It was humbling for sure. I feel like we could have beat anyone else in the tournament besides them. It was a tough draw and they really punished us on Saturday. I agree they won't be beat or really tested throughout the rest of the tournament. We needed to have our best game to stay close and we definitely didn't deliver that. My son got knocked out with an injury early in the game and couldn't help on the DLine. Hard way to end a career but this group has gone 41-6, won 3 outright and 1 shared conference championship and made it to the playoffs 3 years in a row where they lost to the national champions 2 of those 3 years. I would have loved to go further, but there can only be one, and this year it's North Central.

The starter is surprising, but he may think he can move up a level or two. The QB not so much so, UMHB has a DEEEEEP roster, something like 250ish kids I believe. A lot of kids will come for the 3x Championships thinking they will immediately start and realize that they'd rather play sooner somewhere else or don't realize up front the level of competition and commitment it takes to play for the CRU. I don't think this is an indictment on UMHB's program, I think it's more a validation of their model and finding kids that are suited for that model. Not everyone is and that's ok too. Lot more dynamics going on than just Coach Harmon and the season they just had.

Being at all three games, they are equal to this years SJU and UMHB teams. Very disciplined and VERY fast on both sides of the ball.

I think it all depends on the goals of the program. If the goals are to compete and win a first round game, maybe a second then I would agree with your approach. If your goals are to win/compete for a National Championship then it requires different exposure and a different approach. I say this because if you're in a conference that's not as strong or a region that isn't as strong the players don't really understand the different level of speed, strength, size and skill that exist at the top of D3. If you want to win championships, you have to see what the top teams are like so you can measure yourself against them. I'm not saying it will cause a team to improve, they may not want to or may not have the players and the support to do so. However, you are able to evaluate yourself and see where you actually stand in the D3 hierarchy. The top of D3 is really good and it takes seeing it and playing those teams regularly for it to sink in.

Yes, obviously. Could throw TN in there as well but it was only a year.

That's good to hear. Birmingham Southern being good is good for the SAA as a whole. I do have to wonder about their running back depth. John Lewis is going to be hard to replace.