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North Central vs UW-Whitewater D3 Title

Pretty crazy that of the 32 teams in the tourney there were 2 at large teams, you guessed it they were UWW and NCC.
 
Most of these Illinois kids were/could have been scholarship kids and ended up at these D3 programs.

As a former D3 coach, probably biased, I’ll take 4 years of playing and putting up nice numbers at the D3 route over possibly getting to see the field as an upper class man at the scholarship schools.
 
Kamienski definitely is a "D1" talent, and technically all the transfers from FCS too...
 
Kamienski definitely is a "D1" talent, and technically all the transfers from FCS too...

Ive been wondering that. Him and Rutter went to scholarship schools and red-shirted. Are they really good D3 players or are they in fact D1 kids? I think they found fits that are perfect for them and are right where they belong.
 
I’ll take the $150K less in tuition but I love the enthusiasm!

This is obviously the negative of D3. However, realistically, the high majority of kids pay 18-25k a year for D3 after grants and scholarships. This would suggest it’s around 85-100k all in. If you do it right...can graduate w half of that in debt.
 
This is obviously the negative of D3. However, realistically, the high majority of kids pay 18-25k a year for D3 after grants and scholarships. This would suggest it’s around 85-100k all in. If you do it right...can graduate w half of that in debt.

I get it, and the FCS and FBS kids who land at D3 are probably where they belong despite having that D1 capability. There are many who cannot shell out the $100K, $50K or anything for that matter.
 
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Ive been wondering that. Him and Rutter went to scholarship schools and red-shirted. Are they really good D3 players or are they in fact D1 kids? I think they found fits that are perfect for them and are right where they belong.
Kamienski went somewhere else? Says he's been at NC since 2017. His fr year.

Schools just missed on him after he tore it up in HS.
 
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Interesting how the roster has no one from Benet, JCA, IC, St. Francis, Provi, etc. Yet, there is always a Mt. Carmel presence and a couple now from Montini. Whatever NCC is doing, it certainly works!!
 
Another cool story angle for the D-3 title game is two brothers who graduated from De La Salle will be playing against each other. Tommy Coates is a receiver for North Central and Michael Coates is a tight end for UW-Whitewater. Whitewater also has Jimmy Guttillo, another D kid on the roster. Looking forward to watching the game Friday night. Proud of our Meteors!
 
Neuqua has has a mini-pipeline to NCC. Bric Rutter transferring in from Indiana St. has been transformative for the program.
 
What establishment are we meeting at for an Edgyland watch party Friday night?
 
For those of you that like to gamble NCC a -10.5 favorite and the OU is 68

I would take NCC and the over, UWW obliviously has the tradition and the reputation but I don't see them staying within 2 TD of NCC.
 
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No WWS players for NCC this year which is probably the first time in years but they do have 4 coaches with WWS ties in Thorne, Dierking, Sinclair and Starkey.
 
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The score was tied once again at 14-14 when Anthony connected with Phillip Nichols for a 47-yard score midway through the third quarter.
North Central drove 75 yards in eight plays to take the lead once again on a nine-yard TD pass from Rutter to Andrew Kamienski, but the Thunder punched back with another scoring catch by Nichols, this time from five yards away, to send the contest into the final period tied, 21-21.
Wheaton took possession early in the fourth quarter following a punt on its own 42-yard line. On the next play, Anthony threw deep to Nichols, whose 58-yard touchdown catch was his third of the day and put the hosts in front for the first time, 28-21.
The Cardinals' next drive ended on a failed fourth-down conversion near midfield, and Wheaton capitalized by driving to the end zone once again. Anthony froze the North Central defense with a play-action fake and delivered a 21-yard touchdown pass to Adam Terrini to extend the lead to 35-21 with 6:40 to play. The Cardinals' final two offensive possessions ended with turnovers on downs.
Rutter finished the game 27 of 45 passing for 309 yards, despite a Wheaton pass rush which collected seven quarterback sacks.
 
How did NCC lose to Wheaton back on 10/5? Just an "off" game that day? They've rolled everyone since, with the exception of Mount Union.

Watching the playoffs I would rank the teams that I saw like this:

1. Wheaton
2. NCC
3. Mt Union
4. Whitewater

Wheaton was loaded them losing was a pretty big upset.
 
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