Systemfan86, Grinnell isn't a lock after six games, but they do look good right now. I think they'll get in but its still really early.  They are coming up on their stretch where they play Lake Forest and Knox, which are two teams that take the air out of the ball against GC.  If they were to get caught, it would probably be either Knox or Lake Forest that does it. It would require Grinnell goes 1-3 or 0-4 against those two so its definately unlikely. I also wouldn't put it past Ripon to go on a run, but I am still clinging to my preseason tournament prediction of Ripon, Lawrence, Carroll, and LFC

Roop, aka Mr. Beloit, I think I should point this out. The spring semester at Beloit does not begin until January 16th so I highly doubt that there was 1200 students on campus last Tuesday. 608 people over winter break isn't bad when you consider the bulk of the students aren't on campus.

I think the only rants that should be allowed are on the Football board concerning either a) the evil WIAC or b) the evil Mr. Coleman that is trying to hold down MWC Football 

Knox 59
Lake Forest 55
Maclin got 15 points

Ripon 65
St. Norbert 53
Schmitting 9-10 shooting for 20 points

Wow. 12-17 from behind the arc.  And 10-14 isn't bad either. 44 threes in a game really isn't really Glasgow's style. That has to be about 20-25 more attempts than usual. It must have been a strange game to watch, but I guess if you are making them like that, the reigns get loosened a bit.

The Grinnell-Wartburg boxscore looked interesting too because after hearing the Beloit and Ripon people talking about fouls my eyes immeditately went there. It really was a huge disparity tonight.  Wartburg took 47 FTs to Grinnell's 14. I wasn't expecting to see it given it was a home game. Also interesting, Monmouth took as many threes as Grinnell. 

SNC hung around with UWO for a long time as well. UWO led 46-44 with 5:54 left before going on 6-0 run over next 2:20. 57-52 final. 

Lake Forest finally got over the hump and beat Benedictine today 80-73 after losing a pair of games they haven't looked to good in. It will be interesting to see if they can string a few together before they break for the holiday. Carleton, SNC, Carroll, @North Park, @Loyola, and @Augustana could really be a rough stretch for a team that should be pretty competitive in the league.

Roop, if Ripon has a game where McMullen, Murphy, and Johnson go 2-26, they won't win. If they shoot 7-24 and turn the ball over 8 times in a half, they probably won't win.  I think its early and they will turn it around.  I doubt they will shoot so poorly next week against Monmouth and if they shoot that poorly against Grinnell... uh that won't happen. Speaking of Grinnell, Jeffp, can you explain the Grinnell exhibition. 121-43? Were they playing an amateur rugby team? I remember a few years back they doubled up Monmouth, but they basically tripled them up. Where is the international diplomacy?

It was just a prediction. Lawrence is going to be a top team, but I think given that they lost some good seniors, it might take some time for them to get going. It was a two game difference from what they had last year. Carroll, I think, is bringing everyone back except for Hickethier so I think they will be as good, if not better. I just think Bo Johnson is going to win the player of the year, and Ripon is going to take down the league this year. It is more a hunch than anything else, but the two teams went down to the wire last year in the conference title game so I don't think it is so far-fetched. 

32 team playoff this year.

Ripon 12-4
Carroll 11-5
Lawrence 10-6
Lake Forest and Knox 9-7
Beloit 8-8
Grinnell and Monmouth 7-9
St. Norbert 4-12
Illinois College 3-13

I think the Scots would be happy to get a five seed. With SNC having to get to the playoffs several years before hosting, a home game is not realistic. Hopefully they won't get shipped out to St. Johns, Linfield, or Occidental.  The distance and the quality of opponent would make for a tough one. No offense to the IIAC, but Coe would be work out better.  Oh well, that is still two weeks away. I guess this is what happens when there is no drama for the final two weeks. 

This matchup might be a bit overrated. The final score of the Beloit game was deceptive.  SNC was comfortably ahead going into the fourth quarter and just didn't put it away.  I have to believe that the SNC QB will get better as the season goes on, and that MC would have to mistake free to win the game.  SNC might not be as dominant as previous years, and I think losing Howard and some of the staff to LU might be part of the reason for the early season lull, but until they lose I can see it happening.

If somehow Monmouth does win, opportunities open up for LFC, Carroll, and IC to sneak into the picture and try to get at very least a chop of the crown. It would make for a much more interesting October and November to say the least.

LFC 21 Malalester 10
UWW 42 SNC 0 -Ehh, sorry.
Knox 21 LU 14 - it wasn't even that close
Ripon 20 Grinnell 18- at one point it was 20-5