FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[GoldandBlueBU]

I've never been to Bethel's field but if they get that one seed is that grass field going to be able to hold up for 3-4 home playoff games?

Good question...anybody know how these situations have been handled in the past?  I remember the cobbers playing at the fargodome for a home playoff game when the weather got bad several years ago.

[art76]

I've never been to Bethel's field but if they get that one seed is that grass field going to be able to hold up for 3-4 home playoff games?

Good question...anybody know how these situations have been handled in the past?  I remember the cobbers playing at the fargodome for a home playoff game when the weather got bad several years ago.

I was there for the St. Olaf game - the last home game - and the field looked pretty good. Hopefully the grounds crew has been primping it this whole week and will continue to do so next week going into the playoffs. I am now of the opinion that playing outside in MN is going to be a big advantage for BU as they play teams from around the country. I too hope the field can withstand 4 straight weeks of play.

[GoldandBlueBU]

I've never been to Bethel's field but if they get that one seed is that grass field going to be able to hold up for 3-4 home playoff games?

Good question...anybody know how these situations have been handled in the past?  I remember the cobbers playing at the fargodome for a home playoff game when the weather got bad several years ago.

I was there for the St. Olaf game - the last home game - and the field looked pretty good. Hopefully the grounds crew has been primping it this whole week and will continue to do so next week going into the playoffs. I am now of the opinion that playing outside in MN is going to be a big advantage for BU as they play teams from around the country. I too hope the field can withstand 4 straight weeks of play.

The problem is that the amount of "primping" that can be done becomes quite limited when grass has stopped growing for the season.  I imagine it will depend a lot on the conditions that they play in...it might do OK in dry weather, but if they have to go onto a wet field, it will be torn up for the remainder of the year.

I definitely agree that the cold can be a significant homefiled advantage if the opponent is coming from a significantly warmer climate.  Hopefully they can take care of the first order of business at SJU this weekend!

[desertcat1]

I've never been to Bethel's field but if they get that one seed is that grass field going to be able to hold up for 3-4 home playoff games?

Good question...anybody know how these situations have been handled in the past?  I remember the cobbers playing at the fargodome for a home playoff game when the weather got bad several years ago.

I was there for the St. Olaf game - the last home game - and the field looked pretty good. Hopefully the grounds crew has been primping it this whole week and will continue to do so next week going into the playoffs. I am now of the opinion that playing outside in MN is going to be a big advantage for BU as they play teams from around the country. I too hope the field can withstand 4 straight weeks of play.

The problem is that the amount of "primping" that can be done becomes quite limited when grass has stopped growing for the season.  I imagine it will depend a lot on the conditions that they play in...it might do OK in dry weather, but if they have to go onto a wet field, it will be torn up for the remainder of the year.

I definitely agree that the cold can be a significant homefiled advantage if the opponent is coming from a significantly warmer climate.   Hopefully they can take care of the first order of business at SJU this weekend!

GEE   no GTE....

[voice]

Why Bethel University should be ranked #1 in the country for seeding at the end of the year

1.Earlier I posted about the SOS and how it will right itself after Saturday's upcoming games. As a refresher - BU plays a tougher opponent than UWW this week. That coupled with a better opponents-opponents record will put it there at the end of week eleven play. Advantage BU.

2. Bethel will have at worst a 3 and 0 record against Regionally Ranked Opponents (with an outside shot at 4 and 0 depending on the final rankings we don't see), the best Whitewater can do is 3 and 0. Slight Advantage BU.

3. Probably Bethel will be 10 and 0 at the end of the season and Whitewater will probably only be 9 and 0 in the eyes of the committee, as they played an NAIA team during the year. We all know that statistically a 9 and 1 team is better than an 8 and 1 team, even though they both have a single loss. Similar logic applies here in that BU gets a "better record" in scheduling 10 NCAA teams than UWW did in only scheduling 9 NCAA teams. Advantage BU.

It will just escape me if UWW, or anyone else for that matter, can be ranked above BU in the Regional Rankings at the end of the year if all three of the above criteria come to bear.

For this week, I can kind of see it because BU hasn't played St. John's yet and the SOS scores got reversed because BU played the bottom of their conference last week. But if Bethel wins this week the SOS ship rights itself and the rest of the criteria come into play.

I think it would be wonderful if Bethel never had to travel until the fifth week of the playoffs. 

1. The adjustment will probably leave them very even and a negligible factor for either team. If it's 3-0 v. RRO for each team, and one has a  .010 SoS advantage, it could definitely come into play, which is why the Wartburg, Wash U and BVU games matter all the more.
2. This is a mirage. Bethel will not have 4 RRO. Plus one of UW-W's RRO will be a one loss team. Advantage UW-W. This assumes the loser of UWP/UWO stays ranked. Possibly, maybe probably, but not a lock with 2 loss Redlands and one loss Chapman, SNC and CSS just off the board. I don't think we can say at this point whose advantage it is. But yes, Bethel will not be 4-0 v. RRO, unless they lose to SJU, in which case this entire debate is a moot point.
3. Not a big enough deal to change a #1 seed. The people on the committee recognizes that UW-W can only play who picks up the phone. I don't think you can assume this.

I don't see anything in your entire list that outweighs the fact that one of UW-W's RRO's will be a one loss team. 

To be honest, at the end of the day, if they both take care of business, they will both be #1 seeds.  I'm thinking UW-W moves north and Bethel is #1 in the west.  Maybe the West will be bracketed with the South this year and the whole topic will be moot.

Here's a wildcard no one is discussing. It's not just that UWW is 9-0 with a win and Bethel is 10-0. Whitewater needs to hope no one on the committee connects the dots of their 10th game. They beat abysmal Waldorf, sitting at 1-9. But because Waldorf is not a DIII opponent, they aren't being calculated in the SoS data.

Is there anything that stops the committee from sitting down and saying, 'hey, lets take a look at the other team UWW beat, that isn't being calculated in the SoS number -  Oh, boy, that's a bad team.' If it was tabulated, now there would be a larger margin of difference in SoS.

I say this, because lets say UWW had scheduled St. Cloud St and won. So technically their are only 9-0. But you have to think the Whitewater faithful would be pointing this out. And that the committee would likely consider it, even if they aren't technically supposed to.

In 2007, UWW lost at St. Cloud State and ended up winning its first of four National Championships. I guess the Warhawks didn't deserve to be in the playoffs that year!!

[Texas Ole]

Last I heard he was still at Wal-Mart.  There was a rumor he was up for the St. Olaf job when OJ left.  I don't think he was a real candidate with the way he left St. Olaf.  I think he has to work at Wal-Mart for a few more years due to his contract with them. My guess is he will resurface shortly with a D1 or NFL team.  He's got the references now to be a candidate for one of those positions.  My preference would be to purge most of what Meidt has left at St. Olaf.  Several coaches at St. Olaf have needed to be shown the door from the football program for some time.  It may be true about a few other sports.  St. Olaf is a learning community, and I am not sure they bring a lot to the community on any level.

DI, maybe. NFL, not a chance. His references aren't that good, they all go back to horrible Washington Redskins teams. Jim Zorn, his in with the Redskins and NFL, doesn't even have an NFL job right now. Add to that, Meidt has been out of coaching for way too long to get back into the NFL. And I'm not sure he wants to. If that was his ultimate goal, he'd have sought another coaching gig after Washington. He had to know that by going the Walmart route he was in essence killing his future NFL coaching opportunities.

The other piece being, he's approaching the new season career-wise  as an opportunity to make money and secure his financial future. I don't think he's interested in the level of pay he'd get at a DIII school or that he'd want to go back to Olaf.

Now, if Caruso actually left UST (which I'm not predicting) would Meidt be enticed by that situation? Possibly. He'd get payed better than he did at Olaf and he'd have better resources at his disposal. Still a long time out of coaching, and I don't know if UST would want him.

He also has Mike Shanahan as a reference.  Rarely do NFL assistants stick around after the head coach is let go.  He managed to stay.  If I were Meidt I would look at QB coaching job at the D1 level with an opportunity to move in to a coordinator position.  I don't like Meidt as a head coach.  He seems to focused on one side of the ball for my liking.

[GoldandBlueBU]

He also has Mike Shanahan as a reference.  Rarely do NFL assistants stick around after the head coach is let go.  He managed to stay.  If I were Meidt I would look at QB coaching job at the D1 level with an opportunity to move in to a coordinator position.  I don't like Meidt as a head coach.  He seems to focused on one side of the ball for my liking.

He didn't stick around.  He was let go along with all of the other assistants.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/locked-out-former-redskins-assistant-chris-meidt-is-called-down-another-aisle-in-life/2011/03/10/AFpRmDAD_story_3.html

"Meidt had hoped to stick with the Redskins. Team owner Daniel Snyder fired Jim Zorn the day after the 2009 season concluded. He quickly hired Mike Shanahan and allowed the new head coach to decide which of Zorn's assistants he'd retain. Shanahan was impressed with Meidt but opted to replace all of the offensive assistants."

[hazzben]

In 2007, UWW lost at St. Cloud State and ended up winning its first of four National Championships. I guess the Warhawks didn't deserve to be in the playoffs that year!!

Huh? Well aware of the 2007 result. That's why I used SCSU. My point wasn't that UWW didn't deserve to be in the playoffs. It was that I think their showing against a solid DII team showed they were talented, it was a good game.

If they'd played SCSU, Winona St., etc. this year and won, you can't tell me Whitewater fans wouldn't be pointing to that and saying, 'its a dirty rotten shame that game doesn't get counted in UWW's favor...I sure hope the committee at least takes a look at it, everything else being equal.' Since the opponent was lowly Waldrof - again, recognizing the scheduling difficulties - no one has said a peep about the fact it isn't pulling down their SoS, a primary criteria, like a normal 1-9 D3 team would. If Bethel had beaten one of those teams in place of BVU, you'd better believe I'd be beating my chest about it right about now!

Again, I don't think UWW isn't deserving of a 1 seed, I'm just pointing out no one is talking about that data point and how it affects (or rather hasn't affected) a primary criteria data point. 

[RoyalsFan]

Why Bethel University should be ranked #1 in the country for seeding at the end of the year

I assume you meant #1 in the West region, not country.

[AO]

Why Bethel University should be ranked #1 in the country for seeding at the end of the year

I assume you meant #1 in the West region, not country.

Mary Hardin-Baylor and Mount have relatively poor SOS.  They can still give Mount an effective one seed based upon last year's playoff performance but they certainly don't have to as the other criteria favors Bethel or Whitewater.

[RoyalsFan]

Wasn't trying to be humorous at all and I wasn't implying at all about Bethel.  Coach Johnson has built a great program and I don't think kids would do anything to jeopardize it. 

When you ask if the 2nd place team would get the auto bid, then that definitely implies that the first place team is the one being penalized and since Bethel is the team in first place you are implying about Bethel. I don't see how anyone can see it any differently. 

[RoyalsFan]

Why Bethel University should be ranked #1 in the country for seeding at the end of the year

I assume you meant #1 in the West region, not country.

Mary Hardin-Baylor and Mount have relatively poor SOS.  They can still give Mount an effective one seed based upon last year's playoff performance but they certainly don't have to as the other criteria favors Bethel or Whitewater.

True, but all of art76's reasons were directed at UWW and didn't address any of the other 4 teams currently ranked ahead of Bethel in the Top 25.

[DuffMan]

Boy, this became a Bethel smokefest in a hurry.  Or would you prefer Bethel dancefest?

[hazzben]

Boy, this became a Bethel smokefest in a hurry.  Or would you prefer Bethel dancefest?

Either are ok with me, though I prefer a pipe smokefest when push comes to shove!

[RoyalsFan]

Boy, this became a Bethel smokefest in a hurry.  Or would you prefer Bethel dancefest?

Either are ok with me, though I prefer a pipe smokefest when push comes to shove!

I don't think we should use 'smokefest' as that is pretty much the Johnnies trademark.