FB: Upper Midwest Athletic Conference

[formerd3db]

It was an issue to get kids up there and Finlandia. Limited selection of majors, recruiting wasn't there from local (Plenty of talent from the UP and northern WI), and lack of conference direction (Baseball in the WIAC, Football in the UMAC after the MIAA and everything else in the sprawling C2C) made it tough for the Lions in a very isolated part of the D3 landscape (Northland is the nearest D3 at 150 miles). Plus being 10 minutes from Michigan Tech did not help matters.

I felt football was a chance for them to boost enrollment but initial delay to get going plus the turnover in players and coaches disrupted the direction of the program. Being in the UMAC was the best fit for them despite the distances for some away games. I think they would've found life in the league a lot more to their liking.

Agree with you Capt_Joe.  I think the UMAC was the best fit for Finlandia for football. Yet, as you said, the difficulty was in trying to get the right players up there. I posted this over on our MIAA board- I believe that if they had concentrated more on recruiting from the Upper Peninsula instead of trying to get players from Florida, Detroit, and other long distant places, they may have had a chance. Certainly, the instability in the coaching staff did not help either when you are getting coaches from far away places with DI or similar experience. Those guys aren't going to stay. As I mentioned, there are a lot of 8 man fb hs programs in the U.P., which I believe could have been of help to the program if they had concentrated more in that direction.

All that said, still there were other non-fb factors as you and others mentioned and that their President pointed to that set the death sentence for the school. Overall, a very sad ending to a historic school, which served the community well for so long and as best as they could in recent years. But...it is the sign of the times in seeing some DIII and DII schools either dropping football or, worse, going defunct. And as many others have said on these boards, this won't be the last, unfortunately. Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts/opinions on this sad development.

[Masfootball41]

Good afternoon everyone,

This is my first post here so thanks to everyone for reading. I am a big follower of the UMAC, and since it seems like there hasn't been any week 1 pick 'ems yet, I will get it started.

Crown @ Hamline
I am picking Hamline to win this match up. I think that Hamline's defense will hold crown, and that they may be too much for the Polar offense.
I am thinking that this game will be 47-17 HAMLINE
Greenville @ Concordia Chicago
I personally think Greenville will be one of the better teams in the UMAC once again. With Paul Garrett returning, he is bound to have another good season behind that seasoned offensive line. Greenville will be hard to beat this year bringing back returners on defense and offense.
I think that this game ends up 24-14 Greenville
Martin Luther @ Concordia Wisconsin
I still think Martin Luther is a little too young to compete this season. Concordia Wisconsin gave them a good game last year, and I believe that it will happen once again. I think Concordia wins this one and it will show that Martin Luther is still a little young/
This one will be 31-8 Concordia Wisconsin
University of Minnesota Morris @ Macalester
I really think that this is the year that UMM takes that next step and finally wins some non-conference games. The Cougars return eleven all conference players, only losing two to graduation. The cougars have a deep offense and defense, and I am very excited to watch this team this season. I personally think that this is their year to do something dangerous within the UMAC.
34-27 UMM
University of Northwestern @ Augsburg
UNW is another team that will be at the top of the UMAC, returning a solid group of players. I do not see UNW winning against Augsburg though. They also return quite a bit on offense and defense, so I think that this game will be interesting, but Augsburg will bring home the win in a close one.
24-10 Augsburg
Rhodes @ Westminster
This is another team that may be rebuilding this year. I fear that Westminster may have a tough year ahead of them. I think that Rhodes comes to them and it is a pretty long afternoon for the Bluejays
57-14 Rhodes

Remember that these are all of my own opinions, and that we are all allowed to have our own! Looking forward to posting more, and let's have a great football season!

[DuffMan]

Good to see a little action from the UMAC board.  Welcome!

[GU1999]

Good afternoon everyone,

This is my first post here so thanks to everyone for reading. I am a big follower of the UMAC, and since it seems like there hasn't been any week 1 pick 'ems yet, I will get it started.

Crown @ Hamline
I am picking Hamline to win this match up. I think that Hamline's defense will hold crown, and that they may be too much for the Polar offense.
I am thinking that this game will be 47-17 HAMLINE
Greenville @ Concordia Chicago
I personally think Greenville will be one of the better teams in the UMAC once again. With Paul Garrett returning, he is bound to have another good season behind that seasoned offensive line. Greenville will be hard to beat this year bringing back returners on defense and offense.
I think that this game ends up 24-14 Greenville
Martin Luther @ Concordia Wisconsin
I still think Martin Luther is a little too young to compete this season. Concordia Wisconsin gave them a good game last year, and I believe that it will happen once again. I think Concordia wins this one and it will show that Martin Luther is still a little young/
This one will be 31-8 Concordia Wisconsin
University of Minnesota Morris @ Macalester
I really think that this is the year that UMM takes that next step and finally wins some non-conference games. The Cougars return eleven all conference players, only losing two to graduation. The cougars have a deep offense and defense, and I am very excited to watch this team this season. I personally think that this is their year to do something dangerous within the UMAC.
34-27 UMM
University of Northwestern @ Augsburg
UNW is another team that will be at the top of the UMAC, returning a solid group of players. I do not see UNW winning against Augsburg though. They also return quite a bit on offense and defense, so I think that this game will be interesting, but Augsburg will bring home the win in a close one.
24-10 Augsburg
Rhodes @ Westminster
This is another team that may be rebuilding this year. I fear that Westminster may have a tough year ahead of them. I think that Rhodes comes to them and it is a pretty long afternoon for the Bluejays
57-14 Rhodes

Remember that these are all of my own opinions, and that we are all allowed to have our own! Looking forward to posting more, and let's have a great football season!

I think it would be wonderful if the UMAC could pick up two road wins in week one.  I am hopeful that we get at least one, and I suspect that the best shot is GU at CUC.

[Masfootball41]

Good to see a little action from the UMAC board.  Welcome!

Happy to be here! I will be following mainly the UMAC and MIAC this year (following the MIAC because some former teammates and coaches are working within the MIAC). Regardless, looking forward to a great season from both conferences! Any recommendations on what other conferences to follow as well?

[HSCTiger74]

Good to see a little action from the UMAC board.  Welcome!

Happy to be here! I will be following mainly the UMAC and MIAC this year (following the MIAC because some former teammates and coaches are working within the MIAC). Regardless, looking forward to a great season from both conferences! Any recommendations on what other conferences to follow as well?

ASC
Northwest
WIAC
OAC
Liberty League and E8
NESCAC (very active but pretty insular since they don't play out-of-conference or take part in the playoffs)

Some are more active than others, obviously, but you'll usually find good discussions at these.

[02 Warhawk]

Time for my annual recruit message...

Let me know if anyone is interested in participating in the Region 6 fan poll. I'll probably have at least one open spot if you're interested.

Much appreciated!

[HansenRatings]

Playoff projections for the season using my model's preseason ratings:



You can look at other conferences on my website: https://hansenratings.github.io/.

[GU1999]

Hansen game breakdown:
GU wins 35 - 27.1  (I think GU -8 is about right.  Not sure it will be this high scoring)
NW loses 38.2 - 18.4 (This should probable be another touchdown heavier.  45-17 maybe.)
UM-M loses 37.4 - 23.2 (This will be tighter than a 14 point game.  I suspect it is more like a 7 margin for Macalaster)
Westminster loses 33.4 - 0 (Bold prediction... Westmin will score a point.  But +33 is not large enough.  Would not be surprised if this was a 40+ differential.)
Crown loses 37.7 - 19.8 (I do not think that this line is large enough.  Hamline will score more than 45+ and likely keep Crown to 14 or less.)
ML loses 33.5 - 12.2 (I think that +21 is a bit much for this game.  ML will keep it within 14, but CUW will win.)

Aggregated scoring
108.6 scored by UMAC teams
207.3 conceded by UMAC teams

Again, the UMAC should be happy to get a win this weekend.   

[GU1999]

Unfortunately, the UMAC did go 1-5 yesterday.  The games were more one sided than predicted.  The lone bright spot was GU cruising in River Forest.  GU was up 34-0 at the start of the 4th.  Defense and special teams lead the way with 3 TDS.   Lots of good reps for the lower half of the roster.  That said, they need to clean up the passing game. 

[Masfootball41]

Week 2 Picks
Eurreka @ Greenville
I think that this is a great match up for both teams, but personally think that Eurreka walks away with a close win.
Sewanee @ Westminster
I believe that this game won't be very close, but hey maybe the long bus ride gives Westy the advantage.
Concordia Wisconsin @ Northwestern
Here is another one that will be a great match up. Got to watch CW play Martin Luther last weekend, and I personally think that this will be a great game.
Simpson @ Crown
This may be the chance for Crown to get their first win of the year, along with a couple of other teams in the UMAC as well. I think that it can be a toss up but I am going with Simpson.
Macalester @ Martin Luther
I Watched Mac play last week, thinking that it will be a long afternoon for Martin Luther.
Hamline @ Minnesota Morris
I am picking Morris for this game. Bouncing back after a close one against a MIAC opponent, I think that the Cougars get it done this week and get their first win of the season.

[GU1999]

OK Masfootball41 I like that you are going with the underdogs in two of these games. 

Hansen (-8) and Massey (-3) both have GU favoured this week against the 'Fighting Ronny Reagans'.   While UM-M is a dog against Hamline in both (Hansen +2 and Massey +11).  And yes, I know the predictive models are not actual odds makers.  Although, if you were offering me Greenville and some points, I'd take you up on it.

If the UMAC were to pull off two wins this weekend, I suspect the league would consider that a success. 

[jstoll19]

UNW beats Concordia Wisconsin 26-10. Both offenses were able to move the ball and pick up some big plays, but both defenses were able to make stops when they needed to and UNW made more stops. Great game! And nice to see a UMAC school going up against a more evenly matched opponent.

[Masfootball41]

Week 3 picks
Martin Luther @ Augsburg
We saw how Augsburg handled UNW. I think that Augsburg wins this game.
Greenville @ Manchester
After last week, I think that Greenville collects themselves and gets a good win on the road.
Crown @ St. Scholastica
The Saints and the Polars battle this week, I think that the Saints win this one.
Wisconsin River Falls @ University of Northwestern
I think that River Falls wins pretty easily this week. The Eagles will battle hard but River Falls is a very good team.
Carleton @ University of Minnesota Morris
The Cougars continue a difficult non-conference slate with a game against Carleton this weekend. I do not think this game will be very close, but war damn the Cougars!!

[Masfootball41]

Week 4 picks
Northwestern @ Hope
Austin @ Crown
Minnesota Morris @ Lawrence
Adrian @ Greenville
Westminster @ Lyon