Illinois State

[Bobcat Sig]

It’s funny reading comments from a fan base trying to pound their chests about the state of Illinois. Isn’t it just Chicago and Pig Farms? ‘We may not beat them in this game, but at least we live in Illinois’, said no one ever. I’d much rather have a great college to cheer for and the great outdoors to play in.

I’ve traveled to Chicago frequently over the last 30ish years and the Chicago of even 2010 does not exist anymore. The Magnificent Mile is now dirty with closed storefronts and there aren’t nearly the people downtown anymore there used to be just milling about during evenings.

Illinois State is in Normal, which my only recollection of is literal brown air and some weird yellow dust coating things sometime in the mid-2000s. Nothing at all exceptional about that town.

The year before last, two colleagues and I drove from Chicago to Springfield in February. It was not a scenic drive. And Springfield was, erm... how do I say thing? Not good.

[Montanabob]

Our “academics are awful”. Meanwhile,

https://www.aeaweb.org/resources/instit ... cations/r1


Had to click to the lower d2 to find ISU.

https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/media2 ... tution.pdf

hmmm…

Didn’t find uofm on either d1 or d2, but they did have more Rhodes scholars…

UM is tier R1.

Not there. It goes from University of Missouri to University of Nebraska.

Look under "the"

[RickRund]

Our “academics are awful”. Meanwhile,

https://www.aeaweb.org/resources/instit ... cations/r1


Had to click to the lower d2 to find ISU.

https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/media2 ... tution.pdf

hmmm…

Didn’t find uofm on either d1 or d2, but they did have more Rhodes scholars…

UM is tier R1.

Not there. It goes from University of Missouri to University of Nebraska.

Look under "the"

Or do you mean THE.

Also looked under MECCA but it wasn’t there either.

[Montanabob]

Our “academics are awful”. Meanwhile,

https://www.aeaweb.org/resources/instit ... cations/r1


Had to click to the lower d2 to find ISU.

https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/media2 ... tution.pdf

hmmm…

Didn’t find uofm on either d1 or d2, but they did have more Rhodes scholars…

UM is tier R1.

Not there. It goes from University of Missouri to University of Nebraska.

Look under "the"

Or do you mean THE.

Also looked under MECCA but it wasn’t there either.

Copied from the list:
The University of Montana

[MrGoodKat]

I have all the same vibes as I had heading into the Super Brawl.

On Illinois State's side are a lot of narratives and happy talk about how they're hot and have won on the road and blah, blah, blah.

On Montana State's side is virtually every single relevant measure of a football team.

42-17 Cats

[JoeCatsJoe]

I have all the same vibes as I had heading into the Super Brawl.

On Illinois State's side are a lot of narratives and happy talk about how they're hot and have won on the road and blah, blah, blah.

On Montana State's side is virtually every single relevant measure of a football team.

42-17 Cats

You are 100% correct. However, Illinois State already beat a team that was ahead in virtually every single relevant measure of a football team. And won. Can they do it again, we'll see.

[onceacat]

I have all the same vibes as I had heading into the Super Brawl.

On Illinois State's side are a lot of narratives and happy talk about how they're hot and have won on the road and blah, blah, blah.

On Montana State's side is virtually every single relevant measure of a football team.

42-17 Cats

You are 100% correct. However, Illinois State already beat a team that was ahead in virtually every single relevant measure of a football team. And won. Can they do it again, we'll see.

Someone posted on another thread all the wild upsets in the 2015 FCS playoffs.

Heck, sometimes a 16 seed beats a 1 seed in NCAA BB. And a 12 beats a 4 every year.

You just can’t really bet on the 16 beating the 1 twice in the same playoffs. It could happen, but it would be a shocker.

Cats 45 Birds 17

[MrGoodKat]

I have all the same vibes as I had heading into the Super Brawl.

On Illinois State's side are a lot of narratives and happy talk about how they're hot and have won on the road and blah, blah, blah.

On Montana State's side is virtually every single relevant measure of a football team.

42-17 Cats

You are 100% correct. However, Illinois State already beat a team that was ahead in virtually every single relevant measure of a football team. And won. Can they do it again, we'll see.

It was a fluke.

[JoeCatsJoe]

I have all the same vibes as I had heading into the Super Brawl.

On Illinois State's side are a lot of narratives and happy talk about how they're hot and have won on the road and blah, blah, blah.

On Montana State's side is virtually every single relevant measure of a football team.

42-17 Cats

You are 100% correct. However, Illinois State already beat a team that was ahead in virtually every single relevant measure of a football team. And won. Can they do it again, we'll see.

It was a fluke.

I tend to agree. I've been having a hard time deciding between two perspectives on the Redbirds. Are they a good team that, once they beat NDSU, had a ridiculously easy side of the bracket and are 2-3 levels below this Cat team? Or are they a top 5 team that finally put it all together for an all-time run, and could beat us if we don't bring our A game? I'm not sure, I think you can make a good case on either side. Regardless of what I think, they won't see their win over NDSU as a fluke, and will be playing with an awful lot of confidence. That could make them dangerous all by itself.

[75Cat]

Rittenhouse makes mistakes and throws interceptions. Lamson does not. He is a cool customer even under pressure. Third time is the charm and Illinois states Cinderella run runs out in Nashville. Cats by 10.

[RedbirdFourthandShort]

Hello all .. Redbird Fan here. Yes, the guy who did the drill down on our UCD game vs yours ... please don't shoot !!!!

First of all, congrats on another great season and getting to Natty again. Ive been touting the Big Sky these last 5+ years on Redbird and AGS forums, as right there with MVFC, other than the title teams. Sounds like last year was viewed as a big missed opportunity .. game you could just as easily won. I don't doubt it, and ntoed you guys are back with a much younger roster. So that is impressive by itself.

Been following your board for a few days now. Not hard to see you guys have a great fan base. So thought I would jump on provide some Redbird perspective on anything youre interested in learning about our Redbird team from my viewpoint. Here is quick synopsis of what changed for us in playoffs IMO anyway.

Spack had said in August that the team had a very high ceiling .. at that point, we were very optimistic on offense, but very wary on defense. Our problem all regular season was inconsistency .. that is no great revelation there. But here is main reason .. it was initially mostly due to all new 2 deep in our secondary and no big pass rusher. So we had to scheme very carefully on our defense, so as not to expose them too much too soon. And for most part, we were playing up or down to level competition .. while trying to develop our secondary. Whether it was Oklahoma in game 1 or Bison in game, or UNA/EIU games in nonconf .. we were riding a very frustrating roller coaster of performances all season long. The secondary was slowly getting better, and some games looked pretty strong. But then SIU happened in last game.

So here's the difference in playoffs IMO.. my biggest complaint of Spack has always been how he manages a game when the score is close .. he usually plays to not lose and/or let the game slip away. So he gets very conservative at times .. whether its a good or avg or esp a weaker team .. in any close game in Q3. I found it maddening at times over the many years. As a former athlete, I just hated playing to not lose.

Well the difference in playoffs has been simply because we've been underdogs, and its one and done time .. Spack is playing aggressively and to win. Subtle differences coming from coaches to players. But I view it as players suddenly sensing they can cut loose and play more aggressively. So I truly believe our team has responded to this in ways none of us would have believed after our regular season inconsistencies .. and now maybe we're seeing the high ceiling Spack talked about in August.

And as much as were' being touted as Road Warriors in this playoff, here is Spacks overall playoff record. We've play 18 play off games since 2012, and our overall record is 12-6 .. which is impressive by itself obviously. There were no easy playin games against weak autobids like CAA gets every year out east. But there most impressive part is that weve only played 3 of those 18 games at Home. This is because we've always been paired with higher seeds. So we're 2-1 at Home and 10-5 on Road. So even prior to this season, we were 6-5 on Road against higher seeded teams under Spack.

Anyway, I think (and hope) this will be a great game. Your guys stats are eerily similar in strengths and dominance as Bison. Our challenge is we know the Bison very well. We don't know you guys. We've had great games against legit dual threat QBs and crappy games. Our hands will be full for sure on both sides of ball and in covering your KR and PR teams.

Glad to respond to any questions on Redbird related stuff.

[Team10]

Today’s presser from Nashville
https://www.youtube.com/live/HVvybwp9PC ... -qmnuZlapK

[SparkCat]

Today’s presser from Nashville

Darn, finally was getting ready to fire this up and it’s gone and I can’t seem to find it again

[RickRund]

Our “academics are awful”. Meanwhile,

https://www.aeaweb.org/resources/instit ... cations/r1


Had to click to the lower d2 to find ISU.

https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/media2 ... tution.pdf

hmmm…

Didn’t find uofm on either d1 or d2, but they did have more Rhodes scholars…

UM is tier R1.

Not there. It goes from University of Missouri to University of Nebraska.

Look under "the"

Or do you mean THE.

Also looked under MECCA but it wasn’t there either.

Copied from the list:
The University of Montana

Wow, mine does not show them. Interesting.
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University of Mississippi
University of Missouri-Columbia
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of Nevada-Las Vegas

I was hoping they were R4