FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[edstone]

BTW, after the great win this weekend against U$T and all that went with it, this weekend's game against GAC makes me really nervous.  Historically, the Gusties have been a real bogey team for Bethel and I know they gave the Tommies a good fight a couple weeks ago.

I agree a lot! If BU starts to look ahead, beyond HU and STO to SJU or stays with the joy of the UST win, GAC very well could put a hit on that no-loss record. For that matter, the Oles have done-in BU the last two years. Yes, it gives me pause. Were I on the BU coaching staff, I'd be doin' a dance on the guys to make sure this one is "The One" that they think about.

[ron doney]

Having the Hamline game sandwiched between GAC and Bethel is huge. I'd be more concerned about the GAC game and the team looking ahead to Bethel if they didn't have an easy game between them. If all goes as planned Bethel should enter the final game of they year undefeated. From all accounts they've great most of the year and continue to get better. I know they'd be the favorite but I wouldn't want to bet against SJU at home with a chance to win the MIAC.

In a few weeks I'll do the unthinkable and root for St Glenn and the Tommies when they host the Concordia. I'd rather not find out what the tiebreaker scenarios are in a three-way tie.

Really?  I had to give my buddy 24pts to take SJ1.

So your line is SJU +24? I can't argue with making Bethel the favorite but that's a large spread. I agree that Bethel will be favored but there's a lot of things in SJU's favor should they get to the 10th game at 8-1.

Fury...I trust your understanding of the auto qualifier but SJU getting in because of the head-to-head win is scary. Bethel has been the better ranked team all season (I know the polls mean nothing) but would one win be enough to vault SJU over a larger body of work by Bethel? Is there any precedent of a higher ranked team losing out to a lower ranked one because of head-to-head results?

I was exaggerating in the spirit of piling fun. I think it will be a close game.

[OzJohnnie]

I see there's an article on the front page of d3football.com that says there will be 5 pool C spots and not 4 as everyone was previously saying. The article goes into how the misunderstanding happened. The important point being we can go back to cheering for three 9-1 teams now.

[edstone]

I was actually just planning to post a shout out to Bethel SID Jared Johnson. He's really raised the bar in his first few years on the job. He's brought a nice level of professionalism in addition to utilizing digital and social media. SID's put in tons of hours at odd times and usually only get mentioned for screwing something up. So, shout out to Jared, he's doing a superb job for BU!

I'll put a second on that motion!
Thanks to all the "back room" people who do stuff that gets taken for granted.

[AO]

I think 3-way tiebreaker -- with Concordia, Bethel and Johnnies -- would mean Cobbers get automatic, since they've had the longest time since last playoff appearance. In that scenario, if all three are 9-1 but SJU has beaten Bethel, you'd think Johnnies would get edge in at-large.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
6.1  HOW DECIDED:  The championship in football will be determined on a point basis -- one (1) point per win,
based on the approved round-robin schedule. 
6.1.1  POLICY FOR TIE BREAKER:  Ties will be broken in order to select the automatic qualifier to the NCAA playoffs
as follows:  (revised 5/2012, 5/09, added 5/99)
1. Head-to-Head winner among all teams tied
2. Results against teams not tied as the league leaders in descending order after the tied teams
3. Point differential between tied team
4. Team not in the NCAA playoffs most recently (If a tie still remains, result of head-to-head competition
between the remaining tied teams will receive the automatic bid.)
5. Highest Massey Rating
6. Coin Flip
6.2  The MIAC recognizes multiple champions.

The point differential tie-breaker might have been one of the more recent revisions.  If SJU, Cord, and Bethel are all 9-1, SJU would have to beat Bethel by 17 since Bethel is currently +23 in point differential and SJU -10.

[sjusection105]

In a few weeks I'll do the unthinkable and root for St Glenn and the Tommies when they host the Concordia. I'd rather not find out what the tiebreaker scenarios are in a three-way tie.

No need to compromise your principles,you can root for Augsburg or GAC  to take out the Cobbers. I mean, rooting for the Tomcats would be like a Red Sox fan rooting for the Yankees or a Maple Leafs fan rooting for the Canadiens.

Now go wash your mouth out with soap....

[carletonsid]

Sorry if this post is a little advanced for those without a web broadcast.....but anyone know of a school that lets you download old broadcasts free of charge?  I'd like to see that happen sooner rather than later.  Frustrating that I am not able to pull out a GIF from last weekends game to post on here.

I don't think users can do that (download broadcast) on the Stretch platform without having a third-party software solution, allowing you to capture/download streaming media. That software is out there and not all the expensive. Haven't used such software in a while, but I know it's out there.

[OzJohnnie]

[rant]
Man, the Vikings really suck.  They suck so bad that I can't even be bothered to look them up on ESPN to see what is happening.  But as they are playing Monday Night Football I thought I would quickly check the score for old time's sake.  They are getting stomped by the winless Giants?  AP has 13 rushes for only 28 yards?  And some mystery man name Josh Freeman is QB at 16 completions for 46 attempts and only 162 yards?  3.5 yards per attempt?

I'm going to cry.  What a disaster.  Thank God for the Johnnies.
[/rant]

[continue rant]
How does a guy throw the ball 46 times and only hits the target 16 times and get an NFL job?  And how is there only 1 interception with that wild inaccuracy?  He must be throwing it directly into the turf.  What an utter disaster.  I think the Vikings are in their own Major League scenario where the ownership is deliberately trying to lose so they can move the team.  There is no other way that they could be mismanaging this badly - there must be a plan of destruction.
[/continue rant]

[D O.C.]

When pigs fly...

Just to tide you over....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B0xvm-QVQs

[art76]

If one were to set up the top 8 teams for setting up the playoff bracket, who would you chose?

Looking at the Top 25 Poll from D3 the top 7 are easy, as they are all undefeated in their respective conferences. In order:
1. Mount Union (OAC)
2. Linfield (NWC)
3. Mary Hardin-Baylor (ASC)
4. North Central (CCIW)
5. Bethel (MIAC)
6. Hobart (LL)
7. UW-Whitewater (WIAC)

The next undefeated team (right now), not already from one of the above conferences would be:
13. Johns Hopkins (CC)

In theory, if seeded exactly how they stand right now and if none of them lost until the last 8 were still standing, you'd have Mount Union hosting Johns Hopkins, Linfield would host UW-Whitewater, Mary Hardin-Baylor would host Hobart and North Central would host Bethel. That doesn't look too bad to me for travel schedules, etc.

Here's where it gets interesting at this point in the season, as not everyone has played everyone else in their conference, so the SOS numbers are still a bit skewed, even though they start to shed some light on just which teams have had a more difficult road to post their undefeated records.

Following are the SOS rankings for the 23 teams still undefeated this season:
9. Bethel
34. Milsaps
43. Mary Hardin-Baylor
47. Linfield
55. Wheaton
60. Hobart
90. Johns Hopkins
103. Wittenberg
104. John Caroll
108. Gallaudet
123. Wabash
141. UW-Whitewater
159. Illinois College
173. Willamette
183. UW-Platteville
186. North Central
198. Illinois Wesleyan
199. Greenville
210. Mt. Union
219. Texas Lutheran
220. UW-Oshkosh
223. Chapman
226. Heidelberg

You could argue that Milsaps is the eighth best team in the country because of their high SOS and being from the SAA they could "bracket out" so that they ended up against Mary Hardin-Baylor. If one did that then you could send Hobart to Mt. Union, and any of the three from the CCIW, MIAC or WIAC out to Linfield and have the other two play each other.

Of course, this is all under the assumption that none of these teams lose between now and then.

Finally, I think the tourney is going to have a distinct mid-west feel about it this year as I suspect that there will be three 10 and 0 teams, one each from the MIAC, WIAC and CCIW. I also suspect that there will be three 9 and 1 teams from each of those conferences all ranked in the top 25. I'll go on record as stating the obvious, that there will be no 8 and 2 Pool C teams in the tourney this year.

[57Johnnie]

If one were to set up the top 8 teams for setting up the playoff bracket, who would you chose?

I would take a deep breath and wait a few weeks 

[SJUrube]

I see there's an article on the front page of d3football.com that says there will be 5 pool C spots and not 4 as everyone was previously saying. The article goes into how the misunderstanding happened. The important point being we can go back to cheering for three 9-1 teams now.

Interesting. Anyone know why the NESCAC doesn't accept an auto bid? Is it an academics or budget issue? Good news for the MIAC and the dream of 3 playoff teams. 

[carletonsid]

[rant]
Man, the Vikings really suck.  They suck so bad that I can't even be bothered to look them up on ESPN to see what is happening.  But as they are playing Monday Night Football I thought I would quickly check the score for old time's sake.  They are getting stomped by the winless Giants?  AP has 13 rushes for only 28 yards?  And some mystery man name Josh Freeman is QB at 16 completions for 46 attempts and only 162 yards?  3.5 yards per attempt?

I'm going to cry.  What a disaster.  Thank God for the Johnnies.
[/rant]

[continue rant]
How does a guy throw the ball 46 times and only hits the target 16 times and get an NFL job?  And how is there only 1 interception with that wild inaccuracy?  He must be throwing it directly into the turf.  What an utter disaster.  I think the Vikings are in their own Major League scenario where the ownership is deliberately trying to lose so they can move the team.  There is no other way that they could be mismanaging this badly - there must be a plan of destruction.
[/continue rant]

I heard on Mike and Mike this morning that Freeman was 3 of 16 on targets 15 yards and longer. I understand he's had all of two weeks to learn the offense, but I thought they grabbed him because CP and MC couldn't hit passes downfield and Freeman has a "big" arm. Of his 33 incomplete passes(!), 16 were overthrows, which is the highest number in the last eight years for any NFL QB, when they started tracking passing this way.

Cris Carter also said it wasn't the coach's decision to play Freeman. Interesting…

BTW, they aren't moving anywhere since they just fleeced the state of Minnesota and city of Minneapolis into paying roughly $500 million for a new stadium, while it will likely cost the owners about $3 million out of pocket once they sell PCLs and stadium naming rights.

[art76]

If one were to set up the top 8 teams for setting up the playoff bracket, who would you chose?

I would take a deep breath and wait a few weeks 

I realize now that the SAA doesn't have an automatic qualifier, so Johns Hopkins stays in at number 8.

Pat and Keith mentioned that they'd be going over the playoff "preps" in next week's pod cast, so I did some digging to see how the mid-west teams looked in comparison to the rest of the country. Seems that there are always some surprises in the last couple of weeks of the regular season to stir the pot a bit.

[AO]

I see there's an article on the front page of d3football.com that says there will be 5 pool C spots and not 4 as everyone was previously saying. The article goes into how the misunderstanding happened. The important point being we can go back to cheering for three 9-1 teams now.

Interesting. Anyone know why the NESCAC doesn't accept an auto bid? Is it an academics or budget issue? Good news for the MIAC and the dream of 3 playoff teams.

Definitely not a budget issue.  Also pretty silly to think that 1 team playing 1 more game on a Saturday would be an academic issue.

I heard on Mike and Mike this morning that Freeman was 3 of 16 on targets 15 yards and longer. I understand he's had all of two weeks to learn the offense, but I thought they grabbed him because CP and MC couldn't hit passes downfield and Freeman has a "big" arm. Of his 33 incomplete passes(!), 16 were overthrows, which is the highest number in the last eight years for any NFL QB, when they started tracking passing this way.

Bring back Sage Rosenfels.