FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[02 Warhawk]

Interesting. I wonder what figures in to what this means? Record vs Strength of Schedule?

For what it's worth, seven of those losses came against NCC (3), St. Thomas(2) and St. John's (2).

[couchp54]

UWEC also lost to Pacific Lutheran who was ranked #12 if I remember correctly.

[Retired Old Rat]

Interesting. I wonder what figures in to what this means? Record vs Strength of Schedule?

For what it's worth, seven of those losses came against NCC (3), St. Thomas(2) and St. John's (2).

Too lazy to look up who NCC played.  The St. Thomas and St. John's wins were against the same two teams, both of which are winless on the year.  So, that record is a bit deceiving.  As is the MIAC being undefeated in non-con play.  MIAC teams did an excellent job this year of picking their non-conference patsies opponents.

[badgerwarhawk]

I don't think the conference's overall record in out of conference games is a factor in anything.  Obviously each individual team's record in out of conference games against DIII opponents is relevant in the regional ranking system.  But not the conference itself.   

[d-train]

Interesting. I wonder what figures in to what this means? Record vs Strength of Schedule?

For what it's worth, seven of those losses came against NCC (3), St. Thomas(2) and St. John's (2).

Too lazy to look up who NCC played.   The St. Thomas and St. John's wins were against the same two teams, both of which are winless on the year.  So, that record is a bit deceiving.  As is the MIAC being undefeated in non-con play.  MIAC teams did an excellent job this year of picking their non-conference patsies opponents.

It's not hard to find:
http://www.d3football.com/teams/North_Central_(Ill.)/2013/index

[retagent]

It was a part of the discussion about which are the strongest conferences. I was hoping for a better Non-con record from the WIAC (quality of opponents notwithstanding) to make a case for the MIAC and WIAC being the 2 best. Rank them as you will. The OAC and CCIW have to be considered as well.

[emma17]

It was a part of the discussion about which are the strongest conferences. I was hoping for a better Non-con record from the WIAC (quality of opponents notwithstanding) to make a case for the MIAC and WIAC being the 2 best. Rank them as you will. The OAC and CCIW have to be considered as well.

I think legit arguments can be made by several conferences that they are #1 in 2013- at this point in time. I reckon the surest answer will come when the playoffs pair them up. Right now the best teams in the WIAC have beaten all the WIAC teams that MIAC and CCIW top teams beat.
It will be especially interesting if two teams from some of these conferences make the playoffs- then we might see some #1 vs #2 in conference matchups.

The truth is I honestly have no idea how good the top WIAC teams are yet. We will all know much more in 6 days.

[HScoach]

It was a part of the discussion about which are the strongest conferences. I was hoping for a better Non-con record from the WIAC (quality of opponents notwithstanding) to make a case for the MIAC and WIAC being the 2 best. Rank them as you will. The OAC and CCIW have to be considered as well.

The OAC is very good at the top, but the bottom of the conference is horrid.   Wilmington and Marietta should give up football.   And Capital is currently really bad too.   The top 3 this season (Mount, Heidelberg and JCU) are all easily Top 20 or higher teams.  But the bottom 3 could be in the 150 or lower range.   The middle of the conference (Baldwin Wallace, Ohio Northern, Otterbein and Muskingum) are solid, but not a threat to beat one of the top 3 without some injuries or a really off day by the better team.

[02 Warhawk]

It was a part of the discussion about which are the strongest conferences. I was hoping for a better Non-con record from the WIAC (quality of opponents notwithstanding) to make a case for the MIAC and WIAC being the 2 best. Rank them as you will. The OAC and CCIW have to be considered as well.

I think legit arguments can be made by several conferences that they are #1 in 2013- at this point in time. I reckon the surest answer will come when the playoffs pair them up. Right now the best teams in the WIAC have beaten all the WIAC teams that MIAC and CCIW top teams beat. It will be especially interesting if two teams from some of these conferences make the playoffs- then we might see some #1 vs #2 in conference matchups.

The truth is I honestly have no idea how good the top WIAC teams are yet. We will all know much more in 6 days.

Don't forget the NWC (Linfield). The Wildcats had some rough games against the WIAC in the playoffs.

[02 Warhawk]

It was a part of the discussion about which are the strongest conferences. I was hoping for a better Non-con record from the WIAC (quality of opponents notwithstanding) to make a case for the MIAC and WIAC being the 2 best. Rank them as you will. The OAC and CCIW have to be considered as well.

That's exactly it...Some of the top teams from the MIAC and the CCIW have played the bottom teams of the WIAC. So the WIAC's record is not a good indicator.

I think the playoffs are a good thing to look at when comparing conferences. I always thought the OAC was a bit over rated. Outside of Mount Union, OAC teams have trouble winning the playoffs. Heidelberg didn't do the OAC any favors after getting upset at home last season in the first round. I really don't see the OAC (Heidelberg, JC, etc) giving Mount any trouble this season. Not too mention the bottom third of the OAC can't really beat anyone.

When looking at the stength of a conference, it was good for the WIAC to get a team (outside of Whitewater) to the semi-finals. I think that helped solidify the WIAC's top spot in the country.

[bleedpurple]

It was a part of the discussion about which are the strongest conferences. I was hoping for a better Non-con record from the WIAC (quality of opponents notwithstanding) to make a case for the MIAC and WIAC being the 2 best. Rank them as you will. The OAC and CCIW have to be considered as well.

That's exactly it...Some of the top teams from the MIAC and the CCIW have played the bottom teams of the WIAC. So the WIAC's record is not a good indicator.

I think the playoffs are a good thing to look at when comparing conferences. I always thought the OAC was a bit over rated. Outside of Mount Union, OAC teams have trouble winning the playoffs. Heidelberg didn't do the OAC any favors after getting upset at home last season in the first round. I really don't see the OAC (Heidelberg, JC, etc) giving Mount any trouble this season. Not too mention the bottom third of the OAC can't really beat anyone.

I would normally agree with you but I have seen posts from knowledgable Mount posters like HSCoach that believes this is the most competitive year at the top of the OAC in years. I think Heidelberg and JC are uncommonly good and Mount may be showing more vulnerability in some areas than some of their teams have. Since our posts don't influence the outcomes of games, I doubt HSCoach is sandbagging. But then again, Mount backers aren't really used to any nervousness during the regular season so maybe even the slightest bit of wondering is traumatic for them.

[02 Warhawk]

It was a part of the discussion about which are the strongest conferences. I was hoping for a better Non-con record from the WIAC (quality of opponents notwithstanding) to make a case for the MIAC and WIAC being the 2 best. Rank them as you will. The OAC and CCIW have to be considered as well.

That's exactly it...Some of the top teams from the MIAC and the CCIW have played the bottom teams of the WIAC. So the WIAC's record is not a good indicator.

I think the playoffs are a good thing to look at when comparing conferences. I always thought the OAC was a bit over rated. Outside of Mount Union, OAC teams have trouble winning the playoffs. Heidelberg didn't do the OAC any favors after getting upset at home last season in the first round. I really don't see the OAC (Heidelberg, JC, etc) giving Mount any trouble this season. Not too mention the bottom third of the OAC can't really beat anyone.

I would normally agree with you but I have seen posts from knowledgable Mount posters like HSCoach that believes this is the most competitive year at the top of the OAC in years. I think Heidelberg and JC are uncommonly good and Mount may be showing more vulnerability in some areas than some of their teams have. Since our posts don't influence the outcomes of games, I doubt HSCoach is sandbagging. But then again, Mount backers aren't really used to any nervousness during the regular season so maybe even the slightest bit of wondering is traumatic for them.

Back in August I would have agreed with you. But since the beginning of the year, that untested Mount offense has done nothing but gain confidence and experience with each win....much like UWW's offensive line. However, those Mount wins have been against the bottom feeders of the OAC....So I'll give you that. I think Mount has gotten a lot better than its narrow escape against Franklin in week one. I guess we'll see....but I hope your right, Bleed. 

What's surprised me the most is the play of their transfer RB (Woods). He transferred in being one of the better backs in the country. Not sure if he had a tough time fitting into the system? or was it due to sitting out a full season? Maybe both.

[retagent]

I think emma had it about right. I do think the MIAC is better after the top 4 than in previous years. Hamline appears to be the only real "bottom Feeder" in the conference. It's a little harder to tell in the WIAC, but it seems, at least to the casual observer, that after the top 4, things fall off pretty steeply, although, I think Hamline couldn't give the worst WIAC team a game.

[bleedpurple]

It was a part of the discussion about which are the strongest conferences. I was hoping for a better Non-con record from the WIAC (quality of opponents notwithstanding) to make a case for the MIAC and WIAC being the 2 best. Rank them as you will. The OAC and CCIW have to be considered as well.

Ret, if you want to make that argument, here is some data that will help you regarding the strength of the WIAC.

We are at the point of the season that we can actually look deeper into the non-conference games and see how they compare to the task of playing WIAC teams. Let's look at the WIAC out of conference losses and compare them to how the WIAC teams have performed in the WIAC so far:

River Falls (0-3 non-conference)- Lost to St. John's, St. Thomas, and Simpson by a combined 22 points.  Lost to their 3 WIAC opponents by a combined 103 points.

Eau Claire (0-3 non-conference)- Lost to St. John's, St. Thomas, and Pacific Lutheran by a combined 50 points (including 2 and 3 point losses to Pac Lu and St. John's).  Lost to their 3 WIAC opponents by a combined 70 points.

La Crosse (0-3 non-conference)- Lost to Dubuque, North Central, and Missouri S&T (D2) by a combined 41 points.  Whitewater and Oshkosh beat them by a combined 68. LaCrosse beat Stout.

Stout (2-1 in non-conference)- Lost to North Central by 27. Lost to Oshkosh by 2, LaCrosse by 18, and Whitewater by 42.

Stevens Point (2-1 in non-conference)- Lost to North Central by 20.  They beat Eau Claire and River Falls and lost to Platteville by 1. 

It's possible that the bottom half of the WIAC is not as strong as it has been in previous years. But the fact remains that, for the most part, those teams still find the sledding way rougher within the WIAC than they do when they face out of conference competition.

Considering the level of competition these teams have faced in non-conference play, to think that their in-conference games have, for the most part, been even tougher speaks volumes of the quality of the WIAC conference. And remember, this data is only considering the WIAC LOSSES!

[oshfb]

I don't think it's too much an exaggeration to say this week is basically the same as a playoff week.
This is the third consecutive year that UWW and UWO have squared off for conference leader (understanding UWP is there now too).  The last two years have been dog fights and very exciting games. Poise has been the key the last two years.
It will be interesting to say the least.

If you check the conference's statistical categories the two teams are nearly side by side in every one of them.  I don't think you could get two teams any more statistically similar than these two.  It could be a game decided by one or two mistakes or big plays.

I hope we can get some UWO perspective on the boards this week.
It's easy for some of us UWW fans to be fired up about the team this year, but of course the schedule to date isn't loaded w winning teams. We can't know w certainty if UWW will be able to move the ball as they've been doing or defend to the degree they've been defending.

UWO started out slow this season sneaking by Central 24-20. I chalk that up to numerous new starters on the defense. They seem to have come into their own since then allowing more than 13 pts only once against Stout. Maybe O'Grady was able to provide some valuable insight to the Stout staff after spending a few seasons at UWO. Who knows.

UWO has definitly kept it interesting the past 2 seasons and I expect to see that again this year.

Historical Results
2012: UWO wins 28-13
2011: UWW wins 20-17 after being down 17-10 at half
2010: UWW wins 48-21
2009: UWW wins 40-7
2008: UWW wins 44-3
2007: UWW wins 26-14
2006: UWW wins 17-3