FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[faunch]

Happy Thanksgiving from Collegeville.
Note...acceptable hand holding at 49 second mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE-HAH4XrlI

[repete]

Not sure if it's on the new site, but I used to enjoy looking at the playoff winning percentages by conference. It's too bad there could not be a round of playoffs for the lightweights to open up more Pool Cs. Not going to happen, of course, for a lot of reasons, but it wasn't all that fun watching Saturday's beatdown.

Thought it was funny about the way the CSS coach was ticked off about having to play indoors. There was no way that game would be close ... even if a rough conditions were a wild card. Bottom line: Bethel has the possibility of more games on its home field; CSS only had to worry about one game.

Despite its flaws, the selection system is improving. It's far better than D1 will ever be. It's a huge improvement over the old limited fields in the past. Plenty of good teams got left out back in the day. One of the worst examples was the 1980 UMD team ran off a 10-0 record with only one game closer than two TDs and didn't get a look at the d2 post-season.

A belated congrats and best of luck to Bethel, looks like this week it gets real.

[ChicagoTommie]

ChiTommie - just tell them it's a lot like the NCAA Basketball Tournament with half the teams. I'm sure even your mouth breathing Chicago buddies can relate to that.

You definitely know my meatball friends! They still have to think about breathing and blinking once you put a few drinks in them...just to get them going I will call Coach Ditka a pussy or claim that the Bears 85 defense  was over rated! Man thats fun!

[wartknight]

ChiTommie - just tell them it's a lot like the NCAA Basketball Tournament with half the teams. I'm sure even your mouth breathing Chicago buddies can relate to that.

You definitely know my meatball friends! They still have to think about breathing and blinking once you put a few drinks in them...just to get them going I will call Coach Ditka a pussy or claim that the Bears 85 defense  was over rated! Man thats fun!

Now don't get me going! 
That D (the best ever!) was just slightly better than the one on the field yesterday in Stl. WOW!! Back to the drawing board.

[SagatagSam]

Happy Thanksgiving from Collegeville.
Note...acceptable hand holding at 49 second mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE-HAH4XrlI

I feel like this is a better SJU Thanksgiving video.
The atmosphere in the Great Hall is far superior for the occasion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDzXEfOGSfE

As far as the hand holding, I'm still not much of a fan of it, even in that context (maybe its because it was not the norm for my family growing up). But, when compared to other types of hand holding discussed on this board, it is more appropriate.

[Pat Coleman]

There is no NCAA single-game attendance record as the stat is not tracked at the Division III level.

The NCAA doesn't officially track a single-game attendance record.

Right. It doesn't unofficially track one either, though, as far as I know.

I am not aware of a higher attendance total but "believed to be the highest attendance" is the best wording we can give credence to.

[Pat Coleman]

Not sure if it's on the new site, but I used to enjoy looking at the playoff winning percentages by conference. It's too bad there could not be a round of playoffs for the lightweights to open up more Pool Cs. Not going to happen, of course, for a lot of reasons, but it wasn't all that fun watching Saturday's beatdown.

Knowing people like this, I included it in Saturday's game wrapup:
http://www.d3football.com/notables/2013/11/week12-playoff-wrapup

The chart's permanent home is in the FAQ under the playoffs section.

[hazzben]

Six or seven of the MIAC teams could beat St. Scholastica.  IMO the addition of conferences to D3 has watered down the playoffs a bit. 

From what I saw Saturday, I'm not sure CSS would win a single game in the MIAC. That's not being harsh, I think their only chances would be Hamline and St. Olaf. But even 1-9 Olaf's only win came against Northwestern 37-18, who CSS beat 25-14. Score comparisons aren't worth much. But I think Schmeising and Asp would have a field day with Scholastica's vertically challenged secondary.

I don't think the 'equal access' of the D3 system is going anywhere. It's how D3 got started in the first place - promising all those NAIA schools that if their entire conference came in they were guaranteed the champ would get a spot in the playoff field. The problem is that if the Pool C gets reduced to 3 or 2 teams, the field is going to get seriously watered down. These new auto-bid conferences aren't sending quality teams to the field.

Pat's thrown out some suggestions, but there has to be some way of maintaining mostly equal access, yet promoting a competitive game.

Eliminate the bye week, have the playoffs start with 4 teams playing their way in. This year, match up CSS v. Concordia, Wisc. & Albion v. Endicott. 2 more at large teams make the field, say Wabash and St. Thomas.

The issue is, it removes the bye, which a lot of people wouldn't be happy with. Here's another solution I proposed elsewhere (in response to Pat saying only teams ranked in the top 15 or 20 in a region receive their conferences auto bid):

My issue with Regional Ranking being the threshold is that we've already seen a willingness by some regions to massage/manipulate (pick your verb) their rankings to ensure Pool C teams make the field. I'm just not sure we have a good way to make sure a regional committee wouldn't simply take things into their own hands to ensure a 7-3 (all losses in conference) or 6-4 squad didn't make it high enough.

I'd advocate something along these lines:

Pool A conference champions (or teams awarded the right for the at large via conference tie-breaker) receive their bid provided they meet one of the following criteria:

1. DIII Winning percentage of .700 or greater
2. Win over a RRO (this raises what to do with the once ranked always ranked issue)
3. 3 losses against RRO's
4. Ranked in the top 12 of the Regional Rankings

Maybe we could debate how high to set criteria 1 and 3. But taken together, achieving only 1 of these criteria shouldn't be undoable for any team that has a case to be in the field. There are also multiple layers to ensure teams aren't discouraged from scheduling tough teams OOC.

To tease out how it would look.

Say there's carnage in the NWC and PLU wins the league but has a d3 record of 6-3 (2 OOC losses). They also aren't ranked in a tough West Region field with multiple 1 & 2 loss teams from the WIAC, MIAC, IIAC and SCIAC. However, one of their wins is over a 1 loss Linfield team ranked 8 in the final ballot. They are in.

A team goes 6-4 (2 OOC, 2 Conf losses apiece) and wins the IIAC. No wins against RRO, 2 losses against RROs. Unranked in the final rankings. They are out, elligible for Pool C and the IIAC A bid becomes an additional Pool C bid.

We want to preserve equal access for good teams, but ensure totally undeserving teams don't limp in. At the same time, there are enough ways to make it in that an RC shouldn't have to manipulate things to get someone their A bid.

[ChicagoTommie]

ChiTommie - just tell them it's a lot like the NCAA Basketball Tournament with half the teams. I'm sure even your mouth breathing Chicago buddies can relate to that.

You definitely know my meatball friends! They still have to think about breathing and blinking once you put a few drinks in them...just to get them going I will call Coach Ditka a pussy or claim that the Bears 85 defense  was over rated! Man thats fun!

Now don't get me going! 
That D (the best ever!) was just slightly better than the one on the field yesterday in Stl. WOW!! Back to the drawing board.

Yes Sunday was a tough one to swallow...My beloved Bears are headed up north to watch AP @ Gerhart run wild! I hate to say that!!!

[AO]

Six or seven of the MIAC teams could beat St. Scholastica.  IMO the addition of conferences to D3 has watered down the playoffs a bit. 

From what I saw Saturday, I'm not sure CSS would win a single game in the MIAC. That's not being harsh, I think their only chances would be Hamline and St. Olaf. But even 1-9 Olaf's only win came against Northwestern 37-18, who CSS beat 25-14. Score comparisons aren't worth much. But I think Schmeising and Asp would have a field day with Scholastica's vertically challenged secondary.

I don't think the 'equal access' of the D3 system is going anywhere. It's how D3 got started in the first place - promising all those NAIA schools that if their entire conference came in they were guaranteed the champ would get a spot in the playoff field. The problem is that if the Pool C gets reduced to 3 or 2 teams, the field is going to get seriously watered down. These new auto-bid conferences aren't sending quality teams to the field.

Pat's thrown out some suggestions, but there has to be some way of maintaining mostly equal access, yet promoting a competitive game.

This isn't the first time there's been uncompetitive games in the first round of the playoffs.    D3 doesn't have the parity that exists at the D2 and FCS levels.  The 2007 Royals found this out the hard way when they handled Central pretty easily before being crushed by the Raiders.  This might be the best Bethel team ever, and the MIAC is also probably the best it's ever been (relative to the other conferences this year).  When do we think Pool C is going to get reduced to 2 teams?  The next couple Pool A bids are going to come at the expense of Pool B bids, not Pool C.

[OzJohnnie]

ChiTommie - just tell them it's a lot like the NCAA Basketball Tournament with half the teams. I'm sure even your mouth breathing Chicago buddies can relate to that.

You definitely know my meatball friends! They still have to think about breathing and blinking once you put a few drinks in them...just to get them going I will call Coach Ditka a pussy or claim that the Bears 85 defense  was over rated! Man thats fun!

Now don't get me going! 
That D (the best ever!) was just slightly better than the one on the field yesterday in Stl. WOW!! Back to the drawing board.

Yes Sunday was a tough one to swallow...My beloved Bears are headed up north to watch AP @ Gerhart run wild! I hate to say that!!!

You're delusional. The Bears will kill the Queens. The only chance you have of being right is if if the Curse of Permenant Disappointment rears up and gives us a halfway decent game so that Ponder and all the other nuff-nuffs stay around another year just to break our spirit harder.

[ChicagoTommie]

You know that whole Ponder Freeman thing is crazy! What was Viking management thinking?  Oz I will make a gentleman's bet that the bear will let the Vikings rush more then 165 yards against the Bears D!

[faunch]

ChiTommie - just tell them it's a lot like the NCAA Basketball Tournament with half the teams. I'm sure even your mouth breathing Chicago buddies can relate to that.

You definitely know my meatball friends! They still have to think about breathing and blinking once you put a few drinks in them...just to get them going I will call Coach Ditka a pussy or claim that the Bears 85 defense  was over rated! Man thats fun!

Now don't get me going! 
That D (the best ever!) was just slightly better than the one on the field yesterday in Stl. WOW!! Back to the drawing board.

Yes Sunday was a tough one to swallow...My beloved Bears are headed up north to watch AP @ Gerhart run wild! I hate to say that!!!

But this must have been even tougher...hope the shoulder is feeling ok Chicago Tommie.  Might be time to cut back on that McCallan.
I would pay money to see you run another post game race.   

http://deadspin.com/footrace-between-drunk-bears-fans-ends-exactly-as-it-sh-1471237969?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

[OzJohnnie]

It's a bet, CT.  May the more pessimistic man win.  (With luck AP will run for more than 165 and the Vikings will still get beat.  Then we can both be winners.)

Ha, faunch!  Classic.  I reckon something has to be broken there.

[hazzben]

http://deadspin.com/footrace-between-drunk-bears-fans-ends-exactly-as-it-sh-1471237969?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Goodbye collar bone!