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Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 12:20 PM - Viewed 535 times

Lindenwood and USF kickoff their
season's with broadcasts on VSN.

It is finally here: A full week of football for everyone to enjoy. Whether you follow the big boys in D1 or your local NAIA football program you have to be pretty cranked up for the start of the football season. One thing that grows for me each year is the admiration I have for football fans of small college football. It's tremendous to be able to walk out into the parking lot of a small NAIA football school and see 200 people tailgating and having a good time.

In fact this week we plan on dropping by a few of those tailgates to say hello to some of the Victory Sports Network's fans who are putting them on. I expect good food, better times and hopefully no altercations with people who disagree with my every thought.

With all joking aside I do enjoy the disagreements. I love the fact that there are some very educated NAIA fans out there willing to mix it up because they have extremely valid points. A lot of that is in part to our great users on the message board. While there are some that might detract from the educational value of the board there are still many posters who are as close to plugged into these programs as possible.

The University of Sioux Falls is set to exit the NAIA. Before the GPAC kings return their crown and head off into the distance in search of bigger prizes, they must go through one more season in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. One of the Cougars biggest rivals has turned into Northwestern College. The two programs have never met on opening day of the season, but they will this season. The series has been dominated by Sioux Falls in the last decade, outscoring the Red Raiders 243-96 since 2002, although NWC leads the all-time series. In six of the eight matchups, the Cougars have scored first. Northwestern hasn't been to the NAIA Championship Series since 2006 and an upset of Sioux Falls would go a long way to ending the postseason drought. Over 4,000 people on average attend this rivalry each year and this year shouldn't be any different.

Here is a position-by-position breakdown of the game:

There are a lot of lopsided games this week in the MSFA. Six games are on tap for the week with half being played Thursday night. It seems like the new thing to do is feature your team on a Thursday night. Once someone starts to do it then the others join in shortly after. Last week the MSFA got off to a 3-1 start in non-conference play. Saint Xavier hit Bethel (TN) with a 49-32 win, while Olivet Nazarene was smacked by West Virginia Tech 31-9. McKendree picked up an impressive 34-17 win over University of the Cumberlands in the Big River Bowl, while Grand View was also impressive with a 28-0 blanking of Black Hills State.Two crossover games were played as Trinity International dropped Iowa Wesleyan 16-6. Yes, TIU got a win…good for them. Now, can they continue the rest of the year with another win or two? Marian was 20 points better than St. Francis (IL) last week in a 37-17 win.

Here is a look at some games in the conference this week:

Lindenwood University is coming off of its best season in program history after finishing with a 13-1 record and a loss to Sioux Falls in the NAIA National Championship game in Rome. Evangel begins a new era this week under Brenton Illum and will try to turn around a season that finished with a 3-7 mark in 2009. Lindenwood appears poised for a national championship run, while Evangel is trying to rebuild its program.

It will be a tough opener to the season for Evangel, but it gives us a chance to see the No. 2 and No. 1 teams in the country in the opening week of the season. After this game we travel to Orange City, IA where the defending National Champion Sioux Falls Cougars will challenge Northwestern. But before we get into that game, let's take a look at Lindenwood vs Evangel.

Here is a position by position breakdown:

Last week did not offer up many surprises in the CSFL. Langston proved that they have a formidable team once again this season with a big win on the road against Incarnate Word. Tony Cotton's comments earlier in the week that Langston should be a contender for not only the CSFL title, but the NAIA championship may have been a touch premature and far-fetched, but the Lions stood the test in week one.

Concordia and Midland Lutheran both stepped outside the conference and garnered road wins Saturday. Concordia traveled to Peru, Nebraska and knocked off one of the leading NAIA independents, beating the Bobcats 13-7 at the Oak Bowl. It was a defensive struggle that saw 20 punts. The Bulldogs held PSC to 65 yards on the ground and made Kenny Zoeller's two field goals (27, 42) hold up. Qb TJ Shirley accounted for over 100 yards total offense and scored the lone Concordia touchdown, running in from 9 yards out.

The Victory Sports Network First Down Classic featured No. 9 Ottawa against No. 24 Baker. The place was absolutely packed. Nearly 40 minutes before game time about 200 people had found their seats…20 minutes later people were wondering if they were going to have seats. The idea to put bleachers in the one endzone was brilliant. It was packed with students and others and made for a fantastic atmosphere. Earlier this week I posted the VSN First Down Classic Preview. I took some guff for saying Ottawa would have the better defense on this night. In the end, I wasn't far off. Here are some thoughts from tonight's game…