FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[houdini]

You guys just got called out by an Oshkosh assistant coach:

Steve Brown @CoachBrown19
It's amazing how quiet the WIAC board on @d3football gets when U Dub Dub suffers a loss.  #crickets #HailTitans #WonTheDay

https://twitter.com/CoachBrown19/status/654107555371859971

Shots fired...  Brady Grayvold has an appropriate comeback though!

Brady Grayvold ‏@brady__G
Almost as quiet and empty as your National Title trophy case. #WinTheYear 

https://twitter.com/brady__G/status/654110276950753281

Oshkosh's National Title trophy case has 31 trophies in it

[bleedpurple]

I simply want to see the staff use every bit of talent on the roster and not be paralyzed by the fear of young players making mistakes.

That staff moved to Buffalo.

Warhawk football 2015: Doubt us now. Regret it later.

Don't look at me, bud.  It's your own doing the head scratching and second-guessing.  All it took was one narrow loss.  Pretty fragile group, really.

Oh, so you are not doubting our coaching staff. Good! Because it seemed like you were. And that would have been pompous.

2015 WARHAWK FOOTBALL: DOUBT US NOW. REGRET IT LATER!

[wally_wabash]

I simply want to see the staff use every bit of talent on the roster and not be paralyzed by the fear of young players making mistakes.

That staff moved to Buffalo.

Warhawk football 2015: Doubt us now. Regret it later.

Don't look at me, bud.  It's your own doing the head scratching and second-guessing.  All it took was one narrow loss.  Pretty fragile group, really.

Oh, so you are not doubting our coaching staff. Good! Because it seemed like you were. And that would have been pompous.

2015 WARHAWK FOOTBALL: DOUBT US NOW. REGRET IT LATER!

Yeah, not from me.  The doubters seem to be coming from inside your own camp.  As far as I'm concerned, champs stay the champs until they get eliminated.  Apologies if that doesn't fit into your totally non-pompous and entirely fictional "nobody believed in us" narrative. 

[cubs]

You guys just got called out by an Oshkosh assistant coach:

Steve Brown @CoachBrown19
It's amazing how quiet the WIAC board on @d3football gets when U Dub Dub suffers a loss.  #crickets #HailTitans #WonTheDay

https://twitter.com/CoachBrown19/status/654107555371859971

Shots fired...  Brady Grayvold has an appropriate comeback though!

Brady Grayvold ‏@brady__G
Almost as quiet and empty as your National Title trophy case. #WinTheYear 

https://twitter.com/brady__G/status/654110276950753281

Oshkosh's National Title trophy case has 31 trophies in it

How many from Football? 

Would venture to guess that the vast majority of them are from Track and Cross Country....

[badgerwarhawk]

WARHAWKS look to rebound...

http://www.dailyunion.com/sports/article_67437f3c-7344-11e5-a6b5-07ca554d0536.html

[02 Warhawk]

Pickems Reminder: Get your picks in by tomorrow afternoon. UWW plays UWL tomorrow night.

Thanks

[Barber Greene]

Living in Virginia I have only been able to watch the Warhawks over the internet.  A couple of comments.  The defense has played well, giving up only 7 points to Oshkosh and Platteville.  I think the athletes are there in the passing game.  The QB needs to be more decisive and deliver the ball more quickly.  I get anxious when he starts scrambling and throws ill-advised passes.

[ExTartanPlayer]

It's also important that any Pool C entrants from the WIAC have success in the playoffs as well.

This, I think, is a really great point.  For all of the WIAC's internal competition (which has no doubt hampered them from getting more Pool C bids over the years), I have been surprised that the two Pool C bids that the WIAC did get recently (2013 Platteville and 2008 Stevens Point) did not really distinguish themselves in the playoffs.  Other leagues aren't really sending Pool C teams too deep, either, but I think the perception that the WIAC really has two or three top-15 level programs would have stronger legs if the league had a season with a Pool C entrant or two making a playoff run.

[cubs]

It's also important that any Pool C entrants from the WIAC have success in the playoffs as well.

This, I think, is a really great point.  For all of the WIAC's internal competition (which has no doubt hampered them from getting more Pool C bids over the years), I have been surprised that the two Pool C bids that the WIAC did get recently (2013 Platteville and 2008 Stevens Point) did not really distinguish themselves in the playoffs.  Other leagues aren't really sending Pool C teams too deep, either, but I think the perception that the WIAC really has two or three top-15 level programs would have stronger legs if the league had a season with a Pool C entrant or two making a playoff run.

Honest question, because I truly don't know....

How many Pool C bids has the WIAC gotten in the last 10 years?  Are the 2008 and 2013 seasons the only two?

[ExTartanPlayer]

It's also important that any Pool C entrants from the WIAC have success in the playoffs as well.

This, I think, is a really great point.  For all of the WIAC's internal competition (which has no doubt hampered them from getting more Pool C bids over the years), I have been surprised that the two Pool C bids that the WIAC did get recently (2013 Platteville and 2008 Stevens Point) did not really distinguish themselves in the playoffs.  Other leagues aren't really sending Pool C teams too deep, either, but I think the perception that the WIAC really has two or three top-15 level programs would have stronger legs if the league had a season with a Pool C entrant or two making a playoff run.

Honest question, because I truly don't know....

How many Pool C bids has the WIAC gotten in the last 10 years?  Are the 2008 and 2013 seasons the only two?

Yes, they are.  I actually wish they'd gotten more because we'd have a more conclusive answer to the question of where the rest of the league stacks up.  Obviously UWO's 2012 run to the semis in UWW's absence was a point suggesting that it's much more than a one-team league.  But the problem is that many of those years the league runner-up finished 7-3 and really couldn't even get into the discussion under the current criteria.

[emma17]

It's also important that any Pool C entrants from the WIAC have success in the playoffs as well.

This, I think, is a really great point.  For all of the WIAC's internal competition (which has no doubt hampered them from getting more Pool C bids over the years), I have been surprised that the two Pool C bids that the WIAC did get recently (2013 Platteville and 2008 Stevens Point) did not really distinguish themselves in the playoffs.  Other leagues aren't really sending Pool C teams too deep, either, but I think the perception that the WIAC really has two or three top-15 level programs would have stronger legs if the league had a season with a Pool C entrant or two making a playoff run.

Honest question, because I truly don't know....

How many Pool C bids has the WIAC gotten in the last 10 years?  Are the 2008 and 2013 seasons the only two?

Yes, they are.  I actually wish they'd gotten more because we'd have a more conclusive answer to the question of where the rest of the league stacks up.  Obviously UWO's 2012 run to the semis in UWW's absence was a point suggesting that it's much more than a one-team league.  But the problem is that many of those years the league runner-up finished 7-3 and really couldn't even get into the discussion under the current criteria.

I think UWEC made it in 2007 and won a first round game. 
Naturally much of the early round success for a Pool C team is dependent upon who they play.  UWP won its first round game but then had to face a very good NCC team.  UWSP faced a Wartburg team that ended up going 3 rounds deep and losing to UWW.  UWSP lost only be 5 points to Wartburgr.  UWEC lost a competitive game to a very strong Bethel team. 

All three WIAC Pool C entrants proved to be very competitive teams, unlike quite a few other Pool C selections in recent years (as the committee overly values SOS, which distorts regional rankings). 

But ultimately, I believe if a WIAC Pool C team goes far into the playoffs, perhaps it will have a long range impact on the committee, resulting in more Pool C opportunities for the WIAC- and other conferences as well.   Perhaps a 6-1/ 6-4 (for Wally) UWO team like last year gets a Pool C bid over other 9-1 teams that have shown little ability to be competitive with the best teams.   

[wally_wabash]

"But they had a hard draw."
"But they only lost by a few points." 

I mean, there's always an out for this.  When somebody has decided that a specific team or a collection of teams (we call them conferences) are really, really good, there's just no getting people off of that perch despite, ya know, actual game results. 

I asked a guy on a separate board who is locked into this idea that any 3rd place team from the MIAC or WIAC or whatever other league he thinks is "good" is better than any team from someplace like the PAC or the Centennial to find all of the results where 2nd and/or 3rd place teams from the "good" leagues rip it up in tournament.  Other people did his homework for him, but the answer is that it doesn't happen.  WIAC and MIAC and CCIW are good leagues because they have all kinds of teams with all kinds of postseason success- is a myth.  That isn't happening.  The WIAC could get three teams in this year.  We'll see how likely that is in another couple of weeks.  But it could happen.  My guess is that you'd see one (at least) out in the first round (but they got a bad draw, obviously), and no more than one left by the quarterfinals. 

But ultimately, I believe if a WIAC Pool C team goes far into the playoffs, perhaps it will have a long range impact on the committee, resulting in more Pool C opportunities for the WIAC- and other conferences as well.   Perhaps a 6-1/ 6-4 (for Wally) UWO team like last year gets a Pool C bid over other 9-1 teams that have shown little ability to be competitive with the best teams.   

I don't know where you think all of these Pool C bids are coming from.  You can't get more bids for the WIAC AND more bids for other leagues.  More for the WIAC means less for everybody else- and that's without considering future Pool A/B redistributions that may further reduce the Pool C bids available. 

6-4 teams won't ever make the field as an invitee and definitely not over any 9-1 team.  Just isn't going to happen.  Last year was probably the absolute best case scenario for that to happen and I don't think it was ever even on the table.  Don't be 6-4. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

I slightly differ on how I'd look at that UWSP-Wartburg result from 2008; I see a Pool C team that got the gift of a home game against an 8-2 team, not really one of the field's best teams, and lost.  That was as winnable of a game as a Pool C team is ever going to get (save for a matchup with a UMAC/NACC champion or something, like Wisconsin Lutheran).  But that's just our perception of the games.

emma, I posted something on the top 25 board which I'd be curious for your opinion on: keeping the AQ system in place to preserve "access" for all, but restricting Pool C bids to teams from a league with at least one playoff win in a certain timeframe.  This would at least moderately thin out the number of teams competing for C bids (by removing teams from a league that never wins anything in the playoffs), and would allow more space for teams from leagues that consistently produce playoff winners, while still preserving access for all teams through Pool A.  Over time we would have a field that included more runners-up from the "good" leagues but still have everyone a way in.  Your thoughts?

[hazzben]

@Wally

I'm pretty sure the 2010 Bethel team was a pool C bid. They were West champs that year. So there is evidence. In 2000 SJU had a decent Pool C run, if losing by a last second FG to Mt in the Stagg counts.

Part of the issue is that the West is a really deep region. I know you'll argue it's just perception, but there have been multiple years where the West had 5-6 teams in the Top 10 when the post-season started. That's a brutal road and there's bound to be Pool C attrition. It's typically a lot tougher top to bottom than the 'East' and 'South' brackets have been. And the 'North' often has a quality team added their way from the 'West' and vice versa. Because of season where there are 2 or 3 potential 1 seeds from the West.

[d-train]

The '99 Stagg Bowl champ (PLU) was a conference runner-up and 7th seed in the West. Not technically a Pool C (as the NWC was Pool B back then)...but same concept.