FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[retagent]

Well, if all kids do social media then I guess the only explanation for the overwhelming number of UST announcements is that they are recruiting so many students. SJU will recruit fewer students than starting seniors who graduate and the rest of the MIAC will need to shut down football. Seems reasonable enough to me.

I most certainly wouldn't think that the large number of social broadcasters was a reflection on the type of students UST recruits. That idea is preposterous.

I'm sure SJU has recruited plenty of new players. You're just not hearing much from them on social media because: 1) the rural areas where many recruits live have limited Internet access; 2) even in those areas that do have access, some recruits have been told since birth that technology is an instrument of the devil; 3) the few recruits who embrace technology are likely to have just recently mastered the milking parlor. The Internet is still a bit scary and magical; and 4) the recruits from Sterns County—probably half the recruiting class—haven't spent much time "interacting" with those outside their families. As a result, social media seems like an extravagant waste of time.

I know it's getting close to Tax Time, but I want to remind you that you can't deduct contributions to stereotypes.

We had a schnauzer that got into a box of Godiva chocolates. No ill effects other than my ex being teed off because the dog ate her treats.

[Tom Thumb]

St. John's

Nick Neumann, OL/DL, CDH: https://twitter.com/nickneumannator
Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/profile/3641091/nick-neumann

St. Thomas

Sam Gerrety, FS, Blaine: https://twitter.com/Sammy_G13
Hudl: http://www.hudl.com/profile/2620839/sam-gerrety

Jeremy Ziemer, DL, Lakeville North: https://twitter.com/jjziem
Hudl: http://www.hudl.com/video/3/2843782/57e9d0ee0aff7ba25876947f

[DuffMan]

It appears that Platteville still has an open date for 9/9/17, as do the Johnnies. That would be a quality in region non-conference game for both.

How great would that be?  Scheduling quality WIAC opponents has been good to SJU in the past (circa late '90s - early '00s).

[faunch]

It appears that Platteville still has an open date for 9/9/17, as do the Johnnies. That would be a quality in region non-conference game for both.

How great would that be?  Scheduling quality WIAC opponents has been good to SJU in the past (circa late '90s - early '00s).

Would UWEC and UW-Stout qualify as quality opponents?   

[DuffMan]

Would UWEC and UW-Stout qualify as quality opponents?   

Stout was never a regular-season game.  UWEC was a very quality team back then.  Don't forget that the Warhawks visited Clemens Stadium in 2002.  They were on the cusp of greatness, then.  We thumped them, but that was a physical game!

[miac952]

The four WIAC schools regionally closest to MIAC teams are hard to judge. UWRF, Stout, UWEC, and LaCrosse have all shown flashes in the last decade. Each has had at least a couple years where they land in the top half of the WIAC and give the big dogs a run for their money. But, they also can lay an egg with a 1 or 2 win season and do you no favors for SOS or getting up to speed for the conference schedule.

For non-conference it would be nice to get some different flavors too. I wouldn't mind seeing a top tier IIAC or CCIW too. This gets very complicated though. Because its predicated on matching open dates and your desired home and home balance. Beyond that, for UST and SJU, many wont want to play you. If you are a Platteville do you really want to play an SJU/UST on top of the WIAC schedule and another reasonably difficult non conference game?

[DuffMan]

I wouldn't mind seeing a top tier IIAC or CCIW too.

2015 IIAC champ Dubuque didn't fare too well with SJU twice in 2015.  Not sure what's happening with the IIAC--their champs used to be very tough.

[USTBench]

I wouldn't mind seeing a top tier IIAC or CCIW too.

2015 IIAC champ Dubuque didn't fare too well with SJU twice in 2015.  Not sure what's happening with the IIAC--their champs used to be very tough.

Wartburg was sweet in 2014. Took the whole MIAC out and almost had Whitewater.

[HansenRatings]

I wouldn't mind seeing a top tier IIAC or CCIW too.

2015 IIAC champ Dubuque didn't fare too well with SJU twice in 2015.  Not sure what's happening with the IIAC--their champs used to be very tough.

Wartburg was sweet in 2014. Took the whole MIAC out and almost had Whitewater.

Increased parity in the conference means championship teams rarely run the table, which has lent itself to tougher first-round matchups. Even in 2010 when Wartburg went 10-0 regular season, we had to play Bethel first round instead of a conference champ from the MWC, UMAC, or NACC. Really Coe this year (10-0) and Wartburg in 2010 were the only times since 2007-ish that an IIAC champ was bracketed like a 2- or 3-seed in their quadrant. Here's the last decade:

2007 - Central (10-0); likely 1 seed; reached quarterfinals; lost to Bethel
2008 - Wartburg (8-2); likely 7 seed; reached quarterfinals; lost to UWW
2009 - Central (10-0); likely 4 seed; lost 1st round; lost to UMHB
2009 - Coe (9-1); likely 7 seed; reached 2nd round; lost to St. Thomas
2010 - Wartburg (10-0); likely 3 seed; lost 1st round; lost to Bethel
2011 - Dubuque (9-1); likely 6 seed; lost 1st round; lost to NCC
2012 - Coe (10-0); likely 4 seed; lost 1st round; lost to Elmhurst
2013 - Wartburg (8-2); likely 5 seed; reached 2nd round; lost to Bethel
2014 - Wartburg (10-0); likely 2 seed; reached quarterfinals; lost to UWW
2015 - Dubuque (8-2); likely 6 seed; lost 1st round; lost to SJU
2016 - Coe (10-0); likely 4 seed; reached 2nd round; lost to UST

In my model, the IIAC finished the season as the #5 conference in the country (despite adding a team that brought down their average rating this season). Their problem is that 3 of the 4 conferences ahead of them (and by proxy, conferences with a likely superior champion), are all within 500 miles--the WIAC, MIAC, and CCIW. Any time the conference champion has a loss, which is about 50-50 in the last decade, they're sent packing to either the WIAC, MIAC, or CCIW champion's home stadium. I'm not saying it's unfair. I'm just saying it can give people a skewed view of the conference overall. Yes I'm biased, but I tried to build a model that wasn't, and in that model the IIAC has never been worse than the 7th-best conference in the country since 1999.

As a side note, go look at that quadrant from 2009 . Coe, Central, UMHB, SJU, UST, Linfield, Alex Tanney-led 10-0 Monmouth, and a 8-1 CLU. Absolutely loaded. Only 4 losses among the 8 teams.

[DuffMan]

Wartburg was sweet in 2014. Took the whole MIAC out and almost had Whitewater.

That's true.  That is why I could barely believe that Dubuque took them out in 2015 and then got throttled by SJU in the playoffs.

[MadRedFan]

Whitewater is going to play CCIW Illinois Wesleyan on the road this coming season.  Just announced a couple days ago.

[OldAuggie]

Tom Thumb-
Do you have any info on Ryder Beckman the RB from Monticello? Will he play in college? Saw him play and thought he would be perfect at SJU or UST. Maybe D2.

Sam Gibas the RB from Elk River is the other one and I am curious. Saw him play too and I heard he might wrestle and pass on playing football in college.

[Tom Thumb]

Tom Thumb-
Do you have any info on Ryder Beckman the RB from Monticello? Will he play in college? Saw him play and thought he would be perfect at SJU or UST. Maybe D2.

Sam Gibas the RB from Elk River is the other one and I am curious. Saw him play too and I heard he might wrestle and pass on playing football in college.

OldAuggie,

Ryder committed to Bemidji State. I got nothing on Gibas.

[Tom Thumb]

St. Thomas

Keaton Kaisersatt, LB, Prior Lake: https://twitter.com/kaisersatt21
Hudl: http://www.hudl.com/profile/4215828/keaton-kaisersatt

[faunch]

Tom Thumb-
Do you have any info on Ryder Beckman the RB from Monticello? Will he play in college? Saw him play and thought he would be perfect at SJU or UST. Maybe D2.

Sam Gibas the RB from Elk River is the other one and I am curious. Saw him play too and I heard he might wrestle and pass on playing football in college.

OldAuggie,

Ryder committed to Bemidji State. I got nothing on Gibas.

After a year he'll transfer to SJU after things don't work out at BSU.