FB: American Rivers Conference

[Captain_Joe08]

Benedictine 27
Loras 22

Final

[hazzben]

Central has another game against a team with a losing record. Going out to California for week two. I sure wish they would schedule tougher non conference games. Hello! Hope is a sister school, why aren't we playing them? I am sure there are stronger teams in MN, WI or IL we could play. I give Wartburg credit for taking on SJU. Wish Central would step it up.

Central has a sister school a whole lot closer than Michigan if the goal is tough non-con competition. Just sayin ...

Maybe cousins. Converge and RCA have their differences. That being said, football wise the match up would definitely be a fun one!

I was referring to NWC in Iowa. Keeping it in the Dutch Mafia, Schipper was tracking 

[Fannosaurus Rex]

After looking forward to watching Central play in California ever since the schedule was announced, I was very disappointed to find I would have to pay to see the video. Even though I am Dutch by association, and not birth, I am still too thrifty to pay for something I am used to getting for free. Fortunately Treavor Castle's play by play made me feel like I was there.

[bleedpurple]

Central has another game against a team with a losing record. Going out to California for week two. I sure wish they would schedule tougher non conference games. Hello! Hope is a sister school, why aren't we playing them? I am sure there are stronger teams in MN, WI or IL we could play. I give Wartburg credit for taking on SJU. Wish Central would step it up.

Central has a sister school a whole lot closer than Michigan if the goal is tough non-con competition. Just sayin ...

Maybe cousins. Converge and RCA have their differences. That being said, football wise the match up would definitely be a fun one!

I was referring to NWC in Iowa. Keeping it in the Dutch Mafia, Schipper was tracking 

Ah, got it. I still like the Central/Bethel game though!

[Schipper Strong]

Dutch Mafia huh?

I agree Central and Bethel would be a quality match up.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Loras falls to BenU after pissing away every chance they had in the game. The offense was offensive the entire first half going into halftime with just 2 points (obviously scored by the defense). And just when the tides started to turn the Duhawks starting QB got hurt and was wearing a sling on the sideline for the rest of the game. Even still the Duhawks blocked a punt in the fourth quarter to take the lead but could not get the two-point conversion to make it a 3 point game. BenU then gifted the Duhawks the ball on their own 15-yard line with a fumble but the offense went 3 and out and proceeded to miss a field goal. This along with not going for two earlier in the game (down 21-8 and kicked the PAT) was about all I could handle. Tough one to lose especially when you feel like you gave it away.

Will be interesting to see if Loras can bounce back next week against BVU in a game in which I assume will have a backup QB taking the snaps.

[hazzben]

Dutch Mafia huh?

I agree Central and Bethel would be a quality match up.

Seconded. We've alway had really good matchups in the past. With the MIAC going to a 9 game in conference slate and new playoff criteria, I'd imagine there's a lot of thought going into how to approach/schedule for that 1 non-con game going forward.

[Schipper Strong]

Making the picks this week was so hard! I really dropped like a rock last week. How determined is Wartburg not to drop two in a row? Who will Central start at QB? How much better will UD's second string QB perform this week?

Central will be honoring the 1974 football team that won the national championship. Hard to believe it has been 50 years and to realize I was a fan in the stands back then. Geez I am old. I could run for president! 🤣🤣🤣

[Schipper Strong]

The part of me that likes being near the top in the pick-ems says I should modify my picks based on everyone else's picks. But then the rebel in me says no one expects much out of a woman's football picks anyway. 🤣

Three out of four of my picks go against a very, very strong majority so here's to the underdogs this week.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Wow didnt know Central was honoring the 1974 team this week. I figured it would already be a tough game in Pella for Wartburg but the atmosphere should be great with that going on. I'm excited for another great weekend of football.

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Maybe I'm up too late and thinking about issues and scenarios that will never happen...

But with WashU being kicked out of the CCIW does anyone think that the ARC would make a pass at them? I'm not going to say it is likely they would extend them an offer to join the conference but it creates an interesting thought experiment. I'm not sure anyone thought the IIAC would ever expand outside of Iowa but then NWU happened and just opened the door of possibilities. If the conference did it it would raise the level of play in the conference and would surely bring more respect to the conference nationally. I think it could also potentially open the door for ARC teams to get into St. Louis and recruit students from there which would not be an awful option with the enrollment cliff looming.

I am not a fan of a full round-robin of 9 conference games and only 1 nonconference game so if this happened I think that divisions would be the way to go. Split the conference into two 5 team divisions. That way you could play the 4 teams in your division, 2/3 crossover games (depending if you want 2 or 3 nonconference games), and then a championship game with the rest of the conference playing the team who finished in the same position of the other division (move things around to avoid rematches if you can).

I'm not really sure what the best way to make the divisions would be. Conventional wisdom says you can go East/West or North/South. St Louis is a bit outside of the geographical area of the conference (similar to Lincoln) so no matter what some teams will have to drive a bit further to play at WashU. I think North/South makes sense with North: Loras/UD/Wartburg/Luther/BV and South: Central/Simpson/Coe/NWU/WashU. It would preserve all of the historic rivalries and also would create some great balance in the league (I say this now but am very aware Coe/Central/WashU combo would make the South a bit tougher). With the 3 crossover games concept you would play every team in the conference every 2 years (if not more) and with the "championship week" each team would most likely only not play 1/2 teams in the conference every year.

Do I think this will happen? Probably not. But I am interested to see what everyone's input would be!

[doolittledog]

I wonder if Wash U might feel like they are slumming it if they moved football to the ARC. Would the Midwest Conference be a better fit?

With the coming enrollment cliff there is a possibility of fewer colleges in the future to be able to schedule out of conference games. So maybe 9 conference games with only 1 game to schedule out of conference would be a blessing.

I agree, Wash U could help with recruiting St. Louis kids to ARC schools. UD has been recruiting the area for a few years now with some recent all conference players from that area. As a St. Louis native, before we moved back to the family farm I think it would be a nice addition.

Speaking of divisions, the IIAC did that from around 1950-1954. North/South divisions with Loras in the North and UD in the South so they wouldn't have to play each other. Too much bad blood back in the day. 😄

[Pat Coleman]

If the ARC is slumming it, then the MWC would be even more so, I would think.

[doolittledog]

If the ARC is slumming it, then the MWC would be even more so, I would think.

I was thinking more along academic reputation over athletic.

[doolittledog]

Dubuque leads Simpson 21-7 at the half.
UD with two turnovers in Simpson territory and a turn over on downs at the Simpson 10 or the game could already be over.

Dubuque with 3 turnovers in Simpson territory, but it is now 28-7 UD end of the 3rd quarter.

Dubuque beats Simpson 28-14
Three turnovers in Simpson territory plus a turnover on downs at the Simpson 10. 14 point win against Simpson, but you have to clean that up against a better team. On to next week.