FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Mr.MIAC]

I will be drinking at the game reverend...I think need to clear it with the tower!

You're on. See you there.

[D O.C.]

Fists

Naw...F.I.S.T.

I was in some riot scenes filmed here in Hollywood around 1978.

[dbhammel]

It's interesting how different programs approach the play-off selection show. UST had a viewing party,but they knew they were in, Whitworth had a viewing party (they posted link on Twitter) but they were on the bubble. On the radio post game show last Saturday the play by play guy, VOJ, from WBHR asked Gary Fasching if they team was going to have a viewing party? Gary's response: "No, it's out of our hands now". I'm sure there were groups of players who gathered in dorm room together, but it's kind of interesting to see approach different "at large" teams took to the selection process.

Was he wearing sunglasses at the time? Probably. Such a hotshot. What kind of monster doesn't have a viewing party? Typical Hollywood Fasching, too good for his players IMO.

Hollywood Fasching might be the right name...too busy shooting commercials I guess, but no sunglasses here.
What the hell is this anyway?  Maybe a project for a marketing class?
And I didn't think there was any contact in practices?  Maybe only when some guy has the Doritos?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNYhzlPioK0

NCAA VIOLATION!

I'm whistleblowing. SJU should be banned from postseason play IMO.

My brother, a SJU sophomore is a film student and this was his entry into a contest that Doritos hosts every year to give amateur "filmmakers" a chance to have their commercial aired during the super bowl.  I guess they take the top 50 submissions based on views and social media metrics and then a panel of Doritoes PR lackies pick their top 3 for public vote.

[Boys of Fall]

Any of you Bethel guys know what the deal is with Tusler?  I'm still not sure what his injury was, but I heard after he got hurt he also quit the football team and will focus on basketball.  This could be why he wasn't even on the sideline during the last few games.  I was thinking he could be an impact player in the conference next year, but not if he isn't suited up.  You guys have any insider info?

[art76]

Let's talk about the play-offs!

The MIAC got an at-large bid this year which was not much of a surprise to anyone paying attention to how things were looking at the end of the season. While most of us are happy that two conference teams are playing extra games this season, not many of us are happy that they are forced to see each other in week two (provided they both win in the first week). I probably won't get too much grief from saying that one or both of these teams stands a good chance of going all the way to the final game of the season. It's just too bad they have to see each other so soon in the play-offs. We can cry in our beer until the cows come home but it isn't going to change what's happened. Moo-ving on.

The La Verne Leopards won the SCIAC (Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) by going undefeated in conference play and only losing one non-conference game up North at Whitworth (also in the play-offs) by the score of 39 to 20. La Verne has an SOS score (Strength of Schedule) of .500, ranked 126th. As I dug around on La Verne's and the SCIAC websites, I could not find where the Leopards have won their conference since their current players were in diapers, or maybe even before some of them were born. So this team has done something for their school that hasn't been done in a long while. And for all that, they get to fly up to Minnesota in the third week of November.

St. Thomas is hosting at O'Shaughnessy Stadium by virtue of winning the MIAC (Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) going undefeated for the entire season. They have an SOS score of .500 and are ranked at 127th. Yep, you read that right. The Tommies are slotted in right behind the Leopards in the SOS score. Made me go hmm, too. They are ranked 4th in the nation in the D3.com poll. The Tommies last won the conference in 2012, when they went to the Stagg Bowl and lost to Mount Union 28 to 10.

As you look at the rosters for both teams (which have to be cut down to 58 suiting up in the play-offs) the two teams look pretty comparable size wise. Not sure the Leopards will be ready for the cold though, as the field temps as I write this are supposed to be hovering around 30 for a high, but sunny with winds out of the NW at around 10 mph. Today in La Verne, it's supposed to be only 72F for a high and 82F Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It's going to be a shock to their systems when they step onto the field.

I'll be surprised if the Tommies don't at least double the score that the Leopards put up. The inexperience bug will bite the Leopards and Caruso and gang will exploit that doing simple fakes and misdirections. The Tommies won't have to dig deep into their "trick play bag" to keep La Verne at bay.

In the other home game in the MIAC we have re-do of a game played at the beginning of the season when the Johnnies beat Dubuque by a score of 45 to 9.  That game was all St. John's and hopefully the Spartans will be seasoned by now to try to give the Johnnies a better game here at the end of the season. The Spartans have an SOS score of .554 and ranked 20th in the nation in this department. D3.com has them ranked 18th in the nation at the end of week 11.

The Johnnies only loss so far this season has been to the MIAC champs St. Thomas and have an SOS score of .536 and are ranked in that table at 48th. D3.com has them ranked at number 10, beating out Wesley for that spot by two votes this week. As mentioned earlier, St. John's again enjoys the twelfth man advantage playing this second game with the Spartan's at home. This will be the more competitive game of the two games this weekend in the MIAC, but I don't think the Johnnies have much to worry about and should win by at least two scores.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Any of you Bethel guys know what the deal is with Tusler?  I'm still not sure what his injury was, but I heard after he got hurt he also quit the football team and will focus on basketball.  This could be why he wasn't even on the sideline during the last few games.  I was thinking he could be an impact player in the conference next year, but not if he isn't suited up.  You guys have any insider info?

I haven't, but have wondered the same...Art mentioned not seeing him on the sideline at the Gustavus game, I noticed that he wasn't on the sideline of the SJU game, so I thought that maybe something was up? Hopefully he's sticking around for basketball, as you've heard, as he's a heck of a player.

Thanks for sharing what you heard!

[Retired Old Rat]

Art, that earlier game with Dubuque was in Collegeville as well.

Outside Johnnie Nation I think many are ignoring the fact that the Johnnies have improved substantially from that first game of the season. Margin of victory will not be as large, but it won't be close this time either.

Go Johnnies!

[wartknight]

Let's talk about the play-offs!

The MIAC got an at-large bid this year which was not much of a surprise to anyone paying attention to how things were looking at the end of the season. While most of us are happy that two conference teams are playing extra games this season, not many of us are happy that they are forced to see each other in week two (provided they both win in the first week). I probably won't get too much grief from saying that one or both of these teams stands a good chance of going all the way to the final game of the season. It's just too bad they have to see each other so soon in the play-offs. We can cry in our beer until the cows come home but it isn't going to change what's happened. Moo-ving on.

The La Verne Leopards won the SCIAC (Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) by going undefeated in conference play and only losing one non-conference game up North at Whitworth (also in the play-offs) by the score of 39 to 20. La Verne has an SOS score (Strength of Schedule) of .500, ranked 126th. As I dug around on La Verne's and the SCIAC websites, I could not find where the Leopards have won their conference since their current players were in diapers, or maybe even before some of them were born. So this team has done something for their school that hasn't been done in a long while. And for all that, they get to fly up to Minnesota in the third week of November.

St. Thomas is hosting at O'Shaughnessy Stadium by virtue of winning the MIAC (Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) going undefeated for the entire season. They have an SOS score of .500 and are ranked at 127th. Yep, you read that right. The Tommies are slotted in right behind the Leopards in the SOS score. Made me go hmm, too. They are ranked 4th in the nation in the D3.com poll. The Tommies last won the conference in 2012, when they went to the Stagg Bowl and lost to Mount Union 28 to 10.

As you look at the rosters for both teams (which have to be cut down to 58 suiting up in the play-offs) the two teams look pretty comparable size wise. Not sure the Leopards will be ready for the cold though, as the field temps as I write this are supposed to be hovering around 30 for a high, but sunny with winds out of the NW at around 10 mph. Today in La Verne, it's supposed to be only 72F for a high and 82F Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It's going to be a shock to their systems when they step onto the field.

I'll be surprised if the Tommies don't at least double the score that the Leopards put up. The inexperience bug will bite the Leopards and Caruso and gang will exploit that doing simple fakes and misdirections. The Tommies won't have to dig deep into their "trick play bag" to keep La Verne at bay.

In the other home game in the MIAC we have re-do of a game played at the beginning of the season when the Johnnies went down to Iowa to beat Dubuque by a score of 45 to 9.  That game was all St. John's and hopefully the Spartans will be seasoned by now to try to give the Johnnies a better game here at the end of the season. The Spartans have an SOS score of .554 and ranked 20th in the nation in this department. D3.com has them ranked 18th in the nation at the end of week 11.

The Johnnies only loss so far this season has been to the MIAC champs St. Thomas and have an SOS score of .536 and are ranked in that table at 48th. D3.com has them ranked at number 10, beating out Wesley for that spot by two votes this week. As mentioned earlier, St. John's enjoys the twelfth man advantage playing this second game with the Spartan's at home instead of down in Iowa. This will be the more competitive game of the two games this weekend in the MIAC, but I don't think the Johnnies have much to worry about and should win by at least two scores.

Not that it matters, but I believe the game was in CVille

[art76]

Any of you Bethel guys know what the deal is with Tusler?  I'm still not sure what his injury was, but I heard after he got hurt he also quit the football team and will focus on basketball.  This could be why he wasn't even on the sideline during the last few games.  I was thinking he could be an impact player in the conference next year, but not if he isn't suited up.  You guys have any insider info?

I haven't, but have wondered the same...Art mentioned not seeing him on the sideline at the Gustavus game, I noticed that he wasn't on the sideline of the SJU game, so I thought that maybe something was up? Hopefully he's sticking around for basketball, as you've heard, as he's a heck of a player.

Thanks for sharing what you heard!

I've not got any inside skinny either. I didn't see any of the St. Thomas game so I don't know what happened to him there. Because I didn't see him on the sideline for the Johnnie game either, I wondered if a decision to heal up for BB was why he wasn't there. I could see a deep quad bruise or something like that causing a two or three week recovery period keeping him off the field. Might have been a different scenario if he was a senior or BU was playing for a championship or play-off bid. But at that point in the season, looked to be a 6 and 4 or 5 and 5 team, why take the chance on calcification in deep muscle tissue - or whatever the cause for keeping him out of pads was.

Now, if it wasn't a physical reason, but more a mental one or better said, one of commitment, then that's a whole 'nother story.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Art, that earlier game with Dubuque was in Collegeville as well.

Outside Johnnie Nation I think many are ignoring the fact that the Johnnies have improved substantially from that first game of the season. Margin of victory will not be as large, but it won't be close this time either.

Go Johnnies!

I've had that thought as well...the DBQ folks seem to be pointing to how much better that team has gotten.  Perhaps they've improved by a greater amount over the year, but only because they had room for more improvement.

Agree that it won't be a 45-9 type of score, but I expect a two score game at half, with SJU scoring early in the third quarter to cruise to victory and set up a big game in St. Paul.  At that point the tables will be turned and we'll see how much SJU has improved since their regular season matchup with UST.

[art76]

Art, that earlier game with Dubuque was in Collegeville as well.

Outside Johnnie Nation I think many are ignoring the fact that the Johnnies have improved substantially from that first game of the season. Margin of victory will not be as large, but it won't be close this time either.

Go Johnnies!

Thanx ROR - I looked at the schedule page incorrectly.

Edit - all fixed now.

[Boys of Fall]

Any of you Bethel guys know what the deal is with Tusler?  I'm still not sure what his injury was, but I heard after he got hurt he also quit the football team and will focus on basketball.  This could be why he wasn't even on the sideline during the last few games.  I was thinking he could be an impact player in the conference next year, but not if he isn't suited up.  You guys have any insider info?

I haven't, but have wondered the same...Art mentioned not seeing him on the sideline at the Gustavus game, I noticed that he wasn't on the sideline of the SJU game, so I thought that maybe something was up? Hopefully he's sticking around for basketball, as you've heard, as he's a heck of a player.

Thanks for sharing what you heard!

I've not got any inside skinny either. I didn't see any of the St. Thomas game so I don't know what happened to him there. Because I didn't see him on the sideline for the Johnnie game either, I wondered if a decision to heal up for BB was why he wasn't there. I could see a deep quad bruise or something like that causing a two or three week recovery period keeping him off the field. Might have been a different scenario if he was a senior or BU was playing for a championship or play-off bid. But at that point in the season, looked to be a 6 and 4 or 5 and 5 team, why take the chance on calcification in deep muscle tissue - or whatever the cause for keeping him out of pads was.

Now, if it wasn't a physical reason, but more a mental one or better said, one of commitment, then that's a whole 'nother story.

Not questioning why he didn't play the last few games, assuming the injury kept him off the field.  Not even seeing him on the sidelines, and then hearing the rumor he had quit the team, was wondering more about his status for next year.  With Klitzke graduating, also losing Tusler would be a blow to the Royals.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Not questioning why he didn't play the last few games, assuming the injury kept him off the field.  Not even seeing him on the sidelines, and then hearing the rumor he had quit the team, was wondering more about his status for next year.  With Klitzke graduating, also losing Tusler would be a blow to the Royals.

It would be a big loss for sure, so I hope that either your source was mis-informed, or that Tusler has a change of heart.  They do have Gunnar Bloom, who was a freshman this year and showed some good athleticism at the receiver position, where he started playing after Bryce Marquardt went down, and since he wasn't going to see much time at running back playing behind Tusler and Klitzke.

Hoping Tusler just decided to shut it down after the UST game, given where the team was as it related to playoff / MIAC title pursuit, and get himself healthy for basketball.

[faunch]

Art, that earlier game with Dubuque was in Collegeville as well.

Outside Johnnie Nation I think many are ignoring the fact that the Johnnies have improved substantially from that first game of the season. Margin of victory will not be as large, but it won't be close this time either.

Go Johnnies!

ROR:
I hope you are correct.  A rematch like this worries me...a bit of a trap / set up game.  I hope the Johnnies aren't looking ahead to the Saturday after Thanksgiving. 

[OldAuggie]

Any of you Bethel guys know what the deal is with Tusler?  I'm still not sure what his injury was, but I heard after he got hurt he also quit the football team and will focus on basketball.  This could be why he wasn't even on the sideline during the last few games.  I was thinking he could be an impact player in the conference next year, but not if he isn't suited up.  You guys have any insider info?

I haven't, but have wondered the same...Art mentioned not seeing him on the sideline at the Gustavus game, I noticed that he wasn't on the sideline of the SJU game, so I thought that maybe something was up? Hopefully he's sticking around for basketball, as you've heard, as he's a heck of a player.

Thanks for sharing what you heard!

I don't have any insider info on Tusler but I can tell you with confidence that you have a winner in his apparent backup Gunnar Bloom. I have said so before but I watched his high school career, in person, and wondered where he would end up in college. Well, I was able to see Gunnar play again last Saturday and he looks like he is on his way to doing the same great things in college that he did in high school.   He played RB at Rogers and I noticed Bethel played him in the slot vs Augsburg which I assume was Tusler's spot. I won't go as far as saying that Gunnar is on the same level athletically as Tusler but I guarantee you he will give you 100%. He is a very nice athlete and you can expect to have fun watching him for the next three years.