FB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Mr. Ypsi]

New poll is out.  It took a week longer than I originally predicted, but Trine is IN at #25.

[TUAngola]

New poll is out.  It took a week longer than I originally predicted, but Trine is IN at #25.

Yes indeed!  And with Olivet's loss to Adrian Saturday the Thunder have clinched the MIAA automatic bid regardless of this Saturday's result against Olivet.  But we are now playing for the outright MIAA championship and a better seed in the postseason tournament so the boys will be focused and ready to go.  Would be awesome if Trine can get a first round home game.

[Mr. Ypsi]

New poll is out.  It took a week longer than I originally predicted, but Trine is IN at #25.

Yes indeed!  And with Olivet's loss to Adrian Saturday the Thunder have clinched the MIAA automatic bid regardless of this Saturday's result against Olivet.  But we are now playing for the outright MIAA championship and a better seed in the postseason tournament so the boys will be focused and ready to go.  Would be awesome if Trine can get a first round home game.

Yes, the game is still critically important.  You've already secured the AQ, but a loss Saturday would likely mean going on the road for a really, really tough opponent.  A win should mean a home game against a very beatable opponent.

[waxx]

Congrats to the Hope offensive line and Adrian WR Jerron McGaw for making the team of the week.

[HOPEful]

New poll is out.  It took a week longer than I originally predicted, but Trine is IN at #25.

Yes indeed!  And with Olivet's loss to Adrian Saturday the Thunder have clinched the MIAA automatic bid regardless of this Saturday's result against Olivet.  But we are now playing for the outright MIAA championship and a better seed in the postseason tournament so the boys will be focused and ready to go.  Would be awesome if Trine can get a first round home game.

Yes, the game is still critically important.  You've already secured the AQ, but a loss Saturday would likely mean going on the road for a really, really tough opponent.  A win should mean a home game against a very beatable opponent.

Agreed. Your prize for losing is a trip to Alliance or Springfield, Ohio! (Osh Kosh, Naperville, or other "fun" destinations are also possible)

[TUAngola]

New poll is out.  It took a week longer than I originally predicted, but Trine is IN at #25.

Yes indeed!  And with Olivet's loss to Adrian Saturday the Thunder have clinched the MIAA automatic bid regardless of this Saturday's result against Olivet.  But we are now playing for the outright MIAA championship and a better seed in the postseason tournament so the boys will be focused and ready to go.  Would be awesome if Trine can get a first round home game.

Yes, the game is still critically important.  You've already secured the AQ, but a loss Saturday would likely mean going on the road for a really, really tough opponent.  A win should mean a home game against a very beatable opponent.

Agreed. Your prize for losing is a trip to Alliance or Springfield, Ohio! (Osh Kosh, Naperville, or other "fun" destinations are also possible)

I think Trine would be ecstatic to take a trip to Alliance or Springfield.  Not in the 1st round mind you, but perhaps the 2nd if we can get a win Saturday and a favorable playoff game the following week.

Trine recruits northwest Ohio extremely well, and these kids would relish playing against guys they may have played against in high school.  A trip to Mount Union or Wittenburg would be huge.  You always want to measure yourself against the best, and even in a lopsided loss perhaps, you learn how the big boys play the game. 

[Dr. Acula]

Witt and Mount are "name brands" for OH high school players.  Taking a trip to either and playing well wouldn't hurt Trine's OH recruiting, that's for sure.  Especially under your scenario which would be 11-1, outright MIAA champs, etc.  That's a lot of positive momentum to talk to recruits about.   

[HOPEful]

New poll is out.  It took a week longer than I originally predicted, but Trine is IN at #25.

Yes indeed!  And with Olivet's loss to Adrian Saturday the Thunder have clinched the MIAA automatic bid regardless of this Saturday's result against Olivet.  But we are now playing for the outright MIAA championship and a better seed in the postseason tournament so the boys will be focused and ready to go.  Would be awesome if Trine can get a first round home game.

Yes, the game is still critically important.  You've already secured the AQ, but a loss Saturday would likely mean going on the road for a really, really tough opponent.  A win should mean a home game against a very beatable opponent.

Agreed. Your prize for losing is a trip to Alliance or Springfield, Ohio! (Osh Kosh, Naperville, or other "fun" destinations are also possible)

I think Trine would be ecstatic to take a trip to Alliance or Springfield.  Not in the 1st round mind you, but perhaps the 2nd....

As a Hope and MIAA fan, one who would love to see the perception of the conference improve, I was very much referring to the first round. I would LOVE to see Trine not only host, but impose their will on their first round opponent. I understand that playing at Mount would be a rewarding experience for the players, but getting blown out in the first round of the playoffs yet again does nothing to improve the perception of the conference. This Trine team is too good, such an ending would be very disappointing in my opinion.

[Pat Coleman]

Latest regional rankings are out:
http://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2017/second-regional-ranking

[TUAngola]

Trine 28 Olivet 6

Trine wins the outright MIAA championship and enters the D3 playoff undefeated.  The bracket will be announced Sunday afternoon. 

Defense won the game today, it's the best defensive performance I've seen us play this year, other than the Hope game.  Olivet did score on the last play of the game, we had their quarterback scrambling on a pass play and he escaped a game ending sack and threw back to the opposite corner of the end zone to a wide open receiver (our first string D was out of the game on Olivet's last drive).  Up until then we did a really good job of not letting their receivers get deep on us.  We got a lot of pressure on the QB today and he was forced into short throws for the most part.  Not sure how many catches Saxton had, but it was a bunch, but he never broke loose for any big plays, and we were punishing on tackling him, he coughed up the ball once on a big hit by our CB Marcus Winters. 

For Trine the player of the game was Evan Wyse our QB.  Carswell gets all the publicity, as well he should, but Wyse is the glue to this team.  He doesn't get called on to throw a lot as our game is built around the ground game, and Wyse is an integral part of running the ball.  He is tough as nails.  He had just a downright NASTY run today where he stiff armed and ran over a would be Olivet tackler.  I'd love to see this play on film.  Everyone in the crowd was like, oh my he just abused that kid.  I hope Wyse gets some love when the all conference teams are announced, he deserves it.   

Great job Thunder.  Now lets go make some noise in the postseason. 

[ADAWGISADAWG4LIFE]

Hats off to Trine (theyll always be Tri State to me) on finishing the year without a loss. Having had the chance to watch them in person their offense is every bit as talented and explosive as it seemed on paper. If the defense can climb to that same level in the playoffs they can be a very dangerous team.

The 10-0 record was very beneficial in getting them out of taking a trip to Alliance for the first round (our fate in 2014) and got them a good draw in the first as well. As the last MIAA team to win a playoff game, hopefully they can repeat the task and improve the league perception. Best of luck next weekend against Monmouth and hopefully they have to suffer the misfortune of spending Thanksgiving prepping for round 2!

On another note, ill be curious to see how the All MIAA teams shake out on Monday. Trine and Hope will be certainly be well represented but Ill be looking for two of my Adrian favorites in Emmanuel Stewart and Jerron "Champ" McGraw to crack that first team! Its tough sledding for the RB for first team all league as all three of the top guys (Carswell, Stewart and Campbell) are more than deserving.

[TUAngola]

Trine vs. Monmouth in the D3 football playoffs in Angola this Saturday at 12:00.  Winner will face the winner of Wartburg and Franklin.  UWO vs Lakeland and North Central vs St John's in the other half of the bracket. 

Monmouth and Trine have one common opponent this year - Hope.  Monmouth beat Hope 27-20 in week 1 and Trine defeated Hope 50-14.  Monmouth looks to have a tough D, don't give up a lot of points, and have balanced offensive attack.

[TUAngola]

Ugh...rain, rain and more rain in store for today's Trine-Monmouth game here in Angola.  Would much rather sit in cold dry weather than rain.  Both teams can score, however this could be a low scoring affair today because of the conditions.  Keys will be which defense will play better, which offense doesn't turn the ball over, who has better field position to start drives.  Will report back after the game.   

[D O.C.]

So I wake up early    to watch a 9:00 am feed and I pick Trine.
It looks like gd Oregon out there.
No crowd. No teams. No fun.
Poor teams, at least I have the choice to go back to bed.

[formerd3db]

Trine game pretty much as expected.  I think they will have a good chance of advancing next week also. Would be great for them/our MIAA.  But this is the playoffs and it will be exciting to see what happens.