Quote from: The Third Division on September 30, 2026, 01:20:12 AMAny update if Donovan McNeal makes a return later this year?

Yes he will be back for the Wheaton game.  This is TOP secret inside information so don't quote me on it or my sources will cut me off.  But, NCC is keeping this under wraps to catch the Crusaders by surprise.  Don't be shocked if he plays the game wearing a different jersey number, under an assumed name---I mean this is Naperville so some real cloak and dagger stuff.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on September 19, 2026, 05:09:54 PMI actually contemplated looking up the last time that NPU had had a lead on North Central and sharing it on the air,

2016

Quote from: NCC2010 on December 08, 2025, 01:20:28 PM

Quote from: hazzben on December 08, 2025, 11:56:53 AM

Quote from: NCC2010 on December 08, 2025, 09:34:32 AM

Quote from: hazzben on December 07, 2025, 11:55:13 PM

Quote from: robertgoulet on December 07, 2025, 09:40:13 PM

Quote from: hazzben on December 07, 2025, 09:52:02 AMWe need to see what the post-blaha era brings. But I said to my brother yesterday, UWRF feels a little like 2003 SJU. A very good team, with a transcendent player, and a feeling of almost inevitability. That Mount team was also regarded like this NCC team. Supposedly the best ever and unbeatable.
 

Quote from: hazzben on December 07, 2025, 11:55:13 PM

Quote from: robertgoulet on December 07, 2025, 09:40:13 PM

Quote from: hazzben on December 07, 2025, 09:52:02 AMWe need to see what the post-blaha era brings. But I said to my brother yesterday, UWRF feels a little like 2003 SJU. A very good team, with a transcendent player, and a feeling of almost inevitability. That Mount team was also regarded like this NCC team. Supposedly the best ever and unbeatable.
 

Not sure who is saying NCC is the best ever and unbeatable...certainly not coming from NCC fans. Most of us realize that the team took a pretty sizable step back after last season, especially on offense.

I wasn't clear, I was meaning to say "best ever Mount team." That said ...

Logan's metric's earlier this year had NCC as the 5th highest since 1997, but all 4 above them achieved their peak in the post-season. Higher than peak 2022 NCC in Rd 4 and peak 2024 NCC in week 7. Even more interesting now that I'm looking back at the list, they are just ahead of 2003 Mount Union Rd 4.

Logan's regular season only list has 2025 NCC with the highest ever regular season rating.

Bringing this post over to the CCIW board, it is interesting to note that now NCC isn't even the highest team rated left in the field.  UWRF has surpassed them this week.

https://x.com/LogHanRatings/status/1997407900008931713?s=20

Thanks NCC2010...My point above was simply that there's a feeling of inevitability to the NCC vs UWRF stagg (though I hope to be proved wrong Saturday). We didn't have logan's metrics in 2003, and while SJU didn't lose that year like UWRF has this year, they had a few close calls. But Blaha gives me serious Blake Elliot vibes. It remains to be seen if the rest of the team around him is as good as SJU's 03 supporting cast. And 2025 NCC may yet prove immortal, where 03 Mount got shocked.

I could be dead wrong, but I feel like we have the semifinal pairings a week early. NCC, UWRF, Wheaton, and Bethel are all playing really well right now on both sides of the ball. The biggest threats to an All Midwest Red Stagg Bowl IMO are Wheaton and Bethel. JHU and Sus are both really good teams with some awesome weapons, but I just can't see them as compete enough teams to win 3 more games. JCU v Berry feels similar. JCU is playing incredible D, has a very good QB and WR combo, and they just knocked off Mount. They might be the sleeper. But it's one thing to beat Mount, an opponent they are very familiar with. It's another to win on the road in the Semi's with a totally unfamiliar, physical, and balanced foe. Their posters assume NCC in the semi's is a fait accompli, but Bethel would fit that bill as well. I'll save my deep dive into these games for later in the week, both home teams are clear favorites. But they have two real hurdles to clear first.

Yep, I was just pointing out that NCC is no longer the favorite in Logan's model — something that's been pretty rare since 2021. In fact, this is the lowest spread (-10.9) for an NCC game in his model since NCC was a half-point underdog to UMHB in the 2021 Stagg Bowl.

I still need to rewatch all of Bethel's playoff games before I can say much about this week's matchup, but I did find it notable that Coach Spencer mentioned in the post-game press conference that the coaches on staff who remain from 2018 are motivated to avenge that last home loss, which came at the hands of the Royals.

Let's not forget that the NCC's last loss at BW is to Bethel in 2018 (correct me if I am wrong).  I thought that is what Coach Spencer was referring to-----that, and being dismissed from the tournament in the 2nd round!

Quote from: Gregory Sager on November 18, 2025, 11:29:09 AM

Quote from: Kovo on November 18, 2025, 08:41:40 AM

Quote from: USee on November 17, 2025, 09:41:52 PMAs previously stated multiple times, WashU's CCIW ouster had nothing to do with them being a full member or not.

So what you are saying is that if WashU had been a full member, they still would have been kicked to the curb?!

Not sure I'm buying that one.

There's nothing to buy, Kovo, because Wash U would never, ever, ever be a full member of the CCIW ... not in this universe, at least. Wash U would never want to be a full member -- why should it, when it's already a member of a league (the UAA) that consists of its D3 peer institutions, such as the U of Chicago, Emory, NYU, Carnegie-Mellon, etc.? -- and I really don't think that the CCIW would ever want Wash U to be a full member, either, for the following reasons:

The CCIW consists of small liberal arts colleges that have enrollments between 1,500 and 3,000 undergraduates, relatively small graduate programs and enrollments (if any; at least one CCIW school is strictly undergrad-only), and endowments that range from about $80m to $610m. Wash U is a mid-sized research university, with over 8,000 undergrads and over 7,000 grad students. It's not only a research university, it's a very high-powered and nationally respected research university. It's a member of the AAU, which is the crème de la crème of research universities in the U.S., and it has a medical school and its own hospital system in St. Louis. And it has an endowment of $12b -- that's billion, not million -- which means that Wash U has somewhere between six to seven times as much money (not including property and facilities) as the entire CCIW membership combined.

To give you an idea of where Wash U stands in the universe of American higher education, that school has hosted four presidential debates (1992, 2000, 2004, and 2016) and a vice-presidential debate (2008). Can you imagine a CCIW school hosting a presidential debate? I can't; none of our schools has a national profile anywhere close to making it a suitable location for a presidential debate, and that includes Wheaton. I doubt that any CCIW school even has the infrastructure to host one.

In short, we are nine hobbits. Wash U is Smaug.

I agree with your analysis.  And true, WashU would not want to be a full member of the CCIW, but my point is---that is why they were shown the door.  They weren't a full member and never would be a full member.  The CCIW wanted a full member.

As for Presidential debates--a local university to me, Lynn University, held a Romney-Obama debate some years back.  The students were seen around town wearing t-shirts that had "Lynn University" on the front and "Don't worry I've never heard of you either" on the back.

Quote from: USee on November 17, 2025, 09:41:52 PMAs previously stated multiple times, WashU's CCIW ouster had nothing to do with them being a full member or not.

So what you are saying is that if WashU had been a full member, they still would have been kicked to the curb?!

Not sure I'm buying that one.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on November 10, 2025, 11:54:53 PMI'm not sure why it would be embarrassing for the CCIW if Wash U represents the league in the Isthmus Bowl. After all, the Bears have done so twice before; that means that half of the Isthmus Bowl's four-year history has featured Wash U as the CCIW's representative. The Bears have finished in the top third in five of the six years that they've been in the league, and in the 2025 preseason coaches poll the CCIW braintrust forecast that the Bears would make it six out of seven by slotting them -- you guessed it -- third behind North Central and Wheaton.

If the CCIW's nine full members thought it was relevant to consider where the Bears were going to finish this season, they wouldn't have shown Wash U the door in the first place. But they didn't, so they did.

Quote from: WUPHF on November 10, 2025, 05:57:15 PMMore embarrassing for the CCIW is the record against Washington University.

7-0 vs. Carroll
6-1 vs. Illinois Wesleyan
7-0 vs. Carthage
7-0 vs. Elmhurst
6-1 vs. Millikin
7-0 vs. North Park
5-1 vs. Augustana

I'm not sure why this is embarrassing, either. While the jury was out as to how well Wash U would compete in the CCIW when it first came in, the Bears immediately disabused CCIW football fans of the notion that the Bears would be anything other than an upper-tier team. And because that was established quickly and then maintained, again, it's hard to see why anyone should be red-faced about the likelihood of an Isthmus Bowl bid for Wash U that was so predictable that the coaches, in fact, went right ahead and predicted it.

Ok ---I will change it to this---the Institutions that voted to rid themselves of WashU should be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves. (since it looks like they are ducking competition i.e. "if you can't beat them ---kick them out").  IMHO.

I know, I know, there are sooooo many reasons to bring in a full member, that dismissing an academically elite very competitive football program makes sense.

ALL IS WELL----WE HAVE THE BELL!!

Quote from: Gregory Sager on September 12, 2025, 02:11:43 PM

Quote from: WUPHF on September 12, 2025, 11:49:48 AM

Quote from: robertgoulet on September 12, 2025, 11:31:27 AMProbably not related but I did say back when the news broke that I was guessing Wash U was being kicked out bc  CCIW had someone else lined up to add as a full member 

The press release stated that the move was about expansion.

Yes. The departure of Wash U and the arrival of CUW are completely unrelated.

But for me, I would have been thrilled to add CUW as a full member and keep Wash U for football.  In terms of NCC, we no longer would have to hunt for a non-conference opponent and the CCIW could stagger the bye weeks instead of having them on week one and two which doesn't help playoff contenders.

Saw this on Fox News:

President Donald Trump threatened to hang up the Washington Commanders' plans to build a new stadium in D.C. in the balance if the team didn't revert back to the Redskins moniker.

Maybe its time for the "Crusaders" to return to north Dupage??

Quote from: cciwman on January 04, 2025, 08:30:27 PMWith all the weapons NCC has utilized, the acrobatic toe-toucher Jack Rummell has been banged up for months but the past couple weeks has seemed healthier.  He has the deep threat ability and I predict hauls in two big sideline grabs.

And I agree with GusD, but for both teams.  Whoever can stay away from the "dumbass" penalties will win and be shaking hands with a smile.

Hoping for a great game. 

(anyone find a book where this game is available for betting?)

Sure--- Big Tony on the Southside will always book the action.  I will DM you Vito, his runner's, cell number.

I played against all four of those guys.  Hofer was probably the best, and the most feared as he transferred from Illinois with some fanfare and led them to their 1st National Championship game.  After that, Augie became the destination school in the CCIW.  IMHO though, Penny still stands out in my mind as the best of the bunch.  Of course, running Wing-T left their stats lacking, especially compared to this era.

Quote from: cciwman on December 08, 2024, 02:18:29 PMNow that Norm is retired, he could share his defensive schemes with NCC opponents.  Heck this year they held the Cards to the lowest since the 2018 match-up.

Of course, most of the current players were in 1st or 2nd grade the last time IWU beat NCC, so if Norm wants to help them out I'm fine with it. And, best of all, Norm can teach them not to shake hands afterwards.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on October 06, 2024, 09:59:43 AMCher: The missing ingredient of Wheaton football.

Or move time forward. Nothing lasts forever, I hate to say. But, in the forseeable future, we may close the gap on the 47-55-3 alltime record we have against Wheaton.

Quote from: CarollFan on October 05, 2024, 06:07:07 PMFinal Scores

NCC 55 Wheaton 27
NP 30 Augie 27  2OT
WashU 33 IWU 23
Elmhurst 23 Carthage 17
Carroll 49 Millikin 14


Game Stats
https://athletics.wheaton.edu/sidearmstats/football/summary

https://athletics.augustana.edu/sidearmstats/football/summary

https://www.iwusports.com/sidearmstats/football/summary

https://athletics.carthage.edu/sidearmstats/football/summary

https://gopios.com/sidearmstats/football/summary

All is well, We have the Bell!

Quote from: CardinalAlum on September 26, 2021, 11:43:05 AM

Quote from: Kovo on September 26, 2021, 08:25:33 AM

Quote from: lmitzel on September 26, 2021, 01:32:07 AM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on September 26, 2021, 01:00:01 AM
When's the last time that anybody put up 62 points against Illinois Wesleyan? Today's game at Keller Field wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated; it was 48-7 going into the fourth quarter, and Dustin Hass liberally emptied the Firebirds bench in the final stanza.

NCC hung 69 on the team in green in '19 (6 of those coming on that SportsCenter Top 10 play from Andrew Kamienski). Wasn't that the game where Norm Eash made some comment about NCC not being that much better than his squad?

I think that you are absolutely correct sir.   I also think that is is apparent that the game has passed Norm by, and that long cold autumns of darkness are descending upon Weenieville.

On another note, the attendance at North Central yesterday is reported as 4955.  This is up from the 4700 or so against Aurora (For comparison Illinois State vs. Southern Illinois drew 8618 yesterday).  To me, that is some great news.  Obviously, this is the Golden Era of North Central football, but to see the growing interest in the program and CCIW games is really heart warming.  I hope that the Cardinals keep marching toward sellout crowds, since it will be fun for both teams (a little more fun for the Cardinals I suppose). 

A CCIW game will never be the Tommies vs. the Johnnies of the not so distant past, but I love small stadiums packed with enthusiastic fans.  A real benefit to everyone involved.  Not sure who else around the country is really packing them in.  Maybe some you guys who are more plugged into the national scene can comment.

It was homecoming, plus perfect weather and hall of fame induction day.  Probably a bit inflated but attendance I'm sure will continue to be very good.

You're probably right but just a shade under 10k in two home dates is pretty good.  I would hope that the excitement continues to build.