FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[The Roop]

I know next-to-nothing about WW. What is it that makes the team so special? The success you guys have had the last 4 years can't come by accident.

D1 facilities.

[Scots4]

Low tuition/High enrollment + D1 Facilities = Good teams

[wildcat11]

Low tuition/High enrollment + D1 Facilities = Good teams

Funny I just looked it up and Mt. Union doesn't fit any of that.  1999 PLU didn't fit any of that, 2003 SJU didn't fit any of that, 2004 Linfield didn't fit any of that, etc.

Just stop with that line of crap.  Does lower tuition help?  Yes, but cost of an education didn't stop Willamette from nearly knocking UWW off on Saturday.  Besides before UWW started to make their run the WIAC's playoff performance was a national joke (sorry) considering how "deep" their conference is.  Don't be pissed that UWW made a committment to football while others haven't.

From a NWC fan, please don't go down this road because it makes the privates look petty and small.

[Pat Coleman]

Low tuition/High enrollment + D1 Facilities = Good teams

All of these were in place from 1999-2002:

1999 (3-7, 3-4 WIAC)
2000 (5-5, 3-4 WIAC)
2001 (5-5, 2-5 WIAC)
2002 (5-5, 4-3 WIAC)

[Scots4]

I didnt mean it like that at all. Why did everyone get so defensive? I meant it as a compliment. I wish I could have attended a school with the facilities that Whitewater has for as cheap as they can offer it. Most schools in D-3 can't provide for their student-athletes the way Whitewater does. The schools in Illinois that offer high quality facilities have to charge out the ass in order to accomplish that.

[badgerwarhawk]

My youngest daughter played volleyball at Elmhurst.  With the grants they gave her it was cheaper than sending her to any WIAC school.  I know another athlete from our school who was awarded a music scholarship despite never having taken a music course or playing any instrument because the private school had to get the tuitition lower than the WIAC school that was recruiting him.  I could go on but what's the point.  If a private school wants an athlete bad enough they find the money.   

We don't recruit from the general student body so enrollment is meaningless.

Facilities are a significant selling point for our schools.  Most of them have facilities that are better than many of the privates.

[Scots4]

Thats what I was getting at. For example, Bradley University (D-1) is a private school that is in the process of building athletic facilities that are comparable to Monmouth, Illinois Wesleyan, and Illinois College to name a few. I couldnt believe how far behind non-scholy private schools they were. That is why I think the state schools in Wisky are blessed to be able to offer the facilities that they do.

[voice]

Low tuition/High enrollment + D1 Facilities = Good teams

Great point, but if you take off your private school sunglasses, what do Mount Union, St. Johns, Mary Hardin-Baylor (I could add more if you like) have in common.  They all are private schools that on an annual basis put a nationally elite football team on the field.  Oh, by the way, they are High tuition/Low enrollment + nationally elite facilities = good teams.

When I arrived in the press box at McCullough Stadium in Salem, Oregon on Saturday, one of the first things Willamette's radio crew talked to me about was why little Willamette should have to play a big state school like Whitewater.  We should be in D2 - why not?   Having the opportunity to play a number of the elite private D3 teams in the nation over the past few years, one thing is evident... fans from the small schools bitch about playing the big boys from the WIAC (WW, LAX and Stevens Point mostly).

Why is Whitewater so good right now?  It isn't because of school size, recruiting or being a state school. In 2002, we weren't a national powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination.  Coach Berezowitz simply came to the conclusion that if we want to be among the national elite teams in D3 (mostly private schools) we must play the nationally powerhouses.  We did and got our butt kicked twice by Mount Union and once by St. Johns.  The players AND coaching staff found out that this big, public school isn't as good as we had always thought we were. 

We needed to step up our comittment... and we did.  While the vast majority of the better private football programs have had synthetic suface fields for several years.  It took Whitewater, until this past summer, to raise the money needed through fundraising by the UWW athletic department.  Ask Wesley if the big, bad state school had the money to make their two semifinal games at Whitewater great locations to play on a snow and icey playing surface.

Whitewater boasts facilities that are heavily privately financed through fundraising.  One of the few, if any, have all home games telecast live to nearly 200,000 cable customers in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Marketing of the football program outside the University.  Things that are NOT driven by UWW being a public institution.

Until I can see the Mount Union's, St. Johns and Mary Hardin-Baylor's of D3 falling from elite status, Division III football success is NOT a public vs. private school matter.  If you do, why not do what the NESAC does and not allow its football teams to participate in the D3 playoffs.

[Scots4]

Which if you would have read my posts AFTER that one you quoted then you would have understood what I meant.

[footballfan413]

Ya, Voice, he really didn't mean what that that one seemed to imply.        If you want to throw something that sticks at the WIAC schools, it is their ability to provide top draw facilities and UWW has done it better than anyone, mostly through private funding as Voice mentioned.  I feel the same way about the low tuition arguement that you feel about the larger enrollment arguement, BW.  (BYW, the WIAC has a 100 man roster limit compared to, say a Mt.Union, that fields anywhere from 175 to over 200 any given year.)  The privates have all kinds of money to throw at an athlete and I can say, from personal experience, that the price tag is almost always well under the price tag in the brochure.  Publics don't have that luxury. Now, I know it usually still cost more to attend private over public but the difference is much smaller than private schools backers would like you to believe.  And if higher tuition prevents a school from getting top talent than let me throw a few names at you. AA's Max Sakalaris, A.J. Raebel and Jeff Schleber along with Danny Jones, and this year starter's, Levell Coppage, Max Ford and Jordan Wells all hail from states other than WI. and all pay or payed every dime of out-of-state tuition.

[footballfan413]

Low tuition/High enrollment + D1 Facilities = Good teams

Funny I just looked it up and Mt. Union doesn't fit any of that.  1999 PLU didn't fit any of that, 2003 SJU didn't fit any of that, 2004 Linfield didn't fit any of that, etc.

Just stop with that line of crap.  Does lower tuition help?  Yes, but cost of an education didn't stop Willamette from nearly knocking UWW off on Saturday.  Besides before UWW started to make their run the WIAC's playoff performance was a national joke (sorry) considering how "deep" their conference is.  Don't be pissed that UWW made a committment to football while others haven't.

From a NWC fan, please don't go down this road because it makes the privates look petty and small.

You are the best, WC11.  +karma as if you need it! 

[02 Warhawk]

Low tuition/High enrollment + D1 Facilities = Good teams

All of these were in place from 1999-2002:

1999 (3-7, 3-4 WIAC)
2000 (5-5, 3-4 WIAC)
2001 (5-5, 2-5 WIAC)
2002 (5-5, 4-3 WIAC)

those were the good ole' days when I was there. Wurth was a beast, but that was about it though...

[Scots4]

Just stop with that line of crap.  Does lower tuition help?  Yes

Thats all I was saying, it helps. It doesnt make or break teams (obviously). The teams Whitewater puts out there every year is a testament to being able to bring in good players, have a good system, and good coaching. Getting good players to come to a school has many factors. Through experience I know cost is one of them.

I came to Whitewater to watch the Illinois Wesleyan-Carroll playoff basketball game a few years back. I was overwhelmed with the size and quality of the athletic facilities compared to many D-1 schools in Illinois. To me, it is a no brainer why UW-W is competitive in every sport year in and year out.

[02 Warhawk]

I didnt mean it like that at all. Why did everyone get so defensive? I meant it as a compliment. I wish I could have attended a school with the facilities that Whitewater has for as cheap as they can offer it. Most schools in D-3 can't provide for their student-athletes the way Whitewater does. The schools in Illinois that offer high quality facilities have to charge out the ass in order to accomplish that.

It's a common knee-jurk reaction around the WIAC board to take offense to that. we get a lot other WIAC school posters says how whitewater buys its athletic success (and not just in football)

[Scots4]

I didnt mean it like that at all. Why did everyone get so defensive? I meant it as a compliment. I wish I could have attended a school with the facilities that Whitewater has for as cheap as they can offer it. Most schools in D-3 can't provide for their student-athletes the way Whitewater does. The schools in Illinois that offer high quality facilities have to charge out the ass in order to accomplish that.

It's a common knee-jurk reaction around the WIAC board to take offense to that. we get a lot other WIAC school posters says how whitewater buys its athletic success (and not just in football)

My fault, I didnt know the tension. Will UW-W offer a video webcast for Saturdays game?