FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[badgerwarhawk]

Good luck Titans.  Represent the WIAC well.   

[brewhawk]

Congrats on the WIAC championship and good luck Titans in the playoffs.  Represent the conference well and hope you guys hoist the final Walnut and Bronze in Salem. 

[emma17]

With the regular season come to a close, anyone interested in giving team awards?

Best WIAC game?

Biggest season surprise (positive)?

Biggest one-game surprise?

Looking good for 2018?

Biggest one-game disappointment?

Biggest season disappointment?

[HansenRatings]

With the regular season come to a close, anyone interested in giving team awards?

Best WIAC game?

There were a lot of them. Of the games I watched, UWP/UWW was probably the most exciting.

Biggest season surprise (positive)?

As far as a team, probably UWL. Individual player? Holcomb for UWL.

Biggest one-game surprise?

UWO/UWRF or either of UWW first two games.

Looking good for 2018?

UWW will bounce back, but UWP's offense is gonna be something else next year I think.

Biggest one-game disappointment?

Biggest season disappointment?

UWEC finished with the worst rating for a WIAC team since at least 1998 in my model. I know Coach Larson didn't inherit much, but I had higher expectations than that.

[WW]

Drew David was my surprise. Point was my disappointment, but losing Swigart was huge. Best game I saw was actually N-C, the St. Norbert-Point opener. Double OT, two teams making plays. Fun to watch.

[UWO Titan 78]

Best WIAC game? Probably UWW/UWP

Biggest season surprise (positive)? Drew David

Biggest one-game surprise? UWRF v. UWO

Looking good for 2018?  I think it is good for the league when LAX is good. I hope they continue their trend upward. It will make the league even more difficult, however.

Biggest one-game disappointment? UWW in one of their two non-league losses. This league is too good to be a one-bid league.

Biggest season disappointment? UWP. This could've been a playoff team too.

[badgerwarhawk]

With the regular season come to a close, anyone interested in giving team awards?

Best WIAC game?  La Crosse/Platteville

Biggest season surprise (positive)?  I'd say La Crosse but I expected it.

Biggest one-game surprise? St Thomas/Stout

Looking good for 2018?  I think the top four (Oshkosh, WHITEWATER, Platteville and La Crosse) will be the top four again and anyone of them will be capable of winning the league. 

Biggest one-game disappointment?  IWU/WW

Biggest season disappointment? WHITEWATER, Point is a close second.  EC was expected.

[WW]

Oh yeah... biggest one-game surprise definitely Stout-St. Thomas, but UWRF sure got my attention vs UWO.

UWW neither surprised nor disappointed, IMO. Lost close games to good teams. That's the danger of playing N-C games like that. Expect to see more of the UWO N-C schedule model as it's clear that any N-C loss hurts your case far more than any N-C win helps.

[UWO Titan 78]

There is no non-conference model for the WIAC teams. If you can get somebody to agree to play you, you do it. Oshkosh wanted 10 games. They couldn't get anybody to play them. I'm not sure teams will start lining up begging Whitewater to play them now that they're coming off a 7-3 season either.

[emma17]

Hansen, great idea on the screen shot of UWW's last drive against IWU as biggest one game disappointment. I will use that shot as my biggest season disappointment per below.

With the regular season come to a close, anyone interested in giving team awards?

Best WIAC game? UWO v UWRF. Exciting and well executed.

Biggest season surprise (positive)? UWL. I figured they'd be better this year, but I based much of that on Yaeggi. Drew David is a gamer.

Biggest one-game surprise? I'll give it to UWS against St T for ooc. In-conference, I'll give it to UWL v UWO. UWL was in that game with Drew as starter. Based on the way UWL looked v UWW the week before, I didn't think it possible for UWL to compete with UWO. 

Looking good for 2018? All teams, except I would expect an offensive drop off from UWO-right?

Biggest one-game disappointment? UWW's defense vs. UWO.

Biggest season disappointment? Hansen's post reminded me of the UWW coaching decision to move pre-season AA (and outstanding) center, Nate Trewyn, to left tackle for the first 3 or 4 games of the season due to injury to the starter. For those that watched, QB Wilbur was receiving shotgun snaps below his knees multiple times per game, in addition to the few that sailed wildly. Wilbur is still learning, and having to first look down to catch low snaps before returning his vision to the field, imo, was a tremendous hindrance to the offense. The first game, and loss, should have been all the coaching staff needed to move Trewyn back to center and figure something else out for left tackle.

[WW]

There is no non-conference model for the WIAC teams. If you can get somebody to agree to play you, you do it. Oshkosh wanted 10 games. They couldn't get anybody to play them. I'm not sure teams will start lining up begging Whitewater to play them now that they're coming off a 7-3 season either.

I realize N-C games can be tough to get. My point is, it potentially better serves a WIAC school to play Lynchburg and nobody, instead of IWU and C-M. Would an 8-1 UWW team be playing football this weekend?

[emma17]

There is no non-conference model for the WIAC teams. If you can get somebody to agree to play you, you do it. Oshkosh wanted 10 games. They couldn't get anybody to play them. I'm not sure teams will start lining up begging Whitewater to play them now that they're coming off a 7-3 season either.

I realize N-C games can be tough to get. My point is, it potentially better serves a WIAC school to play Lynchburg and nobody, instead of IWU and C-M. Would an 8-1 UWW team be playing football this weekend?

Yes, an 8-1 UWW team would be in the playoffs.
That said, if you're a college football player, with only four years to get it all in, would you rather play a 10-game schedule with IWU and C-M, or a 9-game schedule including Lynchburg? Imo, players want to play.

UWO Titan,
You said you're not sure teams will start lining up to play UWW now. I'm not either, but I remember before this season some of us felt UWW was having an easier time scheduling non-con games because some within D3 perhaps saw a chink in the armor. In fact, we commented that 2017 was a very sensible time for programs on the rise to schedule a UWW. It may turn out the same for 2018. 

IWU and C-M both benefited in 2017, yet they were both five yards away from a potential non conference loss. I guess my own rule would be, if you're in a top 4ish conference, you're better off trying to schedule middle of the road teams from good conferences, or top teams from the weaker conferences.

[UWO Titan 78]

Scheduling in the WIAC has been tough for a long time. Losing Superior made it harder. I played in the 90s when we were know as the WSUC; we were bad and we couldn't even get D3 schools to play us, except St. Norbert. We played NAIA or FCS non-scholarship schools in the non-conference (St. Ambrose, St. Xavier, Drake). Our conference had recently left NAIA affiliation, so that may have been a reason we played some NAIA schools. I didn't know any better, and I didn't care as long as we had somebody to play come Saturday. Superior folded during my sophomore season. I started 29 games at Oshkosh, and I still lament missing out on playing one more game (and we may have even won that game ). Luckily, the current Titans will get to play in the postseason. But every player on that team wishes they had played a 10th game already. 

[gbpuckfan]

I wish the MWC schools were better across the board for many reasons (well, except I still want SNC to beat them, of course  ) . One of them being it would make sense for many reasons for MWC-WIAC non-con games. But, really, even SNC hasn't beaten a WIAC team in 20 years, much less having the Lawrences of the world be competitive.

[WW]

True but Norbies haven't played WIAC much. Before the UWSP home-and-home this year and last, SNC last played a WIAC home-and-home in '04 and '05 (UWW), before that was UWO in '00. They do have home-and-homes booked for '18 and '19 vs Eau Claire, and '20 and '21 vs. Stout, going forward. I got em as a touchdown favorite at the Blugolds next Sept 8, so look for em to get off the millennial schneid vs WIAC!