WICHITA – There was one overriding theme on Friday at the 2018 Jayhawk Conference Football Media Day at Newman University.
“The Jayhawk Conference is an elite conference. There are eight great teams,” Hutchinson College head coach Rion Rhoades said during his turn at the podium.
“The conference is a grind. You have to be on your A-game,” Butler coach Tim Schaffner said.
The other six coaches had similar feelings about the 2018 football season. With the new scholarship rules in place for one full recruiting cycle, all eight coaches agreed that the KJCCC has more talent on all eight teams top to bottom than at any time in the league’s storied history. Continue reading
If one thing is certain about the 2018-19 version of the Alabama Crimson Tide, it’s that they will once again be contenders for yet another national championship. Four times under head coach Nick Saban, they have found themselves ranked as the top-ranked team preseason, and again boast that poll positioning entering into the upcoming college football season. 
As everyone knows, one of the main points of playing a sport at a 2-year college is to get prepped to sign with a 4 year college. Maybe your grades or certain mechanics of the game could use some adjusting, but after your 2 year stay it is huge to get signed by a 4-year college team. 
Balladeer’s Bowl always pits the NAIA football champs against the NCAA D3 football champs. The results are in, and for only THE SECOND TIME the Champions of NCAA D3 – this year the UNIVERSITY OF MOUNT UNION PURPLE RAIDERS – defeated the Champions of the NAIA – this year the UNIVERSITY OF SAINT FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS. 
Readers of Balladeer’s Blog get to vote on the winner over the next week, so NAIA and D3 boosters can begin their annual deluge of emails to me arguing for their choice.Email voting is the ONLY official way to let your decision be known, a procedure I implemented years ago to cut down on repeat voting by the same people. 
NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) 
NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) 
December 16th, pitting the Defending Champs – the UNIVERSITY OF SAINT FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS against the REINHARDT UNIVERSITY EAGLES (Should be the Rottweilers). 
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The Defending Champion FULLERTON COLLEGE HORNETS clashed with the COLLEGE OF SAN MATEO BULLDOGS for the CCCAA title. The Hornets led 7-2 in the 1st Quarter but the Bulldogs cut that to a 7-5 edge by Halftime. A 9-5 3rd Quarter Fullerton College advantage in this defensive epic became a 12-9 lead for the College of San Mateo in the 4th. The Hornets mustered that one final Touchdown to come back for a 16-12 victory. * THE HORNETS ARE CHAMPIONS OF THE CCCAA * 
FIRST SEMIFINAL – The 6th seeded UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA ARGONAUTS – in their very first post-season appearance for their two year old football program – have made history AGAIN! The Argonauts traveled to face the overall 1 seeds – the INDIANA UNIVERSITY IN PENNSYLVANIA CRIMSON HAWKS. West Florida actually shut out the Crimson Hawks in the 1st Half, leading them 17-0 at the break. From there IUP rallied but fell short as the Argonauts won the game 27-17. 
MISSISSIPPI BOWL – This was the National Championship game in the NJCAA. The top ranked EAST MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE LIONS did battle with the number 2 team in the nation – the ARIZONA WESTERN COLLEGE MATADORS. At Halftime the Lions were on top of the Matadors 14-7 and by the end of the 3rd Quarter the score stood at 28-21 in favor of the Lions. From there East Mississippi College held on for a 31-28 win and their 4th title in the last 7 years. * THE LIONS ARE NJCAA CHAMPIONS * 
MIDWEST BOWL CLASSIC – The (7) INDEPENDENCE COLLEGE PIRATES squared off against the (4) NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA A&M GOLDEN NORSEMEN in this debut edition of the Midwest Bowl Classic. The Pirates grabbed a 7-0 lead in the 1st Quarter but the Golden Norsemen cut that to a 17-14 edge by the break. From there Independence College outscored their opponents 13-6, winning the game by a score of 30-20. 
FIRST SEMIFINAL – It took DOUBLE OVERTIME for a victor to be determined in this clash between the 2nd seeded REINHARDT UNIVERSITY EAGLES (should be the Rottweilers) and the 5 seeds – the SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY RAIDERS (should be the Sea Gulls). The Eagles parlayed a 14-7 1st Quarter lead into a 21-7 advantage by Halftime. From there the Raiders forced Overtime with a 24-24 tie. One extra session wasn’t enough (31-31) but after the 2nd, Reinhardt University advanced to the December 16th title game by a score of 37-34. 
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