By Clyde Hughes
D3sports.com

The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin seems to be flexing its muscles early in the season. No. 15th-ranked Augustana cruised to a 53-7 win against MacMurray in the opener last week. The other favorite, No. 21  North Central will get its shot on Saturday in its opener against Concordia (Wis.), one of the favorites in the Illini-Badger Conference.

But forgive both Augustana and North Central if there are looking over their shoulders little at another opponent down the road -- Wheaton. Yes, one of the proclaimed top “Stone Cold Sober” colleges recently by the Princeton Review, also has a stone cold defense this season. That’s a sobering thought for all of its opponents this year.

Besides, the rugged CCIW has not exactly been kind to favorites in recent memory. Last year, Wheaton and Carthage entered the season with national rankings and high hopes, based on playoff experience from the previous season. But when the dust settled in 2005, it was Augustana and North Central that prevailed with the rankings and the playoff berths.

Other Midwest notables in the poll are Mount St. Joseph, the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference favorite, with 10 votes and St. Norbert with one vote.

CCIW highlights included offensive player of the week Blake Veldhuis, a wide receiver for Elmhurst who had a career high 115 yards and eight catches (including one touchdown) in a 34-0 win against Benedictine last week, and Carthage inside linebacker Mark Januszewski, who picked up a fumble and ran it 20 yards for the winning touchdown in Carthage’s 10-6 win over Carroll.

Mount St. Joseph opens impressively

Speaking of Mount St. Joseph, if the opener is any indication of the how the Lions will fare this year, it certainly was a positive sign. MSJ has struggled in the past during its opener against Wilmington, a big southwest Ohio rival, where the schools compete for recruits in the talent-rich Cincinnati-Dayton area as well. So the Lions 24-0 win was a bit of an eye-opener. Mike Lovell, HCAC’s offensive player of year last season, rushed for 134 yards on 20 carries while the defense pitched a shutout.

The Lions this week will welcome Rose-Hulman into the HCAC in a conference opener for both teams. Rose-Hulman has regularly played a handful of HCAC teams, including Mount St. Joseph, so it won’t be a totally new experience, it’ll just mean a lot more.

Monmouth looks to bounce back

On the other side of the fence, Monmouth will try to turn around a disappointing season-opening loss with its conference opener against Lawrence on Saturday. Monmouth lost to Wartburg 20-0 last week in a game that seemed it might have pulled out. Down 6-0 in the third quarter, running back Dante Daniels (18 carries, 101 yards) rambled 48 yards to the Wartburg 7 in an attempt to give Monmouth the lead. But Daniels fumbled at the end of the run and Wartburg recovered. Wartburg then marched 93 yards down field, scoring a touchdown just before the fourth quarter. The play all but put the game out of reach and is an example how quickly fortunes can turn with a turnover.

Another year, another big loss to Whitewater

It wasn’t the best of times for Lakeland against UW-Whitewater, but what else is new. Yes, the 75-14 pounding Lakeland took at the hands of the No. 2-ranked team in the country was humbling, but nothing it can’t bounce back from. Lakeland lost to UW-Whitewater 73-12 a year ago, but managed to gather itself to win the IBC and make its first playoff appearance effort. But Lakeland also knows it will have to correct the 17 penalties it incurred and seven turnovers (four fumbles and three interceptions.) Anyone will tell you that’s way too much to give any opponent, especially the one with the talent of UW-Whitewater.

This week, Lakeland will try to right the ship against CCIW power Carthage.

Key points

In a note of interest, Case Western beat Oberlin 29-23 in the first overtime game in Division III last week. Case rallied from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game. Defensive back Scott Madden blocked a Oberlin field goal in OT and then freshman quarterback Dan Whalen (13-for-20, 231 yards) scored on a 1-yard run on Case’s possession to lead them to victory.

Another note of interest . . . Anderson’s Denny Kimmel had his string of consecutive 100-yard games snapped last week against Taylor. Kimmel, who recorded eight straight 100-yard contests a year ago, was held to 28 yards on 11 carries, but Anderson still beat rival Taylor 17-10.

Ten games to watch

Defiance’s loss to Otterbein last week was difficult but it won’t get much easier for the Yellow Jackets taking on Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association favorite Adrian on Saturday. Adrian opens a new facility and will be hyped for the game. This will also be a good measuring stick for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and the MIAA. Defiance was picked to finish second in the HCAC this year and it will be an interesting look to see how the two match up.

Adrian pounded Defiance last year, but Yellow Jackets coach Robert Taylor said then he believed that was the turning point of Defiance’s season. Defiance went on to finish in the upper half of the conference, something no one expected of them, and pegged them as one of the conference favorites. This game will be a true test to see just how much Defiance has grown up since last season.

This week’s contest is one of top 10 games to watch in the Midwest this year. My other top 10 entries read like this:

Oct. 7: North Central at Wheaton. The Cardinals will have a tall order trying to beat Wheaton at home.

Oct. 7: Mt. St. Joseph at Hanover. Hanover upset Mt. St. Joseph in Cincinnati last year, preventing the Lions from going undefeated again. Mt. St. Joseph will want payback, but will have to do it on the road where Hanover is always tough.

Oct. 7: Monmouth at St. Norbert. Monmouth needed a come-from-behind victory to finally beat St. Norbert and take the crown St. Norbert had hogged in the Midwest Conference. Trust me, St. Norbert will want it back.

Oct. 14: Wheaton at Augustana. It’s the first major test for Augustana in trying to claim the CCIW title.

Oct. 14: Washington University at Chicago. This will be a battle for the University Athletic Association title.

Oct. 21: Concordia (Wis.) at Lakeland. This may determine the IBC title.

Oct. 28: Augustana at North Central. This will be the Midwest battle of the titans (if no one in their own conference has knocked them off to this point.) Contrasting offenses and good defenses should make it a great game.

Oct. 28: Mount St. Joseph at Defiance. The Lions must go on the road to beat Defiance if they want to capture their third consecutive HCAC crown.

Nov. 4: Lakeland at Aurora. If Lakeland wants to win a share of its third IBC title, it will have to beat one of its big rivals on the road and it won’t be an easy task.