PNCLL Week #9 (3/29-4/4) -- Predict, Scores & Discuss

[Dan Wishengrad]

Wednesday, March 29th
Loyola-Marymount 14 Oregon State 13

Friday, March 31st
Sonoma State 10 Oregon 9
Chapman 14 Oregon State 10

Saturday, April 1st
Cal-Poly 14 Oregon 13 (2 O.T.)
Western Washington 17 Central Washington 7
Pacific Lutheran 22 Albertson 9
Simon Fraser 12 Boise State 6
Gonzaga 16 Idaho 6

Sunday, April 2nd
Albertson at Puget Sound
Boise State 8 Washington 7
Whitman 9 Central Washington 6

With an unexpected delay in the trial I am sitting as a juror on, I will take this chance to do a quick preview for Week 9's games

The onset of April always means big games are on the slate, and 2006 proves to be no exception. Freshly annointed with its highest-ever national ranking, Oregon (5-0; 10-0) faces second-ranked Sonoma State (3-0; 7-1) with a great deal on the line. The Seawolves handled the Ducks easily (16-6) a year ago. UO returns to the scene of the crime, where the rabid 'Noma fans will certainly have some "welcoming" cheer in store for the visitors from Eugene. An Oregon upset would no doubt boost the Ducks even higher in the rankings, while a loss could send them tumbling from among the elite teams. Oregon will spend the night in town and then battle #13 Cal-Poly (1-0; 7-4) in another OOC game which is critical to both teams. The Mustangs are surely hurting from two O.T. losses at the HIT in Seattle, and can gain a large measure of redemption against the higher-ranked Ducks.

Oregon State (5-0; 7-3) completes its ambitious 20056 OOC schedule games at Chapman (0-2; 8-5) and LMU (0-1; 4-7). The Beavers sit tied atop the PNCLL standings with in-state rival Oregon, yet are unranked largely because of OOC losses to unranked Stanford and Missouri. But the Beavs also have impressive wins over SFU and Texas. After the tough loss at Chico to start the current road-trip, Oregon State could force the pollsters to seriously consider the Beavers if they could upset Chapman.

The race for the final A Division playoff spot should be clarified greatly after Boise State (0-2; 4-3) completes a weekend road-trip at Simon Fraser (1-2; 5-4) and Washington (0-3; 2-6), and after Idaho (0-2; 0-2) travels to Gonzaga (0-2; 2-8).

The B Division also has some important match-ups on the schedule. Albertson (2-3; 2-3) is at PLU (2-2; 4-6) in a "must win" game for both teams. Western Washington (5-1; 5-3) travels to Ellensburg for a key B-North contest against Central Washington (2-1; 2-2). An Albertson upset of the Lutes combined with a CWU upset of the Vikings could threaten pre-season favorite PLU's chance of even making the post-season in 2006. Albertson also needs to beat UPS (1-3; 1-5) Sunday to keep alive a playoff dream.

CWU also hosts Whitman (3-1; 5-3) on Sunday, in yet another crucial game for defining the B Division playoff picture. If the Wildcats were to sweep both the Vikings AND the Missionaries, Central would take over 2nd place all alone in B-North, while simultaneously positioning themselves to win the Division outright. A Whitman win, however, puts the Missionaries in 2nd place by themselves and almost guarantees the team an '06 playoff spot. Two losses by Central would seriously jeopardize the Wildcats' post-season hopes.

[jtlax]

Oregon also plays DII NDNU tonight (tuesday). This game is huge b/c NDNU seemed to handle Colorado State (currently #1) fairly easily. This judged solely off the final score, which had NDNU winning by 4. Should be a measure of how good Oregon is. GO DUCKS

Jeremy Tesar

[TheNino57]

I hope UO runs all over NDNU. Enough said.

[Chris Gaffney]

Does anyone know the score of the NDNU/Oregon game?

[mikey]

I think we would have heard by now if they won

[Laxfan23]

NDNU wins 14-8 I believe.

Sounds like Oregon jumped out to a 2-1 lead, NDNU got up by a few, but Oregon tied it back up in the third. Doesn't sound like the Argos put Oregon away until there were only a few minutes left. Have a buddy on the U of O team who said it was very competetive, not a 6 goal game. It's great that Oregon plays them just about as closely as #1 CSU did. This should keep them up there in the standings.

[Timbalaned]

actually was 15-8

[Dan Wishengrad]

For what it is worth, NDNU reported scores of 22-5 over Oregon State and 16-8 over Oregon.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

Loyola Marymount 14, Oregon State 13

[Dan Wishengrad]

The Boise State at Washington game on Sunday at Noon has been moved from the outside East Football Practice Field to inside the Dempsey Indoor Center.

[Dan Wishengrad]

I have just reviewed the standings, and it appears that with the victory over Linfield this week Montana has clinched first place in the B-South Division. While Southern Oregon can still tie Montana with an identical 6-2 conference record, the Grizz own the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Raiders based on an earlier win over SOU this season. No other B-South team can finish with six conference wins.

The Grizzlies have earned a bye directly into the semi-final round, where they will be either the #1 or #2 seed in the B playoffs.

[Linfield]

Congratulations Grizzlies, and best of luck in the playoffs.

[lincoln02]

here here- congrats.

[Blynk22]

No other B-South team can finish with six conference wins.

We are 2-2 in conference with 4 conference games left. Theoretically we could also end up 6-2.

[Steno]

Yeah, but you're in B North...Griz have taken B South.