FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[SJU92#57]

Barber Greene, not much left to talk trash about....seasons over.   Just kiddin' hope to see the 'Hawks next yr in the playoffs, only in Collegeville. We have much better stands for the visitors.

[raiderpa]

Captain Kurt....great post about the conference battles...as a lifelong Mount Union Purple Raider, I will tell you that all Larry Kehres preaches in preseason, and during the season is winning the conference...the other stuff will follow if you take care of that business...
and in the WIAC, from my Ohio perspective, you can lose any week on the schedule..it is a very competitive and strong conference...great respect from Ohio
With a bias here, I believe that the OAC and the WIAC are two of  the best conferences for competition  that prepare their teams for playoff football by the strength of regular season...
That being said...I will be very surprised if WWW is not back in the Stagg next year...an awesome team...

[lilpeds]

As I come to think of next season now, I feel like I have had a moment of enlightenment.  It dawned on me that the Warhawks might not make it back to playoffs next year.  At the very least, it is certainly not guaranteed.  The WIAC presents formidable challenges every week ; we all know this.  The "****birds" of the conference have the ability to win against the best the conference has on any given Saturday.  As Whitewater sets it's focus on next season, I'm sure that their first goal is to win the WIAC just so that they can qualify for the chance to get to the Stagg Bowl.  Any WIAC who doesn't think in this order of operation is making a fatal mistake, speaking in football terms of course.

Here's where my point comes in.  Teams in the WIAC have to make it their first priority to win the WIAC.  Any team who says "We must win the Stagg Bowl" at the beginning of the season will most likely look past the likes of Platteville and/or River Falls and find themselves losing to either one of these teams.  Second place and third place in the WIAC would usually finish first in 50% of the conferences that have Pool A bids.  But with 2 or 3 losses due to ridiculously challenging non-conference schedules and the most challenging conference schedule in the nation, there is no love from the selection committee for 2nd place with that many losses; 3rd place can't even think about getting a bid.  Once a WIAC teams wins it's conference, it's my theory that those teams feel extremely accomplished, and almost relieved in a sense, and then have an even larger obstacle to tackle, that being the playoffs and winning games beyond the first round.  Does anyone know what type of focus it takes to do what UW-Whitewater did this season, coming from a conference like the WIAC and a region as loaded as the West? 

If you're scheduled to play teams of that caliber every week for the better part of 16 weeks (that's 1/3 of a calendar year), you're bound to lose one eventually.  It's much easier for a team to focus on 4 or 5 games on a 15 games schedule then it is for a team to focus on  15 games on a 15 games schedule.  It becomes a little difficult.  I guess this is ultimately a compliment to UWW on what they were able to do as they entered the Stagg 14 - 0.  If the quality of wins index were some how more mathematically accurate than it is right now, they probably will never be a team that grades out as well as UWW did this past season.  Except for maybe next year's UWW team.  Let's win the WIAC first, and let's keep our focus throughout the best we can.  Who do we open up with next year?  That's all that matter right now.

That last few posts were great. I totally agree with you Kaptain. And raiderpa, THANK YOU for the respect. I also agree that the two best conferences are the WIAC and OAC, but others on the Daily Dose are having a hard time giving either conference the credit they deserve.

There were a lot of young teams in the WIAC this year, so don't be surprised if the champ doesn't go through undefeated next season.

[footballfan413]

Captain Kurt....great post about the conference battles...as a lifelong Mount Union Purple Raider, I will tell you that all Larry Kehres preaches in preseason, and during the season is winning the conference...the other stuff will follow if you take care of that business...
and in the WIAC, from my Ohio perspective, you can lose any week on the schedule..it is a very competitive and strong conference...great respect from Ohio
With a bias here, I believe that the OAC and the WIAC are two of  the best conferences for competition  that prepare their teams for playoff football by the strength of regular season...
That being said...I will be very surprised if WWW is not back in the Stagg next year...an awesome team...

I, too, want to say that I agree with everything you said here, RaiderPa and THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE RESPECT YOU HAVE SHOWN HERE TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPION RUNNER-UPS!!  It means alot to hear this team get the credit they deserve for their magnificent season from a MUC fan.  Both great and tough conferences!

[CaptainKurt]

That last few posts were great. I totally agree with you Kaptain. And raiderpa, THANK YOU for the respect. I also agree that the two best conferences are the WIAC and OAC, but others on the Daily Dose are having a hard time giving either conference the credit they deserve.

There were a lot of young teams in the WIAC this year, so don't be surprised if the champ doesn't go through undefeated next season.

And that's where the problem for the WIAC as a whole begins.  With a conference champ at one loss, that means 2nd place will have 2 conference losses.  When the selection commitee looks at the at-large bids, forget about it.  We as the WIAC have to ride the coat-tails of one WIAC team and hope that they do well as our representative.  The strength of Mount Union makes them a shoe-in, and therefore the OAC gets viewed as a conference that gets a two bids, that being Mount Union plus one (the next best team). 

Much respect to Mount Union and the rest of the OAC.

[Barber Greene]

Any word on how this season has affected UWW recruiting? May be a few of the better players that may have considered another WIAC school may now be considering UWW instead?

Does this site do any evaluation and/or ranking of DIII recruiting classes?

[HScoach]

That last few posts were great. I totally agree with you Kaptain. And raiderpa, THANK YOU for the respect. I also agree that the two best conferences are the WIAC and OAC, but others on the Daily Dose are having a hard time giving either conference the credit they deserve.

There were a lot of young teams in the WIAC this year, so don't be surprised if the champ doesn't go through undefeated next season.

And that's where the problem for the WIAC as a whole begins.  With a conference champ at one loss, that means 2nd place will have 2 conference losses.  When the selection commitee looks at the at-large bids, forget about it.  We as the WIAC have to ride the coat-tails of one WIAC team and hope that they do well as our representative.  The strength of Mount Union makes them a shoe-in, and therefore the OAC gets viewed as a conference that gets a two bids, that being Mount Union plus one (the next best team). 

Much respect to Mount Union and the rest of the OAC.

Captain Kurt:  Great points, but based on WWW's great run this season thru the playoffs, don't be surprised if the 2nd place WIAC team isn't afforded a lot more respect next season when it comes to playoff selections.  What has made the OAC's 2nd team a shoe-in is the playoff record of MUC.  The WIAC's problem to date has been their champs record in the playoffs most years, regardless of whether they had a tough bracket or not.  But Whitewater has completely changed that in 1 season!   The best case scenario for 2006 in terms of 2 WIAC getting in would be for WW to go 10-0 again or maybe better yet, if WWW finishes in 2nd place with an 8-2 or 9-1 record.  Based on Whitewater's strong showing in 2005, it's going to be awfully hard for the NCAA to leave the 2005 runner-ups at home if they finish 2nd in the tough WIAC. 

As an example, back in 1994 MUC finished in a 3-way tie at 9-1 a top the OAC, but got 1 of the 16 bids over the other 2 OAC teams (even the one they lost to).  The only reason I think they got in was that they were the defending champs.  No reason to think that Whitewater won't get afforded the same advantage in 2006.  Plus it's easier getting in with 32 teams instead of 16.

You're 100% correct that one of the biggest factors in getting 2 teams in is often having a clear-cut 2nd place team with a good record.  9-1 was required before the playoff expansion, but now 8-2 is OK in a tough conference.  What will kill the 2nd team's chance is the champ at 10-0 or 9-1 with a few team sitting at 7-3.   I'd bet my house that we'll never see a 7-3 team getting an at-large bid.

[d-train]

I'll take that bet and your house. See Willamette in 2003. 7-3 and given the fourth Pool B bid.

[Pat Coleman]

I'll take that bet and your house. See Willamette in 2003. 7-3 and given the fourth Pool B bid.

Not three D-III losses, though.

No, we don't rank recruiting classes.
From the FAQ:
There's no national signing day, no letter of intent and nothing binding a kid to actually attend the school, or even to play football when they're there. You don't truly know what recruits you have until they show up in August for training camp. That, in combination with the fact that many key D-III players are not on the radar of the people who rank college prospects, is why there isn't any national recruiting news at this level

[HScoach]

I wouldn't classify Pool B being an "at-large" bid either.   Especially in the context of which it was being discusssed.

[Mr. Ypsi]

hscoach,

Glad to see you won't be homeless afterall!

[d-train]

I wouldn't classify Pool B being an "at-large" bid either.   Especially in the context of which it was being discusssed.

Sure, I can understand only counting D-3 losses...but how is Pool B not "at-large"? Especially when Willamette was a league runner-up.

[Pat Coleman]

Because we're talking about a WIAC team getting an at-large bid, right? Are they eligible for Pool B bids? No.

[d-train]

Because we're talking about a WIAC team getting an at-large bid, right? Are they eligible for Pool B bids? No.

Looked to me like he was talking about conference runner-up's and at-large bids. Not WIAC specific, not OAC specific, not D-3 vs. overall losses. I'm just encouraging coach to do a little more research before offering his house in a bet. Perhaps he should have said that three D-3 losses will knock a team out of Pool C consideration every year.

[Pat Coleman]

No. You're reading it from a Pool B-centric universe. The entire discussion was around the WIAC and OAC, two conferences with automatic bids.