Strengthening schedule won't be easy for No. 1 North Central College
North Central College football played an ambitious nonconference road game in 2019, traveling to Newport News, Virginia, to face Christopher Newport University.
The trip included leaving a day early to avoid a hurricane and waiting in Washington, D.C., for the storm to pass. When the coast was finally clear, one of the team buses broke down on the way to the game.
"That was kind of the start of an exciting year (ending with the school's first Division III title)," North Central coach Brad Spencer said. "Some good lessons there to control what you can control and the rest of it you just have to laugh off."
What does this have to do with this weekend's Division III quarterfinals?
The NCAA has the thankless task of trying to seed the playoff bracket with very few head-to-head matchups. Using a strength of schedule metric, the committee sent top-ranked North Central (12-0) on the road to face Wisconsin-LaCrosse (11-1) at noon Saturday.
Strength of schedule is an issue for North Central, since it gets just one nonconference game playing in the 10-team CCIW. And most Division III teams aren't eager to add a probable loss to the schedule.
"It's an extreme challenge," Spencer said. "This last year, we didn't settle that (opening) game against Roosevelt until the spring. I was talking with a number of top 10 teams in the country, even top 5 teams, and we just weren't able to get things settled or people didn't get back to us."
North Central is set to play Aurora University in next year's opener, which sounds like it should become an annual event, since Don Beebe's Aurora squad has become a consistent top-15 team. Spencer said North Central had an opponent cancel for 2025-26.
Meanwhile, the eight-team Wisconsin League is often regarded as the best in the country in Division III. LaCrosse coach Matt Janus, who played at Lake Zurich High School in the early 2000s, agreed.
"I think from top to bottom, our league is pretty strong," Janus said. "There are a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players."
LaCrosse gets three nonconference games a season and typically plays two Division II schools. This year it was Northern Michigan and Dakota State. Next year the Eagles are playing Division II power Grand Valley State. LaCrosse was also fortunate to face another Division III playoff team, with Hardin-Simmons flying up from Texas on Sept. 9, which obviously improved the strength of schedule.
There's a decent transitive property analysis in all this. LaCrosse's only defeat this season was to Hardin-Simmons, which then lost to Trinity 20-6 in the first round of the Division III playoffs. Trinity faced North Central in the second round and was trounced 71-28 last Saturday.
If there was a Las Vegas line on this game (note to self: check this), North Central would likely be a strong favorite, but that's not what matters to the NCAA.
Both teams have Gagliardi Trophy (that's the Division III Heisman) semifinalists at quarterback. LaCrosse QB Keyser Helterbrand ran for 107 yards and threw for 317 in a 56-35 victory over Aurora last weekend.
North Central's Luke Lehnen is a third-year starter. Against Trinity, four Cardinals scored 2 touchdowns each - Joe Sacco (St. Edward), DeAngelo Hardy (Lakes), Charles Coleman (Oswego) and Sean Allen (Homewood-Flossmoor).
"Their offense is the first thing that sticks out; it's almost unstoppable is the way I would word that," Janus said. "They have a phenomenal offensive line. They're just nasty up front, and I use that as a compliment."
There was a massive upset on the other side of the Division III bracket last week as No. 2 Mount Union lost 24-20 to Alma, Mich. Meanwhile, the winner of the North Central-LaCrosse game will likely have to travel again for the semifinals if the opponent is Wartburg (Iowa), which faces Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday.
Southern potatoes:
According to this column, the FCS playoffs are the most underrated sporting event in America. There's a good late-night matchup in Saturday's second round, with Southern Illinois stepping into the world famous Kibbie Dome to take on No. 4 Idaho (9 p.m., ESPN2).
SIU was unranked to start the season, then beat NIU and will see if tough competition in the Missouri Valley can pay off in a road win. All of the Salukis' four losses were against teams still alive in the playoffs. Running back Ro Elliott ran for 111 yards on just 9 carries in last week's 35-0 victory over Nicholls in the first round.
DuPage aims for three-peat:
College of DuPage (10-1) hosts Rochester (Minn.), at noon Saturday for the Division III Junior College national championship. COD is looking for its third straight title.
Some local standouts for the Chaparrals are RB Jaden McGill (Naperville Central), WR Fabian Baez (Schaumburg), DB Guy Goss (Hinsdale Central), LB Kellon King (Palatine) and DB Riley Dravet (Wheaton North).
Local player of the week:
Senior linebacker Abe Swanson (St. Charles East) had a sack, forced fumble, interception and team-high 10 tackles for Grand Valley State in a 24-21 victory over Pittsburg State in the Division II playoffs. Swanson is Grand Valley's leading tacker on the season and earned All-America honors last year.
Twitter: @McGrawDHSports