Quote from: sjujohnnie on September 11, 2026, 11:57:07 AM

Quote from: hazzben on September 11, 2026, 10:00:46 AM

Quote from: sjujohnnie on September 10, 2026, 04:17:15 PMIs Wartburg going to get smoked by North Central?

I doubt it. It's at Wartburg, they play well at home. I'll be interested to see how Wart compares up front.

It would be nice to see an upset & North Central dethroned or at least knocked down a few notches! Nice to see Mount Union fall to Wheaton!

Bethel fans, we have to swallow the pill and quietly say "Go NCC" the rest of the season for NPI reasons, since it's extremely unlikely they are gonna lose multiple games and fall out of the playoffs

I could harvest for the MN winter here

NCC just casually bringing out their kicker that sat last year who then beats his personal best by 15 yards to kick an NFL-like 56 yarder...

Quote from: sjujohnnie on September 05, 2026, 02:12:28 PMEither North Central's REALLY good or Bethel's not as good as they were hyped or both.

NCC is a great team, as is Bethel.

NCC is just also the luckiest team I've ever seen. Every single bounce goes their way. Who has two partially blocked kicks still go in?

Any ideas why Rundell isn't playing?

Quote from: GoldandBlueBU on September 02, 2026, 12:19:56 PM

Quote from: Mister36 on September 01, 2026, 08:45:47 PM

Quote from: repete on September 01, 2026, 08:16:33 PMPipers are due!

Hey last year they topped the MIAC teams score total against Bethel...

Being that I don't know you and how old you are - there were a couple years there where for whatever reason, BU struggled with Hamline.  2008 was a 9-7 win on a last second field goal, 2009 was a 20-17 win...since then it has been lopsided as you would expect.  Aayrton Scott and Augsburg also gave BU fits for a few seasons in the 2012 - 2015 range.

That was just before my time, but I know that these past few years have been out of the norm. I just found it funny that Hamline was able to score on us the most last year until playoff time. Maybe our 4th string Defense was out there at that point.

Quote from: repete on September 01, 2026, 08:16:33 PMPipers are due!

Hey last year they topped the MIAC teams score total against Bethel...

Quote from: USee on August 31, 2026, 10:40:24 AM

Quote from: NCC2010 on August 29, 2026, 11:11:00 PMLogan Hansen has posted his initial game predictions for week 1.  Here are the predicted spreads for the CCIW teams:

NCC -9.7 over Bethel
Wheaton -6.3 over Mount Union

Yikes. These are some awfully big spreads for the home teams. Anyone here giving the points?

I'm not certain Logan knows that McNeal isn't playing. He has McNeal as a "Player to watch" on his CCIW preview.

Quote from: GoldandBlueBU on August 28, 2026, 03:41:17 PM

Quote from: Mister36 on August 28, 2026, 11:17:56 AM5 out of  7 panelists pick Bethel to reach the Semifinals

2 out of 7 pick for them to win it all, which is probably a first for Bethel.

They are also very high on a Bethel player winning Offensive or Defensive POTY

https://d3football.com/notables/2026/08/20-questions

Cool to see them getting some love.

Also, I know it doesn't matter, and I don't matter, but there is part of me that liked them being under the radar more.  I'm sure Coach Mac will have them ready to go regardless of being noticed or not.

Understandable, on the flip side though is the increased exposure. Ranked #2, surefire #1 if they win Week 1, Deep playoff success, winning pedigree, potent offense and stuffing defense, National Champ predictions. It's gonna make recruiting even better.

5 out of  7 panelists pick Bethel to reach the Semifinals

2 out of 7 pick for them to win it all, which is probably a first for Bethel.

They are also very high on a Bethel player winning Offensive or Defensive POTY

https://d3football.com/notables/2026/08/20-questions

Quote from: hazzben on August 18, 2026, 12:40:16 PM

Quote from: NCC2010 on August 14, 2026, 12:00:23 PMI think the bigger key to the Bethel game will be NCC's rushing offense against Bethel's defense. McNeal made A LOT happen on his own and after contact last year, and I don't think they have another difference-making running back on the roster this year.

Will be interesting to see how both Drews and Wilson perform, neither was able to get much going throwing the ball in the game last year. Wilson finished the game with 83 yards passing and Drews had 75 yards passing when the score was 35-7. 

McNeal not playing is interesting, something tells me NCC has a few stud RB's in that 140 man roster. Bethel being healthy up front on D is too. Frankly both teams coming in fresh and healthy is one wrinkle making the early season matchup fascinating.

Has Bethel closed the LOS gap in the offseason or not is another key? Both teams have key guys back and holes to fill...

I think it'd be hard to favor one team over the other over 60-40.

Quote from: D3fanboy on August 13, 2026, 04:23:09 PM

Quote from: robertgoulet on August 13, 2026, 04:15:23 PM

Quote from: USee on August 13, 2026, 12:26:44 PMWheaton players reported yesterday. Season begins vs #3 Mt Union visiting MCully Stadium for the first time in the history of these programs.

Preseason All American teams were released by D3FB. I can't remember a time when there was only 1 Mt Union player on the 3 offensive and defensive teams listed. Mt Union Qb Matt Maloney is the 2nd team QB. Wheaton reps on the list include: 2nd Team OL Aiden Byrne, 2nd Team LB Zeke Harris and S Colin Moore, 3rd Team Punter Josiah Smith. Tough duty when a Gagliardi semifinalist QB can't crack this list. N

For #1 NCC vs #2 Bethel here are the Pre Season AA's:

NCC: 1st Team QB Garret Wilson, OT Cortez Kennedy, 3rd Team Def LB Matt Janiak
Bethel: 1st Team WR (Gagliardi finalist) Albert Rundell, 2nd Team OC Jaegar Ash, 3rd Team QB Cooper Drews; 1st Team Def Phil Conant

No other CCIW players made the list.

This has a feel of the season NCC loses a regular season game for the first time since 2019. Bethel and Wheaton both with more players on the pre-season AA teams obviously doesn't make it a given but it certainly gives off the vibe. Maybe even *gulp* 2 losses and missing the playoffs is on the table!

oh please.  NCC has been to 6 straight Staggs.  Now they are going to lose to....Bethel?  C'mon

Bethel's offense is getting it's own name due to it's speed and output, as we know, this is NCC's achille's heel.

Quote from: Ron Boerger on August 07, 2026, 10:03:59 AMI installed a Chrome extension "AdBlock Detector Bypass" that apparently gets me around their firewall (though it often has to be disabled for some other sites to work properly).  It also deals pretty well with those damned Admiral blocks, the only thing I've found that does. 

As far as the enrollment drop, you're probably right, because it was their master's and not undergrad enrollment that declined.  The former went from 4,160 -> 2,873 while the latter increased slightly, from 2,813 -> 2,909.  Details:  Fall 2024 Fall 2025 (not blocked).

Graduate student loans aren't subsidized nearly as much any more

I'd love to hear the reasoning behind Wilson as QB1

Was on campus with the Mrs today and decided to stop by the field to see if the team was practicing yet...no luck, but field looks gorgeous and ready for football.

Just one month to kickoff.