Augustana IL's surge threatens to widen the gap on Carroll WI

Augustana IL has taken five of nine meetings with Carroll WI since 2016, and the two programs' divergent seasons showed up again this fall when both faced North Park: the Vikings won by 23 while the Pioneers fell by 21. That split sets the tone heading into Saturday's CCIW matchup, which counts in the conference standings.

Augustana IL arrives graded A- across offense, defense and overall, and Versus has nudged the Vikings' power rating up in each of the last three weeks. They have won four of their nine games this season by 21 points or more, and notably, all four of their losses have come against teams with winning records, suggesting there is little separating them from the CCIW's upper tier even at 5-4.

Carroll WI's numbers point the other way. The Pioneers have been outscored badly over their last five games, going 1-4 in that stretch, and their power rating has slipped in each of the last five weeks. They have actually played better away from home than at home this season, a trend that works against them hosting this one.

Versus projects Augustana IL to win 36-17, giving the Vikings an 86 percent chance against a Carroll WI team ranked 91st in Division III, 36 spots behind Augustana IL at 55th.