Coming off the most exciting week thus far in the UMAC we are starting to get a clear picture of how the conference will line up at the end of the year... or do we? Northwestern appears ready to claim their first conference title in four years and first ever playoff birth. However, if there is one thing that I have learned this year, it is to expect the unexpected. Northwestern still has to play Eureka and Greenville to assure themselves of a conference title and if either of those teams can pull off the upset we might just have some BCS chaos - or at least the UMAC version of that. I will limit my observations to 3 this week. Now that the season is nearing its conclusion I no longer care to elaborate on the mediocrity of the bottom half of the conference. Sorry guys.
1. Northwestern is back on top - Enjoy your big win Northwestern. You deserve it. You shocked just about everyone except yourselves by going up to Duluth and handing the Saints their first conference loss in two years. While I still see some big holes in the Eagles passing game, they can run the ball as well as anyone and their defense is stifling. The Eagles gameplan was simple - Scholastica knew what they were going to do and yet they continued to stick it to them play after play. Northwestern definitely appears to be the best team in the conference right now. But they shouldn't get too cozy on top of the mountain. They have a huge target on their back now and everyone will be gunning for them knowing that a win over the Eagles gives them a shot at the conference title. I expect some good battles with Eureka and Greenville to come in the upcoming weeks.
2. Stop with the excuses St. Scholastica - I have been as big of a supporter of St. Scholastica as anyone this season. I wrote on here a few weeks ago that they were head and shoulders above the rest of the conference and would easily win the UMAC again. But not only did they lose a tough one this weekend, but they followed it up with an embarrassing display of excuses. I am sure that this does not represent all Saints players or fans, but there have been more than enough cry babies to leave a bad taste in the mouth of everyone. From the announcers blaming everything from the fact that the field wasn't technically their home field to the refs being unfair to a lucky play I have heard just about every imaginable excuse.
First off, if anything it was a neutral field - it certainly wasn't Northwestern's home field. Second, this is the UMAC. All refs are terrible. These aren't NFL refs - well actually I can't say that this year... Regardless, the officiating did not determine that game. And finally, the play where Josh Balzer somehow completed a prayer to Josh Sinnen was about as lucky as David Tyree catching that pass in the Super Bowl off Rodney Harrison's helmet. Lucky or amazing depending on your perspective. Now I see comments from Scholastica players talking about how Northwestern isn't even good. Unbelievable. You lost. It was a close game between two good teams and someone had to lose. Unfortunately for Saints players it was you this time. But, please, show some class in losing and get back to work. Take you anger out on the rest of the conference this year instead of crying about lucky plays.
3. There will be some excitement the rest of the season - Had Scholastica beaten Northwestern the conference would have been all but locked up. Now, it is wide open. I am sure that Northwestern feels that they can beat anyone now that they have beaten the Saints - and rightly so. But in my mind, the toughest games are yet to come. Yes, Scholastica smoked Eureka and Greenville but I am not a big believer in the transitive property when it comes to football. Each week is a new week and a team that knows they can claim a share of the conference title with a win is a dangerous team. I expect some close games and some chaos coming down the stretch. Northwestern's fate will be in their own hands but it could come down to their final game at home against a Greenville team that rallied from 23 points down scoring 27 points in the fourth quarter to end Northwestern's season last year. From a fan's perspective, it doesn't get any better than that.
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