FB: American Rivers Conference

[Floyd in Iowa City]

My memory was that publicly they were talking about creating a niche by being the only Division II school in the state and the investments that they were willing to make (scholarships at Northern Sun levels and not NCC levels, travel costs for new opponents, etc.), but that behind the scenes a big part of this was that they would be saving money by not fielding as many teams.  The niche part I am sure was a real part of the rationale as well as the idea that athletic department resources could be focused on the sports that did continue to play instead of being spread out over all of the sports that the Iowa Conference offers.

I know I am biased, but the current version of the Northern Sun does not do near as much for an Iowan like me as the Iowa Conference does.  The NCC is/was a very strong league.  I have always paid some attention to NCC Football, but outside of Winona State there is little about Northern Sun Football that I pay much attention to. 

Is the Wisconsin Conference better in football than the Northern Sun?

It will be interesting to see how the league changes over the next few seasons with the ending of the NCC.

[Willie University]

Purple Heys,

I just want you to know that a few or more years ago, I was YOU on this board. Your latest post similar to the ones I wrote about my spartans. It takes a whole lot of believers and commitment to turn the corner. It took UD many more years to do it and it certainly feels much better now. Of course, now, myself and everyone of the other spartan faithful want more 

But, keep on keepin on! Positive thoughts will produce positive results in time!

Willie U

[sportsknight]

If Waldorf moved to D3 and the IIAC that would give BV a rival for that rivalry week we have been talking about on here.  We could have 3 big weekends.  Try to work out an IIAC vs. MIAC weekend to start the season.  Each school could then have their homecoming game.  Then end the season with a rivalry game.  I suppose Luther, Wartburg and Waldorf could also play for the Lutheran Cup or something if they wanted. 

I like that idea.  Like dbljay21 said, even number of teams plus we wouldn't have to play a random non-conference game.  The one non-conference game could be against a MIAC school.  I know Volleyball has the Border Battle every year.  It could be the same thing in Football.  As we all know every game is important, but when there is a tradition or rivalry on the line, the fans and alumni get into it more which brings the players level of play up and create from some exciting football.

I might be in the minority here, but I think bringing Waldorf, or just about any Iowa college, into the IIAC is a bad idea.  Waldorf would not be able to compete within the conference for probably the first decade.  While that would give the other IIAC teams another purple-clad opponent to beat up on, it wouldn't do anything for the conference's standing regionally or nationally. 

Last I knew, the IIAC administration (Commish and Prez. Council) is more than happy with a 9 team conference.  Scheduling for sports other than football is easier (although they still manage to screw it up), and it does open every sport up for more non-conference competition, which will go a long way to helping the IIAC gain more respect around D3.  It seems like every couple of months we talk about another team wanting to join the conference or being a good fit (Waldorf, Grinnell, Nebraska Wes., Northwestern, Clarke, Mount Mercy, St. Ambrose, just to name a few), but in the 4 years since Upper Iowa left, there has been no serious effort by the league to either recruit other schools or listen to any proposals for admission.

As far as the Border Battle goes, it works well for volleyball because they play so many non-conference games - about a three times as many of the average IIAC team's matches are outside the conference as the 8 they play within the league.  For football, I'm not sure it could work.  Or that we'd want it to.  How long has the MIAC basically been St. John's and everyone else?  I'd think the WIAC would be a better league to set our sights on.

[Walston Hoover]

If Coe beats Wartburg that puts the Central vs Dubuque game as the de facto "Conference Championship Game"....who would have thought that 4 or 5 years ago...

I would have never thought that this scenario would happen...but Coe still does have to beat Wartburg at Walston-Hoover for it to become reality.

And +K to you for the use of the word "de facto"...

And when UD beats Central and Wartburg wins out, the Wartburg/UD game WAS the conf. championship. I said it that day (can't remember on this board or not) that neither of those teams would lose a game the rest of the year. I retract part of that statement to read "conference game"

[TheOne89.1]

I'd think the WIAC would be a better league to set our sights on.

I totally agree with this...I am a fan of some sort of yearly rivalary between the IIAC and another conference.  MIAC has produced some good programs in the past (most notably St. John's) but the WIAC maybe be taking a bit of an edge.  UW-L (despite the three losses in a row), Whitewater, Eau Claire, Osh Kosh, etc. are all top notch programs.  I would typically say Platteville and RF are at the bottom, but after the Pioneers win over the Eagles this past weekend, it looks like they have a conference where any team can beat anyone else.  Plain and simple, the Iowa Conference needs some national respect.

As for the rest of SportsKnight's post...I still think Waldorf would be a good school to add to the Iowa Conference (just my opinion...I am well aware that the conference is not looking or even will be looking to expand anytime soon).  Could joining the IIAC help out Waldorf in getting a better program?  It's not quite NCAA D-1 where I think a school like ND needs to join a conference to attract athletes who want to go pro (let's face it...traditions like the Fighting Irish aren't attracting top star athletes, the money in the pros is what they want to see...which comes with National titles, Big Ten titles, SEC titles, etc.)  But as we have seen, pro athletes from D3 isn't out of the question.  Jackson is one example, UW-La Crosse has had a pro player or two (I'm sure there are a number of other D3 schools that have had a pro player).  From what others have posted on here Waldorf is improving and could maybe use a strong conference to keep improving just like some of the current IIAC schools have.

[doolittledog]

I know the IIAC isn't looking to expand but I wonder if they would listen to what Waldorf had to say regarding expansion.  One thing I wonder is if the IIAC is losing potential recruits because of an expanding NAIA presence in the state as well as D2 schools from Minnesota doing some poaching.  I also wonder if BV might welcome someone like Waldorf.  I have wondered if BV has felt like they are fighting a losing battle being the only D3 school in western Iowa.  If we had another D3 school over there it might put playing D3 ball over going NAIA more into the minds of high school students.  Plus it would give the IIAC a better statewide footprint. 

I also think the IIAC needs to market themselves to the state a bit better to get more exposure in newspapers and on TV.  Doing things like a series against either the MIAC or WIAC and then going to local papers or TV and telling them about it I think would be a good idea along with having a rivalry weekend.  That would work better if all schools were involved which we couldn't do with an odd number of teams. 

But, in the end, it doesn't really matter what little ole me thinks.  Go Spartans this weekend bye the way!!!

[DutchFan2004]

Well let me throw this out there.  What would happen to the IIAC if we could get St Ambrose, Morningside, and Waldorf or another combination of three schools and become a twelve team league.  Then have an East and West or North and South division or however you come up with one and skip the bye week and put in a championship game.  That might be fun.  You could have a five game conference schedule get three other conference games on a rotating basis and still have two non conference.  That might be kind of fun too.  It would also give it a more Iowa Flavor.  Heck you could come up with a 16 team league if you wanted to I am sure and have two eight team divisions.  Get Billy Penn, Grinnell, Dordt, Northwestern Briar Cliff, Grand View.  That would be a good thing maybe.  Two eight team divisions would give you a third non conference game or include one team from the other division if you want to keep close to home.  Heck you would not have to leave the state if you wanted to get games.  I would not be in favor of that as I kind of like the non conference games. 

[Thunderbolt]

  This is coming from a guy without a lot of IIAC history, but I wouldn't change much. A ten team or eleven team league, would give you little to no outside exposure, without an unbalanced schedule. This is one of the most competitive leagues around from top to bottom, with great history in rivalries. There are kids from all over, on most rosters, and the local talent you lose to D-2 schools is probably made up for by more local talent getting a shot.
  So far this year, I think the IIAC is 12-4 against non-conference teams, with losses to Bethel, St. Olaf, Upper Iowa and some bad beer company. Not to shabby.
I would fall in the camp that wants to play exclusively against the WIAC or MIAC teams non-conference. The competition and exposure will more than make up for the few extra losses that may come initially.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

  This is coming from a guy without a lot of IIAC history, but I wouldn't change much. A ten team or eleven team league, would give you little to no outside exposure, without an unbalanced schedule. This is one of the most competitive leagues around from top to bottom, with great history in rivalries. There are kids from all over, on most rosters, and the local talent you lose to D-2 schools is probably made up for by more local talent getting a shot.
  So far this year, I think the IIAC is 12-4 against non-conference teams, with losses to Bethel, St. Olaf, Upper Iowa and some bad beer company. Not to shabby.
I would fall in the camp that wants to play exclusively against the WIAC or MIAC teams non-conference. The competition and exposure will more than make up for the few extra losses that may come initially.

Great post!  I am for tradition and like things as they are.  If someone said the league needs to look for a 10th member again, my choices would be Grinnell, St. Ambrose, or Upper Iowa.  The Fighting Bees and Peacocks used to be part of the league, and Grinnell is a good school with a lot of tradition back when they were Iowa College.  Upper Iowa is a little different from many of the other Iowa Conference members, but I kind of miss the local rivalries they had at times with the Norse and Knights.

Playing the MIAC or WIAC sounds fine to me since the Norse traditionally recruit both Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Luther used to consistently play LaCrosse in a lot of men's sports, but now it seems like they only consistently meet in wrestling and the running sports.  It is a good dual when they get together for grappling!

[MNbeev]

Floyd,
Waldorf is primarily a running team, huge offensive line and not the greatest of back year in and out but, they get the job done (expectations of that job, I don't know)  But there D, is scetchy, O is, um how do I put this not the type that will scare you with their score at will power...Yea thats it.  But they have improved, I said it before and I did say it again.  And one last thing 172 frosh coming in, BV will probably be looking for that high of numbers pretty soon the way things are headed there.  And Storm Chaser, I love the credibility factor, props for the website. 

[TheOne89.1]

Luther used to consistently play LaCrosse in a lot of men's sports, but now it seems like they only consistently meet in wrestling and the running sports.  It is a good dual when they get together for grappling!

Expect another good match up against the Eagles this year.  Coach Malacek has done a lot with an already good UW-La Crosse wrestling team.  Still have a lot of ground to make up to be as good as either of the 'Burgs, but I'm sure they have a National title as a team goal every year.

I keep putting Waldorf down as a team to add to the Iowa Conference (even though it's not looking to expand) however I would agree with Floyd if they were looking, bring back the Bees or Cocks.  Wartburg scrimmages St. Ambrose before each football season...those scrimmages were always a strong fought battle making me think that they could be an above average team in the IIAC.  With a couple of years experience in D2, maybe UIU would be a contender now back in D3.

[BoBo]

I'd think the WIAC would be a better league to set our sights on.

it looks like they have a conference where any team can beat anyone else. 

That comment just missed the bulls-eye, TheOne!! You should have said, the bottom 7 teams are very competitive - that would have scored you a 10. However, no conference member in recent memory has been able to solve the team on top.   

[BeaverOfYore]

I agree with MNbeev's characterization of Waldorf as a team on the rise, but they're on the rise in much the same way that Cornell is on the rise.  They've gotten some good recruits and made some progress in the past few years, but they just can't seem to put it together as a team quite yet.  Their victory over BV last year (a game I played in) was not a triumph of a superior team.  Their O- and D-Lines, both slow, but huge, units, had proven ineffective under normal conditions. 

However, as some may recall, the BV game was played on a field that had received 5-6 inches of snow and then been cleared off with a tractor and loader.  The playing field was a giant slab of ice and slush, which turned to mud shortly after kickoff.  Waldorf's huge weight advantage gave them better traction, while BV's linemen spent much of the game spinning their wheels in the muddy conditions.  Also, don't forget that BV is traditionally a passing team. 

Not making excuses--a loss is a loss--but having played against both Luther and Waldorf in the relatively recent past, I can say with a great deal of confidence that Luther (who we beat just a few weeks earlier) is a far superior team to Waldorf.  They should mop the floor with the Warriors unless adverse conditions or a lack of preparedness prevent them from doing so.

[coocooforcoekohawk]

Don't forget the big game in Waverly this weekend.

No, not Coe vs. Wartburg


       

Iowa League Rugby championship

Cedar Rapids Headhunters vs. Bremer County Bucks

[DutchFan2004]

coocoo nice to see you back.  Did you get down to Pella last week?