The Top 10 West Region teams of the D3football.com Era

[wildcat11]

Yeah...this has been done very well out on the East and South board so I figure we should knock this around out west.  I won't go into great detail but give you my 10 ten list: 

1. 2004 Linfield (Champs)
2. 2003 SJU (Champs)
3. 1999 PLU (Champs)
4. 2000 SJU (Just a FG away from Champs)
5. 2005 UWW (Beat #1 on the road, Stagg Runner up)
6. 2006 UWW (Great run but felt the '05 team was better)
7. 2005 Linfield (Would have been Stagg Bowl bound if not for UWW)
8. 2002 SJU (Defeated an excellent 'Cat team but fell short to the River Walk QB)
9. 2003 Linfield (Gave the 03 champs their toughest and closest game of the playoffs)
10. 2000 Central  (Great defensive squad and wanted to mix it up a bit)

Of course I'm putting Linfield on the top with such a great offense, but 2003 SJU did knock off Mount, and 1999 PLU did with 5 games on the road in their pasting of Rowan.

[gordonmann]

Nice job, Wildcat11.

[Ralph Turner]

Wildcat, I would switch the 2003 SJU team for the 2004 Linfield team.  SJU's beating MUC in the Stagg was an "upset".  MUC had been on an incredible roll prior to this.  I think that the SJU loss makes the UMHB win over MUC easier.

The "infallibility factor" had been breached by the Johnnies the year before.

Otherwise, I like the list.  You have five different teams same as the South.  I think that the West is the toughest region, tho'.

[Walston Hoover]

'03 Wartburg trumps 2000 Central. That was a heck of a game in Oregon.
That '03 Wartburg team was probably the best IIAC team since Simpson made the Semis in 96.

[Pat Coleman]

It remains the only time that Mount Union has lost by more than 12 points since 1992. I would go with St. John's, too.

[pg04]

Nice list. 

Look what I've started!  I agree that you can have pretty good arguments with these lists, well except in the north.   

[Touchdown Tommy]

Take off the purple shades WC11.  24-6 over the Juggernaut.  Case closed.  The powers that be have spoken.

[DutchHawk]

I agree, that SJU team was amazing. Good to see Central thrown in there although 03 Wburg has a legitimate argument. That PLU team was pretty stellar as well! Not knocking Linfield though.

[wildcat11]

It remains the only time that Mount Union has lost by more than 12 points since 1992. I would go with St. John's, too.

A big reason why I went with Linfield over SJU (besides the fact I'm a Linfield honk) is that the 2003 Linfield team went into SJU and gave the future champs a game to the wire (7 pt loss) and I would say the 2004 'Cats were much more explosive.  Besides the Stagg nobody even came even close to the 'Cats during the 2004 playoffs.

I will admit that beating Mount holds a lot of weight but I think 2004 Linfield was the better team.

I can see 2003 Wart over the 2000 Dutch.

[Ralph Turner]

It remains the only time that Mount Union has lost by more than 12 points since 1992. I would go with St. John's, too.

A big reason why I went with Linfield over SJU (besides the fact I'm a Linfield honk) is that the 2003 Linfield team went into SJU and gave the future champs a game to the wire (7 pt loss) and I would say the 2004 'Cats were much more explosive.  Besides the Stagg nobody even came even close to the 'Cats during the 2004 playoffs.

I will admit that beating Mount holds a lot of weight but I think 2004 Linfield was the better team.

I can see 2003 Wart over the 2000 Dutch.

I am using the same logic for the Linfield/SJU comparison.  In the Stagg, Linfield could not put away UMHB.  UMHB defeated MUC on the road by rushing the football in the fourth quarter.  UMHB shut down the "explosive" Linfield offense for most of 59 minutes.  Besides that first Linfield drive, UMHB outgains Linfield.

The muffled punt attempt was the reason for the final Linfield score.  It was a special teams play that won the game. 

I think that the 2003 SJU team is better than the 2004 Linfield team.  In fact, I think that you are making the case for the 2003 Linfield team to be better than the 2004 Linfield team!     

[wildcat11]

UMHB shut down the "explosive" Linfield offense for most of 59 minutes.  Besides that first Linfield drive, UMHB outgains Linfield.

Ralph I would say they contained Linfield for 29 minutes....Linfield did put up 21 points and 334 yards up in the 1st half.  Linfield's defense wasn't too bad in that game either. 

I'd bet my house vs TDT's cot at the YMCA that the '04 Cats would down the 03 Johns.

[Ralph Turner]

UMHB shut down the "explosive" Linfield offense for most of 59 minutes.  Besides that first Linfield drive, UMHB outgains Linfield.

Ralph I would say they contained Linfield for 29 minutes....Linfield did put up 21 points and 334 yards up in the 1st half.  Linfield's defense wasn't too bad in that game either. 

I'd bet my house vs TDT's cot at the YMCA that the '04 Cats would down the 03 Johns.

+1, wildcat.  I had forgotten about the adjustments that UMHB makes at half time.  That is even more impressive.  Linfield has one 10-yd drive for the TD and little else for the rest of the game.

The quality of the Stagg Bowls (with the exception of the "Riverwalk Walk-over" in 2002) have been outstanding.

Let's really push the Nielsen's this year.

[Kilted Rat]

1. 2003 SJU (Champs)
2. 2004 Linfield (Champs)
3. 1999 PLU (Champs)
4. 2000 SJU (Just a FG away from Champs)
5. 2005 UWW (Beat #1 on the road, Stagg Runner up)
6. 2006 UWW (Great run but felt the '05 team was better)
7.  2002 SJU (Defeated an excellent 'Cat team but fell short to the River Walk QB)
8. 2005 Linfield (Would have been Stagg Bowl bound if not for UWW)
9. 2003 Linfield (Gave the 03 champs their toughest and closest game of the playoffs)
10. 2000 Central  (Great defensive squad and wanted to mix it up a bit)


Going in to the 2003 game, very few people (many SJU fans not wearing kilts included) didn't give SJU a chance against the mighty Mount. SJU '03 remains the only team to ever beat MUC(k) in the Stagg and to hold them to single digit points in a Stagg. Their next lowest scoring output in a Stagg? 2000 vs SJU.

[repete]

If I recall before the 2003 Stagg, the OAC board was all atwitter about how that MUC team would rank with the all-time great Mount teams and how the 2000 10-7 game was a bit of a fluke. Most of the Ohio folks had that 2003 team in the top two or three.

... and then SJU's undersized d-line had Larry Kinnard and crew holding on for dear life.

If Linfield's '04 13-victory season had included a head-to-head matchup with MUC, 11's argument might have a little more weight against SJU's 14 wins and the end of MUC streaks (55 games and three national championships).

[d-train]

#4 - No question the '00 Johnnies had a heck of a Stagg Bowl. But IIRC, they lost once or twice in the regular season and barely eeked out a few playoff games (OT versus the Lutes). Would they win a head-to-head versus number 5-9 on your list? Personally, I think at least #5 was better and maybe one or two others.


The victory over Mt. Union thing is kind of a sticking point in figuring the top spot. I've never believed that the '99 Lutes (as impressive as they were) could have mopped the floor with the Purple Raiders like they did with Rowan. It would have been a totally different game.



EDIT: Let me clarify my statement regarding the 2000 Johnnies above. I still think the 2005 Warhawks (#5 on the list) were better. But that's probably it. In my argument about spots 6-9, I was mistaken about two things. 1 - the Johnnies only lost once that year before the Stagg (I was thinking of 2001 when they dropped two right out of the gates) and 2 - I was thinking that was one of MUC's 'less impressive' teams that they hung with in the Stagg...but after reviewing Mount's other scores that year...that doesn't really hold up either.
 
Meanwhile, the 2003 Johnnies vs. 2004 Wildcats would be one for the ages. Maybe make 'em play the '99 Lutes and '05 Warhawks in semifinal pairings?