FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[OzJohnnie]

[bennie]

I know, I have to stop feeding the trolls.

[BDB]

Rarely, in the history of the MIACPP, has a ball been tee'd up this high.

[57Johnnie]

Game Day
No JOHNNIES 

[OldAuggie]

Go get The Hammer today Auggies!!

[Tom Thumb]

UST's defense is playing out of its mind right now. Wallie has them playing at a high level. They are fun to watch.

[USTBench]

UST's defense is playing out of its mind right now. Wallie has them playing at a high level. They are fun to watch.

Agreed. Their run defense was unbelievable

[jamtod]

UST's defense is playing out of its mind right now. Wallie has them playing at a high level. They are fun to watch.

Agreed. Their run defense was unbelievable

Bethel attacked the non-Dowdle side of the field a bit early with some success but seemed to keep going back to trying to establish the run with no success. We are still trying to find our 2nd CB with Lundell getting some time today and then Franzese.

No sign of Roberts today again. And I'm not sure what the actual pecking order is with the WRs. Vik and Iverson are technically the starters but Green, the TEs, and in past weeks Pallini have been more active.

Was good to see Pallini back for punt return again although another muffed punt.

And some struggles with big kick returns from Bethel including the TD return that need to get cleaned up.

[art76]

Stirring the pot a bit, knowing full well the results here: http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=8708.120 will change again once Wally runs his mock selection after this week's Regional Rankings come out. However, I find it kind of odd that none of the Johnnie faithful were up in arms over not being selected in his mock selection last week.

"Pool C:
Round 1:
3N Illinois Wesleyan - 7-1, 3-1 RRO, 0.507 (112)
2S Hardin-Simmons - 5-1, 0-1 RRO, 0.574 (37)
4E Frostburg St. - 7-1, 0-1 RRO, 0.511 (106)
4W UW-Platteville - 6-1, 1-1 RRO, 0.633 (5)

Isn't this interesting.  Platteville has a giant SOS.  Hardin-Simmons does as well.  Illinois Wesleyan has three wins over ranked teams, which is absurd.  How can IWU have played four ranked teams and have the 112th ranked SOS?  Because SOS is terrible, that's why.  Different discussion for a different day.  I like teams that have actually beat good teams and IWU has done it a bunch this year and certainly more than their competition here.  IWU is my choice.

Round 2:
7N Millikin - 6-1, 1-1 RRO, 0.510 (109)
2S Hardin-Simmons - 5-1, 0-1 RRO, 0.574 (37)
4E Frostburg St. - 7-1, 0-1 RRO, 0.511 (106)
4W UW-Platteville - 6-1, 1-1 RRO, 0.633 (5)

UW-Platteville has overwhelming advantages here with their SOS and win vs. an RRO.  Millikin does have a quality win also, but one RRO win is not three RRO wins.  Pioneers are in.

Round 3:
7N Millikin - 6-1, 1-1 RRO, 0.510 (109)
2S Hardin-Simmons - 5-1, 0-1 RRO, 0.574 (37)
4E Frostburg St. - 7-1, 0-1 RRO, 0.511 (106)
4W St. John's - 6-1, 0-1 RRO, 0.531 (77)

We've got a three team race here.  On first glance, I thought this was between HSU and St. John's.  Then Frostburg State's music hit and I was reminded that their loss was an OT deal with Wesley.  So that might actually be the best RRO loss of the three.  I'll honor H-SU's strength of schedule and a somewhat competitive result against the probably top seed in the tournament.

Round 4:
7N Millikin - 6-1, 1-1 RRO, 0.510 (109)
4S Case Western Reserve - 7-0, 0-0 RRO, 0.357 (234)
4E Frostburg St. - 7-1, 0-1 RRO, 0.511 (106)
4W St. John's - 6-1, 0-1 RRO, 0.531 (77)

Dude.  Two spots left and I've got two teams that were only barely different from the last pick...and undefeated CWRU.  We've reached the point that may well be the top topic of conversation between the end of action on Nov. 11 and when the selections are revealed on Nov. 12.  CWRU's SOS will improve.  Some.  But even if they get to 10-0, the committee is going to have to hold their nose at that SOS and make the pick.  My dilemma is do I think that CWRU is an autopick into the field as soon as the show up on the board?  Springfield didn't get that treatment from me, nor was it an easy/obvious move to take them when I did.  Right now, I think 0.357 is too much to overcome.  I think Frostburg's RRO result is better than St. John's RRO result and I'm putting Frostburg in.   

Round 5:
7N Millikin - 6-1, 1-1 RRO, 0.510 (109)
4S Case Western Reserve - 7-0, 0-0 RRO, 0.357 (234)
6E Salisbury - 6-1, 0-0 RRO, 0.445 (199)
4W St. John's - 6-1, 0-1 RRO, 0.531 (77)

Last call.  I think St. John's is better and should be in this tournament and I also don't think they're going to leave an undefeated team out.  CWRU is my last team in, but my-oh-my.  That's not an easy choice. "

[jamtod]

I think Platteville losing makes that a moot point now. Also think there is a good chance CWRU drops a game in the next few weeks. Whoever wins the SJU C-M game will add an extra quality win that would have shifted that dynamic anyway.

[OzJohnnie]

9-1 from the MIAC gets in.  The Jays fate is in their own hands.

[OzJohnnie]

The d3football.com top 25 is out.

UST hold in 4th
SJU move up to 6th
CON move up to 19th

[art76]

The play-off talk has begun in earnest in the past week, and this past week's games continues to refine for us just who stands a decent chance of getting into the 32 team field. For those of us following the MIAC, we only get one automatic qualifier.  All the talk seems to point to the apparent  fact for this year that no two loss team will make it into the tourney.  The MIAC has three one-loss teams right now. Let's look at those three teams and their opponents for the coming week. Carleton has the bye this week.

The first one loss team is St. Thomas, who hosts Gustavus this coming weekend. While Gustavus appears to be the stronger opponent of the three that are playing the one loss teams, this will most likely be the blow-out game of the week. St. Thomas is good. They'll go deep into the post-season unless a miracle happens and the Gusties can upset the Tommies.

The next one-loss team we'll look at this week is St. John's, which has to travel down to Hamline. Hamline fought valiantly this past week, trying to mount a come-back against Augsburg, but I really don't expect the Pipers to push the Johnnies too hard. In the past, we know the Johnnies can put a lot of points on the board, so this might become the blow-out of the week, but I  do not expect it to be.

The final one-loss team in the MIAC is Concordia Moorhead, which hosts St. Olaf. The Cobbers have not been a team that traditionally runs up the score because of the option offense that they run, so I do not expect this to be in the running for the blow-out of the week. The Oles have a tough final two weeks, with the Cobbers this week and then finish the season next week by hosting the Tommies.

The last game of the week, almost by default, becomes the game of the week, as it is between two teams that are still fighting for bragging rights in the pecking order of the MIAC. Bethel hosts Augsburg for their final game of the season. If the Auggies can win at Royal Field this week, they would end their season with a .500 record. Bethel has to win to keep their hopes of a .500 record alive. Both teams will be working hard to not have a losing season this year and could be a great game to get out and see.

I do not see anything this week that willl change any of the possibilities of post-season play. I fully expect all three MIAC one-loss teams to roll their opponents this coming weekend. The final week of the conference has definite play-off implications. More on that next week.

[jamtod]

Keith featured the St Thomas special teams for his game ball on the ATN Podcast. He noted the 3 blocked kicks and the 2-pt return and TD return. I'd also add the opening kickoff where Peder Olson forced a fumble during the return and a 4th down conversion on a fake-pass by punter Robert Petitjean.

I'm not sure Coach Caruso would agree with the assessment on the special teams. While we had some major positive plays, we also gave up our first big kick returns of the season. Seemed like every return Koenecke had went for 40+ yards, including a 93 yard kickoff return. His average was 30 yards on 7 returns and I don't think we'd allowed a return more than 20 all season. He's lightning quick and looks like a new weapon for Bethel, as he'd only returned one kick all year (in the previous game).

[miac952]

No Roberts again now for the 2nd consecutive game. While the backfield looks really good with Trettel and Parks, it would be nice to have Roberts as well. Clearly there are some lingering injury issues there.

WARNING. I am going to channel my inner Gene McGivern for second here:

* The Tommies are two games away from tying the all-time conference win streak of 28 set by Saint Johns 2001 - 2004. Not only would winning the next two give the team 3 consecutive undefeated seasons, but they would tie the streak as well.

* UST is giving up 12 YARDS per game rushing in the MIAC. Against the big three in the conference they have given up roughly 60 yards total rushing, and only 20 first downs total. The defense is clicking. Jochum, Andrew, Harrell, Weber, Brandt, and Dowdle are all legitimate All Region candidates.

There are very few scenarios I can think of in which the winner of SJU / Concordia doesn't get in. Its not 100%, but it has to be close to 90+%. One crazy one that I could dream up was Stout winning out. Even with two losses could they move up in Pool C with wins over UST and UWO? That would bump other west region teams down in consideration. While it wouldn't make it impossible, it would be more difficult.

I think more so than previous years, there will be some fantastic Pool C teams out there: 2nd place MIAC, 2nd Place WIAC, 2nd place CCIW, George Fox, Hardin Simmons, and others. This will be a fun playoff season with the potential for some mayhem. We almost had some upheaval last weekend with nailbiters for Linfield, UWO, and Platteville already losing.