FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[bleedpurple]

I am guessing the Titans win this by at least 2 touchdowns.

You are looking awfully smart Bleed!!!

UWO 31
UWP 10

FINAL

(Platteville finally found the endzone with 0:02 left in the game.)

Thanks, Cubs. It may be more of a case of the "Law of the Blind Squirrel", but I'll take it! 

[bleedpurple]

Great road win for the Warhawks on Saturday:

Score: 45-0
First downs: 27-11
Total yards: 501-164
The last 8 possessions for Eau Claire: 47 yards.
Second consecutive shut out for the defense.
19 points given up...all season.

[bluestreak66]

Do Oshkosh is coming on strong as of late! How does everyone think the committee will treat the non D3 loss?

[DBQ1965]

Do Oshkosh is coming on strong as of late! How does everyone think the committee will treat the non D3 loss?

Good question ... how does a loss to a 6-1 D2 team play here?   

[bleedpurple]

Do Oshkosh is coming on strong as of late! How does everyone think the committee will treat the non D3 loss?

Good question ... how does a loss to a 6-1 D2 team play here?

My guess is that it the committee will make every effort to ignore it. Especially given they also beat a D-II team.  I think they will try to throw them both out and evaluate the rest. 

Where UW-0 may run into trouble is showing a quality victory. They need Carthage to do some damage. UW-P's loss to Thomas More and even their Jekyll and Hyde performance against ETBU won't help them. La Crosse had a quality win, but barely escaped Stout last week. And they have a nightmare NAIA loss (It might be harder to ignore those). Plus the Platteville, La Crosse game will tag one of them with a loss.

So much depends on what plays out nationally. But if a one loss WIAC runner-up is ever NOT making it, this could be the year. But my gut tells me they will make it.

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Coach Liapold and Buffalo are bowl eligible and in first place in the MAC East.

[badgerwarhawk]

Coach Leipold and Buffalo are bowl eligible and in first place in the MAC East.

Corrected the spelling for you.  Two seasons ago he missed being bowl eligible when they lost the last game of the year.  Last year he had the Bulls bowl eligible  but there weren't enough bowl bids for the league.  He's playing with his own recruits now and I doubt that will happen. 

[emma17]

Coach Leipold and Buffalo are bowl eligible and in first place in the MAC East.

Corrected the spelling for you.  Two seasons ago he missed being bowl eligible when they lost the last game of the year.  Last year he had the Bulls bowl eligible  but there weren't enough bowl bids for the league.  He's playing with his own recruits now and I doubt that will happen.

You can see those players really appreciate the progress the program has made. They celebrated the victory w an ice bucket bath for Coach LL.

[wally_wabash]

Do Oshkosh is coming on strong as of late! How does everyone think the committee will treat the non D3 loss?

Good question ... how does a loss to a 6-1 D2 team play here?

My guess is that it the committee will make every effort to ignore it. Especially given they also beat a D-II team.  I think they will try to throw them both out and evaluate the rest. 

Here's the language on non-DIII results and how they get used in the selection/seeding process.  Do note that these are secondary criteria, used if/when teams are not clearly differentiated by the primary criteria (which heavily stresses in-division competition):

● Non-Division III win-loss percentage
● Results versus common non-Division III opponents
● Non-Division III Strength of Schedule

So, you can throw out the second bullet because the chances that two or more at-large contenders played the same non-division opponent is essentially zero.  I'm not sure how they determine non-division SOS- seems like a completely qualitative assessment to me.  But that first point- "non-Division III win-loss percentage"- is the kicker.  If you play out of the  division and lose, it's bad.  No matter who you lose to, it's not good.  Compared to the leeway given the committee in the primary criteria to evaluate "results" vs. regionally ranked opponents, this criteria for evaluating non-division results is far more narrow in scope.  They want teams to play inside the division (and so do most of us, I think). 

[UWO Titan 78]

I wasn't overly impressed with the Pioneers on Saturday. The Titans gave them a few opportunities, but the Pioneers failed to hit open receivers deep. When you throw the ball as much as they do, you have to connect on a couple of those plays. That being said, it was a solid performance by the Titans. They are still a really good defense, and an offense that is coming around. I would've thought this o-line would have been better, but they haven't gelled like past o-lines. I've said it all season; this team still lacks playmakers. Radavich has improved, but he is still a game manager at this point. The runningbacks are solid, but not spectacular. Todarello is a great player, but he's neither a true runningback or a true receiver. I think they can beat LAX, and I think they can finish 8-2. Does 7-1 against Division 3 get them in? I don't know. 6-1 against D3 wasn't good enough in 2014. I think that team could've surprised in the postseason, because they had the young core (Kasper, Hecker, Sommers) that was improving every week and would become great. That 2014 team lost to 2 NAIA playoff teams and a FCS team. I don't think the committee was putting in a 6-4 at large team regardless of who they played, so that was a moot point. An 8-2 (7-1 v. D3) team is a different story. 8-2 teams have gotten in as at-large teams before. If they win out, their only D3 loss is to a likely top 5 national team (UWW), and it was their fifth consecutive road game. The resume is better this time around. History shows the program has performed well on the national stage. They must beat LAX to even be in the conversation. We'll see what they do on Saturday. They can play with anybody outside the top 5 in the country, and I know there isn't anybody who will want to welcome them into their stadium in the postseason. Let's see how this weekend goes. 

[Pat Coleman]

It's key to remember that the 6-1 wasn't just any 6-1. It was 6-1 plus three non-D3 losses. The secondary criteria have to come into play when 30% of your schedule is out of division and if it is all losses, that's going to kill your chances.

[WW]

Surprised to see UWL put such a whuppin on the Pointers Saturday but I see Point is now starting a freshman at QB. What happened to Urmanski?

[Brad]

I had a wonderful day of WIAC Football. I started the day out by going to the UW River Falls vs UW Stout game. After the game I made the two hour drive south and caught the UWL vs Point game. Review:

UWRF D looked better than I expected them to. The Herink kid from UWRF is a huge weapon for them on O. If you have not seen him play yet, he is fun to watch. Stout lost their big RB (#5) mid way through the 3rd Q which really hurt them. By the looks of it, he might be out awhile. He in my mind is a top 3 to 4 back in the league. I was very impressed with how Stouts young QB handled the offense and the pressure of UWRF. Stout also had 4 freshman WR that played big mins. The future is bright at UW- Stout. Overall great football game

I sure did not see a blow out coming in the UWL game. UWL won the field position game big time. They had a couple monster punt returns. I was impressed with UWL QB. 4 passing TDS and a rushing TD. I am not sure if Point will win another game. I understand that it was a freshman's first start but they could not get anything going on O at all.

Mid way through the year thoughts:
UWW- They will win the national title this year. Heard it here first.
UWO- Will win the rest, the O will hold them back a bit
UWP- Can't figure them out yet.
UWL- Can't figure them out yet. Played Whitewater well for 1 half then fell apart.
UWEC- Going to struggle to get a W. They do look much improved however.
UWRF- Up and down. Don't have a good handle on them.
UW- Stout- If the back is out, it doesn't look good. They do have play makers to get 2 more W's
Point- Year 0 for a new head coach. I really think he will get Point turned around, might take 3-5 years but you can still win at point.

[02 Warhawk]

I had a wonderful day of WIAC Football. I started the day out by going to the UW River Falls vs UW Stout game. After the game I made the two hour drive south and caught the UWL vs Point game. Review:

UWRF D looked better than I expected them to. The Herink kid from UWRF is a huge weapon for them on O. If you have not seen him play yet, he is fun to watch. Stout lost their big RB (#5) mid way through the 3rd Q which really hurt them. By the looks of it, he might be out awhile. He in my mind is a top 3 to 4 back in the league. I was very impressed with how Stouts young QB handled the offense and the pressure of UWRF. Stout also had 4 freshman WR that played big mins. The future is bright at UW- Stout. Overall great football game

I sure did not see a blow out coming in the UWL game. UWL won the field position game big time. They had a couple monster punt returns. I was impressed with UWL QB. 4 passing TDS and a rushing TD. I am not sure if Point will win another game. I understand that it was a freshman's first start but they could not get anything going on O at all.

Mid way through the year thoughts:
UWW- They will win the national title this year. Heard it here first.
UWO- Will win the rest, the O will hold them back a bit
UWP- Can't figure them out yet.
UWL- Can't figure them out yet. Played Whitewater well for 1 half then fell apart.
UWEC- Going to struggle to get a W. They do look much improved however.
UWRF- Up and down. Don't have a good handle on them.
UW- Stout- If the back is out, it doesn't look good. They do have play makers to get 2 more W's
Point- Year 0 for a new head coach. I really think he will get Point turned around, might take 3-5 years but you can still win at point.

Pat, I thought having two accounts on here is prohibited? Looks like bleedpurple found a loophole.

[hazzben]

Hard to know how to express thanks to the Warhawk FB team and athletic department for their decency and good samaritan response to the Bethel Volleyball team this weekend. Obviously a tragedy that resulted in the deaths of two young people. But thinking of what happened recently with the hockey team in Canada a few years back, it's also good to thank God that the accident wasn't worse this weekend.

Also makes you realize how often we take for granted the safety of our teams and fans driving/flying back and forth from all these athletic events.

All that to say, tip of the cap to our DIII brethren in Wisconsin for their kindness on the scene of the trauma.