FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Jbothe]

North Central/IWU was closer than expected. Did IWU have a lot of time of possession?  NC miss some scoring opportunities? 

[Nitzermania]

As a Wheaton fan, I hoped for but did not expect to receive a first round game against the UMAC champion, Crown.  I sense the bracket creators gave that as an offering with the downside of playing the #2 team in the NPI, Wartburg, the following week.  I'm hoping that Wheaton on a good day, healing up from some injuries, can compete with the Knights!

[CarollFan]

As a Wheaton fan, I hoped for but did not expect to receive a first round game against the UMAC champion, Crown.  I sense the bracket creators gave that as an offering with the downside of playing the #2 team in the NPI, Wartburg, the following week.  I'm hoping that Wheaton on a good day, healing up from some injuries, can compete with the Knights!

Tough road for Wheaton. One game at a time.

https://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2025/bracket

[Nitzermania]

As a Wheaton fan, I hoped for but did not expect to receive a first round game against the UMAC champion, Crown.  I sense the bracket creators gave that as an offering with the downside of playing the #2 team in the NPI, Wartburg, the following week.  I'm hoping that Wheaton on a good day, healing up from some injuries, can compete with the Knights!

Tough road for Wheaton. One game at a time.

https://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2025/bracket

Yep.  Can't even look past Crown

[USee]

I mean there wasn't going to be a good spot for Wheaton. The other option was to play either Coe or CUW in round 1 and then go to Bethel in Round 2 if they won. Not sure that's a lot better than Crown/Wartburg. At least they are opposite NCC and Mt Union! I don't mind this bracket overall at all.

I think NCC's draw is pretty good as well. Not easy, but better than it could be as UWRF is on the opposite side and Mt Union isn't until the Semi's if both teams make it.

[USee]

What a difference a year makes. Wheaton went 8-2 last year and missed the playoffs. At 8-2 this year they are in. The difference was a loss to UWO in the WIAC last year vs a loss to Mt Union this year. Hopefully this type of result helps other top 25 teams schedule the big boys (NCC, Mt Union, top WIAC schools) as the benefits are pretty clear.....

[CarollFan]

Isthmus bowl announcement. It is WashU vs. UWS.

https://x.com/isthmusbowl/status/1990188956810375267?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

[CarollFan]

For WashU fans not familiar with UWS, they are the team Wheaton beat last year 35-32.

This year they are 5-5 with all 5 losses being to playoff teams. The 4 WIAC playoff teams and also Wartburg.

[CarollFan]

North Central/IWU was closer than expected. Did IWU have a lot of time of possession?  NC miss some scoring opportunities? 

I didn't see the game but looking at the stats NCC had a little over 36 minutes of possession. Their RB Donovan McNeal rushed for 202 yds.

I did read early in the 4rth Q IWU had a chance to make it 17-14 getting down to the NCC 4 yd line but got stopped on 4rth down. Looks like Smyth started at QB for IWU.

[hazzben]

As a Wheaton fan, I hoped for but did not expect to receive a first round game against the UMAC champion, Crown.  I sense the bracket creators gave that as an offering with the downside of playing the #2 team in the NPI, Wartburg, the following week.  I'm hoping that Wheaton on a good day, healing up from some injuries, can compete with the Knights!

Tough road for Wheaton. One game at a time.

https://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2025/bracket

Yep.  Can't even look past Crown

Wheaton will obliterate Crown. Hamline's lone win on the season was 28-21 over Crown. Their line play is atrocious and their QB's stats are inflated by the UMAC. It will be a blood bath. If it's within 35 points Wheaton is in for a world of hurt against Wartburg.

[blue_jays]

North Central/IWU was closer than expected. Did IWU have a lot of time of possession?  NC miss some scoring opportunities? 

It was a Week 10 contest for a team that already clinched who just wanted to get into the playoffs healthy. Just playing with their food.

[New Tradition]

North Central/IWU was closer than expected. Did IWU have a lot of time of possession?  NC miss some scoring opportunities? 

It was a Week 10 contest for a team that already clinched who just wanted to get into the playoffs healthy. Just playing with their food.

Don't discredit Wesleyan.  They came to play and Smythe and Nazha are the real deal.  Cardinal defense couldn't keep Smythe contained.  I feel like he could have rushed for a lot more than 63 if they wanted.  They had a great game plan and executed it as well as they could have.  Offensively, NCC had a ton of success between the 20s but due to some funky stuff had a rough time closing out drives.  Some drops on some shots they took on first down as well as penalties and a few tfls eventually got them behind the sticks a few times.  They should have it cleaned up in the next few weeks. 

On a somewhat related note--I think the CCIW as a whole is on the upswing.  On top of Wesleyan's obvious improvement, Augie's results looked good this year.   I think that both Millikin and Carthage are hugely improved over last season--I expect them to keep building.  We add the NACC champion next year.  Exciting time to be a member of the conference. 

Lastly--I'm personally bummed about the Wash U ouster.  Loved having them in the conference.  I think they greatly elevated the level of play.  Go beat Stout!

[NCC2010]

North Central/IWU was closer than expected. Did IWU have a lot of time of possession?  NC miss some scoring opportunities? 

I didn't see the game but looking at the stats NCC had a little over 36 minutes of possession. Their RB Donovan McNeal rushed for 202 yds.

I did read early in the 4rth Q IWU had a chance to make it 17-14 getting down to the NCC 4 yd line but got stopped on 4rth down. Looks like Smyth started at QB for IWU.

The time of possession is a little misleading, as IWU had the ball for only 58 seconds in the 4th quarter. For what it's worth, IWU also played NCC to their toughest regular-season game last year in the regular-season finale.

That was probably Wilson's second-worst game of the season after WashU. He didn't seem decisive at all and struggled with his accuracy. He'll definitely need to be better as they face tougher opponents in the playoffs.

NCC was driving to go up 21-0 right before the half when the ref missed a clear first down. That led to a 4th-and-1 on which Wilson fumbled the handoff. IWU then went down and scored right before halftime to make it 14-7 a big swing in the game.

The biggest concern coming out of that game was that Donovan McNeal left on the second-to-last drive with an injury. I'm hoping he's okay, as he's their best pure runner. The second-biggest concern is that Dermot Smyth was the first true dual-threat QB they've faced this year, and he did a great job of extending plays and drives with his legs. He accounted for 60 of IWU's 73 rushing yards.

In general, this team is much different from the Lehnen-era squads. They don't have the home-run threat in the backfield that both Lehnen and Sacco provided. Their running backs are very good, but McNeal is much more like Greenfield in style: he breaks a lot of tackles but doesn't have breakaway speed. The margins are definitely thinner when they have to grind out longer drives, and it reduces the number of possessions in games.

Whereas the past 4–5 years the pressure was on the offense to give the defense a lead to play with, this year the pressure is on the defense to put the offense in advantageous situations. If you look at their scores against their toughest opponents, they did not break 50 points like they usually did in the past: 35 against Wheaton, 44 against WashU (which included a pick-six by the defense).

There are never any easy roads in the playoffs, and I'm excited to see how far this team can go.

[blue_jays]

North Central/IWU was closer than expected. Did IWU have a lot of time of possession?  NC miss some scoring opportunities? 

It was a Week 10 contest for a team that already clinched who just wanted to get into the playoffs healthy. Just playing with their food.

Don't discredit Wesleyan.  They came to play and Smythe and Nazha are the real deal.  Cardinal defense couldn't keep Smythe contained.  I feel like he could have rushed for a lot more than 63 if they wanted.  They had a great game plan and executed it as well as they could have.  Offensively, NCC had a ton of success between the 20s but due to some funky stuff had a rough time closing out drives.  Some drops on some shots they took on first down as well as penalties and a few tfls eventually got them behind the sticks a few times.  They should have it cleaned up in the next few weeks. 

I'm not discrediting IWU, but I am saying its Week 10 before the playoffs. Not the same intensity. If NCC was playing Wheaton in Week 10, that's a different level of focus. Also I'm sure the coaches don't want to show anything on tape that they're saving for the playoff run.
Wheaton hung 65 on IWU down in Bloomington this year. IWU was the 5th-best CCIW team this year. NCC was not in danger of losing this game.
McNeal being injured though is a big deal.

[USee]

I call BS on the lack of focus. You don't build a program like NCC and have a lack of focus, EVER. Ask the Mt Union faithful or the UWW guys when they were on a run. The great teams never lose focus, no matter the opponent, they focus on their own level of play and hold themselves to a high standard. That's what NCC has done over the past 5+ years and last Saturday was not a result of a lack of focus.

I think NCC 2010's analysis makes sense. Dual threat QB (like Smythe or Blaha?) will give them trouble. I don't understand NCC's lack of scoring though. IWU is the 7th ranked scoring defense in the league and gave up an average of 30 pts a game and NCC scores 24?

Another thing I'll add is that NCC's defense is very, very good. Their LB's drop into coverage and get underneath routes as well as I've ever seen. These guys get 15yds deep and look up the WR's. They are very well schooled on route combinations as well. One byproduct of that discipline is that RB's have hurt them on check downs out of the backfield this year and, as you can imagine, running QB's.