FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[oldsju67]

I'm stealing this from Linfield and resurrecting it for us next year....

LEAVE NO DOUBT!

[RoyalsFan]

The projected bracket is posted- it shows bethel at Whitewater, and SJU hosting Wheaton.

I'm thinking the committee will have different ideas this year and we'll all be shocked/appalled by what they do. I have nothing to base this on but gut instinct.

I welcome other opinions as to what to do with the bracket in this part of the country. Yes, the name of Bethel against UW-Whitewater is something that people will look twice at, but Bethel is 8-2 and won't have a win against a regionally ranked team.

I understand Bethel doesn't have a win against a regionally ranked team, but they didn't play any regionally ranked teams the second half of the season either. I believe they are a completely different team now than they were the first few games of the season. Unfortunately that doesn't factor into the rankings.

You need to shedule ranked opponents, to play them.

Well, kind of hard to schedule ranked teams in the 2nd half when there were no other ranked teams in the MIAC in the second half of their season. Bethel did schedule Wartburg the first game and St. John's the first conference game, but as I said, Bethel is a much better team now than early in the season.

[DuffMan]

...but seems like 1992 was probably worst snub in SJU history, then '95 and this one being pretty similar?

If I recall my SJU history correctly, SJU was left out of the playoffs (NAIA) in '64 despite being undefeated and defending champs.  Of course, they then went on to win the '65 title, too.

[DuffMan]

Rough, but not unexpected, draw for Bethel.  One and done for the MIAC this year.

[sfury]

...but seems like 1992 was probably worst snub in SJU history, then '95 and this one being pretty similar?

If I recall my SJU history correctly, SJU was left out of the playoffs (NAIA) in '64 despite being undefeated and defending champs.  Of course, they then went on to win the '65 title, too.

Oh yeah good memory. Went and looked it up and it was the '62 team (preceding the '63 title) but they went 9-0, averaged 30, gave up only 10 per game. No NAIA bid. Of course it was only a four-team playoff back then so a bit more reasonable a great team would get snubbed.

[bleedpurple]

From an "outsider", just a couple of thoughts on the Johnnie situation.  Clearly losing two games puts a team in some peril.  But in my view, this is one of the few examples of a team not making the field due to  a series of off the field administrative decisions rather than their on field performance.
1. Two losses or not, the MIAC rules governing who appears in their Championship Game are preposterous. St. John's had the best conference record in their division. In what world does that not get a team into their Championship Game?
2. The administrative decision to grant an auto-bid to conferences with only six teams.  As the guys at d3football.com have been postulating, far better to move that number to eight and open up more Pool C bids. Four Pool C bids did St. John's no favors.
3. Already much discussed. Somehow, the National Committee completely changed gears and decided nothing was important other than overall record.

If any of the above didn't occur, I'm convinced the Johnnies would be in the playoffs. Painful.

[TheChucker]

From an "outsider", just a couple of thoughts on the Johnnie situation.  Clearly losing two games puts a team in some peril.  But in my view, this is one of the few examples of a team not making the field due to  a series of off the field administrative decisions rather than their on field performance.
1. Two losses or not, the MIAC rules governing who appears in their Championship Game are preposterous. St. John's had the best conference record in their division. In what world does that not get a team into their Championship Game?
2. The administrative decision to grant an auto-bid to conferences with only six teams.  As the guys at d3football.com have been postulating, far better to move that number to eight and open up more Pool C bids. Four Pool C bids did St. John's no favors.
3. Already much discussed. Somehow, the National Committee completely changed gears and decided nothing was important other than overall record.

If any of the above didn't occur, I'm convinced the Johnnies would be in the playoffs. Painful.

Lesson of the day. Don't schedule top ranked opponents in non-conference play. A loss hurts more than playing a top team helps.

[OzJohnnie]

From an "outsider", just a couple of thoughts on the Johnnie situation.  Clearly losing two games puts a team in some peril.  But in my view, this is one of the few examples of a team not making the field due to  a series of off the field administrative decisions rather than their on field performance.
1. Two losses or not, the MIAC rules governing who appears in their Championship Game are preposterous. St. John's had the best conference record in their division. In what world does that not get a team into their Championship Game?
2. The administrative decision to grant an auto-bid to conferences with only six teams.  As the guys at d3football.com have been postulating, far better to move that number to eight and open up more Pool C bids. Four Pool C bids did St. John's no favors.
3. Already much discussed. Somehow, the National Committee completely changed gears and decided nothing was important other than overall record.

If any of the above didn't occur, I'm convinced the Johnnies would be in the playoffs. Painful.

5. Lose to GAC.


One of those five issues was in SJU's control.

[repete]

Nice post, Bleed.

The one thing you want in a decision maker -- at any level -- is consistency. The committee failed miserably at that.

[TheChucker]

For everyone complaining about the 2-division set up, I thought it was put in place to attract Macalester and Scholastica into the conference and keep the likes of Olaf (after getting smoked by SJU about 200-0) et al after kicking out St. Thomas. In that case, conference stability was emphasized more than national relevance.

[BennieDad]

Let's say the Johnnies beat GAC but lose to Bethel in the championship game. I assume Bethel gets the AQ. Johnnies still 8-2, but now with a "better" second loss. Still 8-2, probably an even better SOS, still have two RRO wins. Do they get a bid?

[Ice Bear]

Bethel gets a very tough draw in a very good Rub A Dub team. I think the Royals have the D to compete but I just don't think they have the offensive firepower to win this game. Of course if they can rush for over 300 like they did yesterday they will have a shot (probably won't happen). I look for Bethel to compete and do the MIAC proud leaving it all on the field up in Whitewater. Proud of this Royals team.

SJU and Muhlenburg get screwed. Obviously the loss to GAC hurt the Johnnies and that is somethig they could have controlled but I think Frank Rossi said it best this evening with the point blank question to the NCAA Committee Chair, "how the hell is Coe on here?"

[repete]

I'm sure Rossi's sidekick JB was happy about SJU missing. The guy looked like he was passing a stone everytime the Johnnie prospects came up.

[Redtooth]

I recommend SJU schedules Northwestern for all NC games moving forward.

Beyond the disappointment I have in SJU not getting selected I also believe we need to shine the light of transparency on both the committee and the selection process moving forward......the 241 teams that play Division III football deserve and need to know what metrics matter and how they will be evaluated every year with some consistency.  I know, Win your conference and you are in, is a favorite mantra from fans whose teams are selected....but if you have at-large bids available in any quantity, teams need to know how the evaluation process will work.  Both D2 and FCS teams have a very clear picture of how playoff selection works.  Why D3 decides to write a calculus equation in hieroglyphics (which both D3Football and Logan Hansen were able to decipher) only to erase their formula to create an outcome that their equation didn't support....is beyond disingenuous to the student athletes.  I write this opinion from a place of having been a former d3 player, former d3 coach and former d3 AD.  No one knows how or who will be selected other than the committee that year and with committee turnover the criteria is totally fluid from year to year.

I have poked fun at Frank Rossi on this board over the years, but today he deserves huge kudos for asking questions that needed to be asked....although getting a blank stare in response by the Chair.....GUTLESS!

I also want to wish the best to Bethel and Steve Johnson!  He is a great coach and person that will be missed.

[GoldandBlueBU]

It'll be a tough matchup for BU for sure.  Hoping they find a way to keep it interesting, but being that their offense is so dependent on being able to run the ball, I think they're in for a tough afternoon against UWW.

Very disappointing that SJU didn't get in. Certainly feels like a deserving team was left off the board.