FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hazzben]

Congrats to the Bethel football team on an undefeated regular season and MIAC championship. Good luck in the playoffs!!

Having to attend a family funeral today I was unable to be at or follow the game. It appears that Bethel was pretty much in control for most of the day, but the stats indicate otherwise as other than the score the stats were fairly even. Did SJU get some late stats after the game was decided or was the game as close as the stats indicated? I see Bethel missed a field goal (along with blocking a SJU field goal) and heard that Bethel turned it over deep in SJU territory. Was that an int or was it turned over on downs? Also, was it raining during the game - as it was raining pretty good here in the Cities during game time.

My eyewitness sources say that from late-1st quarter until halftime it was a basically a downpour.

[D O.C.]

Congrats Bethel.
I'd like to play the brothers if things work out well on our side.

[sjusection105]

The projection and explanation of the bracket from the gurus at D3Football
http://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2013/playoff-projections
This is well thought out and I agree. There are teams from the East that I couldn't identify in a lineup but of the team in flyover country I agree.
Remeber folks, "this is a bracket- not the best 32 teams in the country". That statement rings true.

[art76]

1. Here we are at the end of the season and the MIAC finishes with an overall non-conference record of 16 and 2, 14 and 2 in NCAA play. This ties last year's record and is the best in D-3 this year. I've no idea how the rest of the conferences finished out but I would be surprised to hear that any of them were above .750.

2. Team standings within the conference:
a. Bethel
b. St. Thomas
c. Concordia
d. St. John's
e. Gustavus
f. Carleton
g. Augsburg
h. Hamline
i. St. Olaf

Two surprises for me as the season wore on: the first is how far St. Olaf and Augsburg fell from their respective pre-season projections, especially the Auggies. And I am pleasantly surprised with how well St. John's did for the year, as I fully expected another ho-hum 5 and 5 year from them. Kudos to Coach Fasching and his staff. (I know others on this board had more faith than I.)

3. Lastly, it does not look good for any Pool C teams from the MIAC getting into the big dance this year. We'll know for sure shortly after 5:00 pm CST tonight, but it's looking like Bethel will be the sole representative this year.

[OldAuggie]

Congrats to Bethel on a great year. They look like a team that will do well in cold weather with that huge right side of their O-Line. Run the ball, play good defense and if they can stay home and play in the MN weather for a while I like their chances to go deep in to the playoffs. Good Luck Royals!

[sjusection105]

Congratulations to Steve Johnson,players & staff of Bethel. This team could get a very favorable seating and could go far in the play-offs.

Anyone from Bethel know of optional sites if the field is not in playable condition in the weeks ahead? This is a curious question from me,not an insinuation the field won't be playable. Would one of the area high schools with artificial turf be an option or would the NCAA frown on this and send the game to U$Td or Hamline being close options with NCAA regulation goal posts, hash marks etc....?

Also, congratulation to SJU for having a nice turnaround season. The MIAC will be tough again next year and I have faith the Johnnies will be in the mix in 2014.

[hazzben]

Congratulations to Steve Johnson,players & staff of Bethel. This team could get a very favorable seating and could go far in the play-offs.

Anyone from Bethel know of optional sites if the field is not in playable condition in the weeks ahead? This is a curious question from me,not an insinuation the field won't be playable. Would one of the area high schools with artificial turf be an option or would the NCAA frown on this and send the game to U$Td or Hamline being close options with NCAA regulation goal posts, hash marks etc....?

Also, congratulation to SJU for having a nice turnaround season. The MIAC will be tough again next year and I have faith the Johnnies will be in the mix in 2014.

Not sure. But at this point the field is playable and I think it would have to get to be pretty bad before Bethel would want it moved. I have no idea if they'd allow it to be played on a HS field. You could paint hashmarks, assuming the school would allow it. The goal posts are another deal. Mounds View would be the most logical choice, just a couple miles from campus.

It would be incredibly ironic if Bethel ended up playing a 'home' playoff game at UST, given the whole website playoff scheduling drama at UST earlier in the year.

[art76]

Congratulations to Steve Johnson,players & staff of Bethel. This team could get a very favorable seating and could go far in the play-offs.

Anyone from Bethel know of optional sites if the field is not in playable condition in the weeks ahead? This is a curious question from me,not an insinuation the field won't be playable. Would one of the area high schools with artificial turf be an option or would the NCAA frown on this and send the game to U$Td or Hamline being close options with NCAA regulation goal posts, hash marks etc....?

Also, congratulation to SJU for having a nice turnaround season. The MIAC will be tough again next year and I have faith the Johnnies will be in the mix in 2014.

Not sure. But at this point the field is playable and I think it would have to get to be pretty bad before Bethel would want it moved. I have no idea if they'd allow it to be played on a HS field. You could paint hashmarks, assuming the school would allow it. The goal posts are another deal. Mounds View would be the most logical choice, just a couple miles from campus.

It would be incredibly ironic if Bethel ended up playing a 'home' playoff game at UST, given the whole website playoff scheduling drama at UST earlier in the year.

Not sure it's entirely relevant, but St. Thomas could be a possibility, if for no other reason than that they probably have already submitted to the NCAA their proposal for post-season play. (Not exactly sure how to word that previous sentence, just that I know that any team that thinks they are playoff hopefuls have to declare back in October their intentions.)

[art76]

Week 4 of the play-offs

I think it is fairly safe to say that the top 4 teams in the nation this year are (alphabetically):

1. Bethel University
2. University of Mary Hardin Baylor
3. University of Mount Union
4. University of Wisconsin at Whitewater

Because of history UMU is top seed. They had to lose this last weekend for either Bethel or Whitewater to take over that top slot.

So then comes BU and UWW and I'm betting that the committee gives the nod to UWW as the number two seed. Whether or not they factor into mix the home field stadium or not, doing so makes the Warhawks stadium a no brainer, as they could play a late game under the lights and host Bethel. The stands would be fuller I suspect than if UWW fans had to come up to Bethel.

This puts UMHB on a plane to Alliance.

Please remember that this is all speculation and under the assumption that all 4 teams win through their respective brackets - and that is never a gimmee.

[Scrubby]

Congrats to Bethel on a great year and good luck in the NCAA's!
Due to health issues, wasn't able to attend and disappointed that it wasn't available to watch online. I did however follow via of live stats from BU's site. Question for those that were there, how much time was left when Bethel took a knee 2 plays in a row?  I ask, because SJU had one play before the clock ran out. Again, not sure of the time, but what a classy act by the BU staff! 

Does anyone know if NCAA games will be online or is that controlled by the NCAA and not the school hosting the game??

[Chubbs]

Pretty sure there are a few posters on this board from the Chicago area.  Keep your head on a swivel and stay safe today; this doesn't sound good at all.  A line of very bad storms is predicted to come into the Chicago area right when the Bears game is supposed to kick off.

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

   * TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
     EASTERN IOWA
     ILLINOIS
     NORTHWEST INDIANA
     NORTHEAST MISSOURI
     SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
     LAKE MICHIGAN

   * EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 840 AM UNTIL
     400 PM CST.

  ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...

   * PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
     SEVERAL INTENSE TORNADOES LIKELY
     SEVERAL LARGE HAIL EVENTS LIKELY WITH A FEW VERY LARGE HAIL
       EVENTS TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE
     SEVERAL DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WITH A FEW SIGNIFICANT GUSTS TO 80
       MPH POSSIBLE

   THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 100 STATUTE
   MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF
   SCOTT AFB ILLINOIS TO 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF MADISON WISCONSIN.
   FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
   OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

   PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

   REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
   TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
   AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
   THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
   AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

   &&

   DISCUSSION...ONE OR MORE BROKEN BANDS OF SUPERCELLS ARE EXPECTED TO
   DEVELOP THIS MORNING AND RAPIDLY SPREAD EAST/NORTHEAST ACROSS THE
   WATCH AREA TODAY.  GIVEN THE COMBINATION OF MODERATE INSTABILITY AND
   VERY STRONG VERTICAL SHEAR...CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR LONG
   TRACKED...SIGNIFICANT TORNADOES.  LARGE HAIL AND CORRIDORS OF WIND
   DAMAGE WILL ALSO BE LIKELY.

[MonroviaCat]

Congrats to Bethel on a great year and good luck in the NCAA's!
Due to health issues, wasn't able to attend and disappointed that it wasn't available to watch online. I did however follow via of live stats from BU's site. Question for those that were there, how much time was left when Bethel took a knee 2 plays in a row?  I ask, because SJU had one play before the clock ran out. Again, not sure of the time, but what a classy act by the BU staff! 

Does anyone know if NCAA games will be online or is that controlled by the NCAA and not the school hosting the game??

The video feeds are dependent on the schools ability and/or desire to provide them.  However, because it is the playoffs all feeds (where available) are free.

[retagent]

The sirens went off here in Lake Geneva about a half hour ago. I looked outside and, though it was raining and quite windy, there were patches of blue sky to the SW. Looks like it's past us now.

[Chubbs]

The sirens went off here in Lake Geneva about a half hour ago. I looked outside and, though it was raining and quite windy, there were patches of blue sky to the SW. Looks like it's past us now.

Looking at the radar, I don't think you can relax just yet. Storms will be approaching from your SW.  Stay safe, my friend!

[faunch]

Just spoke to someone that was in Collegeville yesterday.  It seems that during the rain a number of fans huddled around the protection of the concession / pressbox area and were attempting to watch the game on the TV monitors.  The SJU admin didn't want them doing this so they shut off the televisions.  The message is clear...no webcast and no TV viewing at Clemens Stadium on rainy days.  The person I talked to said that nobody was really buying concessions anyway.     The PR machine in Collegeville is really doing a stellar job.