Weather looks relatively dry in Rock Island this afternoon..... 20% chance of rain, cloudy. Rain in morning and this evening...............

Should be a great game at Ericson Field today!!!

Go Vikings!

Congratulation to the Augustana Vikings football team that has grinded out a 8-1 campaign so far this year.  Despite their offense sputtering on Saturday, they were still able to play outstanding defense and take the win in Kenosha.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember when Augie last achieved 8 wins in a season.

Its has to be exciting for the team and fans to go into the last game of the season with so much on the line.  A CCIW championship and a berth in the NCAA playoffs for the victor.  Obviously, like so many other opponents over recent years, we have not matched up well with the Cardinals in the past. 

If the Vikings have one advantage, it may be the number of seniors and 5th year players that have played a lot of football over the last 4-5 years.  It will be a matchup of the #1 and #2 rushing offense and rushing defense teams in the conference.  It will also match the #1 and #2 scoring defenses and the #1 and #3 scoring offenses in the conference.

While it looks good on paper, its difficult to see how Augie will be able to slow down this offensive machine that is averaging 64 pts/ game.  They have beaten some good teams by a lot of points!  Hoping the Vikes can prevent the big plays and avoid turnovers.  They have been excellent with protecting the ball all year.  We have a lot of experience in the secondary where the Cardinals will be looking for the big plays.  Our defensive line has been solid all year, but especially last week when they were needed the most.  They have obviously not gone up against a O-line like North Centrals, however. 

The other X factor is the health of WR Bobby Inserra.  His skills and talent will be needed on the field Saturday if the Vikings hope to compete.

Regardless of the outcome this weekend, it has been exciting to watch this team this year and Im hoping this is only the beginning of a string of success in Rock Island!

Go Augie!!!

Merry Christmas all! 

Remember there are 12 days of Christmas and we should continue to feel joy and blessings for each and every day.

I am looking forward to continued improvement with the Augustana Vikings.  They have been in every game this year but have not been able to play the defense needed in the closing minutes to pull out many wins.  Hard to see the losses build up, but optimistic about the rest of the season.  Augie will make some noise this season and Coach Jesse has them going in the right direction.

Go Augie!

Bob)

We've never met, but I've always enjoyed your fair and accurate analysis on CCIW hoops on this site, and watching you on Div 3 hoops webcasts.  (This coming from a Augie alumni as well!   

So sorry to hear about your Dad's passing. Wishing you and your family peace during this time.

Augustana 31
Rhodes 21

Augie back at Lindgren Stadium in 2 weeks!

Yeah, I know realistically that the search has not been going on that long.  It must just be the anxiety about who they may choose,
                             and that nothing else in the sports world is going on right now!

Is it just me, or does it seem like the decision on the new Augie coach is taking forever!   

Are there any updates that anyone has heard?

So frustrating to see so many tournament worth teams being left home in the Central!

If they leave the CCIW, WIAC, Wash U, St Norbert, etc all in the Central region going forward, they should consider expanding the # of regionally ranked teams to 10, or something.  There are just too many skilled and talented teams in this part of the country to say "you get a regionally ranked win for this team at #8, but not for this lesser team at #9.  I think the # of regionally ranked teams is based on # of schools in the area, but shouldn't there be other factors involved?  Perhaps taking into account the # of teams from the Central that have made the Final Four over the years, or won the championship?  or collective winning percentage?

Early season injuries and players leaving team really handcuffed the Vikings this year. (freshman Duwa, junior Fraikes with injuries and freshmen McDonald, junior Tribble -left team)  New rotations and inexperience really cost Augie in the Oshkosh, Wash U, Lacrosse , and IWU games early on.  Only 2 wins instead of 4 losses would have likely made the difference.

IWU has really come on strong at the end of the year and they certainly are deserving of an NCAA bid, but it doesn't look good for them either.

Time to look forward to recruiting and building on the success of this year for the 2020-21 Vikings! 

So does everyone think that a UW Lacrosse team that is 0-5 against reg ranked teams in the Central (assuming they lose to Oshkosh) should still maintain a lead over an Augustana team (with 2 regional wins) that they beat earlier in the year?

I have to agree with Bob Q on this.  Been watching div 3 basketball for 30+ yrs and have come away with some feel for how teams are selected for the NCAA tourney.  Ben U is a quality team but their head to head should ONLY come into play if their resume is somewhat similar to North Central's.

NC clearly has the better overall resume.  Ranking Ben U at #3 hurts NC, Elmhurst, and every other team below them from getting to the table.  It's like a blockade that will have detrimental effects for everyone below them.  I personally hope Ben U wins their tournament but if they don't, the RAC and NCAA will have some answering to do to many here in the Central Region.

Ben U has been struggling as of late, with 2 losses in their last 4, yet no fall in rankings b/c of this "November game that supposedly as important as the games at then end of the season"  Once could argue the the RAC/NCAA is weighing this game significantly more than all others. 

It just doesn't look right.  Hopefully, Elmhurst, Oshkosh, and Lacrosse won't suffer because of it!

I feel like these regional rankings for the Central are not likely to change next week, even if a few of the teams lose.  It seems like everyone is locked in based on what transpired during these head to head matchups earlier in the year.  Am I wrong thinking this? 

I have no problem with RAC/NCAA ranking based on head to head, but ranking based on how your opponent did against another ranked opponent seems like a stretch.

Team A beat Team B,  Team B beat team C,  Team A and C did not play, but A must be better than C based on common opponent.

Augustana deserves to be behind 4 of the teams they lost to, but I'm just not convinced that Ben Univ and St Norbert are better than Augie or IWU.  I'm not sure that either would go 18-7 against the same schedule the Vikings played.

I think Ben Univ and St Norbert are quality teams and deserve NCAA bids. I just feel that the RAC / NCAA are looking mostly at the head to head results and disregarding the whole body of work.  And then extrapolating results based on how a common opponent competed against another ranked team seems like a big stretch. 

My point about Ben U beating a ranked La Tourneau team was that this same team (Latourneau) lost the very next night to the CCIW's LAST PLACE TEAM
(Millikin)  Millikin went 1-15 in the CCIW this year.  Does LaTourneau deserve to be ranked 4th in the South.  Probably because their whole body of work speaks for itself.

It would be so fun to settle some of these questions on the court, if all teams are lucky enough to get bids!

I feel like a North Central/Benedictine rematch would be true karma.

Wow.... still can't believe that a 18-7 Augustana team that finished 2nd in one of the premier conferences in Division 3 is NOT in the regional rankings!!!

Augie had the 3rd toughest schedule in Div 3 (.570 SOS)

The bad news is that Augie has played 6 teams this year that are now regionally ranked (a total of 8 games) and only won 2. (Elmhurst and Loras)
                                  7 pt loss to Oshkosh
                                  2 pt loss @Wash U
                                  2 pt loss @ Lacrosse
                                  1 pt loss @ North Central

The Vikings, unfortunately, needed 1 more quality win along the way to be ranked.

The RAC and NCAA are really looking at head to head and common opponents among everything else to delineate all these teams in the Central.   SOS does not seem to be as important.
Everything has lined up for the committee as there is a nice pecking order to line everyone up.  No conflicting results like Team A beat B, and B beat C, but C beat A

Apparently teams that have better regional win % and a token win or 2 against elite teams are more favorable than teams who may not have a shiny winning %, but still play a tough schedule in one of the elite conferences in division 3.

Is a 20-5 Benedictine team really better than a 18-7 Augie team?  Ben Univ beat regionally ranked NC, St Norbert, and LaTourneau (#4 in South this week).  This Latouneau team beat Millikin by 2 pts the night after losing to Ben U. (?)

I understand Ben U beat North Central and NC beat Augie x 2, but can you deduce that Ben U is better than Augie from this?  North Central shot 28% from field (18% from 3) in their loss to Ben Univ in Nov.  I think the Cardinals had a tough shooting night.  I think many would pick NC to beat Ben U on most nights.

St Norbert beat Oshkosh early in the year, but has no other quality wins with a SOS .506...... they are 1-2 against reg ranked teams.  Does this one game really carry so much weight that it vaults them to a #6 ranking?

Among the other regions, there are 13 regionally ranked teams with more losses than Augie and 19 with as many losses (7) that are sitting a lot better as far as NCAA selection goes.  Why do some of these teams come to the table prior to Augustana?  Even though though there is no rule that says so many teams have to come from each regional, why is it assumed that if your not in the top 6, you won't be selected?

An example of this would be Loras.  Loras is 17-8 and ranked #5 in the West.  Augie beat Loras by almost 30pts earlier in the year.  Loras in theory would come to the table much sooner than Augustana.  (I am presuming Augie is ranked #9 since Eau Claire lost.)  How can you consider Loras over Augie when the Vikings are buried in the Central? 

Which leads me to my final point..... Realign the regions!

The Central has too many great programs/teams within the CCIW and WIAC.  Our region would look a lot like the other regional rankings if it only contained 1 power conference in it.
Might look something like this...........................

1) Wash U
2) North Central
3) Elmhurst
4) Augustana
5) Illinois Wesleyan
6) Ben Univ
7) St Norbert
8) Wheaton or other deserving team (don't have current NCAA data)

The message here is ..... if you are in a weaker conference, play a tough nonconf schedule to increase your SOS.  Otherwise, you must win your conference automatic bid!


Hoping the Vikings can put it all together this week and win the automatic bid to the NCAA.  This regional ranking stuff is exhausting!!! 

OK.... and as I'm typing the above, I see the CCIW conference site is now saying #1 plays lowest remaining seed, and #2 plays highest remaining seed.....
          for both men and women.

This makes it more intriguing, I think.

Augie wins 96-73 to finish 18-7 (12-4)

I thought at the beginning of the year that 12-4 might win the title, but give NC credit, they really are having a great year!

Looking forward to CCIW Tourney.  It appears Augie will need to win the conference title to get in the NCAA tourney. 

When are they going to re-align these regionals and split the WIAC and CCIW up?  A lot of good teams in these power conferences are going to be sitting home after next week!!!