FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[voice]

The Tribe that is the D3Football.com Around the Nation braintrust has spoken:

WIAC continues to be the strongest DIII football conference in the land.   

One oddity with the WIAC listed as the strongest D3 conference again this year.  UWW's 11-13 is the only conference until you get to No. 17 that a conference has a sub-500 nonconference mark this season.
Yes I know the toughness of the WIAC's nonconference schedule - but the fact of being sub-500 is interesting at least in my mind which isn't saying much!

[retagent]

The Tribe that is the D3Football.com Around the Nation braintrust has spoken:

WIAC continues to be the strongest DIII football conference in the land.   

"That's just your opinion, man."

And you know what they say about opinions and a$$h0!es. Everybody has at least one.

[Pat Coleman]

The Tribe that is the D3Football.com Around the Nation braintrust has spoken:

WIAC continues to be the strongest DIII football conference in the land.   

"That's just your opinion, man."

And you know what they say about opinions and a$$h0!es. Everybody has at least one.

I'd love to see a WIAC-MIAC challenge. St. Olaf and Carleton and Hamline wouldn't, though ...

[voice]

I'm very sad to announce that former UW-Whitewater football coach Bob Berezowitz's father, Joe, passed away Wednesday morning at his residence in Greendale, WI at the age of 94.

Click on the link for full obituary http://www.maxsass.com/obituary/Joseph-John-Berezowitz/Greendale-WI/1438567

[02 Warhawk]

The Tribe that is the D3Football.com Around the Nation braintrust has spoken:

WIAC continues to be the strongest DIII football conference in the land.   

"That's just your opinion, man."

And you know what they say about opinions and a$$h0!es. Everybody has at least one.

I'd love to see a WIAC-MIAC challenge. St. Olaf and Carleton and Hamline wouldn't, though ...

Or whoever gets the 1 seed in the MIAC.

(Assuming it would be 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, etc...)

[AO]

The Tribe that is the D3Football.com Around the Nation braintrust has spoken:

WIAC continues to be the strongest DIII football conference in the land.   

"That's just your opinion, man."

And you know what they say about opinions and a$$h0!es. Everybody has at least one.

I'd love to see a WIAC-MIAC challenge. St. Olaf and Carleton and Hamline wouldn't, though ...

One of those teams wouldn't be able to play unless the WIAC wants to add Maranatha Baptist.

It still seems plausible to me that North Central, Platteville and Stevens Point are all overrated.  When River Falls gives a much better challenge to Stevens Point than they did to Simpson, you might not have parity, you might have mediocre teams. This argument seems strangely familiar.....

I'd predict:
Whitewater beats Bethel
Concordia beats Stevens Point
St. John's beats Platteville
St. Thomas beats Oshkosh
Gustavus beats LaCrosse
Augsburg beats River Falls
Eau Claire beats Hamline
Stout beats Carleton

[Pat Coleman]

I'd predict:
Whitewater beats Bethel
Concordia beats Stevens Point
St. John's beats Platteville
St. Thomas beats Oshkosh
Gustavus beats LaCrosse
Augsburg beats River Falls
Eau Claire beats Hamline
Stout beats Carleton

But you don't get to take out the bottom MIAC team. You have to take out the middle one.

I'd posit this:

Whitewater beats Bethel
Concordia vs. Stevens Point toss-up
St. John's vs. Platteville toss-up
St. Thomas beats Oshkosh
Gustavus beats La Crosse
River Falls beats Hamline
Eau Claire beats Carleton
Stout beats St. Olaf

(Augsburg bye)

[D3MAFAN]

I'd predict:
Whitewater beats Bethel
Concordia beats Stevens Point
St. John's beats Platteville
St. Thomas beats Oshkosh
Gustavus beats LaCrosse
Augsburg beats River Falls
Eau Claire beats Hamline
Stout beats Carleton

But you don't get to take out the bottom MIAC team. You have to take out the middle one.

I'd posit this:

Whitewater beats Bethel
Concordia vs. Stevens Point toss-up
St. John's vs. Platteville toss-up
St. Thomas beats Oshkosh
Gustavus beats La Crosse
River Falls beats Hamline
Eau Claire beats Carleton
Stout beats St. Olaf

(Augsburg bye)

Pat,

You and the other guys should do a hypothetical conference breakdown playoff in this format as part of the around the nation discussions, it would be awesome start with #1 verse #16, #2 vs. #15, etc...have the other conference ranked below and independents, play in an play-in game. It would be awesome, it would be most likely be the matchup from above, but the discussion would be nice.

[AO]

I'd predict:
Whitewater beats Bethel
Concordia beats Stevens Point
St. John's beats Platteville
St. Thomas beats Oshkosh
Gustavus beats LaCrosse
Augsburg beats River Falls
Eau Claire beats Hamline
Stout beats Carleton

But you don't get to take out the bottom MIAC team. You have to take out the middle one.

I'd posit this:

Whitewater beats Bethel
Concordia vs. Stevens Point toss-up
St. John's vs. Platteville toss-up
St. Thomas beats Oshkosh
Gustavus beats La Crosse
River Falls beats Hamline
Eau Claire beats Carleton
Stout beats St. Olaf

(Augsburg bye)

the Big Ten-ACC challenge takes out the bottom teams when the number of teams is uneven. 

If it was 4-1 MIAC after the top 5 teams played, I don't think the WIAC could retain the title by winning the final 3.  The best of the lousiest, the lousiest of the best.

[Pat Coleman]

the Big Ten-ACC challenge takes out the bottom teams when the number of teams is uneven. 

That's a made-for-TV event and not trying to accomplish what we're trying to accomplish.

[AO]

the Big Ten-ACC challenge takes out the bottom teams when the number of teams is uneven. 

That's a made-for-TV event and not trying to accomplish what we're trying to accomplish.

I might have different goals?  To determine which conference is better I don't see how you can throw one of the better teams out of the mix.  Mankato State and Winona State are on cbs sports network tonight, why not the MIAC-WIAC challenge?

[Pat Coleman]

You're throwing the middle team out of the mix, which if you are trying to measure conference strength top to bottom, you absolutely have to do.

You may be trying to measure conference strength a different way to meet your own agenda. I get that. This is our agenda-free measurement. I don't have a dog in the fight, and this Minnesota boy certainly doesn't have a WIAC dog in it.

[palum]

The Tribe that is the D3Football.com Around the Nation braintrust has spoken:

WIAC continues to be the strongest DIII football conference in the land.   

"That's just your opinion, man."

And you know what they say about opinions and a$$h0!es. Everybody has at least one.

I'd love to see a WIAC-MIAC challenge. St. Olaf and Carleton and Hamline wouldn't, though...

It's not like its never been done before there used to be the "Border Battle" between the WIAC and I believe the Northern Sun Conference in Minnesota.  It was a 2 day event at the old Metrodome.  I know it would be hard to set up with the MIAC or the IIAC but it would sure help some schools fill out their non-conference schedules and with travel costs. 

[AO]

You're throwing the middle team out of the mix, which if you are trying to measure conference strength top to bottom, you absolutely have to do.

You may be trying to measure conference strength a different way to meet your own agenda. I get that. This is our agenda-free measurement. I don't have a dog in the fight, and this Minnesota boy certainly doesn't have a WIAC dog in it.

In the past you've used playoff winning pct to rank the conferences.  Obviously that data is a little limited to measure the whole conference but the better teams should count for more.  Kind of like Williams winning the director's cup despite Whitewater having won the Football, Basketball and Baseball titles.

In regards to this actually happening, I think the MIAC is doing a pretty good job of scheduling the few non-conference games they have.  I also think we'll see another couple MIAC-WIAC matchups in the playoffs this year. 

After we take the Axe back it has to sting when the WIAC loses the 2015 pre-season rankings.

[emma17]

The Tribe that is the D3Football.com Around the Nation braintrust has spoken:

WIAC continues to be the strongest DIII football conference in the land.   

"That's just your opinion, man."

And you know what they say about opinions and a$$h0!es. Everybody has at least one.

I'd love to see a WIAC-MIAC challenge. St. Olaf and Carleton and Hamline wouldn't, though ...

One of those teams wouldn't be able to play unless the WIAC wants to add Maranatha Baptist.

It still seems plausible to me that North Central, Platteville and Stevens Point are all overrated.  When River Falls gives a much better challenge to Stevens Point than they did to Simpson, you might not have parity, you might have mediocre teams. This argument seems strangely familiar.....

I'd predict:
Whitewater beats Bethel
Concordia beats Stevens Point
St. John's beats Platteville
St. Thomas beats Oshkosh
Gustavus beats LaCrosse
Augsburg beats River Falls
Eau Claire beats Hamline
Stout beats Carleton

AO, I agree with you that it is plausible that NCC, UWP and UWSP are over-rated.  And of course it's plausible that Concordia, Bethel, St. John's, St. Thomas and Gustavus are over-rated as well.  It's just too soon to tell.  Not that I rely heavily on comparative scores, but at this point it's all we have and it's fun.  UWP has performed significantly better than MIAC's best against common opponents- Buena Vista and Eau Claire.  Their loss to NCC simply wasn't as lopsided as the public perception they received (including from me initially). 
I guess NCC is the real barometer here.  If NCC is not the NCC of past, then the WIAC loses its edge.  I happen to believe in NCC and I think they will rebound this season and prove to be a top 7 team.  If NCC is that good, then your predictions of Concordia and St. John's wins probably need to be switched.  That leaves UWO.
UWO beat UW Stout in similar blow out fashion as Wartburg did.  Wartburg had their way with two top MIAC's.  UWO had a heck of a non-conf schedule. 

Anyway, the comparative scoring isn't the certain answer, but it does suggest there is good reason for alternate predictions.