FB: Northwest Conference

[bluenote]

At any rate, you see it as the Cats getting punished but I see it as the way the system works.  As for SOS being subjective, you're the second person this year (Bluenote) that has said that and it's just not true.  They are an objective measure that are based on numbers and mathematics. 

Well I'm not sure how strength of schedule has anything to do with anything anymore.....

Alma, Berry, Hardin Simmons and UWEC are all in the top 15 and their overall record is 6-31. So I guess I'm not impressed.  ......so what do you do, go with SOS and W/L.....Ok, I agree Linfield should be #1 seed. (Play with chip on shoulder  ----Home or AwaY!)

[dawgcat]

Thank you, Blue.

I know that all of us who are posters on this site and all who really understand what D3 is really about, will agree and understand. There should be no debating, arguing, insults or negative karma floating around on this one. We all agree or we would not be here.

[swede]

Thank you, Blue.

I know that all of us who are posters on this site and all who really understand what D3 is really about, will agree and understand. There should be no debating, arguing, insults or negative karma floating around on this one. We all agree or we would not be here.

[criswyly]

The only SOS I know starts this Saturday....Winner plays another day....loser checks in their gear.

[criswyly]

Swede,
I owe you a football...I have not forgot.....

[bluenote]

The only SOS I know starts this Saturday....Winner plays another day....loser checks in their gear.

Hi Heard that on the podcast too from Keith! LOL!   

[wildcat11]

Although it is a little confusing, I believe what the NWC is trying to accomplish (in the true spirit of D3 football) is to recognize as many student athletes as possible. Therefore, the two players of the year (Go CATS) are beyond first team status and by placing them at "another level" they open up another two slots for other players to be recognized somewhere down the line. I think this is cool. They could even create a Third Team All-Conference and either keep or eliminate the Honorable Mention category.

Since most of the D3 athletes will not be playing at the next level, greater recognition opportunities should be made available at the undergraduate level. In no way would this greater recognition water down or weaken the higher recognition levels. Being an all-conference player at the D3 level almost 50 years ago afforded me the opportunity to play rather than to watch and I will never forget the recognition I received. This is the opportunity that D3 competition in any sport offers to the players, the schools, the parents involved. It is one of many great recruiting tools that D3 schools can offer a prospect student athlete.

I would be on board with eliminating the Honorable Mention category and going with a Third Team All-Conference.  To me that would be fine.

However, I'll always feel overloading the all-conference selections waters down the conference honors and it's unfair to those that should be singled out as the NWC's very best.  The coaches in the conference have improved this process over the years and I'm thankful we no longer have tri-players of the year or 20 offensive players on the 1st team.   The trend of not naming the player of the year on the 1st team of his position is off the mark, IMO, and should be improved.   Sites like D3football.com use the all-conference selections as a major resource in helping shape their regional and All-American selections.  If our teams are over packed it hurts the credibility of the players that could very well be worthy of regional or great recognition. 

[George Thompson]

Re: Strength of Schedule:

It has been said that LC's SOS was inferior to others.   How is this explained then?
SOS rank:  (Lower the number the tougher schedule)

Mount Union                      84
Mary Hardin Baylor           118
Bethel                                  7
UW-Whitwater                   54

Linfield                                50
UW- Oshkosh                    145
UW- Platteville                   164
Redlands                              27
PLU                                      34
North Central                     112

Why is Linfiled's SOS better than 3 of the top 4 seeds?
Why does WIAC's top 3 teams have low SOS?
Was Redlands schedule really more difficult than PLU's?

I contend that the SOS has some major flaws?    Do not know why.

I won't bring this subject up again, but I dispute the seedings.   It is not objective.

Now, let's beat the Lutes again.    Will not be easy.   It is fun seeing the LC vx. PLU rivalry like it was in the 80s and early 90s.

GO CATS! GO!

GT

[D O.C.]

I liked the Little All Coast team they used to have in the 1960s. You would have guys from Humboldt, Davis, Redlands, Central Washington, Willamette, and, of course, the guys you can see their placard in the Wilson Gymnasium foyer.

[d-train]

I won't bring this subject up again, but I dispute the seedings.   

Thank you.

[MonroviaCat]

I won't bring this subject up again, but I dispute the seedings.   

Thank you.

BUMP!

[D O.C.]

Don't blame you, George.
Start work on having the dang Bowl game in Roanoke, Virginia every year. What West Coast DIII fan is going to go there without their team playing?
If it was in San Francisco several hundred, Denver, a hundred, Dallas, fifty, New Orleans, five hundred. 

[bleedpurple]

Re: Strength of Schedule:

It has been said that LC's SOS was inferior to others.   How is this explained then?
SOS rank:  (Lower the number the tougher schedule)

Mount Union                      84
Mary Hardin Baylor           118
Bethel                                  7
UW-Whitwater                   54

Linfield                                50
UW- Oshkosh                    145
UW- Platteville                   164
Redlands                              27
PLU                                      34
North Central                     112

Why is Linfiled's SOS better than 3 of the top 4 seeds?
Why does WIAC's top 3 teams have low SOS?
Was Redlands schedule really more difficult than PLU's?

I contend that the SOS has some major flaws?    Do not know why.

I won't bring this subject up again, but I dispute the seedings.   It is not objective.

Now, let's beat the Lutes again.    Will not be easy.   It is fun seeing the LC vx. PLU rivalry like it was in the 80s and early 90s.

GO CATS! GO!

GT

I don't think Linfield's SOS has been downgraded as much as their lack of defeating Regionally Ranked Opponents, which is a different criterion. However, since you brought up SOS:

I can give insight into two of the points you bring up. Although, first I think it's hard to argue that UW-W has a low SOS when three teams separate them and Linfield.  But, nonetheless, here is the flaw in SOS. The WIAC top 3 SOS and Bethel's SOS are affected significantly by the lower echelon WIAC teams willingness to schedule "up" in the non-conference games. I count 8 games in the following list against teams that were at one point ranked in the Top 25.So these are the BOTTOM 5 WIAC teams playing teams highly ranked. Including some close games. But in SOS, a loss is a loss. So, for example NWC's #2 team Pac Lu Plays the WIAC's 7th place team Eau Claire.  Pac Lu wins by two points. That helps Linfield's SOS and hurts the 3 WIAC teams. That's one example.
But the MIAC seems to like scheduling these bottom 5 teams, thus helping Bethel's SOS. Here's the list:

River Falls 0-9  Lost to St. John's (7-3) by 3 points, St. Thomas (8-2) by 18 points, and Simpson (7-3) by 1 point.

Eau Claire 2-8 Lost to St. Thomas (8-2) by 45 points, St. John's (7-3) by 3 points, and Pacific Lutheran (8-1) by 2 points

LaCrosse 3-7 lost to Dubuque (5-5) by 11 points, North Central (10-0)  by 17 points,

Stout 4-6 Lost to North Central (10-0) by 27 points

Stevens Point 5-5  beat Rockford (1-10) by 29, beat Dubuque (5-5) by 3 points, and Lost to North Central (10-0) by 20 points.

I guess all of this to agree with you, SOS can be misleading.

[swede]

Desertcat....Thank you!      Well, what do think of their height?

[speedybigboy]

Big news out of Whitworth:

Tully Announces Resignation as Pirate Head Football Coach
.....
"Coach Tully has dedicated many years of service to the football program," said Melinda Larson, Whitworth's Interim Director of Athletics. "We respect and appreciate his accomplishments as our head football coach and wish him well in all of his future endeavors."

"It has been an honor being the head football coach of Whitworth University for the past 19 years," Tully said.  "I am proud of the accomplishments of our coaching staff during my tenure here and truly appreciate the relationships I built with the players and coaches over the years. I look forward to the professional opportunities this change will bring."
....

That doesnt sound like someone leaving voluntarily. 

I congratulate hime on a fine career at Whitworth and wish him well in his new endeavors.