FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[bleedpurple]

West Region Rankings   
1 UW-Whitewater 7-0
2 Wartburg 8-0
3 Chapman 7-0
4 Redlands 7-1
5 St. John's 7-1
6 Bethel 7-1
7 Linfield 6-1
8 Central 7-1
9 UW-Oshkosh 6-2
10 Martin Luther 7-1

Huh?  OK, I don't consider myself a fan of UW-L football by any means.  But where are the Eagles here?

They are 5-2 in division.
They beat UW-0 31-3 head to head just two games ago.
They played UW-W really tough this past Saturday.
They beat C-M, who just beat the Johnnies this past Saturday.
They beat an IWU team, that beat Carthage 31-7 (Carthage is one of UW-0's wins, 20-19)

And Martin Luther?

I'm just perusing all this stuff during lunch, so please tell me I'm missing something!

Best I can tell, Oshkosh has a better SOS and 1 more D3 win?  LaCrosse/Oshkosh/Platteville each are 1-1 against each other, and perhaps the committee viewed that as effectively canceling out all H2H's and went with strength of schedule.  Just a guess on my part.

I guess Platteville does complicate things. UW-L appears and they've got a pretty good "what about us" argument themselves, don't they?

[wally_wabash]

West Region Rankings   
1 UW-Whitewater 7-0
2 Wartburg 8-0
3 Chapman 7-0
4 Redlands 7-1
5 St. John's 7-1
6 Bethel 7-1
7 Linfield 6-1
8 Central 7-1
9 UW-Oshkosh 6-2
10 Martin Luther 7-1

Huh?  OK, I don't consider myself a fan of UW-L football by any means.  But where are the Eagles here?

They are 5-2 in division.
They beat UW-0 31-3 head to head just two games ago.
They played UW-W really tough this past Saturday.
They beat C-M, who just beat the Johnnies this past Saturday.
They beat an IWU team, that beat Carthage 31-7 (Carthage is one of UW-0's wins, 20-19)

And Martin Luther?

I'm just perusing all this stuff during lunch, so please tell me I'm missing something!

I don't think IWU matters at all, but I also thought it was strange to see Oshkosh here and not La Crosse given 31-3 h2h and a final possession loss to #1 UWW.  Also the common opponent result with SJU should be a helper.  And a 600+ SOS. 

Pretty much across the board this week, RACs really seem to be starting with win percentage and going from there. 

[hazzben]

It would ding them in the win percentage category too. .750 vs .714 Win percentage when you only factor d3 results.

[bleedpurple]

WIAC Ramblings:

Eau Claire-  Entering the conference schedule with hope and confidence stemming from an upset of St. Thomas now feels a long way off. The Blugolds have lost three straight being outscored 114-23 in the process. The Blugolds close at La Crosse and at home against Stout. La Crosse puts so much emotion into their game against UW-W maybe they can catch them with a hangover. If they can, they could finish 5-5 overall with a win against Stout in the finale.

La Crosse- Like so many before them, the Eagles saw their post-seasons aspirations die at Perkins Stadium in Whitewater.  Now they must pick up the pieces to match last year's record at 7-3 (5-2).  They will be favored hosting Eau Claire and traveling to Stevens Point. But this is the WIAC.

Oshkosh- Talk about a turnaround! The Titans could have been left for dead after getting embarrassed 31-3 at La Crosse.  But the Titans rebounded to take out Platteville last week and looked good doing it.  They now control their own destiny as they host River Falls and then host Whitewater next week. They ought not look ahead.

Platteville- As has happened so often in the past, a late season defeat has derailed a potential playoff season for the Pioneers. The Pioneers close by hosting Stevens Point and then traveling to River Falls. A sweep could get them a share of second place in the WIAC, but not that coveted playoff berth.

River Falls- Another tough loss for the Falcons, 30-24 at Stout.  Falls is now 1-7 (0-5). Even thought they are banged up defensively, it still feels like they are too talented offensively to go winless. If they get a win it will have to be a big one. They travel to Oshkosh and Platteville the final two weeks.

Stevens Point- The Pointers are coming off a strong 40-12 win against Eau Claire. They are sitting at 3-5 (2-3).  They close at Platteville and then hosting La Crosse.  A sweep would upset the balance of the conference. Unlikely but not impossible.

Stout-  The Blue Devils also sit at 3-5 (2-3). They have won two straight games, winning home games against Stevens Point and River Falls.  They've also been competitive in losses to St. John's (14-7), Oshkosh (26-23), and Platteville (33-27).  This week, they prepare for the game that would make their season taking on Whitewater on Saturday.  It's never an easy chore, but the Blue Devils are riding some momentum and will bring a "nothing to lose" attitude to the Perk on Saturday.  They close at Eau Claire.

Whitewater- After a standoff first half and falling behind 10-0, the Warhawks punched back several times in beating La Crosse 21-17.  In crunch time, the Warhawk offense didn't mess around. Down 10-0, the Hawks drove 85 yards in just 6 plays to cut the deficit to 10-7. Then immediately after La Crosse scored in the fourth quarter to go up 17-14, the Hawks drove 75 yards in just three plays to take the lead for good. The next team coming in playing their Super Bowl is UW-Stout.  The Warhawks must bring their A game because Stout has been competitive with some very good football teams. As fun as next week could be, in many ways, this game is just as big for UW-W.

[BoBo]

In a surprising turn of events, UWW's Wojciech Gasienica kicked a 41 yard FG in todays game. In fact he was successful in all 3 attempts today. Also, to continue with the strange occurrences, UWW was 0-10 on third down conversions, but still won by 20.

[bleedpurple]

In a surprising turn of events, UWW's Wojciech Gasienica kicked a 41 yard FG in todays game. In fact he was successful in all 3 attempts today. What happened?

We made a change with the snapper and the timing is better.  With less uncertainty in the process he has his confidence back. He told me it is back to where it had been before this year.

Congratulations Warhawks on earning the 37th conference championship in program history!

[02 Warhawk]

In a surprising turn of events, UWW's Wojciech Gasienica kicked a 41 yard FG in todays game. In fact he was successful in all 3 attempts today. What happened?

We made a change with the snapper and the timing is better.  With less uncertainty in the process he has his confidence back. He told me it is back to where it had been before this year.

Congratulations Warhawks on earning the 37th conference championship in program history!

Now the kicking yips has been passed onto Cooper apparently. Don't think I've seen one team kick two consecutive kickoffs out of bounds. Not sure if he was trying to angle it or what.

On a side note put me down for team Meylor as our QB. He throws a great ball, has plenty of zip on it and is accurate. Him and Wiz seem to have great chemistry together. Oles has too much of an arc on his throws for my taste. Hopefully Meylor gets the nod going further.

[BoBo]

In a surprising turn of events, UWW's Wojciech Gasienica kicked a 41 yard FG in todays game. In fact he was successful in all 3 attempts today. What happened?

We made a change with the snapper and the timing is better.  With less uncertainty in the process he has his confidence back. He told me it is back to where it had been before this year.

Congratulations Warhawks on earning the 37th conference championship in program history!

If that all it took, why wait 2 months and a week to do it?

[bleedpurple]

In a surprising turn of events, UWW's Wojciech Gasienica kicked a 41 yard FG in todays game. In fact he was successful in all 3 attempts today. What happened?

We made a change with the snapper and the timing is better.  With less uncertainty in the process he has his confidence back. He told me it is back to where it had been before this year.

Congratulations Warhawks on earning the 37th conference championship in program history!

If that all it took, why wait 2 months and a week to do it?

I'm not saying the answer isn't more complex than that. And I don't think that's all that there was to it. Just telling you the pieces I know about. To me, kicking is like pitching and putting. Sometimes a small mechanical thing can throw things off a bit. Then it can play into an athlete's psyche. Confidence is big. Making a couple of kicks (or putts) can feel like the weight of the world has been taken off your shoulders. Some other elements of the field goal process may have kept him from getting his groove back earlier. That process was more a factor in the last couple of games, so we made a change.

[badgerwarhawk]

Two passes Meylor threw yesterday really stood out to me.  The first was about 15-20 yards with three defenders surrounding the receiver.  Unfortunately it was dropped.  The second he threw from the nearside hash across the field to the far sideline and it was completed.  Both passes were lasers with tight spirals and right on the mark.  The other thing I noticed is that his long passes were in front of the receivers.  They were too long and incomplete but only our receiver had a chance to catch them and it wasn't a jump ball between the two.  There's just been too much air under them to date. 

Do you make a lineup change at the position some would say is the most important on the field?  Do you mess with it undefeated and this late in the season?  It isn't like the current situation has been a disaster.  It will be interesting to see what Coach Bullis decides.

As a regular at Holiday Inn Express I'd like to offer my advice.  Do it.   

[BoBo]

Two passes Meylor threw yesterday really stood out to me.  The first was about 15-20 yards with three defenders surrounding the receiver.  Unfortunately it was dropped.  The second he threw from the nearside hash across the field to the far sideline and it was completed.  Both passes were lasers with tight spirals and right on the mark.  The other thing I noticed is that his long passes were in front of the receivers.  They were too long and incomplete but only our receiver had a chance to catch them and it wasn't a jump ball between the two.  There's just been too much air under them to date. 

Do you make a lineup change at the position some would say is the most important on the field?  Do you mess with it undefeated and this late in the season?  It isn't like the current situation has been a disaster.  It will be interesting to see what Coach Bullis decides.

As a regular at Holiday Inn Express I'd like to offer my advice.  Do it.   

BW - I made the comment below on the update board I think in the third quarter. I've been thinking of making it for many weeks now. But I finally got tired of those Oles flutter blimps he calls downfield throws when the receiver has 2 yards or more on the defender & he can't get the ball to them, i.e. just about all the time. The most well liked guy on the team is probably the back-up QB

Oles puts way too much air under those deep passes. His receivers beat the defense, but the pass takes forever to come down from the clouds giving them time to recover and get back into the play.

[emma17]

I like both QB's.
For my taste, I wouldn't make the decision for QB based on who throws the better long ball. If UWW needs the long ball to win deep in the playoffs, forget about it.

Move the chains.

[02 Warhawk]

I like both QB's.
For my taste, I wouldn't make the decision for QB based on who throws the better long ball. If UWW needs the long ball to win deep in the playoffs, forget about it.

Move the chains.

The viable threat of the long ball will definitely open things up underneath to move the chains.

[emma17]

I like both QB's.
For my taste, I wouldn't make the decision for QB based on who throws the better long ball. If UWW needs the long ball to win deep in the playoffs, forget about it.

Move the chains.

The viable threat of the long ball will definitely open things up underneath to move the chains.

You'll have to define viable. Are you saying a defense will say "hey, Olles is at QB, just let the UWW receivers run deep all they want, we won't cover them"?

[emma17]

Great to watch Kumerow play today with the Packers. He is such a high effort and effective blocker. He made some nice blocks today in addition to a couple catches. It looks like he's having a blast playing.