FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Just Bill]

Back in the 80's I went on many recruiting trips to figure out where I wanted to go to school/ play football.  I hit the Midwest circuit, WIAC (WSUC back then) and a few out of state schools that were D2 NDSU, SDSU, Agustana (Sioux Falls SD)and Dana College (NAIA).  I got offered a partial to NDSU and Dana but ended up staying in state at UWO due to a girl. We broke up before we even got to college and I ended up transferring to UWW.  Being an 18 yr. old kid  sometimes you don't think straight haha

The high school significant other is ALWAYS the worst reason to select a college.

And it seems its the boy who chooses the school based upon where the girl goes.  I've heard this many times from parents of boys, but I can't remember the last time I heard the parents of a girl say their daughter chose her school because that's where her boyfriend went.     

Oh, I've got some choice stories of girls who chased boys to college. One involved a girl (daughter of my former neighbor) who was a year younger than her boyfriend, so the boyfriend went to his college of choice. The girl had plenty of great options, but was leaning toward her boyfriend's school. Her dad finally decided to lay it on the line for her. He said, "Listen, if he's been away at college for a year, it's likely that he's already cheated on you." Tears flowed! Angry voices raised! Doors slammed! Girl picks boyfriend's college anyway.

Fast forward to July, girl stops by boyfriend's house and meets... new girlfriend from college. They've been dating six months. Always listen to dad!

[couchp54]

"Oh, I've got some choice stories of girls who chased boys to college. One involved a girl (daughter of my former neighbor) who was a year younger than her boyfriend, so the boyfriend went to his college of choice. The girl had plenty of great options, but was leaning toward her boyfriend's school. Her dad finally decided to lay it on the line for her. He said, "Listen, if he's been away at college for a year, it's likely that he's already cheated on you." Tears flowed! Angry voices raised! Doors slammed! Girl picks boyfriend's college anyway.

Fast forward to July, girl stops by boyfriend's house and meets... new girlfriend from college. They've been dating six months. Always listen to dad!"


LOL!!  OH my - that young man must have been sweating it when she told him she would be there in September. 
I was told by a college counselor that when boys and girls are in the same class, generally girls are quicker to take their ACTs and SATs and apply for college right away and get accepted.  He used that to account for why there are a higher percentage of girls than boys in some colleges.  Girls just apply and get accepted first.  Boys tend to take their time and whoops!  All full.  Not sure how true that is, but sure fits what I saw in my kids!  Although none of them were dating seriously at the time of HS graduation, so no worries there.

[emma17]

Back in the 80's I went on many recruiting trips to figure out where I wanted to go to school/ play football.  I hit the Midwest circuit, WIAC (WSUC back then) and a few out of state schools that were D2 NDSU, SDSU, Agustana (Sioux Falls SD)and Dana College (NAIA).  I got offered a partial to NDSU and Dana but ended up staying in state at UWO due to a girl. We broke up before we even got to college and I ended up transferring to UWW.  Being an 18 yr. old kid  sometimes you don't think straight haha

The high school significant other is ALWAYS the worst reason to select a college.

And it seems its the boy who chooses the school based upon where the girl goes.  I've heard this many times from parents of boys, but I can't remember the last time I heard the parents of a girl say their daughter chose her school because that's where her boyfriend went.     

Oh, I've got some choice stories of girls who chased boys to college. One involved a girl (daughter of my former neighbor) who was a year younger than her boyfriend, so the boyfriend went to his college of choice. The girl had plenty of great options, but was leaning toward her boyfriend's school. Her dad finally decided to lay it on the line for her. He said, "Listen, if he's been away at college for a year, it's likely that he's already cheated on you." Tears flowed! Angry voices raised! Doors slammed! Girl picks boyfriend's college anyway.

Fast forward to July, girl stops by boyfriend's house and meets... new girlfriend from college. They've been dating six months. Always listen to dad!

Sounds hauntingly familiar- I'm not proud to say.

[fredfalcon]

WarhawkDad--The current seniors are John O'Grady's last recruiting class. It remains to be seen whether the first 3 classes of Matt Walker are kids who will stick around. Walker remains the most optimistic coach I've ever encountered. Patience is the by-word for Falcon fans.

[palum]

I chose WHITEWATER because my girlfriend at the time was coming here and a good friend said I could room with him.  Her and I lasted about a year and half after that.

I chose P-ville because I wanted to major in agriculture, most of my HS buddies & my family either went to WW which was 10 miles away or Madison.  Turned out to be the best decision I have made (other than proposing to my wife of 38 years).  The fact that P-villes wrestling coach only sent me one letter had very little to do with my decision.  Wisconsin students are fortunate every WIAC or UW school allows them to further their education in their chosen field and give them a good chance to be successful.     

[bleedpurple]

UniqueInsight38--One big reason RF is not competitive in the
WIAC:  they start one senior on offense. Of the top 22 listed in 2 deeps on offense, as of Oct. 15, 20 are underclassmen and 6 are freshmen.

On D, only 2 seniors start and only 3/22 are listed in 2 deeps. Five of the listed players are freshmen.

Of seven special teams positions, no seniors start, and 3/14 freshmen start; 5  freshmen are listed in 2 deeps.

I would guess no other WIAC team is that young.

That is VERY young. UW-W is probably one of the youngest as well, especially offensively.

On the two-deep listed for tomorrow night:

OFFENSE: STARTERS- 0 Seniors, 4 juniors, 6 sophomores, 1 freshman.
               Rest of two deep: 2 seniors, 1 junior, 3 sophomores, 5 freshmen

DEFENSIVE STARTERS-  6 Seniors, 3 juniors, 2 sophomores
                Rest of two deep: 3 Seniors, 0 juniors, 6 sophomores, 2 freshmen

[badgerwarhawk]

REMINDER

Those of you participating in the WIAC pickem must pick the WARHAWKS/BluGold game by 6:00pm CST today.

[hazzben]

Thanks Hazzben....good data, but it left out Illinois...I know us flatlanders are used to it   

Just for fun I looked and counted (and I could have missed one here or there) the number of Illinois players on the rosters of WIAC schools.  Here is what I found

UW - River Falls         0
UW - Eau Claire          2
UW - Stevens Point    4
UW - Oshkosh           6
UW- Stout                7
UW - LaCrosse          7
UW - Whitewater       27
UW - Platteville         53

Now when you consider distance from the Chicago metro area, the closest are UWW, UWP and UWO, so I have to believe that proximity, winning tradition and facilities entered strongly into the decision.  Also the tuition reciprocity that UWP has with Illinois and Iowa helps them in a serious way.

Yep, no IL. I didn't gather the data last time (oversight?) and didn't have time to look it up this time. My knee jerk would be that it's probably a zero sum back and forth. Maybe not. 

What strikes me as interesting is that UWO has so few IL kids. They obviously aren't hurting for talent. But given that the 3 top teams (UWSP may prove me wrong this weekend, we'll see) are all in close proximity to IL, but only two seem to be leveraging that advantage.

Just goes to show, more than one way to skin a cat. I don't know much about UWP coaches, but obviously UWW's staff is top notch and I was more than impressed with what I saw from UWO over the course of the playoffs last year. That's probably the biggest common denominator between the three.

I know that Bethel is actually at a significant disadvantage when it comes to recruiting and aid offered. We've got one of the smallest endowments in the MIAC (unfortunately). Carleton, Olaf, UST, SJU and the Cobbers consistently out offer us by a wide margin. The former two do it strictly for financial aid and merit reasons. They go out of their way to not help athletics, unfortunately. The latter aren't afraid to get competitive. Bethel's coaching is a huge asset. As is its unique evangelical culture. We'd be toast if we weren't looking for a bit different type of kid than the other private and state schools around us.

But the aid gap hurts. Case in point, we had a stud O-Lineman just this year that didn't return. He would have been a starter and the coaches thought he was a clear all conference and beyond caliber player. But he and his parents sat down and decided they just couldn't justify taking out $25k in loans for a single school year, especially since he was just a soph. I can't blame them one bit for that decision. It was probably wise, its crazy to go $100k in debt for an undergrad degree. But it was a big blow; the coaches were understanding but also disappointed. With better aid, the kid might have only needed to take out $10k. Probably stays in school. C'est la vie!

[badgerwarhawk]

I believe UW-Oshkosh recently gained reciposity with Illinois so you may see an increase in recruits from there in the future. 

[UniqueInsight38]

Fred(DR)Falcon,

I am insider on UW-RF's problems and they go in many directions. 

Funding--very little due to the fact that the Chancellor is not pro-athletics. As well as how this affects facilities/recruiting

Coaching--The previous coaching staff was tired and burnt out by the lack of support (OG), and one coach (AK) was totally overwhelmed because he had to do everything when he was here--I am sure he is loving UWW

Competing with D-2 schools for the same athletes--These high school athletes get offered a small scholarship to go play at a school where it will still cost them more in tuition/room and board but they can tell everyone "I got a scholarship!"

Plus who wants to come play for a perennial losing team. 

These are just a few of things that Coach Walker and his staff will have to overcome.  They are very young and up to the challenge--but it might take a while.  I think that the Coaching staff is starting to realize that it takes a different style of play to beat teams in the WIAC versus the teams they play in non-conference.

As an Alum,  I am strongly behind the team but saddened by the continuous losing seasons.  Let's bring back the Pride and winning ways of the mid-nineties

Go Falcons

[02 Warhawk]

Fred(DR)Falcon,

I am insider on UW-RF's problems and they go in many directions. 

Funding--very little due to the fact that the Chancellor is not pro-athletics. As well as how this affects facilities/recruiting

Coaching--The previous coaching staff was tired and burnt out by the lack of support (OG), and one coach (AK) was totally overwhelmed because he had to do everything when he was here--I am sure he is loving UWW

Competing with D-2 schools for the same athletes--These high school athletes get offered a small scholarship to go play at a school where it will still cost them more in tuition/room and board but they can tell everyone "I got a scholarship!"

Plus who wants to come play for a perennial losing team. 

These are just a few of things that Coach Walker and his staff will have to overcome.  They are very young and up to the challenge--but it might take a while.  I think that the Coaching staff is starting to realize that it takes a different style of play to beat teams in the WIAC versus the teams they play in non-conference.

As an Alum,  I am strongly behind the team but saddened by the continuous losing seasons.  Let's bring back the Pride and winning ways of the mid-nineties

Go Falcons

I think this is the essence of what's going on athletically at UWRF. If the administration can get behind the athletic department, that will certainly stimulate funding. Then I think all the other problems you listed will take care of themselves.

Although, UWRF's basketball team has been very competitive over the past couple of seasons in the WIAC.

[Retired Old Rat]

Why are the WIAC schools forced to enter in to reciprocity agreements with IL on a school by school basis?  In Minnesota, all the state schools have full reciprocity with WI and ND.  My daughter went to UW Madison.  Without reciprocity, that's just not happening.

[02 Warhawk]

Why are the WIAC schools forced to enter in to reciprocity agreements with IL on a school by school basis?  In Minnesota, all the state schools have full reciprocity with WI and ND.  My daughter went to UW Madison.  Without reciprocity, that's just not happening.

I read that UWP did it to stimulate their low enrollment numbers. Now their football program is taking full advantage of it (as they should) . I'm not sure why Oshkosh chose to do it...this was the first I've heard of it.

[02 Warhawk]

Looks like Whitewater is the only WIAC school that doesn't offer some sort of reciproicty program with IL.

UWEC, UWL, UWO, UWRF, UWSP and UWS (and even UWSUP) are all a part of the Midwest Student Exchange Program ( Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wisconsin are all the participating states).

UWP isn't a member of the MSEP, but they do something similar with Illinois and Iowa called the Tri-State Initiative.

More on the MSEP and TSI programs

[bleedpurple]

02,
I can probably get the other WIAC schools' promotional brochures if u would like to post them too.