FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[TheChucker]

As far as the scores for this fall - I favor the approach of getting up by 40 in the 1st quarter and then just play crushing defense and kneel the ball every down on offense, if that's what they really want us to do.

Naw, just play crushing defense and have all the points be defensive points. Run no offensive plays of any kind. That would be humiliating to the nth degree.

In the very early days of football, teams with a good punter (e.g. Pat O'Dea at UW) would punt on first down then wait for the other team to make a mistake deep in their territory. Coaches could use that method as a history lesson.

[PurpleReign]

We've talked in part as to what the possible outcomes might be. The following are listed in no particular order - but what makes the most sense for the Tommies now?

1. Jump directly to D1.
2. Go the "standard route" and go through D2 to D1.
3. Stay in D3 and join another conference like the WIAC or ARC.

Fall out discussion:

1. How long before MAC comes back to the MIAC for football?
2. Can St. Scholastica beat them out of that position? (Or any other school for that matter?)
3. How disparate will be the scores between the Tommies and the CoL? (It is my opinion that we are going to have some mighty entertaining games this fall.)

FWIW - I can see how the Tommies could make a better spin to the NCAA because they were "kicked to the curb" as opposed to wanting to leave the MIAC.

Conspiracy theorists are saying, "I know - it all was an evil genius ploy all along to get the NCAA to play along so that the Tommies don't have to do 5 years of penance in D2." 

So many tangents, so little time.

My preferred conference routes are:
1. WIAC
2. ARC
3. Summit/Pioneer? - D1
4. NSIC - D2

As far as the scores for this fall - I favor the approach of getting up by 40 in the 1st quarter and then just play crushing defense and kneel the ball every down on offense, if that's what they really want us to do.

How about St. Thomas just send their JV squad to St. Olaf as the JV would probably beat them by three TD's.

[02 Warhawk]

How bad do we think the St. Thomas-St. Olaf game is going to be this year? Do you think Caruso is going to be blood drunk?

This board could have fun with prop bets in their Pickem's:

-Will triple digits be achieved?
-Will coaches shake hands after the game?
-Will UST attempt a FG/XP?
-Will UST attempt a punt?
-Will the UST punter even dress for the game?
-Will the single season passing record for UST be broken?

The list is endless

['95 Blugold]

Really a tough spot for UST with this situation as they were going to be left without a conference no matter what it seemed. Either leave involuntarily or a bunch of the MIAC schools leave and they are stuck with just Bethel and St. John's and a conference of 3.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

I hear that starting in 2021-22 season, the MIAC will do away with "standings" as that offends people who are not listed at the top and will give all participants an identical paper certificate of trying.  Additionally, they will not use competition to determine who represents them in NCAA playoffs but rather will use a rotating cycle so that each football program goes once in an 8-year cycle. That way. everyone can share the experience of performing on the national stage.

[Inkblot]

I wonder whether a DI waiver would even be considered. The reclassification section of the DI Handbook says this:

20.5 Change of Division Membership.
20.5.1 Eligibility for Reclassification. A member of Division II may petition to change its membership to Division I subject to the following prerequisites: (Revised: 1/15/11 effective 8/1/11)
(a) The institution shall have been an active Division II member for the preceding five years;
(b) The institution shall be in compliance with all Division I minimum sports sponsorship and financial aid membership requirements; and
(c) The institution shall have received a bona fide offer of membership by an active Division I multisport conference.

The section doesn't even mention DIII. Meanwhile, from the Membership FAQ:

Q: May an institution reclassify from NCAA Division III to Division I?
A: No. Current rules would require a Division III institution to initially reclassify to Division II prior to reclassifying to Division I.

[hazzben]

The embarrassment is official. And for all our conjecture, their statement claims it was simply about UST being too good. Or the COL (that name is sticking now) being too crappy.

I'm going to UST v. Olaf for sure. We need a MIAC PostPatterns tailgate. My Olaf heckling is gonna
be in rare form that Saturday.

Remember how Concordia used to bring that annoying "Cobber Country" sign to away games and hang it on the bleachers. Let's take donations for a "Coalition of Losers Country" sign and we can all take turns hanging it on Olaf's side of the field for each away game this year!

[art76]

I'm going to UST v. Olaf for sure. We need a MIAC PostPatterns tailgate. My Olaf heckling is gonna
be in rare form that Saturday.

Circle the date on your calendars, November 2, 2019 at St. Olaf.

[wm4]

Olaf is going to need to bring in some extra stands that day.

Take my money!



(and the over)

[miac952]

I'm going to UST v. Olaf for sure. We need a MIAC PostPatterns tailgate. My Olaf heckling is gonna
be in rare form that Saturday.

Circle the date on your calendars, November 2, 2019 at St. Olaf.

UST should just pillage the town of Northfield for a week or so. B2B weeks against Carleton & St Olaf. If there is a next of kin in the CoL it is definitely Carleton. Storm the town and knock over the eagle the statue they turn back and forth for their annual pillow fight "rivalry."

[wm4]

Just got an email that St Thomas is having an alumni and friends event in Chicago, on June 5th.  The email reads...

"We're excited to bring along two special guests: President Julie Sullivan and Phil Esten '95, St. Thomas' new athletics director. This is one event you will not want to miss!"

Might have to put that on the schedule.

[Gregory Sager]

I don't have a horse in this race, but a couple snippets of the conference's statement jumped out at me:

The MIAC Presidents' Council cites athletic competitive parity in the conference as a primary concern.

"It's not you, it's us." Wow, this looks...rather pathetic now that they actually came out and said it. There are other conferences that have dominant teams, more.dominant that UST is/was in the MIAC - do you see them kicking those teams out, or trying to rise to the challenge?

To which conferences do you refer, Ryan?

To be honest, I can't think of another D3 league that has an all-sports competition history that's this lopsided in favor of one school. But I'll be honest -- I may be overlooking one.

Pat, can you think of another D3 league that has an all-sports competition history that's more lopsided in favor of one school than this, especially over the last decade and a half?

Note: This is not a comment upon the decision that the MIAC presidents made today, in regard to which I am totally neutral. Like Ryan, I have no horse in this race. Your own business is your own business, MIACers. I'm simply trying to get the facts straight.

The Centennial and the ODAC both have similar dominance by one school just off the top of my head. JHU rules the Centennial conference and W&L in the ODAC. I saw another one the other day that was just as dominant but can't think of who it was.

Similar dominance, but -- to go back to Ryan's assertion -- not really more dominant. I haven't sorted out the ODAC yet -- it took me a big chunk of a slow work day just to sift through all of the Centennial records -- but the Centennial isn't quite as dominated by Johns Hopkins as the MIAC is by UST. True, both schools have enjoyed the overall all-sports title (whether official or unofficial) in their respective leagues over the same time period of about a decade and a half, but JHU had to share the men's all-sports title as recently as 2012-13 (with Haverford), and Haverford won the men's all-sports competition in 2011-12. By comparison, UST has won the George Durenberger Trophy (MIAC men's all-sports) each school year going back to 2004-05.

Likewise, although the Blue Jays are more dominant on the women's side of Centennial competition than they are on the men's side, as recently as eleven school years ago (2007-08) Johns Hopkins shared the women's all-sports title with three other schools (Haverford, Muhlenberg, and Ursinus). And the school year before that it was shared by two schools, neither of them JHU (Gettysburg and Haverford). UST? The Tommies have won the Pat Wiesner Trophy (MIAC women's all-sports) each school year since 2007-08, so their dominance on the distaff side goes back a year before JHU's.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

I'm going to UST v. Olaf for sure. We need a MIAC PostPatterns tailgate. My Olaf heckling is gonna
be in rare form that Saturday.

Circle the date on your calendars, November 2, 2019 at St. Olaf.

UST should just pillage the town of Northfield for a week or so. B2B weeks against Carleton & St Olaf. If there is a next of kin in the CoL it is definitely Carleton. Storm the town and knock over the eagle the statue they turn back and forth for their annual pillow fight "rivalry."

don't knock that rivalry game....heck over 1 ,000 people show up for it! they can almost fill Laird Stadium on that day. if they played it at Target Field, they'd draw.....1100?

[Gregory Sager]

I don't have a horse in this race, but a couple snippets of the conference's statement jumped out at me:

The MIAC Presidents' Council cites athletic competitive parity in the conference as a primary concern.

"It's not you, it's us." Wow, this looks...rather pathetic now that they actually came out and said it. There are other conferences that have dominant teams, more.dominant that UST is/was in the MIAC - do you see them kicking those teams out, or trying to rise to the challenge?

To which conferences do you refer, Ryan?

To be honest, I can't think of another D3 league that has an all-sports competition history that's this lopsided in favor of one school. But I'll be honest -- I may be overlooking one.

Pat, can you think of another D3 league that has an all-sports competition history that's more lopsided in favor of one school than this, especially over the last decade and a half?

Note: This is not a comment upon the decision that the MIAC presidents made today, in regard to which I am totally neutral. Like Ryan, I have no horse in this race. Your own business is your own business, MIACers. I'm simply trying to get the facts straight.

Wartburg College has won 17 straight IIAC / ARC All Sports titles. Tied 2 times but more times that not,  Men and women sweep.
http://rollrivers.com/sports/2010/8/11/GEN_AllSportsTrophy.aspx?

Very impressive, and similar to UST's dominance in the MIAC. Again, though, Ryan's post was about other schools being more dominant than UST in the MIAC -- and that's not the case with Wartburg and the IIAC/ARC.

[OzJohnnie]

Dang. Johnnie/Tommie dead. The best rivalry in D3. That really sucks and I'm sad. I'm glad SJU (and CSB) could vote for UST, even if (probably because) it was a futile gesture.  I do think that UST has outgrown the MIAC and we were likely to be in our last five years in this current form anyways.  But it is still really sad to see it come to an end.

Looking at this from UST perspective and the profile they want for their institution, I think their preferred moves would be:

1. D1
2. D2
3. ARC
4. WIAC

I know the WIAC is by far the first choice from a sporting perspective but from an institutional perspective (large liberal arts-ish private university) the Tommies would stand out like an apple in a barrel of oranges.  I could see them announcing a temporary, three-year WIAC association as they ready their next move, however.  Anywhere the Tommies go in D3 is likely to be a temporary stop of just a couple years or less as they launch up divisions.  Upwards is the only way for UST now.