FB: American Rivers Conference

[Ralph Turner]

Whitworth is on the bubble of Pool C...would they beat out SJU for a spot?...who are the other Pool C? Case, Salisbury and Wesley are Pool B.

Johnnies have got to be in...Whitworth either slides out or stays in because its cheaper to fly them to Redlands, than to fly Redlands to the Midwest.

Actually I believe that every team with only one in-region loss is in, except Waynesburg and Plymouth State.

Deciding the two-loss teams that get a bid will be the challenge.

[Thunderbolt]

 First off, congrats to the Dutch on a hard earned championship. Thanks to all the seniors who played their last game Saturday, for your part in totally entertaining me this season. Wish I could have been in Waverly, sounds like it was a real gut wrencher. I did get to see a good one in Dubuque though.

[doolittledog]

doolittle,

I hope you had a great day.  Was a fun but stressful one at WH today.  I hope the kids are on the mend.  No fun to have sick ones, but as you said kids bounce back fast. 

We had no more puking after about 9 or 10 yesterday morning.  My wife got mad at me for repeatedly bringing up the line "That sounded like a great game in Waverly...wish I could have been there"  In the end I had a great time babysitting, getting updates from this site, watching the Hawks win, listening to UD win a good game against a never say die Luther, hearing about the ISU comeback, ect ect ect!!!

Good luck to the Dutch in the playoffs and I have my fingers crossed for a Wartburg bid. 

Big props for UD having their first back-to-back winning seasons since 79-80.  For going 10-6 in the IIAC over the last 2 years when they had gone 3-49 over the previous six. 

PH, tell the kids in Mt Vernon to keep their heads up.  It's easy to give up on the season when you are 0-7 in conference play.  To lead a good Coe team going into the 4th says something about their character.  And I see "not so little PH" had a big day.  As a UD fan, I feel your pain on another 2-8 season but things can turn around. 

Here is my feel-good glass is half-full analysis for every team.  Cornell DID show improvement even though not in the win-loss column.  Loras, while dropping to 2-8 overall were within a play or 2 each game from probably a 7-3 season.  Simpson stayed where they were in the IIAC and improved 1 game overall.  BV beat Bethel and UD and improved from 4-6 to 5-5.  Luther went from 1-7 and 2-8 to 4-4 and 5-5.  Coe shook off a 3 game losing streak to finish with 3 straight wins to go 5-3 and 7-3 and finish in 3rd place for the second straight year.  UD goes 5-3 in conference play for the second straight year and improves overall from 6-4 to 7-3 and will play in a very nice stadium next year.  Warturg goes 8-2 overall for the second straight year and improves their conference play from 6-2 to 7-1...and might still make the playoffs.  Central finds a way to win every week during the season,  fun fun fun for the fans. 

It's been a fun season to follow the IIAC.  Now, lets make some noise in the playoffs!!!

[the_wing_t]

Old Beake ------>

You guys rocked during the late 90's....but I hear a certain authority figure in the Central Athletics dept. has frowned on the student antics lately....too bad - you guys had some classic cheers -

"We can beat you on the field, and you can beat us off"
"Cheaters never prosper, it's common knowledge"
"Alligator, alligator, teeth like a saw.  Eat me, eat me, Rah rah rah!"

We'd be in the huddle out on the field and hear Maurer leading a cheer and just bust out laughing.  Good times!

Do you remember the "drinking for an audience of one" t-shirts? 

[qbdriver]

Wartburg Football is starting up their own school newpaper.....

[qbdriver]

Doug,

Maybe he should try transferring to Central at semester, we heard they had a good track team.

[Cochuck]

"Ah, Coach Dillion, we don't want to make it look like we are just suspending him this week because you're 2-7"

[BeaverOfYore]

Attended the WB/Central game yesterday and was standing by Central's endzone to witness the "questionable" calls to end the game from about 10 yards away.  The pass interference was a good call--defender clearly had a handful of jersey, and although it would have been a tough ball to catch, it was far from uncatchable.  The spike was legit--forward arm motion means an incomplete pass, no matter how hard or soft you spike it.  Overall a good game in terms of sound, fundamental football, and Central is definitely the team with the best chance of getting a win or two in the playoffs.

On a side note, I wasn't very impressed with Wartburg's fans.  Only a few times did they leave their seats, and Central's fans were loud enough to make it seem like they were the home team.  Having thousands of fans attend your games doesn't mean much if they're going to sit and chat the whole time.

[DBQ1965]

Congratulations to the 20 UD Spartan seniors who gave all us die-hard UD fans two great seasons in a row.  Hope springs eternal!  I might even up my alumni giving to the U.

[Voice of the Dutch]

Wow...Whitewater shipped out and Central gets #1 seed and a home date with 6-4 Olivet.

Good work by the NCAA to at least make the west a little less loaded.

[WartTrainer]

Question for anyone who would like to answer.....How does the number 12 team in D3 stay home and teams that arent ranked get into the playoffs?? Do rankings mean anything when it comes to selection time??  Just a little confused....

[bluenote]

WOW!!! Central #1 SEED. Good luck Dutch! Win the 1st game and then take care of business against ...you know who! 

WartTrainer....no, the rankings don't mean anything. There is playoff criteria and also automatic qualifiers.

[Voice of the Dutch]

The national rankings mean absolutely nothing to the selection committee.  It's regional rankings that matter, and yesterday's loss really hurt the Knights regional ranking.

[warthog]

Chill out Knight fans.  Our team has been in playoff mode since an embarrassing loss to Augsburg.  We lost and it is over.  Don't lose sleep over it.

[Purple Heys]

First:  Big congratulations to Central.

Wow, your own bracket, what an honor!  Now do our league proud and win it.

Don't look past Olivet...even though a potential 2nd round rematch game with the Johnnies looms.

Would hate to see your "luck" run out a game early.   

Second:  Tough year for the Kaniggets.  All that talent and hard work and nothing to show for it.  The Evil Empire picked the wrong games to lose.  You should have lost to the Rams and then beaten Central.   

Looks like Augsburg found the 1 meter hole in their Death Star of playoff hopes and shot the proton torpedo into it to blow it all up.   

Third:  Congrats to the DBQ for proving last year was no fluke.  You had valid playoff aspirations that lasted until the end of OT against Central.

Fourth:  Congrats to all IIAC teams, top to bottom.  A fun year, competitive games (mostly) and plenty to yammer on about on this message board for us has beens, wannabes and never weres.   

Finally congrats to the Rams, I am a fan like it or lump it.  I can handle however the games turn out as long as they keep battling like they did vs. Coe.  I'm looking forward to another offseason of productive recruiting.  Plus, I actually like coming to Eastern Iowa in the late Summer, early Fall even though there is no beach.   8) 8)