FB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Captain_Joe08]

Anybody have any thoughts on of the second round of Nath-Con/MIAA Challenge?

[D3MAFAN]

Anybody have any thoughts on of the second round of Nath-Con/MIAA Challenge?

You mean the NACC/MIAA Challenge

[Captain_Joe08]

Anybody have any thoughts on of the second round of Nath-Con/MIAA Challenge?

You mean the NACC/MIAA Challenge

I was originally going to type that but since it hasn't gone into effect yet I decided to use to old one 

[D3MAFAN]

Anybody have any thoughts on of the second round of Nath-Con/MIAA Challenge?

You mean the NACC/MIAA Challenge

I was originally going to type that but since it hasn't gone into effect yet I decided to use to old one 

Yea, I kind of like the new name, the old one for a while sounded sort of like a telecommuncations company. Nevertheless, I think that the challenge may be 4-3 either way. I like the matchup between Concordia-Chicago vs. Adrian as my top game.

[Captain_Joe08]

Anybody have any thoughts on of the second round of Nath-Con/MIAA Challenge?

You mean the NACC/MIAA Challenge

I was originally going to type that but since it hasn't gone into effect yet I decided to use to old one 

Yea, I kind of like the new name, the old one for a while sounded sort of like a telecommuncations company. Nevertheless, I think that the challenge may be 4-3 either way. I like the matchup between Concordia-Chicago vs. Adrian as my top game.

I agree as well. There a lot of tossups this year as well.

My initial picks.

Concordia Chicago @ Adrian: Adrian
Concordia Wisconsin @ Trine: Trine
WLC @ Hope: WLC
Benedictine at Kalamazoo: Benedictine
Aurora at Albion: Aurora
Lakeland at Alma: Alma
Rockford at Olivet: Rockford

Concordia Chicago loses quite a bit of production from last year and are with a new head coach so I think Adrian takes that one. In the rematch from last year I think Trine takes it at home against Concordia Wisconsin. The WLC-Hope matchup I feel is the best one of the bunch. I think WLC gets the slight edge on the road. Benedictine looks to be improved this year and should beat Kalamazoo. Aurora-Albion could really go either way along with Lakeland-Alma. Finally I feel that Rockford keeps getting better and better since the conference sponsored football and should beat Olivet.

[RFMichigan]

Anybody have any thoughts on of the second round of Nath-Con/MIAA Challenge?

You mean the NACC/MIAA Challenge

I was originally going to type that but since it hasn't gone into effect yet I decided to use to old one 

Yea, I kind of like the new name, the old one for a while sounded sort of like a telecommuncations company. Nevertheless, I think that the challenge may be 4-3 either way. I like the matchup between Concordia-Chicago vs. Adrian as my top game.

I agree as well. There a lot of tossups this year as well.

My initial picks.

Concordia Chicago @ Adrian: Adrian
Concordia Wisconsin @ Trine: Trine
WLC @ Hope: WLC
Benedictine at Kalamazoo: Benedictine
Aurora at Albion: Aurora
Lakeland at Alma: Alma
Rockford at Olivet: Rockford

Concordia Chicago loses quite a bit of production from last year and are with a new head coach so I think Adrian takes that one. In the rematch from last year I think Trine takes it at home against Concordia Wisconsin. The WLC-Hope matchup I feel is the best one of the bunch. I think WLC gets the slight edge on the road. Benedictine looks to be improved this year and should beat Kalamazoo. Aurora-Albion could really go either way along with Lakeland-Alma. Finally I feel that Rockford keeps getting better and better since the conference sponsored football and should beat Olivet.

Last year the NathCon did much better than I anticipated. This year I'll go with:
Lakeland at Alma: Lakeland - just because they were kind of pesky last year.

CUC at Adrian: Adrian - CUC's replacing, oh, everybody and will be playing a LOT of young players; never a good formula for success in college football. (I hope this doesn't go like basketball season did last year for the Cougars where they had to replace everybody from the prior year and struggled.)

Aurora at Albion: Albion - Aurora's going to have to prove to me that they're "back", and Albion hasn't really ever left.

WLC at Hope: WLC Hope in a close one (I was just reminded that WLC has a new coach. That might be the difference in an early-season game like this although I think WLC's defense will be pretty stout. This has the makings of a fine game.

Benedictine at Kalamazoo - Benedictine - Although I'm not sure Benedictine is "improved" talent-wise (they lost their All-American running back and conference defensive POY) they still do have talent; they just need to get it together between the ears.

Rockford at Olivet - Olivet - I'm pretty sure I picked Olivet last year as I thought Rockford was the pits. Turns out Rockford won, but Olivet beat Alma later in the year (meaning that Alma was the pits?). If Olivet returns any of their 1000 freshman they played last year they could be on the rise - at least better than Rockford.

CUW at Trine - CUW - The Falcons are, I believe, on the top of a cycle and will, I think, fight it out with WLC for the NAC conference crown. Trine, I believe, is sliding down a cycle.

I still think that overall, the MIAA is a slightly stronger football conference than the NAC who benefitted from a couple flukey wins in the Challenge last year. This year will tell a lot about the relative strengths of these two conferences.

[sflzman]

Not sure if you've all seen the twitter buzz about Alma Football lately. All over the new helmets. Two toned white to maroon with a plaid "A"

The main story was on footballscoop.com

http://footballscoop.com/news/9950-d-iii-program-pays-homage-to-their-roots-with-new-helmet-design

They were also featured on multiple uniform swag accounts on twitter.

[Raider 68]

Not sure if you've all seen the twitter buzz about Alma Football lately. All over the new helmets. Two toned white to maroon with a plaid "A"

The main story was on footballscoop.com

http://footballscoop.com/news/9950-d-iii-program-pays-homage-to-their-roots-with-new-helmet-design

They were also featured on multiple uniform swag accounts on twitter.

sflzman,

A different looking helmet, but a great improvement!

[badgerwarhawk]

I like it.

[D3MAFAN]

Not sure if you've all seen the twitter buzz about Alma Football lately. All over the new helmets. Two toned white to maroon with a plaid "A"

The main story was on footballscoop.com

http://footballscoop.com/news/9950-d-iii-program-pays-homage-to-their-roots-with-new-helmet-design

They were also featured on multiple uniform swag accounts on twitter.

Even though I am not a believer of it, it is said if you look good, you play good.

[sac]

Olivet coaches........no comment, and really none is necessary.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNCP7YOM3Pk

[D3MAFAN]

Olivet coaches........no comment, and really none is necessary.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNCP7YOM3Pk

Hahaha.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Awful quiet in here - those OC coaches just left us all speechless I guess. 

Hope has a 140 player pre-season roster posted:

http://www.hope.edu/pr/athletics/fb/fbrost.html

Roster breakdown by class:

FR - 55
SO - 47
JR - 23
SR - 15

[Raider 68]

Awful quiet in here - those OC coaches just left us all speechless I guess. 

Hope has a 140 player pre-season roster posted:

http://www.hope.edu/pr/athletics/fb/fbrost.html

Roster breakdown by class:

FR - 55
SO - 47
JR - 23
SR - 15

Flying Dutch Fan,

Can Hope win the MIAA title this fall, if so, what needs to happen?

[formerd3db]

Hope's players report for physicals on Tuesday August 13th.  Although this is about the usual time, it is slightly pushed back because our first game is not until September 7th, instead of the usual opening season game on Labor Day weekend, simply to how the schedule ended up being for this year (as it sometimes does every few years in the cycle).  The Saturday of Labor Day weekend will be the final intra-squad "controlled" scrimmage.  Most of the DI schools are reporting today (including those in Michigan), although many have Labor Day opening season games on Labor Day weekend.