2006 Around the Midwest columns

November 15, 2006 Playoffs provide familiar matchup Call it Groundhog Day for Concordia (Wis.) and North Central, but the two conference champions will be playing the same game over again when they take the field Saturday in the first round of the playoffs at Wisconsin Lutheran’s Raabe Stadium in Milwaukee.

November 8, 2006 North Central's season winds back around It’s been a winding road for the North Central Cardinals to reach this point of the season -- one game away from capturing a share of a conference title for the first time since 1960 and winning the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin’s automatic bid in the Division III playoffs.

October 31, 2006 Welcome to the big dance The problems with football are also the things that make this game great. Some things about the game comes across very simple, but for those challenging minds, there are times when you’re faced with mind-benders as well.

October 23, 2006 Illini-Badger not wrapped up yet Concordia’s 30-18 victory over Lakeland last Saturday was a huge win for the Falcons, but coach Jeff Gabrielsen cautioned to not print playoff tickets and make hotel reservations just yet.

October 17, 2006 Augustana back after early-season losses Welcome back, Augustana. The Vikings haven’t exactly climbed back into the national rankings, but have reclaimed their position as the favorites in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

October 12, 2006 Franklin's big O meets Mt. St. Joe's big D It's the proverbial unstoppable force meeting the immovable object Saturday in Indiana as two-time defending Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference champion Mount St. Joseph travels just past south of Indianapolis to take on Franklin.

October 5, 2006 Monmouth, St. Norbert playing close to vest It's showdown Saturday for the Midwest Conference as defending conference champions Monmouth travels to DePere, Wisconsin, to take on perennial MWC power St. Norbert.

September 28, 2006 In CCIW, everyone's a threat A national ranking and a possible CCIW title shot passed the Thunder by last year when they were beaten 23-14 by Illinois Wesleyan, a team that recorded only two conference victories and three overall wins last season.

September 19, 2006 Concordia not letting down Concordia (Wis.) coach Jeff "Gabe" Gabrielsen probably had one of his toughest coaching jobs in last weekend. Beating nationally ranked North Central on the road in double overtime on Sept. 9? No problem. The real challenge for Gabrielsen was to keep his team from not having a monumental letdown last Saturday against winless Wisconsin Lutheran after coming off a game that was called one of the Falcons' all-time football classics.

September 12, 2006 Defiance leaves Adrian with stinging sensation Well, it only took the second week of the season before 2006 started kicking out surprises and showing us how wrong our preseason predictions were -- at least mine for sure.

September 7, 2006 CCIW off to fine start 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-ranked North Central will get its shot on Saturday in its opener against Concordia (Wis.), one of the favorites in the Illini-Badger Conference.