Quote from: faunch on November 04, 2024, 02:06:39 PMSo how long before we have to subscribe to ESPN+ to watch the D3 football playoffs?

https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/11/4/media-center-division-iii-announces-new-livestreaming-initiative-for-2024-fall-championships.aspx

This link took me to an article about field hockey, soccer and volleyball streaming via Hudl - nothing about D3 Football playoffs.

Quote from: faunch on November 04, 2024, 03:48:24 PM

Quote from: OzJohnnie on November 04, 2024, 03:16:30 PMOh, man. I haven't had a cable tv subscription for years. Now I'm going to owe the mother-in-law another favour as I use her subscription to log into ESPN+. That's just swell.

We spell it favor....Can you even log onto it from Down Under?

Please fourgive me. We can log in if you have a Foxtel cable subscription, which the MIL has.

Quote from: repete on November 04, 2024, 05:49:02 PMTook a deal to help spouse (Hulu) and grandkids (Disney Plus) that just happens to include ESPN+ ... in a $10 bundle.

Cuz I'm just a generous guy.

Do you need a VPN for that, Oz?

I've read on the internets that you can use a vpn to access Hulu and watch it. I think my folks have a Hulu subscription. Maybe I can use that.

Re-listening to the podcast and what is pretty nifty is that if your team is in the "top 24", your team gets a first week bye because the bottom 16 teams have to play in. I would guess that the top 8 teams will get one of the winners from that first round. What we don't know is if the NCAA will have a second announcement so those 16 teams will know who they have to face once the first 8 games are played because the NPI for the winning teams may change. Will the lowest NPI actually go to the number 1 NPI, or will the 500 mile limitation take precedence? Or, will the NCAA just pick two "lower 16" that are closest to the number 1 NPI and simply place them in the bracket at the original announcement of the bracket because the 500 mile travel rule overrules? We shall see.

Quote from: art76 on November 05, 2024, 08:03:34 AMRe-listening to the podcast and what is pretty nifty is that if your team is in the "top 24", your team gets a first week bye because the bottom 16 teams have to play in. I would guess that the top 8 teams will get one of the winners from that first round. What we don't know is if the NCAA will have a second announcement so those 16 teams will know who they have to face once the first 8 games are played because the NPI for the winning teams may change. Will the lowest NPI actually go to the number 1 NPI, or will the 500 mile limitation take precedence? Or, will the NCAA just pick two "lower 16" that are closest to the number 1 NPI and simply place them in the bracket at the original announcement of the bracket because the 500 mile travel rule overrules? We shall see.

My understanding is the only time the 500-mile rule can be completely ignored is in assigning the top four NPI to the one-seed line in each quadrant. After that everything else has to be worked out between seeding AND geography.

Like anyone is going to listen to me, but if I were running things, it might look something like the following.
1. Because the 40 playoff teams will be known once all the regular season games are played the cut line between the top 24 teams and the bottom 16 teams will be easy to ascertain. I recognize that some automatic qualifiers will not be in the top 40 of the NPI.
2. I would have two announcements for who is in and who is playing whom. The first week I would simply announce all the teams in but not assign pairings or who is in whatever quadrant for the top 24 teams.
3. The bottom 16 teams would be paired along these lines: The number 25 team ideally would play number 40, but in reality the 500 mile rule is going to come into play. However, what is going to happen most likely is that the number 25 team will have numerous teams within that 500 mile radius that it could play and I would pick the lowest ranking opponent available. Then as best as could be done, do the same process for teams 26 through number 32. Most likely somebody is going to have to fly in this round because of island teams in the bottom 16.
4. Once these 8 games are played there will be new NPI numbers out for the committee to use for the final pairing of the 32 teams left. With that information they could have a second final announcement where the teams will find out who they play for the rest of the tournament. They would then know their road to the Stagg Bowl.
5. What is driving the above is that it seems unfair to me that the top 8 teams don't get the "2 week advantage" of knowing who their opponent would be at the first announcement. It also allows the committee to better seed the final 32 because they will be able to use the most current NPI numbers. Lastly, I recognize that the newer NPI numbers might rearrange the ranking at the bottom of the 32 remaining teams, which in turn might make a difference in who plays whom.

Anybody got a feeling or insight on what is actually going to happen?

I have yet to see an NCAA playoff bracket where the bracket is broken like that (outside of baseball/softball, which is already a different beast with double-elimination regionals, super regionals, CWS pods and championship series). Also, that really treats those first-round games as a play-in, and that's not something the NCAA generally likes to say about its tournament games. Those 16 teams deserve to be in the bracket.

You may remember from the 28-team bracket days that not all top seeds had a great time with the byes.

As far as who will play whom and how, yes, I would hope it gets done nationally like that. The committee will probably do everything it can to make that happen, even if geography is an object, because it will be plainly obvious to all if someone in the top 24 by NPI is forced to play in the first round because of $$$.

MIAC PICK-EMS
WEEK 10
#25 Bethel @ Concordia (+20.5)
Macalester (+25.5) @ Augsburg
Gustavus @ Carleton (+20.5)
St. Scholastica (+7.5) @ Hamline
St. Olaf (+40.5) @ #3 St. John's
Drake @ St. Thomas (+7.5)
#17 Hope @ Calvin (+50.5)

Very sad to report that the Leinenkugel's Brewery in Chippewa Falls is closing. A major piece of the fabric of this area, they have always produced exceptional products which will now be moved to Molsons' facilities in Milwaukee.

Leinie's was a favorite topic discussed with 57Johnnie as he grew up in Chippewa Falls. We used to joke that the grade schools served Leine's Original at lunch instead of milk when he was a lad.  2 cents a bottle.

Anyway, carry on. Hamm's and Leinenkugels remain available, brewed somewhere. 

Quote from: BDB on November 07, 2024, 07:46:23 AMVery sad to report that the Leinenkugel's Brewery in Chippewa Falls is closing.

I saw that the other day!  I will need to check on my Chippewa Falls aunt and uncle--they're probably not taking the news well.

Bummer about the Leinies plant getting shutdown, those can be really tough on a smaller city.

ATN did a feature on the Bethel offense, Drews and Kidder, and the new HC/OC angle. Greg was good as always, it's been interesting to watch the new offensive identity develop as the season progressed. Drews in particular has really settled into the role and looks much more comfortable in the pocket and making progressions/reads than he did the first few weeks.

That said, I wish they'd have hit on the Micah Niewald angle as well. He's been a bit overshadowed nationally by Kidder in his time at Bethel. The article notes Kidder being first in career yards and touchdowns and second in receptions, but the person who holds the receptions record also broke it this season, namely Micah. The two of them have re-written the receiving records at Bethel. If they hadn't been battling each other for touchdowns and targets, both their totals would look even gaudier.

Oz...Is Upper Middle Bogan worth a watch on Netflix?

Quote from: hazzben on November 07, 2024, 04:10:36 PMBummer about the Leinies plant getting shutdown, those can be really tough on a smaller city.

ATN did a feature on the Bethel offense, Drews and Kidder, and the new HC/OC angle. Greg was good as always, it's been interesting to watch the new offensive identity develop as the season progressed. Drews in particular has really settled into the role and looks much more comfortable in the pocket and making progressions/reads than he did the first few weeks.

That said, I wish they'd have hit on the Micah Niewald angle as well. He's been a bit overshadowed nationally by Kidder in his time at Bethel. The article notes Kidder being first in career yards and touchdowns and second in receptions, but the person who holds the receptions record also broke it this season, namely Micah. The two of them have re-written the receiving records at Bethel. If they hadn't been battling each other for touchdowns and targets, both their totals would look even gaudier.

Refresh my memory! Was Cooper Drews at St John's before transferring to Bethel? If so, what's with these backup QBs leaving the St John's program to land at conference competition & make it hard on us?!

Quote from: sjujohnnie on November 07, 2024, 09:04:48 PMRefresh my memory! Was Cooper Drews at St John's before transferring to Bethel? If so, what's with these backup QBs leaving the St John's program to land at conference competition & make it hard on us?!

Was he at SJU? Yes he was. My personal thought on this is they want to play and the MIAC isn't a bad place to be. The depth and talent at SJU makes it hard for these guys, especially at a spot like QB where generally there is only one QB1.....

Quote from: sjusection105 on November 07, 2024, 09:19:17 PM

Quote from: sjujohnnie on November 07, 2024, 09:04:48 PMRefresh my memory! Was Cooper Drews at St John's before transferring to Bethel? If so, what's with these backup QBs leaving the St John's program to land at conference competition & make it hard on us?!

Was he at SJU? Yes he was. My personal thought on this is they want to play and the MIAC isn't a bad place to be. The depth and talent at SJU makes it hard for these guys, especially at a spot like QB where generally there is only one QB1.....

Any insight on how our QB play will be following this season with Syverson's eligibility exhausted? We've been spoiled with Erdmann & Syverson! Who's waiting in the wings to fill some big shoes?