Central Washington succesfully defends “Unofficial D2 Football Championship”

Well Dixie State made it interesting today, but Central Washington had enough for them and won 23-9.  Definitely a bit closer than the 37-6 result in Ellensburg last month.  This means Central Washington, barring an upset to Western Oregon next week in Monmouth, Oregon, will bring the Unofficial D2 Football Championship title into the D2 playoffs later this month.  Central Washington will have home-field advantage in the Super Regional 4, as they try to bring a National Title back to Washington.  We’ll see what happens though!

In past research I’ve tried my best to sort through things and have Arkansas State losing the belt to Southern Mississippi in November 1962.  Southern Mississippi was voted the National Champion by the UPI in that year.  Late in 1963 Louisiana Tech took the title from Southern Mississippi and were able to hold onto it for the majority of the 1964 season before late in the year losing it back to Southern Mississippi (the first time ever teams had traded the title back without a 3rd team involved).

Again all of this is so hard to tell for sure (especially how many of the wins are over teams that should qualify for even playing for the belt) but so far it seems to make sense…  I think it’s interesting how the belt started in the South and stayed there until Arkansas State lost it to the Northern Midwest (Montana State).  It stayed in that area (Dakotas and Iowa) until Arkansas State went back and brought it to the South where it would stay through at least 1964.  Don’t be surprised if it stays in the South for a good number of years as there was no National Tournament until 1973 and teams didn’t play too far from home very often (The only ones I have so far are the two involving Arkansas State).

The Unofficial D2 Football Championship

Well, I stumbled upon a site this week called, the Unofficial Football World Championships.  Its basic premise is to treat the title “World Champion” as a title-belt… every game you’re defending it and if you lose, the team that beat you takes the belt and becomes “World Champion”.  You can read about it more here.

So I thought it’d be fun to see how things would go with doing this in D2 Football!  Now because D2 Football ends in a playoff every year, generally speaking the Championship will end the year with the team winning the National Title, but sometimes a team could pull off an upset during the year, take the belt, and miss the playoffs (especially since ONLY 6 teams in each region get in!).

Well to do this correctly you have to pick a starting point… I have no idea what the first “D2” football game was, UNO played back in the 20’s I think, but they played all kinds of teams… so I decided to start with the Southern Mississippi football team of 1958.  They went undefeated and were voted #1 by the UPI (The first ever NCAA College Division (The precursor to D2) Final Ranking Champion!).  So I decided to award the belt to them for winning that, and start from there.  Now it’s very very hard to sort through all these old schedules and figure out what teams should count as D2.  Memphis played a few “D2” teams in 1959, but I think they were not technically a “D2” school,  so Southern Mississippi’s loss to them doesn’t count as a title bout.  Because of all these challenges it’s really hard to say if I got the path right.  Just so much trying to figure out what counts that I don’t really have the time to do right now…

So doing my best to interpret everything and figure it out, I have tracked the belt in 1959 from Southern Mississippi to Louisiana Tech, who ended 1959 with the belt.  In 1960 Louisiana Tech lost the title to Arkansas State, who lost it to Montana State.  Montana State lost it to begin 1961 to North Dakota, who held the title until late in the year when they lost it to Northern Iowa, who lost it to South Dakota State.  I found that South Dakota State in early 1962 lost it to Arkansas State! Arkansas State became the first team to hold the belt twice. That’s how far I’ve tracked it from back then.

At this point North Dakota and Southern Mississippi each have 5 points (You get 1 point for taking the belt, and 1 point each time you successfully defend it).  South Dakota became the first team to have 2 chances to take the title in 1 year, losing to North Dakota and Northern Iowa in title bouts.  South Dakota State later got the same 2nd chance vs. Northern Iowa, but they won their game.

So fast forward to now.  I imagine with Grand Valley State’s 40 game winning streak they ended up with the belt at some point… it’s possible that for their 2 undefeated national championship seasons the belt ended the year with teams missing the playoffs, but I’ll bet my money that it didn’t both times.

So working from the assumption that Grand Valley State had the belt going into their 2007 Semifinal game vs. Northwest Missouri State, I’ve tracked it from there.  Northwest of course lost it to Valdosta State in the title game that year.

In 2008 Valdosta State held it for half the year before losing it to Delta State.  Delta State held it the rest of the regular season before it was traded 3 straight weeks in the playoffs (North Alabama over Delta State, Northwest Missouri State over North Alabama, and Minnesota-Duluth over Northwest Missouri State).  West Alabama got 2 shots at the title in 3 weeks when they lost to Valdosta State the week before Delta State took it and lost to Delta State the week after Delta State took it.  It’s possible this is the closest 2 chances have come, however it’s also possible a team lost a title bout to end a regular season and rematched in the first round of the playoffs… only time will tell.

This year the Championship started in the NSIC, but in week 2 Central Washington went and snatched it with a 13-10 win over Minnesota-Duluth.  Central Washington still has the title, having successfully defended it 6 times already.  The next challenger will be Dixie St on Saturday in St. George, Utah.  The chances of them taking the title are slim, they lost 37-6 to Central Washington earlier in the year (the GNAC has 4 teams and they all play each other twice), however if they did (or Western Oregon takes it next week) the title would not be in the playoffs this year!  So the title bout is set between 9-0 Central Washington and 4-5 Dixie St.  St. George, Utah, I hope you’re ready for the title fight!

MIAA Recap 10/3 – Mavericks Maintain Momentum!

Football

Well since this is mostly geared towards the Mavericks, let’s start with their game.

UNO went down to Emporia St, probably the 2nd worst team in the league, and won fairly handily 34-13.  Freshman Running Back Levi Terrell had 192 yads on 34 carries with 2 TDs. The Mavericks moved to 3-1 in the MIAA, and now have some home cooking to look forward to as they host Washburn, Central Missouri, and Pittsburg State in the next 4 weeks.  If the Mavericks want to make a push for the post season they will need to take care of business in these games.  Up first is Washburn who…

Knocked off Fort Hays State 28-14 to go  to 3-1 in the MIAA as well.  Washburn will tell us all we need to know about their team in the next 3 weeks as they go to UNO, host Pittsburg State and travel to Northwest Missouri State.  Win the first two and they could be playing for an MIAA title at Northwest.  Lose to UNO and Northwest and they may see their playoff chances slip away.  Huge set of games for the Ichabods.  UNO-Washburn is a mega tilt next week when it comes to the playoff picture.

Then there is Central Missouri who dominated Truman State 38-3 to go to 3-1 in conference.  They have it fairly easy hosting Fort Hays State next week, as well as in their other remaining home game when they host Missouri Southern.  The problem is the 3 road games are trips to Missouri Western and Nebraska-Omaha back to back and a season ending trip to Northwest Missouri St.  Sure if they run the table ’til then they probably would be playing for a conference title, but a much more likely scenario sees them at 7-3/8-2 and playing for any hope of a playoff berth.  With the tough road trips against two teams who are also in the playoff hunt I’d bet AGAINST the Mules making the run they need.

Pittsburg State has hung around in relevance by knocking off Missouri Southern State 21-13 (in Joplin).  First of all look out for Missouri Southern, they look like they could be a spoiler after giving UNO and Pittsburg State some tests in the last two weeks.  Unfortunately those were both at home and their remaining three big games are at Northwest Missouri State, at Missouri Western, and at Central Missouri. So if they do it I told you so, but it probably won’t happen.  But remember I told you so.  Pittsburg State still needs to win out and has it easier next week hosting Emporia St before a big game at Washburn.

And then there’s Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri State who battled for the inside track today in St Joseph. Northwest proved they are still  the team to beat with a 49-35 win.  The Missouri Western defense is now looking very suspect having given up 31,34,40,and 49 in the first 4 MIAA games.  Still 3 of their last 5 games appear winnable (although Truman and Emporia are both going to be eyeing upsets).  If Missouri Western can avoid upset bids there and win one of their two games against Central Missouri and Nebraska Omaha they should be in good shape for the playoffs still. Northwest has easier games the next two weeks before hosting Washburn and Central Missouri in the final 3 weeks of the year.  Northwest has a fairly clear path now and should win the MIAA Title unless someone else (Washburn or Central) can run the table the rest of the way and get the tie-breaker over them.

So looking ahead to next week we have.

Missouri Southern State @ Northwest Missouri State – Should be no problem for Northwest Missouri State at home,  even with Missouri Southern’s play the last few weeks.

Missouri Western @ Truman State – Missouri Western wouldn’t expect to have any trouble against a Truman State team who hasn’t put up a touchdown in 3 of their 4 MIAA games so far (the exception being 31 against Fort Hays State), but Truman knocked off UNO around this time last year and can’t be overlooked… still an upset here would be a big surprise.

Fort Hays State @ Central Missouri – Fort Hays State probably can keep this one close, and Central could overlook them a bit as they look ahead to Missouri Western and UNO.  If Central stays focused though this one shouldn’t be a problem.

Emporia State @ Pittsburg State – Pittsburg State shouldn’t have any trouble with Emporia State on Saturday as long as they don’t overlook them.  Emporia has not shown they can win a game like this.

Washburn @ Nebraska-Omaha – This is easily the game of the week.  UNO would set themselves in front of Washburn with a home win while Washburn would all but finish UNO by knocking them to 3 losses at this point.  If UNO keeps improving like they have been the last few weeks this team should take care of business at home, a place where they are 46-4  in their last 50 regular season home games  and have won 6 straight Homecoming games.

Volleyball

The only conference game this week was Central Missouri traveling to Pittsburg State on Friday night where they avenged their earlier home loss with a 3-0 win.

So my updated standings are (-1 for any loss at a bottom level team, -1 for any home loss to a top level team, and +1 for a road win at a top level team)

Central Missouri and Emporia State (+1)

Nebraska-Omaha and Pittsburg State (0)

Washburn (-1)

Truman State (-2)

Official Standings show Central, UNO, and Emporia near the top.  Pittsburg is a bit futher back at 4-3 but remember 2 of those losses were at UNO and at Truman State, so until the other teams make those trips and try to upset those teams Pittsburg is going to look a bit shakier.

Next week will see Central travel to Truman on Wednesday night, Emporia travel to Pittsburg on Friday night, Truman travel to Omaha on Saturday, and Washburn travel to Pittsburg on Saturday!  So some big games for all 6 of the big teams!  We’ll see if anyone can make a move. Truman needs this home game against Central really bad, and would love to make up some ground with the road upset at Omaha on Saturday.

Soccer

This week in big games we saw Central and Northwest tie in Maryville (meh have fun with that one standing guy!), UNO hold off Southwest Baptist 3-0 at home, and knock of Northwest 2-1 at home in OT,  and  Truman destroyed Southwest Baptist on the road 4-0.

So my updated standings are (-1 for any loss at a bottom level team, -1 for any home loss to a top level team, and +1 for a road win at a top level team, oh and .5 points for a tie.)

Truman State (+2)

Nebraska Omaha  (0)

Central Missouri (-.5)

Southwest Baptist (-2)

Northwest Missouri State (-2.5)

When we look at the MIAA Standings we see Truman and UNO one two, just like this, but these standings show that Truman has pulled off some road upsets, so UNO is going to have to match them to keep pace while Truman has an easier run the rest of the way. Central Missouri is hanging around and gets all 4 of the other big teams in a row at home to end the season.  Their last chances to get a big road win are going to be at Truman and at Southwest Baptist.  If they can’t win those games they are going to need Truman to stumble to have any chance.

Next week we’ll see the Central at Truman match-up on Thursday, and Truman will also host Southwest Baptist on Saturday.

MIAA Review 9/26

Football

Northwest Missouri State – Northwest, who was now won 31 straight MIAA games (last loss Oct 2005 vs. Pittsburg State), has what might be the biggest game of the conference season on Saturday when they go on the road to fellow 3-0 in conference foe Missouri Western.  This game could be for all the marbles.  NW has a fairly easy schedule after that with the best remaining chances to stumble being vs. Washburn and Central Missouri at home. But if they lose to Missouri Western even a 8-1 season might not be enough to win the conference this year…

Missouri Western – Missouri Western, after upseting Pittsburg State on the road this weekend, is now in position to win the conference through some MAJOR home games. It starts this weekend with Northwest Missouri State coming to town.  A win would make them the team to beat in the MIAA and mean if they could go 4-1 the rest of the way they would win the conference.  After Northwest the biggest tests are all at home.  A October 17th meeting with Central Missouri and a November 7th year end game with Nebraska-Omaha.  A game that could mean a conference title with a win for Western and could be UNO’s last chance to reach the playoffs.

Central Missouri – The team that looked like the team on the rise after beating Pittsburg State last week has taken a step back falling on the road @ Washburn. They still are in position for a great finish and a possible playoff berth, but it looks A LOT tougher now.  This team doesn’t look good on the road, barely scraping bye @ Emporia State, and has to go to Missouri Western, UNO, and Northwest Missouri State in 3 of the last 4 weeks of the season.  I don’t see them getting through that stretch any better than 1-2, can they make the playoffs if they finish 8-3?

Washburn – Maybe this is the new team to watch out for? Washburn’s only loss on the year was a tough loss on a FG at the end to Missouri Western last week.  We’ll know all about Washburn after a 3 game stretch in mid October (@ UNO, Pittsburg State, @ Northwest Missouri State).  If they want to make the playoffs they’ll need to avoid slipping up outside of that and go at least 1-2 in that stretch.

Nebraska-Omaha – UNO has looked up and down, and didn’t look at their best vs. Missouri Southern, but got the job done none the less. The Mavericks need to take care of business on the road at Emporia State and Fort Hays State in the next 3 weeks, but the real tests will come at home where they take on Washburn, Central Missouri, and Pittsburg State.  The Mavericks probably need to go 3-0 in this stretch as they already have 2 losses, but if they do they would have the edge on Washburn and Central Missouri, and Pittsburg State would be done.  Can the Mavericks finish 8-3 with a loss at Missouri Western in the final game and make the playoffs or would they need a win to get in there?  If UNO can get rolling they could be an interesting team to watch.

Pittsburg State – I don’t think anyone saw this coming, Pittsburg State with their backs firmly pressed into the wall with 6 weeks left in the season.  They can’t lose again and still have road tests @ Washburn and @ UNO.  The good news is outside of those two games they appear to have 4 very winnable games, but they’ll have to win all 6 to have a shot.

Fort Hays State – Fort Hays looks to be one of those bottom 4 teams, and the schedule does them no favors sending them @ Washburn, @ Central, home with UNO, @ Pittsburg State, and home with Northwest Missouri State in the next 5 weeks.  I imagine they’ll be lucky to emerge from that schedule 1-4.

Missouri Southern State – Missouri Southern has not looked great so far and has only one more chance to get a big upset at home when they host Pittsburg State next week.  If they don’t get the job done there they’ll probably finish 3-6 in conference, 3-7 overall.

Emporia State – Emporia State doesn’t appear to have much bite in them which will hurt their chances with the next 3 games home with UNO, @ Pittsburg State, and home with Northwest Missouri State.  They also host Missouri Western and Washburn, so they’ll have plenty of chances to play spoiler…

Truman State – Truman State should be glad they got to play Oklahoma Panhandle in the non-conference season because I don’t see a conference win coming.  MAYBE at home against Emporia State on October 24th… but that’d be the best chance by far.

Volleyball

This weekend gave us several big games.  Central Missouri went to Washburn and pulled off a win 3-2, giving Washburn it’s second straight loss.  Truman lost at home to Missouri Southern 3-2 in a major let down. Truman did respond however by knocking off Pittsburg State at home 3-1 on Saturday.  UNO went to Emporia State and gave them all they could handle in a 3-2 Emporia win.  The Mavericks are for real, they’ll be in contention for the conference title. UNO had two KEY service errors in the final set down the stretch and still managed to make it 15-13.

So my updated standings are (-1 for any loss at a bottom level team, -1 for any home loss to a top level team, and +1 for a road win at a top level team)

Emporia State and Pittsburg State (+1)

Nebraska-Omaha and Central Missouri (0)

Washburn (-1)

Truman State (-2)

The next big game, and the only conference match next weekend, is when Central travels to Pittsburg State on Friday night as part of the PSU Classic looking to avenge the home loss they had earlier this year.

Soccer

Soccer is probably a 5 taeam race at this point.  Truman State at 5-1, UNO at 4-1, Southwest Baptist at 3-1, Northwest Missouri State at 3-2, and Central Missouri at 3-2.  Central fell @ Washburn 1-0, and Northwest Missouri State fell @ Missouri Western 2-0 on Thursday. Truman had a big win Saturday 1-0 over UNO at home.

I’m going to use the same method as we have for volleyball (-1 for any loss at a bottom level team, -1 for any home loss to a top level team, and +1 for a road win at a top level team) amongst these 5 teams to see where things stand.

Truman State (+1)

Nebraska Omaha and Southwest Baptist (0)

Central Misouri (-1)

Northwest Missouri State (-2)

Northwest is a team to question, they are having a solid year so far but may not be up to the level of competing for the conference title.

Football

Northwest Missouri State – Northwest, who was now won 31 straight MIAA games (last loss Oct 2005 vs. Pittsburg State), has what might be the biggest game of the conference season on Saturday when they go on the road to fellow 3-0 in conference foe Missouri Western.  This game could be for all the marbles.  NW has a fairly easy schedule after that with the best remaining chances to stumble being vs. Washburn and Central Missouri at home. But if they lose to Missouri Western even a 8-1 season might not be enough to win the conference this year…

Missouri Western – Missouri Western, after upseting Pittsburg State on the road this weekend, is now in position to win the conference through some MAJOR home games. It starts this weekend with Northwest Missouri State coming to town.  A win would make them the team to beat in the MIAA and mean if they could go 4-1 the rest of the way they would win the conference.  After Northwest the biggest tests are all at home.  A October 17th meeting with Central Missouri and a November 7th year end game with Nebraska-Omaha.  A game that could mean a conference title with a win for Western and could be UNO’s last chance to reach the playoffs.

Central Missouri – The team that looked like the team on the rise after beating Pittsburg State last week has taken a step back falling on the road @ Washburn. They still are in position for a great finish and a possible playoff berth, but it looks A LOT tougher now.  This team doesn’t look good on the road, barely scraping bye @ Emporia State, and has to go to Missouri Western, UNO, and Northwest Missouri State in 3 of the last 4 weeks of the season.  I don’t see them getting through that stretch any better than 1-2, can they make the playoffs if they finish 8-3?

Washburn – Maybe this is the new team to watch out for? Washburn’s only loss on the year was a tough loss on a FG at the end to Missouri Western last week.  We’ll know all about Washburn after a 3 game stretch in mid October (@ UNO, Pittsburg State, @ Northwest Missouri State).  If they want to make the playoffs they’ll need to avoid slipping up outside of that and go at least 1-2 in that stretch.

Nebraska-Omaha – UNO has looked up and down, and didn’t look at their best vs. Missouri Southern, but got the job done none the less. The Mavericks need to take care of business on the road at Emporia State and Fort Hays State in the next 3 weeks, but the real tests will come at home where they take on Washburn, Central Missouri, and Pittsburg State.  The Mavericks probably need to go 3-0 in this stretch as they already have 2 losses, but if they do they would have the edge on Washburn and Central Missouri, and Pittsburg State would be done.  Can the Mavericks finish 8-3 with a loss at Missouri Western in the final game and make the playoffs or would they need a win to get in there?  If UNO can get rolling they could be an interesting team to watch.

Pittsburg State – I don’t think anyone saw this coming, Pittsburg State with their backs firmly pressed into the wall with 6 weeks left in the season.  They can’t lose again and still have road tests @ Washburn and @ UNO.  The good news is outside of those two games they appear to have 4 very winnable games, but they’ll have to win all 6 to have a shot.

Fort Hays State – Fort Hays probably is one of those bottom 4 teams still despite winning 2 of their first 3 conference games, and the schedule does them no favors sending them @ Washburn, @ Central, home with UNO, @ Pittsburg State, and home with Northwest Missouri State in the next 5 weeks.  I imagine they’ll be lucky to emerge from that schedule 1-4.

Missouri Southern State – Missouri Southern has not looked great so far and has only one more chance to get a big upset at home when they host Pittsburg State next week.  If they don’t get the job done there they’ll probably finish 3-6 in conference, 3-7 overall.

Emporia State – Emporia State doesn’t appear to have much bite in them which will hurt their chances with the next 3 games home with UNO, @ Pittsburg State, and home with Northwest Missouri State.  They also host Missouri Western and Washburn, so they’ll have plenty of chances to play spoiler…

Truman State – Truman State should be glad they got to play Oklahoma Panhandle in the non-conference season because I don’t see a conference win coming.  MAYBE at home against Emporia State on October 24th… but that’d be the best chance by far.

Volleyball

This weekend gave us several big games.  Central Missouri went to Washburn and pulled off a win 3-2, giving Washburn it’s second straight loss.  Truman lost at home to Missouri Southern 3-2 in a major let down. Truman did respond however by knocking off Pittsburg State at home 3-1 on Saturday.  UNO went to Emporia State and gave them all they could handle in a 3-2 Emporia win.  The Mavericks are for real, they’ll be in contention for the conference title. UNO had two KEY service errors in the final set down the stretch and still managed to make it 15-13.

So my updated standings are (-1 for any loss at a bottom level team, -1 for any home loss to a top level team, and +1 for a road win at a top level team)

Emporia State and Pittsburg State (+1)

Nebraska-Omaha and Central Missouri (0)

Washburn (-1)

Truman State (-2)

The next big game, and the only conference match next weekend, is when Central travels to Pittsburg State on Friday night as part of the PSU Classic looking to avenge the home loss they had earlier this year.

Soccer

Soccer is probably a 5 taeam race at this point.  Truman State at 5-1, UNO at 4-1, Southwest Baptist at 3-2, Northwest Missouri State at 3-2, and Central Missouri at 3-2.  Central fell @ Washburn 1-0, and Northwest Missouri State fell @ Missouri Western 2-0 on Thursday. Truman had a big win Saturday 1-0 over UNO at home.  Southwest Baptist dropped a game @ Washburn 4-3.

I’m going to use the same method as we have for volleyball (-1 for any loss at a bottom level team, -1 for any home loss to a top level team, and +1 for a road win at a top level team) amongst these 5 teams to see where things stand.

Truman State (+1)

Nebraska Omaha  (0)

Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist (-1)

Northwest Missouri State (-2)

Northwest is a team to question, they are having a solid year so far but may not be up to the level of competing for the conference title.

Class A Football Thoughts

Has anyone in Class A actually won some impressive games so far this year?

 

Elkhorn is 5-2, but their only above .500 win is Millard South (4-3) at home.

Grand Island is 6-1, but their only above .500 wins are over Lincoln SW (5-2) and North Platte (4-3)… both on the road.

Lincoln North Star is 6-1, but their only above .500 wins are home wins over Lincoln SW (5-2) and North Platte (4-3).

Lincoln SW is 5-2, but their only above .500 win is over Kearney (5-2) at home.

Millard South is 4-3, but their only above .500 win was a home game with Westside (4-3).

Millard West is 7-0, but their only above .500 win was a home game with Westside (4-3) as well.

North Platte is 4-3, but their only above .500 win was a home game with Kearney (5-2) .

Omaha Burke is 5-2, but their only above .500 win was a home win over an Omaha North (6-1) team who had to turn to their #4 QB.

Omaha Creighton Prep is 7-0, but their only above .500 wins are a home win over Millard South (4-3) and a road win over Westside (4-3).

Omaha North is 6-1, but their only above .500 win is a home win over Papillion-La Vista (5-2).

Omaha Westside is 4-3, but their only above .500 win is a road win to start off the year at Elkhorn (5-2).

Papillion-La Vista is 5-2, but their only above .500 win is a road win at Bellevue West (6-1).

Paplilion-La Vista South is 5-2, but their only above .500 win is a road win at Papillion-La Vista (5-2).

 

I think there are only 2 teams with an impressive resume right now.  

Kearney is 5-2, with home wins over Grand Island (6-1), Lincoln North Star (6-1), and road wins over Papillion-La Vista South (5-2) and Elkhorn (5-2).

Bellevue West is 6-1, but their only wins against teams over .500 are North Platte (4-3), Omaha Burke (5-2), and Papillion-La Vista South (5-2)… all at home. 

 

There you have it… 15 teams win winning records, but only 2 have more than 2 wins over winning teams. The season thankfully is not over yet.  Who can improve their resume quite a bit heading into the playoffs?  I realize your resume doesn’t mean much since rankings are not subjective, but these numbers pretty much will tell you how good a team’s Wildcard Points will be. Kearney leads the state at 5-2 since they have some good wins.  Bellevue West is 2nd at 6-1 with their wins.  Millard West is 3rd, but Omaha Creighton Prep, despite being 7-0 is all the way in 5th. 5-2 Elkhorn is in 15th.  So some teams need to pick up these big wins to get a boost going into the playoffs in their ranking.

 

Bellevue West (6-1) already has a good resume, but still has to host Omaha Creighton Prep (7-0) AND travel to Omaha North (6-1).  They will soar to #1 if they win those, but could lose both and fall to 6-3.  Still would have a strong resume.

 

Elkhorn (5-2) hosts Lincoln SW (5-2) and then travels to Norfolk (2-5). Beating Lincoln SW is a must if they want to avoid playing one of the top teams.

 

Grand Island (6-1) travels to Lincoln North Star (6-1) and then hosts Lincoln High (2-5).  Two wins would certify the Islanders for a great ranking in the playoffs (currently 4th).  North Star would be the 3rd winning team defeated on the road.

 

Kearney (5-2) has a home game with Norfolk (2-5) and then finishes at Lincoln SE (1-6).  Kearney needs to win these two games because they will see a loss in points just for playing them.

 

Lincoln North Star (6-1) hosts Grand Island (6-1) and then travels to Lincoln NE (3-4).  This game is huge for both teams.  North Star, currently in 6th, would love to pick up another big home win.

 

Lincoln SW (5-2) goes to Elkhorn (5-2) and then hosts Lincoln East (2-5). Southwest, currently in 7th, could stay high in the rankings, but a defeat to Elkhorn would not help things.

 

Millard South (4-3) goes to Omaha Northwest (1-6) and then hosts Millard North (2-5).  Even with two wins Millard South will probably finish low in the points, currently 14th, and have a tough first round draw.

 

Millard West (7-0) hosts Bellevue East (2-5) and then travels to Papillion-La Vista (5-2).  The last game is Millard West’s only chance to improve their ranking. With two wins Millard West would jump past a Bellevue West team that stumbles and possibly even jump a Kearney team that wins twice.

 

North Platte (4-3) hosts Lincoln NE (3-4) and goes to Fremont (1-6).  The Bulldogs won’t get any help from this schedule and will be stuck near their current 12th place ranking.

 

Omaha Burke (5-2) travels to Millard North (2-5) and hosts Papillion-La Vista South (5-2). Burke, currently ranked 11th, needs to win both games to try to get in position to host a first round game, yet a loss to Millard North could be disasterous and possibly put Burke in position to fall out of the playoffs if they don’t beat PLVS. Beating Millard North will lock up a playoff berth. 

 

Omaha Creighton Prep (7-0) plays at Bellevue West (6-1) and then hosts Omaha South (0-7).  Prep, currently 5th, needs to beat Bellevue West or they could go tumbling down the rankings, possibly even falling to a road team in the first round despite an 8-1 record.

 

Omaha North (6-1) plays at Papillion-La Vista South (5-2) and then hosts Bellevue West (6-1).  North could go soaring up the rankings with two wins, but with two losses could possibly see them on the outside of the playoffs at 6-3, despite starting 5-0.

 

Omaha Westside (4-3) hosts Papillino-La Vista (5-2) and then goes to Omaha Central (0-7). Westside will make the playoffs with a win at Central, even if they lose to Papillion, but will not see a good matchup in the first round, currently 13th, unless they win both.

 

Papillion-La Vista (5-2) goes to Omaha Westside (4-3) and then hosts Millard West (7-0). Papillion-La Vista, currently ranked 10th, could fall down the rankings with a couple losses, but with two wins would be district champs and likely soar up the rankings into a home game.

 

Papillion-La Vista South (5-2) hosts Omaha North (6-1) before traveling to Omaha Burke (5-2). Like North and Burke, two wins would send them up the rankings from their current 9th ranking, however unlike North and Burke they would make the playoffs still.

 

And as an extra… Millard North (2-5) hosts Omaha Burke (5-2) and goes to Millard South (4-3).  The Mustangs are on the brink of elimination, but with two wins and Papillion-La Vista South winning out and Bellevue West defeating Omaha North would find themselves in a tie with the Vikings and Burke at a 1-3 District Record.  Millard North with a point average of 38.5714 would currently lose to Omaha North’s 41.1429 and Omaha Burke’s 40.8571 (2 of the 3 would get in), but if Burke loses twice while Millard North won they would almost certainly be the odd team out.  

 

In other words… for almost every team that has a winning record, the next two weeks will mean just about everything.

2008 UNO Football Schedule Preview

Sat, Sep 6 Nebraska-Kearney Caniglia Field

Sat, Sep 13 Emporia State * Caniglia Field

Sat, Sep 20 Missouri Southern * Joplin, Mo.

Sat, Sep 27 Northwest Missouri State * Caniglia Field

Sat, Oct 4 Truman State * Kirksville, Mo.

Sat, Oct 11 Missouri Western – Homecoming/Centennial Day * Caniglia Field

Sat, Oct 18 Pittsburg State * Pittsburg, Kan.

Sat, Oct 25 Central Missouri * Warrensburg, Mo.

Sat, Nov 1 Fort Hays State * Caniglia Field

Sat, Nov 8 Washburn * Topeka, Kan.

The first 3 home games are at 6 PM, the rest at 1 PM.

This schedule is interesting for UNO. UNO starts off with what should be an easy game against UNK, but can’t be overlooked. This is a rivalry game, and anything can happen, but UNO handled UNK pretty easily on the road last year to start the year. Next up UNO hosts Emporia State in what should be an easy first MIAA game. Emporia went 3-7 last year with their only conference win over Southern Baptist. Next UNO makes the trek down to Joplin Missouri for what again should be an easier game against Missouri Southern. Southern went 6-5 last year, 4-5 in the MIAA but without a win over any of the big boys (beat Emporia, Southwest Baptist, Fort Hays and Truman). They did give Pittsburg State a great game losing 31-28. UNO will have to be prepared but should dispatch of the Lions.

Then things get a little more interesting. First up is Northwest Missouri State. Northwest barely missed out on a National Title last year, losing to Valdosta State in the title game, but hasn’t won at Omaha in over 10 years, including a loss in week 2 to the Mavericks last year. UNO will have to be prepared for a fight, but should be the favorites in this heavyweight bout. Next UNO will go on the road to Truman State, another of the low level teams in the MIAA. Truman went 6-5 last year, 4-5 in conference. They beat Emporia, Fort hays, Southwest Baptist and Missouri Western. They were destroyed by Northwest Missouri State and Pittsburg State by a combined score of 93-6. UNO should be able to defeat the Bulldogs, but again in this league overlooking anyone would be a mistake. UNO wraps this 3 game set up with a return home for the Homecoming/Centennial game with Missouri Western. Missouri Western went 9-3 overall, 6-3 in conference and won the 2007 Mineral Water Bowl over Wayne State. They were beaten 44-20 last year by northwest, but beat Pittsburg State 39-32 on the road on a touchdown pass with 22 seconds left. UNO should be prepared for this game at home on one of the biggest days in campus history. I can’t see them letting down, but it should be a good game.

So at this point I think UNO should be 6-0, at worst 5-1. Then things get a bit trickier. Next up is a trip to D2 powerhouse Pittsburg State, for their homecoming. This will be the toughest game of the year in my opinion. Pittsburg State went 8-3 last year, 6-3 in conference, but is expected to compete for the conference title with UNO and NWMS. Pitt was beaten by Northwest, Western and Washburn last year. This is probably the best chance any team will have to beat UNO, and I don’t expect the Mavericks to escape victorious. They have a chance but will have to play a great game. Things don’t get much easier the next week as UNO travels to Central Missouri. The Mules were 7-4 last year, 6-3 in conference with a road win over Washburn being the highlight of the season. Don’t let that record fool you though, they lost to Pittsburg 38-31 in 2 OT and 28-26 at Northwest Missouri State. This team was good. They will provide a tough test for UNO after the Pittsburg State game, but UNO should be able to pull it out. Next up is an easier game for UNO as they host Fort Hays State who went 2-7 in conference, 4-7 overall. They defeated Emporia and Southwest Baptist last year. At this point I’d project UNO to be 8-1, but anywhere from 9-0 to 6-3 (losses to Northwest, Pittsburg, Central).

UNO finishes off the regular season with a road trip to Washburn to take on the Ichabods. This won’t be an easy game either as Washburn finished in the top 25 last season and made the playoffs, losing a tight game in the first round to West Texas A&M 40-39. The only other losses on the year were @ Northwest Missouri State and two home games, Chadron State and Central Missouri. UNO will have to bring their best to win this game. In the end I think UNO probably finishes this year 9-1. This team is very talented, played a lot of tough games last year and should be able to win these games. I think they slip up somewhere (Northwest, Pittsburg, Central, Washburn), but they should at the worst split those games to go 8-2. Either one of those results should get them into the NCAA Playoffs. Worst case scenario is a 6-4 year with losses to all 4 of those teams and no playoffs, but I don’t see that happening.

Tim Tebow Tells Playboy “No”

This obviously has nothing to do with UNO or even Omaha.  That said, I loved the story so I decided to share it and comment on it.  First of all the story can be found at http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080721/BREAKINGNEWS/80721029/1002/SPORTS.

Now to the story… “Tim Tebow in Playboy? Not happening.

The Florida quarterback became the first sophomore to ever win the Heisman last December, so it’s only natural that he would be everybody’s preseason All-America quarterback. Right? But when Playboy asked for nominations for its annual All-America team back in the spring, Florida assistant sports information director Zack Higbee elected not to even put Tebow’s name on the list.

Tebow, who will attend photo shoots today for magazine covers in Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News before attending the SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala., on
Wednesday, is vocal about his deep religious convictions. His father, Bob, is a missionary. Tebow feels it could also be his calling in life, after his football career is over.”

–First of all I had no idea Tebow is a professing believer, so now I’m motivated to root for him next year :).  If he is a Christian it would be awesome to see him pursue that after football.

“Gary Cole, senior vice president and photographer director of Playboy, e-mailed and talked with Higbee on the phone about the decision not to nominate the Gator star… “I don’t hate it when someone has all the facts, understands what our weekend and our history is and then chooses not to attend,” Cole told Florida Today. “I do hate it when someone bases their choice on false or incomplete information. . . . The weekend (in Phoenix) is completely wholesome. I have always brought my children whether they were one or 16 years old. It’s a really special few days when these fellows get the opportunity to meet each other and spend a little time together. Friendships are formed at these weekends that last a lifetime.””

— I like how he trys to paint this as a wholesome time. I’m sure the weekend isn’t totally wholesome (there’s got to be playboy models around.. right?), but I’ll take his word that it probably is fairly tame. The problem for me isn’t the weekend… it’s the magazine! Tebow would be featured in a magazine with photos of naked women… not wholesome at all. He made the right decision to not even be associated with it. Would it be wrong of him to allow his name and picture to be in there? Maybe, maybe not. But he definitely made the right choice in not even associating himself or letting his name be tarnished at all.

“Florida’s Danny Wuerffel, also raised in a deeply-religious family, elected not to have his name on Playboy’s preseason list in 1996, the year he also won the Heisman.”

—Didn’t know this about Wuerffel either.. cool.

“Higbee, who works closely with Tebow on his media obligations, didn’t even bother to discuss the matter with the Tebow, who recently won an ESPY Award for top college male athlete, until months later. He figured Tebow’s religious beliefs would cause him to decline, anyway. Higbee said it came up in a conversation recently, and Tebow was fine with the decision.”

—I LOVE THIS! Tebow wasn’t even asked. This means he has a REPUTATION for this on campus. This guy KNOWS about Tebow’s faith and KNEW that he would not be okay with this. That speaks volumes to me.

“”To be honest, Pat White was my choice from very early on . . . actually the end of last season,” Cole said. “I love the way he plays the game. I love what he has accomplished in his career at West Virginia. He’s a senior. Tebow will probably be around for a couple of more years. So we still have the chance to have him on the team whether or not he chooses to attend (the Playboy function honoring him).””

—Then a load of lies from Cole in my opinion… to try and swing this as well you know what Pat White probably would have been the choice.. rediculous.  They wanted Tebow just like everyone does and he said no, but they want to make it seem like they didn’t want him!

I read some more online and found out Tebow was homeschooled but allowed to play high school football in Florida due to state rules… very cool!

———————————————————————–

UNO’s Men’s Basketball Summer League team and the UNO Men’s Grad Summer League team both start the playoffs tomorrow.  The current guys finished the season 3-2 and as the 8 seed will play Bellevue University in the first round.  The game is at 5:30 at Omaha South.  The Grads finished 4-1 and have the 7 seed.  They will play Porter, Tauke, and Ebke – BJ Valentine, Lorenzo Wilson, Brandon McGruder, Nick Krenk, Ben Nelson, Dusty Sitsmann, Ben Thorn, Klaye Rowe and will play at 7:30 at Omaha South.  Both teams will be expected to win as they defeated their opponents in the regular season.

National Championship Preview

So the big day is here… we finally get to decide who is #1 (yea right).  Ohio State vs. LSU for all the marbles.  The obvious choice in this game is LSU.  As much as Les Miles’ statement about LSU being the only team to not lose in regulation is stupid, it’s also true.  They played every team right to the end, losing two 3 OT games.  Ohio State on the other hand got beat at home by Illinois, and it wasn’t all that close.

Ohio State’s offense doesn’t jump out and scare you, but they get the job done.  LSU’s seems a little more potent however.  As far as defenses go, statistically no one is better than Ohio State.  But LSU probably has more talent.   Bo Pelini’s ability to ready this defense for this game and game plan could be key.

LSU may be healthy for the first time in forever, and Ohio State is coming off a 51 day layoff.  Don’t neglect the impact of these two facts.

I don’t think Ohio State has played a team like LSU this year.  LSU is much quicker than the average Big 10 team.  I don’t think the Big 10 is all that great, and I think Ohio State was fortunate to be in that league and played an easy non conference schedule.  LSU is battle tested and proven, despite the two losses they still knocked off Va Tech, Florida, Auburn, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee.     All ranked in the top 25 at the time.  Ohio State beat Purdue, Michigan and Penn State.    Give the nod to LSU.

I don’t expect a great game, but I hope I’m wrong.  I’m taking LSU to win 31-10.

Sunday 1/6 Preview

I’ll recap Saturday when I get a chance, but figured I should get the Sunday Preview done before the NFL gets started.

Bucs-Giants is first today.  Bucs have been silent all year, but solid.  Giants have made more noise as they are in New York and have a Manning at QB.  Giants finished well and played the Pats tough, but suffered some injuries in that game.  I like the Bucs to win today, 24-17.

2nd Game of the day is Titans-Chargers.  Interesting match up of a team that got in by beating the Colts backups, and a team that won the worst division in the NFL.  I like the Chargers offense with Rivers and LT, the Titans are hurt by injuries with Vince Young being a game time decision and several other players hurt.  Because of those injuries, I like the Chargers to advance, 35-14.

Election debate again today, but it’s not gonna get much coverage as it’s Republican’s only and doesn’t include Ron Paul.  I’m not even sure when it is.  American Gladiator premier tonight.  Could be interesting.

Saturday January 5th Preview

Alright… it’s a big day tomorrow.  Our latest edition of the NFL playoffs kicks off.

First up is Washington going to Seattle.  Washington has finished extremely strong, and come together after the tragic death of Sean Taylor.  But can they go to Seattle and win on the road in the playoffs?  I don’t think so.  Washington is starting Todd Collins at QB.  That Todd Collins.  The one who is famous (infamous) for being the player with the largest gap between starts in NFL history at over 10 years.  There is a reason for that.  Good QBs don’t go 10 years without starting by accident.  Todd Collins is not capable of leading this team to a road victory in the playoffs in my opinion.  I’m taking the Seahawks 28-10

So the Jaguars are going into the Steel City, where they won a few weeks ago.  Can they do it again?  I think so.  Pittsburgh is in trouble with Willie Parker, the leading RB in the NFL at the time.  The Jaguars are built to win in situations like this.  I don’t buy into David Garrard as a good QB for the playoffs yet, but I think he’s good enough to beat the Steelers.

Jaguars win 27-17.

The Maverick hockey team has a big series at Western Michigan.  UNO, struggling all year, is still “in it” technically for a top 4 seed (trailing Michigan St. by 7 points with 2 to play (a sweep at MSU makes it 3 points… but MSU still has 3 extra games more than UNO).  They would need to go on a run unlike anything we’ve seen at any point this year though to pull that off.  Trying to get a 5-8 seed is much easier.  The 5th place team (Bowling Green) has 12 points while UNO is back in 8th with 11.  Ferris State, Northern Michigan, and Alaska are also right there with 12, 12 and 10 respectively.  UNO travels to Northern and Alaska over the next month or so, and has an opportunity to put some ground on those teams.  The Mavs can definitely get that first round home game if they play well down the stretch.  It won’t take a great stretch of wins, just picking up wins over teams they should beat and maybe a few surprises.

Anyways, back to this weekend.  Western is in 2nd to last with just 4 points and a 2-8-0 record in conference, but we tied last place Lake Superior State for their only 2 conference points (0-9-2) at home in our last conference action… so who knows if this is gonna be doable on the road.  UNO really needs to sweep.  Western is not a good team.  The return of Juha Uotlia was key last weekend.  He added some more depth and some much needed experience to the blue line.  The Mavs need someone in goal to step up.  Jerad Kaufmann struggled Friday night, and Jeremie Dupont did the same Sunday night last time out.  I’m not sure who’s starting this weekend.  Kaufmann, Dupont and Aarnio all have the potential to step up and win games, but until one of them steps up and establishes himself as the go to goaltender down the stretch, this team is doomed to struggle I fear.

Bryan Marshall is silently having a spectacular season and career.  He now has 8G and 20A in 20 games on the year, giving him 135 points in his career.  That’s only 9 behind David Brisson for 2nd place (behind Mr. Mav Hockey Scott Parse’s 197).  So don’t forget when you’re watching him play how great he really is.  Marshall is 3rd in the NCAA with his 28 points, only 3 behind Michigan’s Kevin Porter.  His 20 assists are top in the NCAA.  Mick Lawrence’s 7 PPG goals places him 4th in the NCAA.

Also, UNO’s opponent for next weekend, Miami, lost to Bowling Green 4-2 tonight, meaning UNO will not be hosting the #1 team after all.  Doh.  Our favorite goalie Jimmy Spratt was featured on the front page of USCHO.com… I can’t wait til the perverts come to the Civic… GET YOUR SHARPIES READY!!!!!

Creighton Basketball faces a tough road trip to Springfield Missouri.  The team is desperate for a win now having started Valley season 0-2 (okay so 14-4 is sounding unlikely for our conference record now…)   The Jays, 9-3 on the year, take on the Bears of Missouri St. (8-6 on the year) at 7 on Saturday.  Creighton’s starters aren’t gonna change and we need to accept that.  I don’t think it will cost them games.  The team can come back if they get down early.  The 0-2 conference record is CU’s worst start since 93-94 (Pre-Dana). That team went 0-7 to start.. yikes. This team is gonna have to look to Dane Watts to lead them.  He is the only player in the conference in the top 7 in points and boards.  He is going to have to have a big game against Missouri St.  Josh Dotzler is gonna need to take care of business.  No sloppy turnovers, good passing, hard defense.  He can’t force shots either.  Chad Millard needs to step up and shows us something as he’s been a bit of a disappointment at CU so far.  Nick Bahe and Pierce Hibma need to use whatever minutes they get effectively.

Off the bench, P’Allen Stinnett will be playing a big game.  In an interview with 590’s Matt Perault, Dana Altman said if P doesn’t stop complaining about foul calls to the refs, he will sit him.  This is going to be interesting to see, how does he respond?  P has loads of talent, but he hasn’t totally bought into the system yet and he’ starting to draw the ire of the coaches it appears.  Casey Harriman, Cavel Witter, Booker Woodfox, Kaleb Korver all need to play their roles.  I’d like to see some 3s out of Casey, to see Cavel stay under a bit more control, and for Booker to continue his hot shooting. Maybe some 3s out of Korver :D?  Kenny Lawson and Kenton Walker will hopefully get some time to continue their development.  How well these two do could play a big difference in this team’s season.

Defensively the Jays will worry about the Bear’s Deven Mitchell who leads the league with 16.9 points per game. Blake Ahearn is finally gone though!

Booker Woodfox’s shooting has finally come around.  Earlier in the year the coaches talked about him needing to get some confidence and start knocking down some shots.  Well, it’s happened.  He now leads the team with 17 3s and 42.5% shooting.  He’s 13-21 (61.9%!!!) the last 5 games.  Does Altman think about starting him anytime soon?  He is a junior and he’s playing very well lately.

I’m not gonna take the Jays to win in Springfield.  I hope they do, but I’m taking the Bears 74-69.  Jays will stop the losing at home next week… but it continues Saturday night.

Finally, the Republicans and Democrats have a big debate Saturday night.  It’s gonna be in prime time on ABC.  I will be taping it so I can watch sports and then the debate.  New Hampshire is coming up on Tuesday so this is the last chance for many of the candidates to get their message out to the state as a whole.

Republicans from 6-7:30 CST..

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, R-NYC
Former Governor Mike Huckabee, R-Ark.
Senator John McCain, R-Ariz.
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex.
Former Governor Mitt Romney, R-Mass.
Former Senator Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.

Democrats from 7:45-9:15 CST…
Senator Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
Former Senator John Edwards, D-N.C.
Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill.
Governor Bill Richardson, D-N.M.

I’m looking forward to the first debate for the Democrats where the marginal candidates are gone.   These three can now turn to each other (Richardson is around… oh well) and we’ll see what they have to say.  As far as the Republicans go.  This is a big debate as these all are still in it (though Paul has 0% chance I still believe).  Don’t be fooled by Gulliani’s poor showing so far.  He’s focusing on Super Tuesday, not these early states.

So there’s your Saturday preview.  A big fun day coming up!