FB: American Rivers Conference

[Fannosaurus Rex]

I'm so old I remember when colleges formed conferences so that like-minded institutions could schedule competitive games, not so they could squeeze more money out of tv networks. I miss the Pacific 8.

[MediaGuy]

Thanks for posting DD.

My foggy memory thought Wart's D was pretty Sr. laden last year. That unit was dialed in and as confident and cohesive a group as I've seen. I was very impressed watching them in a few of the playoff games last year. Did they graduate a lot on that side of the ball? Obviously the offensive backfield is stacked and experienced. Just looking ahead to the Wartburg v Bethel tilt.

Bethel brings back a lot but is missing Roste at QB. He'll leave some massive shoes to fill. WR core is very good and very deep. Frosh RB was a defacto starter for the playoff run and could be one of the best Bethel's ever had if he stays healthy and continues to develop. D brings back something like 17 of 22 on the two deep. Oline graduates an AA and another really good lineman, but the latter was hurt for the final 5 games, and a highly regarded freshman filled in well and got a lot of really quality reps against top comp. I hate not having a week 1 game, especially with a new QB to break in, but that's the way it's set up. Hopefully another classic tilt between the Royals and the Knigts, we've had some good ones through the years!

Wartburg was senior heavy on the roster last year, but they didn't differentiate Covid 5th year players and 4th year seniors in their press releases, so the number was a bit inflated.  Many of the seniors listed last year are returning for a 5th Covid year, and one DL actually had an additional year of eligibility from not participating in athletics at an FCS school his freshman year before transferring to Wartburg.  So coming into camp, Wartburg will be replacing their middle linebacker (who missed about 2 games due to injury, so they have lined up with their current LB corp before) 2 DL (last year wartburg platooned 8 DL through the "starting lineup" so its really like replacing a 1/4 of your DL instead of 1/2) and a lockdown CB (this is the position with the most question marks but also the most unproven depth).  On offense the only real missing pieces are the C and LG who were both 5th Year Covid players.

This Wartburg team has the most buzz around it that I can recall and I've been around the program since the early 2000's.  If you look historically, Wartburg has the same pattern as Bethel, with 1 year making the playoffs, the next year getting a few rounds deep, but then falling off for a few years.  Oddly enough, it seems like the drop off was always in a QB senior year, so it seems from the outside looking in that it's less about replacing graduated talent, then about not reading your own press and taking teams for granted.  I know that has been the focus of the "new" coaching staff for the last 2 years.  They have really preached taking the season one practice and one game at a time.

The Wartburg faithful have high hopes for the year, but I know we're all waiting for that Saturday afternoon in Arden Hills to really see how we stack up this year.  There is a lot of cautious optimism about the upcoming year, but as a wise man once said..."we shall see."

[BLynn]

This is directed mainly to Doolittledog, but anyone may respond; Loras has not won more than 5 games in the past 20 years, (per this site's info), so they aren't pointing to a post season run normally. Why not schedule Clarke which is literally next door. I'd suggest the same for Dubuque U, but they have had some good seasons in the past decade so I know they would be concerned about points.

[doolittledog]

This is directed mainly to Doolittledog, but anyone may respond; Loras has not won more than 5 games in the past 20 years, (per this site's info), so they aren't pointing to a post season run normally. Why not schedule Clarke which is literally next door. I'd suggest the same for Dubuque U, but they have had some good seasons in the past decade so I know they would be concerned about points.

A few reasons.
1 - Hope springs eternal.  While the Duhawks haven't been making any playoff runs of late, the faithful will always think that is just around the corner.  Dubuque was thinking that from 1990-2005 even though wins were hard to come by in those days.
2 - Loras is surrounded by D3 schools they can schedule for non-con games.  And if they can schedule a school from a recruiting area like the Chicagoland you're better off to schedule that D3 team.
3 - Related to #2, a school like Loras won't have trouble finding a D3 opponent like the WIAC schools have with their scheduling troubles. 
4 - I'm not sure Clarke has open dates.  I know that technically only their division games count as conference games, but I think their schedule is loaded with teams on the other side of the HAAC conference. 
5 - I'm pretty sure both UD and Loras have practiced with Clarke in past years, not sure if that still happens. 
6 - My guess is Loras would be open to the idea.  I know like 15-20 years ago Loras and St Ambrose played each other. 

[DriftlessDuhawk]

This is directed mainly to Doolittledog, but anyone may respond; Loras has not won more than 5 games in the past 20 years, (per this site's info), so they aren't pointing to a post season run normally. Why not schedule Clarke which is literally next door. I'd suggest the same for Dubuque U, but they have had some good seasons in the past decade so I know they would be concerned about points.

Long time reader, first time poster so take it easy on me. I've noticed this board doesn't have any Duhawk representation so hopefully I can amend that. The thought here makes sense but doolittledog is right with his reasons for not playing them. First and foremost the game would not count as a D3 noncon game and thus wouldn't be used as criteria if an at large bid were ever in the realm of possibility for the Duhawks. There is also the issue of helping a program in the same city as you that can offer scholarships while you cannot. What good does it do for Loras or UD if Clarke is good? It would most likely be detrimental as they have similar recruiting areas and as I said already Clarke being an NAIA team can offer scholarships while the other two schools can't.

[doolittledog]

Welcome to the board.  Great to have new posters.  The season can't get here soon enough for me!

[doolittledog]

Iowa and ISU over the past few months have come out with beer sales that will go to their NIL collectives.  I realize it would be minimal, but I am curious if any ARC schools might partner with a local craft brewery in their area to offer a school themed beer and collect a percentage of the profits.  Could that work for anything?  Say all sales of a school themed burger at the local watering hole  have a percentage go to the the school?  Does anyone know of any local NIL deals that have been signed by ARC athletes?

[Schipper Strong]

Hi everyone! Welcome Driftless Duhawk! Glad to have you here. Things have gotten way too quiet. We lost some of our more vocal posters over the years, so new blood is always welcome. Finally checking in for the season. It seems like this year the off season went by a lot faster. I guess it helps that Central did well in men's basketball. It was a long time coming.

I suspect Wartburg had a heck of a recruiting year after last season's success. I think they just kept getting better every game, which is as it should be. Hoping for a bounce back from a down year for the Dutch. Three conference losses is just wrong at Central. All very close last minute losses, but still. I think we have five 5th year players coming back. Lots of experience returning, but not necessarily starters the prior year. I hope at least one of our multiple QBs put in the extra time this summer to be able to really step up. As mentioned before Cooper Downs didn't return. Wish we hadn't given him the starting position the last half of the year. Any of our other guys would have benefited from that experience. I think there will be a lot of focus and determination on the team this year. Can't wait to see how we stack up. Only 4 home games, apparently Wartburg got tired of Pella's hospitality. 

Doolittle, thanks for your off season posts. Enrollments have been a struggle for most schools the past few years. Sounds like Upper Iowa is having some serious struggles. Cutting bowling and shotgun is one thing. Cross country and indoor track is getting more mainstream. Maybe they need to advertise for football players again.

[HansenRatings]

Playoff projections for the season using my model's preseason ratings:



You can look at other conferences on my website: https://hansenratings.github.io/.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

As we are preparing for the season to kick off this weekend I have been looking over some schools from last year and have noticed that a few D3 bowl games have popped up. Many of these make sense as many of the schools in each conference schedule each other for noncons (CCIW and WIAC for example). This brought me to look into the ARCs scheduling tendencies for this year. The conference's 9 teams have scheduled teams from 10 other conferences (not counting Luther playing independent Lyon (Ark)). Which brings me to wonder what conference does the ARC see as a rival/counterpart that could make for a fun bowl game? And then what would be your suggestion for where this bowl game would be played?

[HansenRatings]

As we are preparing for the season to kick off this weekend I have been looking over some schools from last year and have noticed that a few D3 bowl games have popped up. Many of these make sense as many of the schools in each conference schedule each other for noncons (CCIW and WIAC for example). This brought me to look into the ARCs scheduling tendencies for this year. The conference's 9 teams have scheduled teams from 10 other conferences (not counting Luther playing independent Lyon (Ark)). Which brings me to wonder what conference does the ARC see as a rival/counterpart that could make for a fun bowl game? And then what would be your suggestion for where this bowl game would be played?

The obvious answer is the MIAC. I've heard from folks involved in setting up these new bowls that they tried to set up a ARC/MIAC deal. The ARC was interested (heard the same from folks in ARC athletic departments). The MIAC's response was an unambiguous "no."

[Pat Coleman]

As we are preparing for the season to kick off this weekend I have been looking over some schools from last year and have noticed that a few D3 bowl games have popped up. Many of these make sense as many of the schools in each conference schedule each other for noncons (CCIW and WIAC for example). This brought me to look into the ARCs scheduling tendencies for this year. The conference's 9 teams have scheduled teams from 10 other conferences (not counting Luther playing independent Lyon (Ark)). Which brings me to wonder what conference does the ARC see as a rival/counterpart that could make for a fun bowl game? And then what would be your suggestion for where this bowl game would be played?

The obvious answer is the MIAC. I've heard from folks involved in setting up these new bowls that they tried to set up a ARC/MIAC deal. The ARC was interested (heard the same from folks in ARC athletic departments). The MIAC's response was an unambiguous "no."

Indeed, the MIAC does currently have a blanket policy banning all non-NCAA postseason opportunities for teams.

[Schipper Strong]

Regarding a non-NCAA playoff game with another conference I agree the MIAC was the obvious choice. I am curious as to the reason for the blanket policy of no other post season games. I think that would have been fun.

[Pat Coleman]

Wartburg (and Turbo Clasen) and the ARC in general get a lot of attention in this week's podcast:
https://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/2023/08/29/atn-podcast-331-lets-get-this-party-started/

[bleedpurple]

Wartburg (and Turbo Clasen) and the ARC in general get a lot of attention in this week's podcast:
https://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/2023/08/29/atn-podcast-331-lets-get-this-party-started/

Turbo
Turbo
Turbo
Turbo
Turbo
Turbo
ad infinitum