D3 rematch

Wisconsin-Whitewater will get a shot a repeating as the NCAA Division III champs, but that task won't be easy as Whitewater faces Mount Union for the fourth consecutive year. A year ago, Whitewater beat Mount Union 31-21, snapping the Purple Raiders' 37-game winning streak. Mount Union defeated the Warhawks in the title game in 2005 and 2006.

The Purple Raiders are 14-0 and have been downright dominating this season, and advance to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl for the 12th time.

'Eye doesn't usually enjoy these posts, but when these two battle next week in Virginia it should be a great game and I encourage everyone to tune in. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. Dec. 20 on ESPN.

Observations from Saturday's Games (Nov. 8)

Sitting here watching Texas Tech-Oklahoma State I am gaining more respect for Graham Harrell with each completed pass. Also pissed that I don't have ESPNU and the Mountaineers are losing 20-7 at half to Cincinnati.

So with that in mind, here are my thoughts from Saturday's games (so far):

1. I got it now. WVU should fire its special teams coach. What's his name again? Stewart? The Mountaineers have the worst kickoff coverage in the nation and how did they open Saturday's game? They allowed a 100-yard return for a score. Great job.

2. Worse than I thought. Tennessee has been bad this season, but nothing like Saturday's 13-7 loss to a bad Wyoming team. That's right, the Cowboys who entered Neyland Stadium with a 1-5 record in the powerhouse conference Mountain West. Let's hear that SEC chant now.

3. Rose Bowl still in site. Of course Penn State is bummed after losing 24-23 at Iowa, but the Nittany Lions need to remember that a Big 10 title is still there to get as well as a much deserved shot at the Rose Bowl. This also allows the rest of us to avoid any guilt of being happy when an undefeated Penn State team is left out of the championship game. Thanks Iowa.

4. A little luck. That's what it takes to win a national title. I can't think of a team that won it all that didn't get a little somewhere along the way. Alabama didn't play its best at LSU, but an overtime win in that hostile environment is a good victory. I still think the Tide will fall in the SEC Championship, but Nick Saban is working miracles and is at least a year ahead of schedule.

5. Wake-up call. All week Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez was getting whipped by the media. He was short and pissy in press conferences. It was rumored the players and UM officials were growing tired of his selfish acts. So what team was that at Minnesota today? The Wolverines were playing great defense, appeared to be having fun and rolled to an easy 29-6 victory. Still don't like the man, but if they give him time Michigan will be unbeatable in a few years.

6. OAC supremacy. Talked about this earlier in the week, so for anyone who cares Mount Union took care of business and easily defeated Otterbein 49-20 in a great match-up of ranked Division III teams in Ohio. The Purple Raiders scored early and often and remain the No. 1 team in the nation and will win its 20th Ohio Athletic Conference championship. Each team has one regular season game remaining and both should advance to the playoffs in two weeks.

7. What are you waiting for Syracuse? It's time to join the other struggling Division I programs in your search for a new coach. You can let Greg Robinson finish out the year, but we all know he's done. End the Robinson experiment and give yourself a shot at a decent coach.

8. Love that 'Stache. Really? Pitt is bowl eligible? It's about time. For three years all we have heard is how great Dave Wannstache's recruiting classes have been. Not until the Panthers' 41-7 thrashing of Louisville Saturday had Pitt been eligible for a bowl. Now my concern is Pitt could actually become dominant in the Big East. Nah! The 'Stache will always blow a couple games a year.

9. ACC confusion. It was an interesting day in the ACC, but what's even more intriguing is that we're still not sure who'll be playing in the title game. I like Wake Forest (Atlantic Division) and North Carolina (Coastal Division) now, but don't count out Florida State (Atlantic) and Virginia Tech and Miami in the Coastal.

10. The worst. I don't want to pick on Washington State, but the Cougars are by far the worst team in a BCS conference (and possibly the worst Division I team). Wazzu allowed 531 yards of offense against a good Arizona team as the Wildcats rolled 59-28. The Cougars played one of their better games this season, but still became the first Pac-10 team to give up 500 points in a season. Even worse news, they still have three more games to play.

Marketing madness trickles down to Div. III

It started with White Outs at Penn State. Then their was the widely unsuccessful Black Out by Georgia in a big game against Alabama. Even West Virginia took it another step as the Mountaineers pulled off the Gold Rush.

There were others that didn't make any sense at all (e.g., Green Out at Marshall). At least the others make some sense.

These unnecessary ploys are nothing more than an attempt to sell more shirts and artificially motivate the crowd and team for what should already be a big game.

Now Otterbein College, an NCAA Division III program in Westerville, Ohio, are having a Red Out when the undefeated Cardinals host No. 1 Mount Union this Saturday. Here is what it says on Otterbein's website: "Be sure to get your tickets and get to the stadium early-the stands are bound to fill up for this historic match-up! Cardinal Nation Fans are encouraged to wear red for a "red out" of the stands and pom poms will be distributed until supplies run out."

This is a great Ohio Athletic Conference matchup. The OAC is by far the best Division III football conference in the nation (sorry Wisconsin Conference).

Mount Union (8-0, 7-0) is pretty well known among college football enthusiasts. Coach Larry Kehres has guided the Purple Raiders to nine national championships and a remarkable 23-year record of 268-21-3 (.923). Mount currently owns a 31-game regular season winning streak.

Otterbein is enjoying its best season ever and is ranked 12th nationally under coach Joe Loth. It will be a great atmosphere at Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon--with or without the Red Out. Something else that will be the same also ... the outcome. Mount Union will win this game--easily.

Anyone who knows Division III football knows one simple rule ... don't bet against Mount Union during the regular season.

Observations from Saturday's games (Oct. 11)

Another great Saturday. The Red River Rivalry (er, Shootout) was exciting and eye opening. North Carolina and Notre Dame had a wild finish (thanks to the crappy Big East officials), and Florida is taking it to LSU right now. Here are some interesting observations I made this Saturday:

1. So maybe it wasn't all Tony Franklin's fault. Just a few days after firing its offensive coordinator, not much changed for Auburn as the Tigers were outgained by Arkansas 416-193 in a 25-22 loss at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Tigers only managed one offensive TD all day. All is not well in Auburn.

2. Texas is legit because of Will Muschamp. The dig on Mack Brown is that he won it all because he had Vince Young to cover up his coaching deficiencies. On Saturday, we learned the Longhorns can play with anyone because of first-year defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and his more aggressive style. Texas may have allowed 435 total yards against No. 1 Oklahoma, but the Sooners applied pressure to Sam Bradford and didn't allow the Sooners to do much on the ground. Now Texas has to stay focused as it hosts No. 3 Missouri this week.

3. What's wrong with WVU? Each week I keep thinking the Mountaineers will turn the corner on the 2008 season. Then the game starts and I realize something just isn't right in Mo-Town. A 17-6 victory over Syracuse (even without Pat White) is embarrassing for a team with this much ability. The play calling under first year offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen has been suspect all season. It's time to get more creative an allow the athletes to do what they do best. The offensive line is also a weak link. They need to be tougher.

4. Holy Toledo. It would be easy to pick on Michigan's Rich Rodriguez here. As the head coach to end the Wolverines 24-game winning streak (with no losses) to Mid-American Conference schools is not how you want to make the record section of the media guide. The chirping in Ann Arbor has to be at an all-time high now. But Rodriguez will turn this around. His first year and half at WVU were miserable and then things started to click. Yes, it helped getting Pat White and Steve Slaton, but he'll find players with speed and then Michigan will be a national title contender. It actually pisses me off that I feel this way. If he were still at WVU the Mountaineers would be undefeated right now. Yes, he was that important (see Bill Stewart for proof).

5. Virginia is schizophrenic. Al Groh just may save his job in Charlottesville. After looking clueless and overmatched in three of their first four games, the Cavaliers have consecutive impressive wins. This week UVA worked over East Carolina 35-20 behind an outstanding showing from Cedric Peerman, who rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns. The schedule doesn't bode well, but UVA just may pull off another surprise or two.

6. North of ordinary. What's going on at Minnesota? Just one season after finishing 1-11, the Gophers are 6-1 following an upset at Illinois. Juice Williams was frazzled by Minnesota's defense, and DeLeon Eskridge scored on runs of 1 and 46. As weak as the Big 10 is this season, all of the Gophers remaining games are winnable.

7. Feel-good no more. Maybe Vanderbilt just couldn't handle the heightened expectations. One week after holding off Auburn 14-13, the Commodores missed opening the season 6-0 after slipping up at Mississippi State 17-14. The Bulldogs held Vandy to 109 total yards in upsetting the 13th-ranked Commodores. Vandy should still get bowl eligible with potential wins against Duke and Tennessee on the schedule. But this loss really hurts.

8. Off the air. Arizona at Stanford was not on TV because the Cardinal were not willing to adjust their homecoming plans to accommodate a broadcast. The plan worked. Jim Harbaugh's boys (according to reports) played great defense and defeated the Wildcats 24-23. It wasn't a good day for the Stoops brothers.

9. Penn State is good. As much as I hate to admit this one, the Nittany Lions are the best team in the Big 10. This is the most athletic and physical team I have seen out of State College in more than a decade. I still believe PSU is one of the nation's most overrated teams each year, and I won't be surprised if they go 12-0 that they get left out of the championship party. The game isn't over at Wisconsin, but a 24-7 lead is looking pretty solid against the Badgers weak offense.

10. Poll shakeup. At least two Top 5 teams will move out this week with the Oklahoma loss and the apparent LSU loss. So how will the Top 5 look on Sunday? If Missouri holds on to beat Oklahoma State, I think the Tigers should be No. 1, but Alabama will probably get it in the AP poll. You could also argue that Texas is the best team in the nation following the impressive win at the Cotton Bowl.

Bonus. I won't talk about Division III football often, but Larry Kehres coaches a machine in No. 1 Mount Union. The Purple Raiders faced Ohio Athletic Conference rival Capital, which entered Saturday ranked fourth. Should be a great game, right? I guess if you root for Mount Union. The Purple Raiders rolled to a 49-7 victory.