Bryant DIII - Season 87 Preview
Team Rankings
The state of Wisconsin has been on the rise recently, showing up on several occasions in the pre-season rankings as well as in the playoffs. For those of you who doubt that, just ask tannhauser. He played 3 consecutive playoff games against teams from Wisconsin last season, defeating Concordia (WI) and Wisconsin-Stout, before falling to the eventual National Champions Wisconsin-Platteville.
With some major changes within these 3 teams who have been consistently putting on great seasons (Wisconsin-Stout is now coached by a sim, and slid64er who built a national champion in 4 seasons at Wisconsin-Platteville has moved up to DII), how will the state perform this season?
Below are the elkhour Power Rankings (EPR) for the DIII teams in Bryant for Season 87:
1. Huntingdon (superv97)
Overall rating: 568 (rank 1)
Offense rating: 583 (rank 1)
Defense rating: 553 (rank 5)
Analysis: You guessed it right! Huntingdon is EPR pre-season #1 once again, and they have been there ever since I started this thread 3 seasons ago. But guess what? As you are soon to find out, the other teams are catching up: how long can Huntingdon hold at #1? While they are topping the offensive and overall rankings, their defense ranking fell down to 5. superv97 has lead Huntingdon to winning 4 consecutive NJAC championships, and six consecutive trips to the regional finals or better (3 national championship losses followed by 3 regional finals losses). If the defense steps up, he can finally win the whole thing!
Key Games: @ King's (Week 3), @ Methodist (Week 4)
Players to watch:
Luis Brown (QB),
Rodney Wilson (DL),
Gary Vickers (DB)
2.
Concordia (WI) (elkhour)
Overall rating: 568 (rank 2)
Offense rating: 568 (rank 4)
Defense rating: 567 (rank 2)
Analysis: After a 50-51 loss to Susquehanna due to a missed XP in the playoffs last season, Concordia (WI) is looking to continue its recent success and compete another time for the title they won in Season 83. They have been ranked in the post-season Top 5 for the last four seasons, finishing 1st, 5th, 2nd, and 3rd consecutively. They've been the dominant force in the IBFC recenlty, going 54-0 in the last 6 seasons, grabbing 6 consecutive CC of course. elkhour has an amazing 111-16 record at Concordia (WI) and he's looking to build up on this with a well balanced team all over the field.
Key Games: Hiram (Week 1), New Jersey (Week 2), Whittier (Week 5), Benedictine (Week 8)
Players to watch:
Kevin Harper (QB),
Antonio Thomas (DL),
George Chavez (DB)
3.
Wisconsin-Platteville (bandit13)
Overall rating: 564 (rank 3)
Offense rating: 581 (rank 2)
Defense rating: 547 (rank 8)
Analysis: slid64er has built a national champion in 4 seasons at Wisconsin-Platteville, but has now moved up to DII. The new coach bandit13, who has done a great job at Curry in the last 2 seasons, gets the undaunted task of defending that national title, something that hasn't been done since season 72. Lead by a prolific passing offense, Wisconsin-Platteville has what it takes to compete once again. If the defense puts up some good showing, expect to see them in the Final Four once again.
Key Games: @ Macalester (Week 2), @ Bridgewater (Week 4), Waynesburg (Week 5), Wisconsin-Stevens Point (Week 13)
Players to watch:
James Frazier (QB),
Ronald Macdonald (WR),
Robert Barnard (TE)
4.
Gettysburg (hallgren)
Overall rating: 564 (rank 4)
Offense rating: 557 (rank 9)
Defense rating: 572 (rank 1)
Analysis: National champions in season 84, national runner-ups and ranked #3 in season 85, ranked #2 last season, Gettysburg has been one of the best teams in DIII recently. They also have the #1 ranked defense going through this season, and despite their offense being ranked 9th, this is a very dangerous because they run the football a ton. By dominating TOP, they can pretty much beat everyone with their good defense, and make a deep playoff run once again. hallgren has lead them to 7 consecutive CC championships, and it looks like Muhlenberg is everything that stands between them and an 8th one.
Key Games: @ Curry (Week 3), @ Hiram (Week 5), Muhlenberg (Week 10)
Players to watch:
Michael Moody (RB),
Jose Rasmussen (OL),
David Hondo (DL)
5.
Ferrum (bugeaters11)
Overall rating: 558 (rank 5)
Offense rating: 556 (rank 10)
Defense rating: 560 (rank 3)
Analysis: Usually at #2, Ferrum has dropped to 5 this year, but they're still a perennial national championship contender. While the defense looks brilliant, they need the offense to take it up a level and give them a chance to win the title for the first time since Season 75. The team has also finished in the post-season Top 5 for the last 3 seasons, at 5, 4, and 3 retrospectively, and they are 36-0 in conference play in the last 4 seasons. They are lacking the top QB they always used to have, but they are still enough of a dangerous team.
Key Games: Wisconsin Lutheran (Week 3), Maryville (Week 8), Methodist (Week 11)
Players to watch:
James Dunlap (RB),
James Allen (DL),
Thomas Ward (DB)
6. MIT (bearhockey)
Overall rating: 557 (rank 6)
Offense rating: 565 (rank 6)
Defense rating: 549 (rank 7)
Analysis: With the 4th different coach in the last 4 seasons, MIT is still in the Top 10, talk about consistency... Even better, new head coach bearhockey has put on a brilliant recruiting class, ranked #2 in the nation in DIII. MIT has won 8 conference championships and a national title in the last 8 seasons, and there is no reason to doubt they will be a heavy contender once again. They've been consistently showing up in the post-season Top 10 in all of these last 8 seasons, expect them to be there once again this year! While playing in a lousy conference, their OOC schedule has some challenges for them this season, that will show how good that team really is.
Key Games: @ Whitter (Week 1), @ Martin Luther (Week 3), Wilmington (OH) (Week 4)
Players to watch:
Patrick Navarro (QB),
Harold Berry (DL),
Louis Carter (LB)
7.
Austin (eblake)
Overall rating: 555 (rank 7)
Offense rating: 575 (rank 3)
Defense rating: 534 (rank 12)
Analysis: An offensive powerhouse! But be careful... It looks like they're going for the Wishbone this year, and the defense has to be much better than it's ranked for them to be national contenders with the Wishbone. Playing in the most competitive conference in DIII Bryant, the ASC, Austin will have their work cut out this season, and coach eblake is hoping he will finally go back to the Final Four, as he hasn't been since Season 81. He is yet to win a national title, and he's hoping the Wishbone will lead it there this season.
Key Games: Howard Payne (Week 7), @ East Texas Baptist (Week 8), @ California Lutheran (Week 12)
Players to watch:
Jesus Hernandez (RB),
John Burgess (OL),
Andrew Jones (DL)
8.
Susquehanna (tannhauser)
Overall rating: 552 (rank 8)
Offense rating: 549 (rank 14)
Defense rating: 555 (rank 4)
Analysis: Last season's Final Four Susquehanna are hoping for a better outcome this time, and they have the defense to lead them there. They have 8 playoff appearances, 4 conference championships, and 2 Final Four appearances in the last 8 seasons. tannhauser is yet to win a national title with Susquehanna, and he's hoping 23 is the number to final achieve that. While King's looks like their only challenge within the MAC, they have 2 VERY competitive OOC games.
Key Games: Mount Union (Week 2), @ Loras (Week 5), @ King's (Week 10)
Players to watch:
John York (QB),
Stephen Murray (DL),
Edwin Gonzales (LB)
9.
St. Olaf (mfnmyers)
Overall rating: 551 (rank 9)
Offense rating: 559 (rank 8)
Defense rating: 544 (rank 10)
Analysis: An upset by Carleton prevented them from winning the conference last season, they were then eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. mfnmyers is definitely hoping for better this time around, and his team is loaded as usual and balanced enough to be able to defeat just about everyone. He's hoping his recent strategy change of having one RS Sr QB every season will work out in his favor, and he surely has a great defensive unit!
Key Games: Carleton (Week 12), @ Bethany (Week 13)
Players to watch:
John Fitzgerald (QB),
George Ferguson (DL),
Harry Singleton (DB)
10.
Loras (bisoneer)
Overall rating: 551 (rank 10)
Offense rating: 556 (rank 11)
Defense rating: 547 (rank 9)
Analysis: Host of the real coaches poll (BCP), bisoneer is hoping for more progression in the playoffs, as he's been eliminated in round 1 in season 84, round 2 in season 85, and round 3 in season 86. Can they win back the title they won in Season 81? With a loaded OOC schedule, Loras has to be very good and definitely prevent what happened for the first time in a long time last season, 3 consecutive defeats in the regular season.
Key Games: @ Macalester (Week 1), @ Thomas More (Week 3), Susquehanna (Week 5)
Players to watch:
Vernon Collins (OL),
Joseph Hopkins (DL),
Mark Hunt (DB)
Remaining Rankings (Coach, Overall rating, Offense rating-Offense rank, Defense rating-Defense rank):
11.
Colorado College (lawhorns, 547, 544-18, 551-6)
12.
Mount Union (gezeus, 545, 564-7, 526-14)
13.
Linfield (kcwallace, 544, 566-5, 522-17)
14.
California Lutheran (wine22, 541, 550-13, 532-13)
15.
Union (NY) (ruplayer, 539, 549-14, 529-14)
16.
Trinity (TX) (soupman78734, 533, 544-17, 522-16)
17.
Bridgewater (VA) (nauds3000, 532, 552-12, 511-22)
18.
Guilford (bce98a, 530, 547-15, 513-19)
19.
East Texas Baptist (albright73, 529, 519-23, 540-11)
20.
Washington (MO) (james61983, 525, 546-16, 504-27)
21.
Menlo (dscv10, 521, 522-22, 521-18)
22.
Oberlin (warrior0510, 519, 537-19, 500-28)
23.
King's (PA) (Da_Stinkos, 518, 525-20, 512-20)
24.
Whittier (travs, 515, 524-21, 507-24)
25.
Case Western (2000champou, 515, 518-24, 512-20)
Conference Predictions:
ASC East Texas Baptist
CC Gettysburg
FFC Merchant Marine
IBFC Concordia (WI)
IIAC Loras
MIAA Colorado College
MAC Susquehanna
MWC Chicago
MIAC St. Olaf
NEFC Curry
NESCAC MIT
NJAC Huntingdon
NCAC Oberlin
NWC Linfield
OAC Mount Union
ODAC Guilford
SCAC Trinity (TX)
USA South Ferrum
WIAC Wisconsin-Platteville