FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Well, I guess that I shouldn't be surprised ... except that WIAC fans keep insisting that the tuition and r&b at their schools has gotten ridiculously expensive, to the point where an outsider would figure that the cost was now too prohibitive for an 18-year-old would-be student-athlete to sit around and twiddle his thumbs for a year.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Grey shirting is still 100% a thing as it was pitched to me about a decade ago and to family members in recent years. The pitch is that you would just save one class, required by your major to graduate, for your 5th fall semester so that you do not have to pay for a whole semester and only pay about 2k.

I've heard from a number of D3 coaches that one of the reasons they are in favor of the 5 for 5 is that they feel that it would level the playing field with the WIAC because of the inability to grey shirt.

As a for in state tuition, I am not sure what most of those people are complaining about. Tuition is still in the 10-12k range per year at all of the WIAC schools. If a kid lives off campus and doesn't buy a meal plan, they can get out with a bachelor's degree for 40k? Seems like the best deal around to me...

[GusD]

Wheaton is ranked #5 in the country yet they are not favored to win their conference.
I would think that would be rare to have a top 5 team not favored to win their conference. I may be wrong.

I saw a message indicating some people concerned NCC could lose a game this year. I'll throw this out there. If both NCC and Wheaton go 9-1, I wouldn't be surprised to see Wheaton end up with a higher NPI ranking.

With NCC playing numbers 2, 9, and 5? Pls explain. 🤗

[GusD]

Attended the NCC open practice last week and the scrimmage last night against the University of Chicago. Here are my takeaways:

Definitely going to miss having Aidan Ellison kicking. I'm not saying we're back to 2023, when they wouldn't even attempt field goals from more than 30 yards out, but the kickers I saw left a lot to be desired. There's a huge difference between having the best kicker in D3 last year and what they're working with now.

The caveat to the following is that the first team offense and defense each only played 5 series in the scrimmage last night.

The offense scored four touchdowns in five drives, with one 3 and out. That said, on another TD drive they converted a 4th and 18 from inside their own 30, something I doubt they'd go for in a real game unless they were trailing big.

The starting offensive line is rolling with two sophomores and a true freshman. They pass protected well against Chicago but didn't run the ball that well, with only two runs of 10+ yards (one of which was called back for holding). This is definitely the position group with the most cause for concern heading into the season. I assume they'll improve by the end of the year, much like they did last season, but opening against Bethel and Wartburg will definitely be a challenge. They weren't able to run the ball at all against the NCC first team defense in the open practice.

In the scrimmage, Wilson threw an 80 yard TD pass to the transfer WR from Winona State, who looks firmly locked into the top 3 WR rotation. He caught the most passes in both the scrimmage and the open practice. Rummell and sophomore David Ballard III are the other two WRs who saw the most targets from Wilson.

Jordan Williams has operated as RB1, with a mix of guys rotating in behind him.

The defense looks like it will only have a slight drop off after graduating Sullivan, Roby, and co. They gave up 2 first downs in 5 drives against Chicago and had 2 interceptions, both by Kaden Hartnett. Bobby Medina and Maverick Ohle have both stood out on the defensive line.

Both Matt Janiak and Brayden Garrigan were held out of the scrimmage and open practice, and the defense still looked very solid overall. The NCC first team offense wasn't able to muster much against the first team defense. They have a true freshman who's been rotating in with the first team at defensive end and playing almost all of the third and long snaps there.

Lastly, Donnie McNeal was walking around on the sidelines without a limp, and I couldn't even tell from the stands which leg he tore his Achilles on. That's at least promising for his comeback possibility next year.

Wondering when we'll see a NCC roster posted? 

[NCC2010]

Logan 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
IWU -18.5 over Albion
Augustana -14.5 over Simpson
Carroll -4.9 over St. Norbert
Carthage -6.9 over Lakeland
North Park +5.5 against Franklin
Millikn +9.4 against Olivet
Elmhurst +21.5 against Illinos College

And here is how he ranks each team nationally:
NCC 1
Wheaton 6
IWU 56
Augustana 63
Carroll 112
Carthage 136
North Park 155
Millikin 184
Elmhurst 210