FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[DuffMan]

....Or just beat the Tommies, win the MIAC and no more hand wringing about not having a home game or strength of schedule. This is the NCAA playoffs, third party rankings like D3Football mean nothing. No finger pointing, just win baby!

What he said!  At this point, we've just got to be thankful that the J's got in.  At times this season, they haven't looked like a playoff-caliber team.

I wish the game were in Collegeville, but speaking as a guy who played in numerous road playoff games, it's honestly a bit more fun and special to be on the road with your team.

Road warriors!!!

[DustySJU]

St John's vs North Central (IL) in the 1st round. If they can defeat North Central they'll most likely face UW-Oshkosh in the 2nd round. OUCH!

How does a team not even ranked in the top 10 get a home game???

They're ranked in the top 10 of the only poll the committee cares about -- their own regional ranking.

The NCAA ranking metrics on NCC and SJU are actually quite similar:

metric	SJU	NCC
D3 record	8-1	8-1
overall record	9-1	9-1
SOS	0.519	0.519
regional ranking	5th	4th
record vs. RRO	1-1	2-1*

*1-1 if Millikin drops out of final North ranking

To me it looks like a toss-up on choice of venue, with a very slight edge to NCC.

I'm looking forward to the best game of round 1.

Save for fact you would have more fun traveling to SJU than we will traveling to NCC.

[jamtod]

St John's vs North Central (IL) in the 1st round. If they can defeat North Central they'll most likely face UW-Oshkosh in the 2nd round. OUCH!

How does a team not even ranked in the top 10 get a home game???

They're ranked in the top 10 of the only poll the committee cares about -- their own regional ranking.

The NCAA ranking metrics on NCC and SJU are actually quite similar:

metric	SJU	NCC
D3 record	8-1	8-1
overall record	9-1	9-1
SOS	0.519	0.519
regional ranking	5th	4th
record vs. RRO	1-1	2-1*

*1-1 if Millikin drops out of final North ranking

To me it looks like a toss-up on choice of venue, with a very slight edge to NCC.

I'm looking forward to the best game of round 1.

Save for fact you would have more fun traveling to SJU than we will traveling to NCC.

Agreed. If that was a game at St John's, I'd be very very tempted to skip the UST game and head up to Collegeville. Should have done that last year for round 1, if I could have pulled the wool over my wife's eyes.

[sju#57]

although the odds a very slim....what if SJU and U$T win out and play in Salem for the Championship.....how cool would that be...lol

[retagent]

If GC dropped trou and dropped a deuce at mid field after every game - he would certainly be consistent. And it would be expected. So, that would be OK? Pardon me, but consistency does not excuse all manner of dubious behavior.

[CardinalAlum]

St John's vs North Central (IL) in the 1st round. If they can defeat North Central they'll most likely face UW-Oshkosh in the 2nd round. OUCH!

How does a team not even ranked in the top 10 get a home game???

They're ranked in the top 10 of the only poll the committee cares about -- their own regional ranking.

The NCAA ranking metrics on NCC and SJU are actually quite similar:

metric	SJU	NCC
D3 record	8-1	8-1
overall record	9-1	9-1
SOS	0.519	0.519
regional ranking	5th	4th
record vs. RRO	1-1	2-1*

*1-1 if Millikin drops out of final North ranking

To me it looks like a toss-up on choice of venue, with a very slight edge to NCC.

I'm looking forward to the best game of round 1.

Save for fact you would have more fun traveling to SJU than we will traveling to NCC.

Oh, I don't know about that....Naperville is a great town to hang out in.   Bars and restaurants a block away from the stadium or tailgates welcome close by as well!   Safe travels!

[sjujohnnie]

I was in Naperville in late March for a surprise 40th birthday party & had a lot of fun! Disappointed it won't work for me to road trip to cheer on the Johnnies! Pretty sure it was North Central that I watched online take on one of the higher rated NAIA schools (I believe it was Robert Morris) early in the season & it was a great matchup!

[jamtod]

If GC dropped trou and dropped a deuce at mid field after every game - he would certainly be consistent. And it would be expected. So, that would be OK? Pardon me, but consistency does not excuse all manner of dubious behavior.

I thought everyone knew he already did that. The post game picture on the SJU 50 is just a guise while he drops a big one right on that hidden #1 in the logo.

In all seriousness though, you got a Top 10 team in the country that just got their playoff bracket, and your "#1" focus is still Glenn. You should get that checked out; they might have pills for that.

No, I think this is the symptom of those pills. You know what they say, if Caruso is in your head for more than 4 hours after the game, you should call your doctor.

(original version edited slightly as I believe there may be children, or at least some childish folks among us)

[faunch]

In all seriousness I actually hope U$T lays a "hundo" to rip score on Eureka. Maybe that will garner the attention of the NCAA and lead to changes in the D3 playoff system.

If the bracket layout is the same as last year I would think U$T would be at Berry in the second round.
http://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2016/bracket

[GoldandBlueBU]

In all seriousness I actually hope U$T lays a "hundo" to rip score on Eureka. Maybe that will garner the attention of the NCAA and lead to changes in the D3 playoff system.
=

I wish that were the case too, but the first round is filled with blowouts every year and it doesn't lead to any changes...why would this year be different?

[art76]

MIAC weekly notes, Week 12 - first week of playoffs

Blowout game has to be Eureka at St. Thomas. Easily can be a triple digit difference, but will it be? I doubt there will be any offensive linemen running in for touchdowns this week because of the player count limitation imposed by the NCAA.

The game of the week for the MIAC has to be the Johnnies traveling down to Chicago land to take on the North Central Cardinals. I think this game turns on St. John's defense. North Central has scored at least three times in all its games this season, whether winning or losing. If the Johnnies can hold them to scoring twice or fewer times, they stand a real good chance at winning. If the Johnnie defense gives up even one score due to mental breakdowns/missed coverages, they will most likely lose this game. Play clean on Defense, catch a break or two on offense, and the game is the Johnnies.

Other notes about other games in the region this week:

Oshkosh and Wartburg should roll, and I'm pulling for Monmouth against Trine, but that will be a real close game by all accounts. As the guys mentioned in the podcast, this game will be between two evenly matched teams - might even be as good as the Johnnie/Cardinal game.

[USTBench]

After a weekend of thinking about the St. Olaf score (and reading the stupid comments on the Star Tribune) I think I've come up with an answer.

1) No, UST and SJU should not go D2. D2 has the atmosphere of an abandoned tire plant, the academics of your average JUCO and the logistics of D1. It is terrible in every way.

2) A little over a decade ago, NDSU, UND, SDSU, USD all discussed the possibility of going D1 together. NDSU and SDSU did, USD and UND stayed back and watched how it played out. What happened was NDSU and SDSU 100% made the right call and enjoyed great success and UND was playing UM-Crookston in front of 2,000 people in a $100 million arena. UND and USD saw what was happening with NDSU and SDSU and finally decided to make the jump. There have been growing pains, but it was absolutely the right move.

3) I understand that UST has not yet won a national championship in football, but that doesn't necessarily need to be the criteria for moving up. UST is perennially a top 5 team in DIII and SJU is right on their heels. I think a serious conversation needs to be had between UST and SJU/CSB that there exists a possibility that the MIAC/DIII isn't the right fit for them anymore. However, I wouldn't move up unless the other institution is on board. You need a travel partner and a rival.

4) This of course flies in the face of what I love about college sports and DIII in particular, but UST beat a team that was 4-6 by a score of 97-0. This wasn't a conference bottom-feeder. This was a relatively average team by MIAC standards, purportedly the 2nd or 3rd best conference in the country.

5) I think the solution for UST and SJU/CSB is to look into the possibility of moving to FCS and joining the Pioneer League, and looking into something like the Horizon League for all other sports and the WCHA for hockey. UST and SJU/CSB have similar academics, facilities, missions, endowments, could be competitive right away and don't have to dig for scholarship money immediately because the Pioneer League is non-scholarship. The Horizon League is similar in every aspect but scholarships. I don't know if the WCHA would be viable with the current arena situation at both schools, but going D1 often means cutting programs.

6) This is probably a very unpopular take, but even the best team in the country playing their hardest for four quarters shouldn't be able to hang 97-rip or 98-rip on anyone playing at their same level. UST and SJU put 37,355 butts in seats at a MLB stadium. SJU averages nearly 10,000 per home game. That makes them Top 25 in attendance in FCS, and probably more than double that of any team in the Pioneer League. UST and SJU have outgrown the MIAC and it's probably time to move on like UMD did.

[wm4]

Oh, I don't know about that....Naperville is a great town to hang out in.   Bars and restaurants a block away from the stadium or tailgates welcome close by as well!   Safe travels!

Seconded!  Naperville is a fantastic town and NCC has a great stadium.  Literally 2 blocks away from the stadium is a bunch of bars/restaurants.  Highly encourage Johnnies to come down for this game.

[corn horn]

Congrats to the Johnnies on a tough win over my beloved Cobbs this past weekend. It was a great day for football and I was glad to have made the trek to Collegeville. It was a tremendous defensive battle the whole way. Wish the outcome could have been different, but best of luck in weeks ahead to the boys in red.

I was able to listen to the last 10 minutes or so of the UST STO game as I was exiting SJU. Yes, it was a blowout and I appreciate that when you are on the road you can only go so deep, so the score will likely swell against a severely overmatched opponent. I get that you want to stay mentally focused for the playoffs and not let down. Maybe even working on 2-point conversions can be justified. What I found completely reprehensible was UST handing it off from the STO 5 and runnng in a touchdown with 7 seconds to play. Was the 91-0 lead really not enough to take a knee for a final play? That is not a situation where taking a knee would cause any embarrassment for the overmatched opponent. Totally inexcusable.

[OldAuggie]

After a weekend of thinking about the St. Olaf score (and reading the stupid comments on the Star Tribune) I think I've come up with an answer.

1) No, UST and SJU should not go D2. D2 has the atmosphere of an abandoned tire plant, the academics of your average JUCO and the logistics of D1. It is terrible in every way.

2) A little over a decade ago, NDSU, UND, SDSU, USD all discussed the possibility of going D1 together. NDSU and SDSU did, USD and UND stayed back and watched how it played out. What happened was NDSU and SDSU 100% made the right call and enjoyed great success and UND was playing UM-Crookston in front of 2,000 people in a $100 million arena. UND and USD saw what was happening with NDSU and SDSU and finally decided to make the jump. There have been growing pains, but it was absolutely the right move.

3) I understand that UST has not yet won a national championship in football, but that doesn't necessarily need to be the criteria for moving up. UST is perennially a top 5 team in DIII and SJU is right on their heels. I think a serious conversation needs to be had between UST and SJU/CSB that there exists a possibility that the MIAC/DIII isn't the right fit for them anymore. However, I wouldn't move up unless the other institution is on board. You need a travel partner and a rival.

4) This of course flies in the face of what I love about college sports and DIII in particular, but UST beat a team that was 4-6 by a score of 97-0. This wasn't a conference bottom-feeder. This was a relatively average team by MIAC standards, purportedly the 2nd or 3rd best conference in the country.

5) I think the solution for UST and SJU/CSB is to look into the possibility of moving to FCS and joining the Pioneer League, and looking into something like the Horizon League for all other sports and the WCHA for hockey. UST and SJU/CSB have similar academics, facilities, missions, endowments, could be competitive right away and don't have to dig for scholarship money immediately because the Pioneer League is non-scholarship. The Horizon League is similar in every aspect but scholarships. I don't know if the WCHA would be viable with the current arena situation at both schools, but going D1 often means cutting programs.

6) This is probably a very unpopular take, but even the best team in the country playing their hardest for four quarters shouldn't be able to hang 97-rip or 98-rip on anyone playing at their same level. UST and SJU put 37,355 butts in seats at a MLB stadium. SJU averages nearly 10,000 per home game. That makes them Top 25 in attendance in FCS, and probably more than double that of any team in the Pioneer League. UST and SJU have outgrown the MIAC and it's probably time to move on like UMD did.

So are you proposing that UST is a bigger deal than the Gold Standard of D3 football; Mount Union? I don't hear anything about them moving up and last time I checked they were able to avoid embarrassing their opponents and themselves and still play well within their conference.