FB: Upper Midwest Athletic Conference

[jstoll19]

UNW is tied up with Concordia Wisconsin at halftime. UNW looks to be evenly match with Concordia even after losing Nick Drinken at the end of the 1st. They definitely look a lot better than MLC did last week.

[Baldini]

UNW is tied up with Concordia Wisconsin at halftime. UNW looks to be evenly match with Concordia even after losing Nick Drinken at the end of the 1st. They definitely look a lot better than MLC did last week.

Just came in from yard work, did Drinken get hurt?

Also, the first UMAC final is in, Concordia-Chicago defeated Finlandia 45-7.

[jstoll19]

UNW is tied up with Concordia Wisconsin at halftime. UNW looks to be evenly match with Concordia even after losing Nick Drinken at the end of the 1st. They definitely look a lot better than MLC did last week.

Just came in from yard work, did Drinken get hurt?

Also, the first UMAC final is in, Concordia-Chicago defeated Finlandia 45-7.

Yeah. They said he got taken off on a stretcher. This game just went final as well. UNW loses 28-14 after shooting themselves in the foot with a handful of turnovers.

[Baldini]

This week's schedule and what Massey thinks, favored team bolded.

Finlandia @ Concordia Chicago - 28-10 with a 91%-win probability.
Crown @ Carleton - 42-7/97%
Iowa Wesleyan @ Westminster - 28-21/69%
Minnesota-Morris @ Hamline - 35-14/87%
Northwestern @ Concordia Wisconsin - 31-14/86%
Rockford @ Greenville - 37-31/62%
Martin Luther @ Macalester - 31-24/66%

Not surprising that Greenville is the only UMAC team favored to win but am surprised by the numbers for Northwestern and Minnesota-Morris. Thinking both those games should be closer than those scores and win probabilities should be about 20% less.

This week there are 3 games that will have common opponents from last week and should help define the UMAC pecking order. Does Minnesota-Morris deal with Hamline better than Crown did or does M-M belong in the bottom tier of the conference rather than the top tier? Does Northwestern play Concordia (Wis.) tougher than MLC did and stamp themselves as true contenders or are they a middle of the pack team? Can MLC handle Macalester better than M-M or are they more bottom tier than contender? It's early in the season and there is a lot of teams growing and developing, yet this weekend will shed a little more light onto what each team may be and may become.     

Massey is in mid-season form hitting 6 for 6 going into tonight's game, can MLC break the streak?

Finlandia 7 @ Concordia Chicago 45
Crown 14 @ Carleton 84
Iowa Wesleyan 41 @ Westminster 6
Minnesota-Morris 21 @ Hamline 34
Northwestern 14 @ Concordia Wisconsin 28
Rockford 30 @ Greenville 40
Martin Luther 7 @ Macalester 43

And Massey is 7 for 7 in week 2.

[Baldini]

The state of the UMAC after week 2 is probably, 'they are who we thought they were'.

1.) Greenville remains the team to beat and might be the only team that will get a non-conference win this season and could get 2 with Manchester coming up at home next weekend. Minnesota-Morris hosts Lawrence in week 4, so they could also grab a non-conference victory for the UMAC, but the rest are real longshots to pull off a win.

2.) Northwestern still is the clear second team in the conference and probably the only team that can give Greenville a good game this year in conference play, with that game at Northwestern I'm giving them a punchers chance to knock the 2021 champs off. With UW-River Falls and Hope remaining on the non-conference schedule it is going to be a tough couple of weeks ahead before conference play starts.

3.) Minnesota-Morris is the clear number 3 team here basically by default. The Cougars are scoring some points and that can't be said for all the remaining teams. The defense has been suspect in the first 2 games, but their offense keeps them in most games in UMAC play this season.

4.) Martin Luther will hold the 4th spot for now, but they are sliding in with the group of Crown, Finlandia and Westminster. The current advantage MLC holds over the others is that they play all 3 of them at home. Was able to watch all of their game last night and it was disturbing to see the falloff in play from past seasons, new coach is no comparison to old coach. Coach Stein is already being missed in that locker room.

5.) Westminster is 5th again this week and the only thing keeping them from moving up is showing a little life on offense and I don't know if it is coming or not. When UMAC play arrives though their defense will likely keep many of the games competitive. Wouldn't be shocking to see them end up anywhere between 4th to 7th. A little offensive production is the key here.

6.) Finlandia is bumping up a spot this week because their coach has them battling to the last play of the game and that can't be said for all of the teams this week. Like Westminster this is a very offensively challenged team and that probably isn't going to change overnight. Never quitting is a sign of character though and is a huge step in the right direction.

7.) Crown will occupy the bottom this week. Last week I thought there may be some upside to this team with the new QB on the field, but not sure if he brings anything extra to the team or not. He plays a little like he really doesn't want to be there. The good thing this week is that they have St. Scholastica coming to town and they have a chance to keep the game respectable and build on some positive play. Like all the bottom four in this conference there is room to improve enough to get some wins, so will Crown be a team to improve? All is yet to be determined.               

[Ralph Turner]

Lyon (Batesville, Arkansas) College has announced it is joining the SLIAC in 2023. Has anyone heard whether they have been invited to the UMAC?

[Baldini]

Lyon (Batesville, Arkansas) College has announced it is joining the SLIAC in 2023. Has anyone heard whether they have been invited to the UMAC?

Assuming you are talking about as an associate member for football. Haven't heard anything along those lines and it would be surprising to me if that happened even though the UMAC needs another member or two for football. On the surface the SAA seems like a better fit from the logistics side, have no idea about the academic fit though. 

[Captain_Joe08]

Geography wise the SAA is probably the better fit. Don't think teams right now would like to see a conference's footprint go from Arkansas to the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Not sure what to make of MLC at this point. Can't really fault Huebner because he was kind of left with a retool/rebuild after losing a lot from last year but after the top 2, there isn't much difference between the rest of the league.

[Baldini]

This week's schedule with Massey's win probabilities for UMAC teams.

Manchester @ Greenville - 55%
St. Scholastica @ Crown - 36%
Augsburg @ Martin Luther - 20%
Westminster @ Sewanee - 10%
Finlandia @ Iowa Wesleyan - 6%
Minn.-Morris @ Carleton - 3%
Northwestern @ UW-River Falls - 1%

Greenville is the only team that is a favorite and that is a slight one at that. Any of the other 6 teams gaining a win would be a major upset for the UMAC.

[Captain_Joe08]

Iowa Wesleyan 55 Finlandia 0
Augsburg 45 Martin Luther 7
St. Scholastica 63 Crown 14
Greenville 49 Manchester 22
Carleton 41 Minnesota Morris 7
#17 UW-River Falls 63 Northwestern 27
Sewanee 41 Westminster (MO) 6

[Baldini]

Iowa Wesleyan 55 Finlandia 0
Augsburg 45 Martin Luther 7
St. Scholastica 63 Crown 14
Greenville 49 Manchester 22
Carleton 41 Minnesota Morris 7
#17 UW-River Falls 63 Northwestern 27
Sewanee 41 Westminster (MO) 6

Thanks Joe.

No surprises this week either. Three weeks are complete and the UMAC is 2-19 with one more week of non-conference games to go. My thoughts on the conference really haven't changed from the preseason poll to now, Northwestern is a little better than I thought, and I thought they were probably the second-best team this season from the beginning.   

Last season Greenville battled Martin Luther in the first week of conference play and got the victory in OT in what would basically to the title game in week one. This season Greenville will travel to Northwestern in the second week of conference play in what very well may be the conference title game. I just don't see anyone else being able to give Greenville or Northwestern much of a game this year.

Minnesota-Morris is the clear 3rd team still, feels like their destiny is to go 4-2 in conference play.

The other 4 teams feel like they can't win a game unless they are playing each other. Good news for them is that they all will have some chances to win some games this season.

[Baldini]

Massey UMAC ratings this afternoon, three games in.

1.) Greenville
2.) Martin Luther
3.) Northwestern
4.) Minnesota-Morris
5.) Westminster
6.) Finlandia
7.) Crown

These are interesting to me. Martin Luther and Northwestern have 2 common opponents and anyone watching those games would not have come away thinking MLC was the better team. Northwestern battled Augsburg to the end and gave Concordia-Wisconsin a good game most of the way, MLC was never a danger to win either game. Minnesota-Morris also has a common opponent with MLC in Macalester, M-M lost 45-24 and MLC lost 43-7. Not much of a difference, but M-M did generate some offense and MLC could only gain a late 4th quarter TD. Over time Massey does seem like they get in right a large percentage of the time, interesting for UMAC fans to watch as the season plays out.

[GU1999]

This week was GUs best game of the season by quite some amount.  The game was more lopsided than the final score presented.  GU was up 42 - 9 in the 3rd.  Mildly concerning that returning DPOY T. McLaurin missed the second game in a row. 

[GU1999]

Fun Link for GU people and GU intrigued folks.  "The Show" features AD Tom Ackermann, GU basketball coach Dr. George Barber and Dr. Doug Faulkner, the Dean of Professional Studies and former AD/Basketball coach. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_JcXI9p0k8

[jstoll19]

I know this isn't the volleyball board, but I gotta give a shoutout to the UNW volleyball team for beating #5, 8, and 9 teams in the nation last week and moving up to #3 in the nation. They have a great chance at making it back to the Final Four this year.