BB: IIAC: Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[upandin]

Never happen. Playing Iowa is not a charity event?  In other parts of the country DIII schools schedule DI schools as part of their normal schedule.  It is not that uncommon.  If I'm not mistaken I think Coe also had a run of years where they played Western Illinois.  I'm guessing it is just a scheduling relationship.  DI schools will rarely schedule non DI schools simply because of issues it could cause with RPI, much like DIII schools playing NAIA schools.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Back when Minnesota Gopher Baseball used to be more of a regional power around the last time they hosted regionals, I thought they used to rotate MIAC schools at one point as the one non-Division I opponent on the schedule.  There is always a strong MIAC following around the Twin Cities, and I remember being at a St. Thomas-Minnesota game that was pretty tight.

Back when the scheduling rules were different, Coach Banks and Iowa used to schedule multiple Iowa Conference schools.  In fact, one of his last games in the late 1990s was the infamous game in Decorah that helped send him into retirement.

Does it really matter that much for Division I RPI whether Iowa is playing Coe or Central?

[Floyd in Iowa City]

I like your idea of Iowa playing an Iowa Conference school.  I think a rotation method would be better.  One reason I wouldn't want to see the defending champion get to play the Hawkeyes is that school could have been loaded with seniors the previous year, and the next year be rebuilding, but all you would hear is how Iowa steamrolled the Iowa Conference Champion.  Plus, you might find 1 school getting to play Iowa more often than others and it might be nice for each school to get a shot at the Hawks from time to time. 

Wasn't there a time when Luther played Iowa pretty regularly???

Luther and Iowa have played 105 times, but the series really hasn't been anywhere close to even on the field since the mid-1980s.  Before WWII both Iowa and Luther had better programs than they have now, and the series was close.  Even into the late 1960s Luther was playing Iowa and Minnesota on a regular basis and those teams would play in Decorah.  Luther almost beat Iowa in the late 1990s, but you have to go back to the mid-1980s when Luther had two high draft choices both at pitcher and catcher and another stud pitcher that gave Iowa real problems.

The town of Decorah used to shut down in the 1920s and 1930s for Luther Baseball as the Norse would play teams like Notre Dame, LSU, and Michigan State in Decorah in addition to the regular Iowa Conference schedule and regular big schools like Iowa, Northwestern, and Minnesota.  Some of my relatives played on teams that had a 10-game winning streak against the Wildcats.

Sigurd Reque was the Norseman Baseball Coach during two decades of those pre-WWII years.  He was 202-107 with almost half of the games against major schools.  He was inducted into the NAIA Baseball Hall of Fame in 1960.

Besides Iowa Conference success, the last big noise that the Norse made nationally in baseball was winning the NCAA Division II regional in 1965.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Some Iowa non-Big Ten opponents with all-time games played against the Hawks:

ISU - 123 games
Luther - 105 games
UNI - 93 games
Cornell - 69 games
Coe - 68 games
Upper Iowa - 30 games
Drake - 24 games
Wartburg - 24 games
William Penn - 19 games
Loras - 14 games
Simpson - 10 games
Dubuque - 7 games

[upandin]

It's just a whole new world now.  Big schools in BCS conferences like Iowa have less budget constraints.  They don't have to fill their schedule with regional opponents anymore.  They are more likely to schedule games vs schools in areas where they would like to recruit.  Or playing in things like the big ten vs big east challenge.  I think the separation of talent between small school and Major DI has gotten much bigger over the years, even at a school like Iowa that has not had much national success over the recent years.  
I don't disagree with the idea of them playing different small schools around the state. I just don't think a school like Iowa would commit to something like that, there is no benefit for them.   I'm not sure why they have been playing Coe over the past couple years, the games have not been very competitive.  I know they played Kirkwood in the fall. And I think they played Mt. Mercy a few years back if I remember right.  Maybe it is just a Cedar Rapids thing?

[Floyd in Iowa City]

It's just a whole new world now.  Big schools in BCS conferences like Iowa have less budget constraints.  They don't have to fill their schedule with regional opponents anymore.  They are more likely to schedule games vs schools in areas where they would like to recruit.  Or playing in things like the big ten vs big east challenge.  I think the separation of talent between small school and Major DI has gotten much bigger over the years, even at a school like Iowa that has not had much national success over the recent years.  
I don't disagree with the idea of them playing different small schools around the state. I just don't think a school like Iowa would commit to something like that, there is no benefit for them.   I'm not sure why they have been playing Coe over the past couple years, the games have not been very competitive.  I know they played Kirkwood in the fall. And I think they played Mt. Mercy a few years back if I remember right.  Maybe it is just a Cedar Rapids thing?

The Big Ten-Big East Challenge probably comes from the fact that Division I schools in the North now have a harder time setting a schedule since the scheduling rules about non-Division I games counting as wins were put in place.  That challenge now gives those two leagues a chance to map out the schedule every year with some other Northern teams.

Who is Iowa going to play on the cheap and with little travel once that rule was changed and now ISU and UNI no longer have baseball?  The budgets had to grow to deal with the new reality.

Many schools (see UNI, ISU) have more budget issues than ever before.  I wish the baseball season started in April for college so the Northern schools wouldn't have to spend so much money on travel and could have real regional games again.

Title IX is part of this as well, but I would rather see more Division I baseball programs playing a range of schedules later in the season than the current setup.

[doolittledog]

It took Coe 10 innings to beat UD 7-3 today.  Double header tomorrow. 

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Luther won the opening game in Storm Lake, 3-1.  Augie Lindmark went the distance as he is now 3-0 in IIAC series openers this year.  The Norse scored 2 in the 9th to take the lead.

Big win for the Norse as they are now 15-6 overall and 5-2 in the league.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Wartburg beat Simpson and Loras beat Cornell in lopsided wins.  Other than Cornell, the conference standings appear to be getting closer.

Simpson is still 7-1 in the league, but Coe is now 7-2.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Luther won the opening game in Storm Lake, 3-1.  Augie Lindmark went the distance as he is now 3-0 in IIAC series openers this year.  The Norse scored 2 in the 9th to take the lead.

Big win for the Norse as they are now 15-6 overall and 5-2 in the league.

Like the Coe series, Luther dropped the Saturday doubleheader to lose the series with B.V., 7-2 and 6-3.  I didn't see any of it, but it looks like the Norse bats couldn't hang with B.V.  The Norse are 15-8 and 5-4 while B.V. is 5-3.

Like last season when Hyland was on the mound, the Norse are doing very well with Lindmark on the mound this year.  5-4 isn't in horrible shape, but the bats and other pitchers are going to have to do better against Loras and Dubuque as you can't expect Lindmark to keep throwing 9-inning gems every week.

[doolittledog]

Dubuque split with Coe today.  Dubuque took the opening game 3-1 while Coe took the night cap 2-0

Yesterday Coe won 7-3 in 10 innings.  Great effort by the Spartans against a good Kohawk team.  I am optimistic for the Spartans the rest of the way. 

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Dubuque is now 14-7 and 4-6 in the league, so I agree that things have changed this year.  They have played 2 against the bottom of the league, but they have played 8 against Coe, B.V., and Simpson.

Congrats as well to Loras and Wartburg for winning a series this weekend.  The race looks very fluid right now.

Big weekend series coming up with Coe and B.V. going after each other.

[TheSportsFan]

Check out the schedule for this week's conference games!  Looking at how tight things are right now, and the fact that there are games wednesday to go along with the weekend series, I think it's fair to call this MOVING WEEK!!!

Wednesday
Simpson @ Central
Coe @ Loras
Buana Vista @ Wartburg
Dubuque @ Cornell

Weekend Series
Cornell @ Simpson
Buena Vista @ Coe
Loras @ Luther
Dubuque @ Central

1 ) Great opportunity for Simpson to pull away as they have the weekend series against Cornell while the two other serious contenders play each other (BV vs. Coe)

2 ) It's been a couple of weeks now where people have complained about how this is such a tight conference and nobody seems to be pulling away.  Well, that trend might come to an end as Coe and BV play each other.  The other tell-tale series is Central vs. Dubuque on the weekend.  Both teams are hanging near the bottom and have a chance to put the other in serious trouble at the halfway point.

3 ) Teams 5-8........fighting for the tournament.  Coming into the season Luther, Dubuque, and Loras were expected to be in this spot....Central was predicted higher and has underperformed, while Luther has done better than many expected nabbing wins from Coe and BVU.  This is a key weekend for these teams as (previously mentioned) Central squares off against Dubuque and Loras takes there talents to Decroah to face the Norse.

This weekend could likely answer a lot of questions and start to spread teams out.  (On the other hand, it will probably be a bunch of 2-1 series that keep everybody within a couple of games).

TheSportsFan's predictions After April 16th

Simpson........12-2
Coe...............10-5
Buena Vista....8-4
Luther............7-5
Wartburg.......6-6
Dubuque........6-8
Central...........5-7
Loras..............5-10
Cornell............0 for Forever.

Don't let Simpson's 12-2 fool you......they end the season with 3 at BVU, 3 at Luther and 3 vs. Coe.

[doolittledog]

Dubuque Telegraph-Herald with a story about the new bats for the NCAA this year.  Interesting read.

http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=317883

[TheSportsFan]

Central 12, Simpson 3
BVU 2, Wartburg 1
Cornell 5, Dubuque 2
Loras 10, Coe 4 (Bottom of the 8th)

if Loras can hold on......here are the updated standings........YES, somehow the top tier has gotten even tighter.

Simpson.8-3
Coe........8-4
BVU........6-3
Luther....5-4
Wartburg..6-6
Central.....4-5
Loras........5-7
Dubuque...4-7
Cornell......1-8

Notes:  Watson went 9 innings of 4 hit and 7 K without getting the win for Wartburg.

Dubuque has to be questioning whether or not they can find a way to the tournament.  They fall to 4-7, and have no more games against Cornell.  It's just hard for me to imagine Dubuque sticking with the middle grouping of teams.

Loras has now won 5 conference games in a row, including two from Coe and 3 from Cornell to get to 5-7.  Just like that, the Duhawks are back in contention (assuming they don't blow the six run lead with an innning left to play).