer put in that bit about NPU. It's bizarre. North Central isn't a school that anyone at NPU considers to be a rival, except in the general they're-in-our-conference sort of sense of the word "rival". And I'm pretty sure that NCC folks feel the same way about NPU. My guess is that the writer just pulled another random CCIW school out of the air and used it to put some (not-very-good) topical humor into what was otherwise a humdrum college concert announcement.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Um, Greg, I doubt it was random.  2 days after the concert NCC faces a do-or-die showdown against NPU in football!

Well, OK, it was totally stupid, but it (probably) wasn't random.

[Gregory Sager]

I seriously doubt that the copywriter in the Tribune's Arts & Entertainment section went to the trouble of looking up North Central's next football opponent on the NCC athletics webpage just for some fodder for a dumb one-off joke. I'm convinced that the NPU reference is totally random.

[soc4life]

North Park down 2-0 at the half in Iowa.

[petemcb]

And North Park's roller coaster ride continues this season......

[petemcb]

3-0.  Who woulda guessed?  NPU's talent seems to be fine  -  their heads/emotions, not so much.  What a disappointment!