FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[DuffMan]

I continue to be more impressed with Erdmann each week.  He keeps getting better.  On Saturday, he went 18/23 for 255 yards, 7 TDs, and 0 interceptions in a freaking snowstorm!  On top of being a baller, he seems like a great leader for the team, too, something SJU has lacked a bit with recent QBs.  The fact that he's only a junior...WOW.

[DuffMan]

This is correct.

Thanks, Pat.  Fingers crossed that Mom and Dad can handle this.

[OzJohnnie]

I continue to be more impressed with Erdmann each week.  He keeps getting better.  On Saturday, he went 18/23 for 255 yards, 7 TDs, and 0 interceptions in a freaking snowstorm!  On top of being a baller, he seems like a great leader for the team, too, something SJU has lacked a bit with recent QBs.  The fact that he's only a junior...WOW.

This is true.  I think that his skill and sophistication has increased as the offence has.  The receiving corp is very sophisticated, offer multiple setups and multiple patterns from each setup often without a huddle.  They and the RB crew adjust at the line to commands from Erdmann.

I agree that he's really improved this year, but the team around him has learned to provide the tools to let him loose.  It's a complex, pass-first offence that looks really dangerous. So although I enjoy complaining about the brackets, I'm actually looking forward to seeing how Hekendorf's creation stacks up against the best defenses in the country. Seeing that it made it past BU (@ BU) and then took a whole new level the next week against UST I'm feeling oretty confident. And I'm really glad for the early playoff game against TM. I was a little nervous on how the O would stand up against "foreign" competition and horrid conditions but it was a gold-star performance.

So, yeah. Excited.

[Retired Old Rat]

Phil Esten will be new AD at UST:
https://www.tommiesports.com/general/2018-19/releases/20181112i7dts6

Did anyone pick this guy when names were being tossed around?  It's good to see a Tommie returning to the fold.

I like the hire, but with his resume my head is spinning. This guy is a legit candidate for a Power 5 AD job. A) What are they paying him? 2) Is something else afoot?

The U, Ohio State, Berkely, the #2 guy at Penn State.

Obviously UST preparing to move to D1.

[OzJohnnie]

Also, I would like to mention the O line's improvement from blitz happy STO to blitz happy UST.  Who knows how far these Johnnies can go but they are well-tuned and if they can maintain their high level of execution then they have a great shot at going far.  They've done the work and built a plan that gives them a real shot at greatness. Now we just need to see how it stacks up against the other elite teams.

[repete]

I continue to be more impressed with Erdmann each week.  He keeps getting better.  On Saturday, he went 18/23 for 255 yards, 7 TDs, and 0 interceptions in a freaking snowstorm!  On top of being a baller, he seems like a great leader for the team, too, something SJU has lacked a bit with recent QBs.  The fact that he's only a junior...WOW.

This is true.  I think that his skill and sophistication has increased as the offence has.  The receiving corp is very sophisticated, offer multiple setups and multiple patterns from each setup often without a huddle.  They and the RB crew adjust at the line to commands from Erdmann.

I agree that he's really improved this year, but the team around him has learned to provide the tools to let him loose.  It's a complex, pass-first offence that looks really dangerous. So although I enjoy complaining about the brackets, I'm actually looking forward to seeing how Hekendorf's creation stacks up against the best defenses in the country. Seeing that it made it past BU (@ BU) and then took a whole new level the next week against UST I'm feeling oretty confident. And I'm really glad for the early playoff game against TM. I was a little nervous on how the O would stand up against "foreign" competition and horrid conditions but it was a gold-star performance.

So, yeah. Excited.

Yeah, seven TD passes in one half plus 6 seconds is pretty darn good for a West Region team, especially against a (then, at least) regionally ranked opponent. In the powerful East, however, it's no big deal.

[USTBench]

I know people hate this as a topic of conversation, because a) it's "U$T"; b) playoffs are starting; and c) it's "U$T."

But I think it's probably a fair discussion at this point when you look at this hire. And I will preface what I'm about to say with the following: I don't like the rumor for predominantly selfish reasons. Namely a) I like the MIAC and where UST is; b) as an alum of the Roney era I already feel a bit left out in the cold regarding what the current football program has going on; c)  if UST indeed makes this transition, I feel a lot of the D3 athletes of the past might feel boxed out as well. So, this isn't some arrogant UST alum diatribe, this is me thinking about the logistics of something that's not completely unprecedented, but rare since the era of the schools having one-sport D1 and the rest D3 being grandfathered in.

That said, I can see how a D1 transition makes sense, considering Minnesota is the 22nd largest state in the union but only fields one complete D1 school. 

UST has the endowment (yes I know Mac's is better), enrollment and willingness to make such a move, as well as a willing dance partner in the Summit League (according to someone I know in the Athletic Department at another Summit League school).

The big issues would be: logistics, what to flagship, what sports to cut, and Title IX compliance after said cuts. Additionally, the Summit League does not sponsor football, so you'd need to find a home for your biggest and most recognizable sport.

Esten has experience transitioning Penn State hockey from club to fledgling D1 team, to NCAA playoff team, and managing the $85 million that came in to start the program. Making Penn State Ice Hockey the 2nd most profitable sport at Penn State.

You have to sponsor 14 sports to be a non-provisional member of the Summit League, and the Summit is desperate for baseball, men's soccer, track and field, and swimming and diving schools, all of which UST sponsors. The question is, who would take a back seat,  hockey or football? It'd be harder to find a conference for football (and the added headache of upgrading the stadium) than hockey. But hockey does not have an adequate arena, despite the fact the WCHA would probably snatch them up in a nanosecond. 

If UST was serious, they'd see about becoming the 12th member of the MVFC, take their lumps for 5 years, sign a short-term lease with Alianz, renovate their stadium, and hopefully be ready to compete in the mid 2020s. If they're going to dip their toe in the water (which would be a disaster) they'd flagship hoops, play games off-campus, and potentially join the Patriot League in football. And if UST was all in, they raise a few hundred million dollars, cut baseball or sign a lease with CHS Stadium (let's be honest, real estate is at a premium at UST, and letting a non-revenue team who will only be able to play between 8-12 home games a year on campus, keep that many acres would probably be a bad move)  and build a 3,500 seat arena capable of hosting hockey and basketball (like Quinnipiac), move the track to the soccer field, and build an indoor practice facility for football (god knows where).

It'd be a logistical nightmare, but it could be done. There'd just be several years of growing pains.

[hazzben]

So, this isn't some arrogant UST alum diatribe...

We knew that from looking at the moniker Bench 

[OzJohnnie]

Well, I hope UST doesn't do D1.  They would go from a prominent Minnesota school, well respected (by crack addicts, I guess) to Minnesota-Morris. A fine enough school but not in the same league and UST. That's the type of school in the summit league or the American midwestern conference.  The WCHA is the only reputable conference that UST could join.

Your sport doesn't dictate your school. Look at MIT.

[repete]

WCHA ain't what it used to be, OZ. D1 college hockey is all messed up.

[USTBench]

Well, I hope UST doesn't do D1.  They would go from a prominent Minnesota school, well respected (by crack addicts, I guess) to Minnesota-Morris. A fine enough school but not in the same league and UST. That's the type of school in the summit league or the American midwestern conference.  The WCHA is the only reputable conference that UST could join.

Your sport doesn't dictate your school. Look at MIT.

NDSU, UND, SDSU, USD, Denver and Omaha all in the Summit League. Pretty good schools IMO.

WCHA is just what's left over of the UP Michigan schools and Minnesota Schools after UND, UMD, SCSU, Omaha and Denver left for the NCHC.

[repete]

And we can blame the Big Ten for trying to be a hockey conference.

[USTBench]

And we can blame the Big Ten for trying to be a hockey conference.

Completely agree. Destroyed college hockey.

If UST had their own arena even within the same zip code of their campus the WCHA would snatch them up in a second. Probably would anyway.

[DuffMan]

The question on everyone's minds is will the Johnnies wear red or white pants on Saturday?

[USTBench]

The question on everyone's minds is will the Johnnies wear red or white pants on Saturday?

They could wear jeans and cowboy boots and still beat Martin Luther by 50.