Michael Bates helped Illinois College to the playoffs as a freshman. Illinois College athletics photo

Michael Bates has been under center for Illinois College since his freshman year and the Blueboys quarterback will get one more shot at leading his squad back the playoffs when they take on the new team in the Midwest Conference, Macalester, for the MWC championship at home Saturday.

But it's been an interesting ride for the gunslinger that has won postseason awards and has been the subject of many of MWC defensive game plans for the past four years. Illinois College opened the season 1-2, losing a wild, triple-overtime game to Rose-Hulman and conference crossover game against St. Norbert back-to-back.

"It was really tough bouncing back after the wild game with Rose-Hulman, but it definitely brought our team closer together," Bates said. "The guys, and especially the younger guys, really had to buy into the program. It was a gut check time for us, and we ended up responding by having a lot of young guys step up for us.

“It made us realize that all we could control was just getting better day by day and continuing to improve upon the things the coaches wanted out of us."

Bates said despite the slow start, he did not think the team's faith was shaken. The Blueboys went on to win six straight, including the hard-fought 30-23 victory over Cornell, a game they lost in 2013 on the last day of the season that likely kept them out of the playoffs.

"We knew that due to our youth and the injuries that occurred we were going to be a work in progress," Bates said. "It definitely made us get a more 'us against the world' mentality because a lot of people I think had sort of wrote us off.

"It allowed our young kids to go through some adversity and come out the other side of it more mature, young men. A lot of times you have to fail in order to succeed later on and I think that held true for us."

The biggest question now is whether the Blueboys are playing good enough football to win the crown and get into the Division III playoffs.

"I hope we are playing our best football," Bates said. "I don't really tend to self-evaluate us ever. I just focus on what I can do each day to make this team better and so do all the other 100 guys on the team. Whether we're playing our best ball or not, I'll leave that up to other people to decide. I just want to control the things I can control and continue to improve this week as we get ready to face a tough Macalester team."

The Illinois College-Macalester game will be a contrast in styles. The Blueboys are not shy to ride Bates’ arm as they have the last four years, while everyone in the stadium will know that the Scots will keep the ball in the hands of quarterback Samson Bialostok (80.6 yards per game) and running back Zandy Stowell (119.5 yards per game). Both have rushed for more than 100 yards in Macalester's biggest games of the year in wins over Carroll and St. Norbert the past two weeks.

"I have really enjoyed watching him throughout the season, but now that we have to defend him, I'm not enjoying the film as much," Illinois College coach Garrett Campbell said of Macalester. "(Bialostok) is not just an excellent quarterback; he's an excellent athlete who can turn a short gain, into an explosive play in a heartbeat. We will have our hands full on Saturday. That is for certain."

Campbell said he believed his team grew up a lot over the course of the season after the slow start, something that may benefit them in facing future adversity.

"I don't think (the two losses) shook our confidence at all," Campbell said. "We knew we had talent and just needed that time to develop. Honestly, and this might sound funny, but I was actually extremely proud of our young men. They battled hard the for the each of those two losses, and as a coach what else can you ask for? We knew we had things to work on. Heading into divisional play we were 2-2, and while it wasn't the record we wanted to be at, it was hardly the end of the world."

Bates and Campbell now will get to see just how much their younger teammates have grown up from the earlier bumps in the road on Saturday with the MWC crown and a trip the Division III playoff riding on the line.

Wheaton not resting on laurels

With a playoff spot already secure and share of the CCIW already in its hip pocket, one would think the No. 9-ranked Wheaton Thunder would take it a little easy and just focus getting ready for the playoffs. For Mike Swider, it's "What playoffs?"

"We're not even talking about playoffs," Swider said. "We're concentrating on winning the conference outright. Playoffs have not entered our discussion and it won't all week. We want to win an outright conference title."

That will come on Saturday when Wheaton will go on the road to take on Carthage (3-6, 2-4 CCIW). If the Thunder wins, it will be their first undefeated season since 2003, even though Wheaton is a perennial Top 25 fixture.

After the game, Swider said he will then let his guard down and start to think about the second season.

"We won't start talking about the playoffs until Saturday nigtht," promised Swider. "I don't care where we are seeded. We're just happy to be in the big dance."

Down the road in Chicago’s western suburbs, his CCIW brethren No. 19 North Central will have sweat it out through the NCAA Division III selection show at 5 p.m. Central on Sunday as veteran John Thorne will hope the Cardinals have built a good enough resume in his final season.

"I think there is a slight chance for us, even though I know very few 8-2 teams do get in," Thorne said. He knows that he's got a win against No. 15 UW-Platteville in his favor and his losses to Wheaton and UW-Stevens Point were by a combined 10 points. North Central also has recent history on its side, with the Cardinals reaching the national semifinals a year ago before falling to Mount Union on a last-minute touchdown.

"We hope but you never know what all goes into what they're looking at," Thorne said. "Both of our losses were very close games that could have gone either way. It would be fantastic for our seniors. They are a great group of guys."

First, North Central still has to win on Saturday, and going on the road against Elmhurst (5-4, 4-2 in CCIW) is not a gimme.

NACC could be simple, or then again

The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference could have a simple outcome on Saturday. If Lakeland (5-0, 6-3) goes to Benedictine (4-1, 5-4) and beat the Eagles in their afternoon tilt, the Muskies win the NACC title and represent the NACC in the Division III playoffs.

If Benedictine wins and if Concordia (Wis.) beats Wisconsin Lutheran (4-1, 6-3) in its game, then Benedictine will be awarded the awarded the conference playoff title and the Lakeland and Eagles will be co-champs.

But if Benedictine and Wisconsin-Lutheran win, creating a three-way tie, well, that's when things get a little complicated. I placed a called to the NACC office and I am still awaiting word on the tiebreaker rules but NACC commissioner G. Steven Larson confessed himself in a brief phone conversation himself the same. We’ll update as soon as possible.

Chicago is waiting as well

Then there is the University of Chicago, which could do no better than No. 9 in the North regional rankings, despite an impressive 7-1 record. The Maroons’ only blemish is a 52-21 loss on the road to No. 18 Bethel.

Second-year coach Chris Wilkerson said the only thing he will be focused on this weekend is the team across the field from his squad.

"This season, our team's entire focus has been and continues to be on improving each day and getting prepared for our next opportunity," Wilkerson said. "This weekend it is at Case Western Reserve. The NCAA playoff selections are out of our control. We always talk about controlling the things we can. That is our preparation and approach for this weekend.

"Our schedule was set several years in advance of the 2014 season and all we can do is play the games on the schedule. If the selection committee decides to invite UChicago to the field, it would be a great honor for UChicago to compete in the national tournament. Our players are off this Sunday and I'll be in my normal Sunday routine - grading the films, organizing the next week for the staff, talking with recruits and spending some time with my family," Wilkerson continued.

Chicago missed out on a home against Pacific (No. 10 in West Region) because of the strange incident involving the regional air control facility going offline in late September that cancelled hundreds of flights, including the Pacific's team's flight out to the Chicago area.

In the HCAC, though, Franklin will take on Hanover in the Victory Bell Classic at home with a share of the conference title and its playoff berth already in hand, similar with Wheaton's