FB: American Rivers Conference

[frank]

83 to zip   dubuque, no first downs

[DBQ1965]

83 to zip   dubuque, no first downs

Any info on who they played, where, etc.?

[warthog]

So now the IIAC beomes an eight team league.  I personally prefer the nine team format so as to allow four home/away conference football games each season.  So we come back to the who is available question.  Would any existing NAIA schools want to make the switch to NCAA? 

Northwestern College would be a nice fit.  It would provide a natural rival for BV and a religious rival for Central.

St. Ambrose would give the league an outpost in SE Iowa and would provide a good rival for fellow Roman Catholic institution Loras.

Iowa Weskeyan would also provide a SE Iowa team. 

More choices?

[doolittledog]

Northwestern has always associated with Nebraska and SD schools and they like to tell recruits they offer scholarships.  I don't see them wanting to leave the NAIA.

St. Ambrose, if anything, would look to D2 before looking at D3.

Waldorf, before they were bought out by a for-profit company would have been an interesting choice.

Dordt might be a possibility.

Briar Cliff might consider D3...but in Sioux City...I wouldn't want to drive that far

Iowa Wesleyan is a former IIAC school...they took a look at D3 about 2 years ago but immediately stopped  looking when their conference told them they would immediately drop them from the conference if they even announced they were officially exploring D3.  That would be replacing one Methodist school with another one..  Geographically close to the school leaving us.  I think they would make the most sense.  Though it would be nice to find some sort of school close to BVU.

My fear is that BVU might decide to look at the NAIA and the GPAC conference that just lost Sioux Falls to D2 and Dana College closed their doors.  Then the IIAC would suddenly be in a world of hurt. 

[doolittledog]

Well, Waldorf and Ashford are looking for a conference.  The MCC kicked the two schools out of their conference because they want only non-profit schools as members.  

I don't know about Waldorf but I wouldn't want anything to do with Ashford...that place is a joke.  I would suspect Waldorf would not be much better.  For-profit is trouble.  

http://qctimes.com/sports/college/article_d62de2e4-8108-11e0-b7bf-001cc4c03286.html

http://clintonherald.com/local/x423434140/Ashford-voted-out-of-conference

http://www.globegazette.com/sports/article_813cc7fe-864f-11e0-a321-001cc4c002e0.html

[02 Warhawk]

This should make scheduling a bit more difficult in the future.  It will be interesting to see where this takes us.  

You know the WIAC is always looking for an extra game to fill their schedules

UW-Platteville had to drop Dubuque this year...a school that is 20 miles away because the WIAC is forcing member schools to play a 2nd game against another WIAC school and count it as a non-con game.  Platteville and Osh-Kosh and some others have scheduled games against IIAC competition...though perhaps we'll shy away from Whitewater

If last year's selection committee taught us anything, it's that SOS is VERY highly regarded come selection time. Either Coe/Central/Wartburg and Whitewater would greatly benefit from playing one another if they were to meet in the regular season.

The folks at Ohio Northern would tell you that the 2009 selection committee sent a different message:  SOS carries very little weight and W/L record trumps everything.  It's hard to know what the selection committees are teaching us when their "lessons" are not consistent from one year to the next.

Yea, that was in 2009. The 2010 committee was looking at regional SOS more than anything it seemed. Hence, UWW playing at NCC and Wesley last season in the playoffs.

I think their lack on consistency comes partly from having a different chairman (or woman) each year heading the selection team, IMO.

[hazzben]

Northwestern has always associated with Nebraska and SD schools and they like to tell recruits they offer scholarships.  I don't see them wanting to leave the NAIA.

St. Ambrose, if anything, would look to D2 before looking at D3.

Waldorf, before they were bought out by a for-profit company would have been an interesting choice.

Dordt might be a possibility.

Briar Cliff might consider D3...but in Sioux City...I wouldn't want to drive that far

Iowa Wesleyan is a former IIAC school...they took a look at D3 about 2 years ago but immediately stopped  looking when their conference told them they would immediately drop them from the conference if they even announced they were officially exploring D3.  That would be replacing one Methodist school with another one..  Geographically close to the school leaving us.  I think they would make the most sense.  Though it would be nice to find some sort of school close to BVU.

My fear is that BVU might decide to look at the NAIA and the GPAC conference that just lost Sioux Falls to D2 and Dana College closed their doors.  Then the IIAC would suddenly be in a world of hurt. 

Northwestern will not go DIII. They've got way to much tradition stored up in the NAIA world and the travel increase would be enormous for their budget to incur.

Briar Cliff. Don't see it happening. Not when the've got closer, more natural rivals to go along with their traditional affiliation.

St. Ambrose & Waldorf...Like he said ^

Dordt would be unlikely as well. The travel strain would be similar to NWC. More than that, they'd have the significant disadvantage when recruiting against their 'cousin' institution down the road without the carrot of scholarships. Belittle NAIA scholarship all you want, but NWC and Dordt go head to head on a ton of student athletes and it would matter to some that NWC was offering them money for athletic competition and Dordt wasn't. Dutch pride simply would not allow that to occur. Sioux County politics would play very heavily in that decision so I don't see it happening.

BVU is interesting geographically if for nothing else. They'd have 6 GPAC schools closer than their nearest IIAC competition. 4 within an hour and half drive. That'd be highly significant for any sport, but especially basketball. Given their shrinking enrollment, the move might also raise their profile in NW Iowa. They'd also be leaving a lot of history in the IIAC behind and I doubt they'd find the same competitive grounds for such a move that Cornell did. Maybe, but I think it's unlikely. Schools are typically going the other way (NAIA to DIII), if for nothing else than the financial ramifications for athletic budgets in tight economic times.

Edit: I could see BVU picking up a GPAC school for a non-con game now that they'll lose Cornell. Briar Cliff or Dordt seem most likely simply in terms of appeal on both sides. But NWC and Morningside all have extra non-con needs in coming years with Sioux Falls' departure to DII.

[warthog]

Northwestern has always associated with Nebraska and SD schools and they like to tell recruits they offer scholarships.  I don't see them wanting to leave the NAIA.

St. Ambrose, if anything, would look to D2 before looking at D3.

Waldorf, before they were bought out by a for-profit company would have been an interesting choice.

Dordt might be a possibility.

Briar Cliff might consider D3...but in Sioux City...I wouldn't want to drive that far

Iowa Wesleyan is a former IIAC school...they took a look at D3 about 2 years ago but immediately stopped  looking when their conference told them they would immediately drop them from the conference if they even announced they were officially exploring D3.  That would be replacing one Methodist school with another one..  Geographically close to the school leaving us.  I think they would make the most sense.  Though it would be nice to find some sort of school close to BVU.

My fear is that BVU might decide to look at the NAIA and the GPAC conference that just lost Sioux Falls to D2 and Dana College closed their doors.  Then the IIAC would suddenly be in a world of hurt. 

Northwestern will not go DIII. They've got way to much tradition stored up in the NAIA world and the travel increase would be enormous for their budget to incur.

Briar Cliff. Don't see it happening. Not when the've got closer, more natural rivals to go along with their traditional affiliation.

St. Ambrose & Waldorf...Like he said ^

Dordt would be unlikely as well. The travel strain would be similar to NWC. More than that, they'd have the significant disadvantage when recruiting against their 'cousin' institution down the road without the carrot of scholarships. Belittle NAIA scholarship all you want, but NWC and Dordt go head to head on a ton of student athletes and it would matter to some that NWC was offering them money for athletic competition and Dordt wasn't. Dutch pride simply would not allow that to occur. Sioux County politics would play very heavily in that decision so I don't see it happening.

BVU is interesting geographically if for nothing else. They'd have 6 GPAC schools closer than their nearest IIAC competition. 4 within an hour and half drive. That'd be highly significant for any sport, but especially basketball. Given their shrinking enrollment, the move might also raise their profile in NW Iowa. They'd also be leaving a lot of history in the IIAC behind and I doubt they'd find the same competitive grounds for such a move that Cornell did. Maybe, but I think it's unlikely. Schools are typically going the other way (NAIA to DIII), if for nothing else than the financial ramifications for athletic budgets in tight economic times.

Edit: I could see BVU picking up a GPAC school for a non-con game now that they'll lose Cornell. Briar Cliff or Dordt seem most likely simply in terms of appeal on both sides. But NWC and Morningside all have extra non-con needs in coming years with Sioux Falls' departure to DII.

OK, how about this? ---------- All four NW Iowa NAIA schools become NCAA III and join the IIAC making it a twelve team league.

[hazzben]

^^ Perfect. Then you'd qualify for a conference championship game.

Now, what to name the divisions...

East & West too generic
Mississippi & Missouri too 'stately'
Sauk & Sioux too non-PC
Almost in Chicago & Almost in Omaha?!? ...nevermind

Corn & Soybean

... I think we may have a winner.

Corn: (rival)
Northwestern (Central)
Dordt (Loras)
Morningside (Coe)
Briar Cliff (DQ)
Storm Lake (Simpson)
Wartburg (Luther)

Soybean:
Central
Coe
DQ
Loras
Luther
Simpson

[doolittledog]

Fun to talk about.  I do think we need to add 1 or 2 more schools in the near future.  Losing another school would be trouble for us.

Iowa Wesleyan would be an easy replacement and leave everything pretty much just like it was before. 

Maybe instead of the NW 4 we could just bring in the NW Reformed and give us a 10 team conference.  9 game conference football schedule and only have to worry about 1 non-con game to schedule.  Maybe the UMAC could be an early season win for us like the MAC is for the Big Ten...Though everyone scheduling a MIAC team would be fun.  As for basketball...18 game round robin and then the top 6 make the post season just as it's done now. 

The IIAC did have divisions in the 1950's.  They were broken up into North and South divisions with Loras in the North and Dubuque in the South...those two schools REALLY don't like each other

[BoBo]

Fun to talk about.  

Are you the same doolittledog who's on the Victory Sports Network football message board? Or are there two of you? With a screen name like that, I figured you're the same (I make a occasional appearance on there, too, under an alias!!)

[doolittledog]

Yeah, once a month or so I like to ruffle some feathers over there...those NAIA types can be a bit odd.  I also like to take a look around the D2 site...I like small college football.  General rule of thumb...D2 fans thinks of themselves as pretty close to FCS but they are pretty normal types.  NAIA fans thinks they are better than ANY level of football...doesn't matter if you point out they lose 2 out of every 3 games to D3 and have a worse record against D2 schools.  NAIA fans are far removed from reality. 

What name do you use over there?   That way I can know who you are. 

[Bird Dog]

I think that it is imperative to make sure BVU stays happy.   Incentives like playing away basketball games on Saturday and the rest of the conference sucking it up and traveling to BV on the weekdays might help.

Ashford and Waldorf keep being mentioned.  What about Grandview in Des Moines? Waldorf would give BV a somewhat closer rival.

[DBQ1965]

^^ Perfect. Then you'd qualify for a conference championship game.

Now, what to name the divisions...

East & West too generic
Mississippi & Missouri too 'stately'
Sauk & Sioux too non-PC
Almost in Chicago & Almost in Omaha?!? ...nevermind

Corn & Soybean

... I think we may have a winner.

Corn: (rival)
Northwestern (Central)
Dordt (Loras)
Morningside (Coe)
Briar Cliff (DQ)
Storm Lake (Simpson)
Wartburg (Luther)

Soybean:
Central
Coe
DQ
Loras
Luther
Simpson

With Corn and Soybean division maybe we could become the Manure League.

[BoBo]

What name do you use over there?   That way I can know who you are. 

Telling you would be too easy...I'm sure it will be easy to discover my altered ego when you scratch the surface over there!!