FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hazzben]

Hazz, you may be thinking of "old pa" a/k/a "janesville flash" that used to post in here a lot. He was a Whitewater guy and was also in attendance at the aforementioned SJU/UWRF/picnic table game. We had quite the collection of posters there that day.

I actually saw that raiderguy was on this site this morning and thought he might chime in. Now that there is a rumor of his demise that might shake him out of the bush.

Yep, that's who I was thinking of. Thanks BDB

[jamtod]

And who was the guy from MUC (not our current MUC57) that used to hang around these parts? I forget his handle.

Raiderguy

Didn't Raiderguy pass away a few years ago? (asked in all seriousness)

Raider66 did, though.  But thats been quite awhile. 

Just came to check in on my new favorite D3 team... and glad to see E#2 has taken his rightful place as 1st team AA QB (Preseason).

Wait a sec. I thought we had a deal to get you on the St Thomas D3 bandwagon! (However shortlived it may be)

[bennie]

Jim Souhan's perspective on how the Tom$ should handle things during their last two seasons in the MIAC. I'm beginning to believe that U$T had every every intention of moving up and orchestrated a large part of this drama in order to garner the sympathy of donors and the NCAA and thus have an excuse of being the victim.
http://www.startribune.com/to-coach-glenn-caruso-and-the-tommies-consider-vengeance/540683132/

Love the comment section of this article. Lots of opinions about STU!! It does make me wonder what their opinions are about the UST situation!!!

[stanbob]

Jim Souhan's perspective on how the Tom$ should handle things during their last two seasons in the MIAC. I'm beginning to believe that U$T had every every intention of moving up and orchestrated a large part of this drama in order to garner the sympathy of donors and the NCAA and thus have an excuse of being the victim.
http://www.startribune.com/to-coach-glenn-caruso-and-the-tommies-consider-vengeance/540683132/

I've maintained this from the get go

Administration to Glenn Caruso: "Glenn, can you beat St. Olaf by 80+ pts so President Anderson gets pissed and rallies the league against us even more than they already are and we get a PR coup in the process of jumping D1?"

GC: "Done, I'll keep it under 100 so it doesn't make national headlines."

Hmmmm, probably not, more likely this version ....

Administration speaking internally "You know GC is slaughtering teams by a wide margin, with trick plays up big, do we need to have a sit down about sportsmanship and what not?" ... "I've been wondering the same thing, but I've got another idea" ... "What's that??" ...  "We offer him a bonus for every 50+ margin of victory game where he doesn't break 100. It pisses the league off, and they preempt our move to D1 by booting us, getting us great PR in the process." ... "Hmmmm, how much is the per game bonus then??"

More likely. GC was just being GC. UST was just winning a lot in a lot of sports. And the COL was just getting to peek "whine and cheese" levels. The perfect convergence of events.

In case you missed it, there was a lot more to it than that...

[sjujohnnie]

I just received the "College Football America 2019 Yearbook" & it's picking St Thomas (#5) ahead of St John's (#6)! It's the only publication I've seen that has St Thomas ranked ahead of St John's. They have Bethel at #9. The yearbook lists the schedules for every collegiate football program regardless of division! I'd love to hear SaintsFan's insight on how Thomas More will fare against NAIA competition. This publication has Morningside, the defending NAIA national champion from Sioux City, IA (where my wife went to college), at #4. They've won 8 straight conference titles, but lost their NAIA record shattering QB & WR. Will definitely be pulling for Thomas More to have a great showing (& future) against NAIA competition! As I've mentioned before, I'm intrigued with the Division III / NAIA matchups/crossovers & wish I could see the top of both merge to compete!

[faunch]

SJU's got their preliminary roster posted.  One thing I noticed is that they've move Nick Jensen to DL.  He played blocking back in 2018 (and was quite good at it).  Not a real surprise, though, as the Johnnies have turned a RB into a standout DL on numerous occasions.

QB Abr Havelka is listed as a freshman...wasn't he a freshman last year? Anybody hear if he got a medical redshirt?

[jamtod]

I just received the "College Football America 2019 Yearbook" & it's picking St Thomas (#5) ahead of St John's (#6)! It's the only publication I've seen that has St Thomas ranked ahead of St John's. They have Bethel at #9. The yearbook lists the schedules for every collegiate football program regardless of division! I'd love to hear SaintsFan's insight on how Thomas More will fare against NAIA competition. This publication has Morningside, the defending NAIA national champion from Sioux City, IA (where my wife went to college), at #4. They've won 8 straight conference titles, but lost their NAIA record shattering QB & WR. Will definitely be pulling for Thomas More to have a great showing (& future) against NAIA competition! As I've mentioned before, I'm intrigued with the Division III / NAIA matchups/crossovers & wish I could see the top of both merge to compete!

I wouldn't put a ton of stock in any D3 coverage beyond what you get right here on d3football.com
I'm a homer and I wouldn't even consider ranking UST above SJU until I know what we have at QB. SJU is pretty set there I guess.

[sjujohnnie]

I wouldn't put a ton of stock in any D3 coverage beyond what you get right here on d3football.com
I'm a homer and I wouldn't even consider ranking UST above SJU until I know what we have at QB. SJU is pretty set there I guess.
[/quote]

I'd agree! There is no better Division III coverage than the d3football.com site! Nevertheless, I attempt to get my hands on the preseason publications that do have Division III content regardless of how sparce it may be. Speaking of, I can't wait for the release of "Kickoff 2019"! I know expectations for St John's are as high as they've been since I was in college & we won our last Stagg Bowl! Add the drama with St Thomas getting booted from the conference (on the record I think it may hurt the conference more than St Thomas & was not for their ouster whatsoever) & it's sure to be an interesting & fun season! Will be curious to see if St Thomas takes out their frustrations on the likes of St Olaf & others!

[retagent]

Zylstra having a big game vs Seattle.

[02 Warhawk]

Let me know if anyone is interested in participating in this year's West Region Fan Poll. I'm looking for two (maybe three) participants.

Much appreciated

[USTBench]

Cool list. Some great pictures as well, especially that Ivy League game in Manhattan Park.

I can imagine it was hard to differentiate Wittenberg, SJU, Whitewater, and Linfield. Unlike most of these lists the scoring metric doesn't appear to have a recency bias, which is good.

This list validates UST putting all their chips into D1 after their hand was forced, as quickly as possible. One D2 team made the list, and a heavy portion of the criteria for them making it was their time in NAIA. D2 is a an afterthought

There were historical D2 teams on the list, some just aren't there currently. NDSU didn't win all those titles as an FCS school

Pittsburgh State and NDSU are deserving. But I think NW Missouri State, North Alabama, GVSU and Valdosta State should have made the list.

[hazzben]

Jim Souhan's perspective on how the Tom$ should handle things during their last two seasons in the MIAC. I'm beginning to believe that U$T had every every intention of moving up and orchestrated a large part of this drama in order to garner the sympathy of donors and the NCAA and thus have an excuse of being the victim.
http://www.startribune.com/to-coach-glenn-caruso-and-the-tommies-consider-vengeance/540683132/

I've maintained this from the get go

Administration to Glenn Caruso: "Glenn, can you beat St. Olaf by 80+ pts so President Anderson gets pissed and rallies the league against us even more than they already are and we get a PR coup in the process of jumping D1?"

GC: "Done, I'll keep it under 100 so it doesn't make national headlines."

Hmmmm, probably not, more likely this version ....

Administration speaking internally "You know GC is slaughtering teams by a wide margin, with trick plays up big, do we need to have a sit down about sportsmanship and what not?" ... "I've been wondering the same thing, but I've got another idea" ... "What's that??" ...  "We offer him a bonus for every 50+ margin of victory game where he doesn't break 100. It pisses the league off, and they preempt our move to D1 by booting us, getting us great PR in the process." ... "Hmmmm, how much is the per game bonus then??"

More likely. GC was just being GC. UST was just winning a lot in a lot of sports. And the COL was just getting to peek "whine and cheese" levels. The perfect convergence of events.

In case you missed it, there was a lot more to it than that...

In case you missed it, my post was dripping in sarcasm and intentional oversimplification.

[hazzben]

Cool list. Some great pictures as well, especially that Ivy League game in Manhattan Park.

I can imagine it was hard to differentiate Wittenberg, SJU, Whitewater, and Linfield. Unlike most of these lists the scoring metric doesn't appear to have a recency bias, which is good.

This list validates UST putting all their chips into D1 after their hand was forced, as quickly as possible. One D2 team made the list, and a heavy portion of the criteria for them making it was their time in NAIA. D2 is a an afterthought

There were historical D2 teams on the list, some just aren't there currently. NDSU didn't win all those titles as an FCS school

Pittsburgh State and NDSU are deserving. But I think NW Missouri State, North Alabama, GVSU and Valdosta State should have made the list.

I had the same thought. But then remembered Valdosta State didn't even have football before the 80's and NW Missouri St was wretched before Mel Tjeerdsma arrived in the mid-90s. A major part of the calculation was historical success and total wins. Given that caveat, I get why it was Pitt St and NDSU.

[hazzben]

Re: SJU, UST, & BU Top 25

The biggest question mark for all three is going to be on D. SJU loses a generational safety and great DT. UST graduates almost their entire 2 deep. Bethel graduates a generational safety, a ton of their secondary, and a generational talent at DE.

Obviously SJU brings back some guy at QB that supposedly can sling the football. Not sure if he's very good in big games (note to stanbob, that was sarcasm  - JK buddy, it's all good).

Bethel brings back Roste, a budding RB, and almost our entire receiving corps.

UST, brings back a very good back. But has huge question marks at QB.

I think the MIAC is gonna be a pretty offensive league, especially early as new faces settle in on D for the top teams.

[jamtod]

We've got a preliminary UST football roster posted
https://www.tommiesports.com/sports/fball/2019-20/roster
I'm seeing 45 Freshman listed.

Touted QB recruit Quinn Boyle is listed as a DB. A few other guys making the switch from O to D to fill some gaps.

QB Jake Franklin is listed as a Junior from Grapevine, Texas. Transfer from Abilene Christian with some stops at a couple of jucos (Central Lakes last year). Probably an interesting story there.

Names I don't see:
* Either of the Weisman or the Gerrety twins. Sam Gerrety saw a lot of action and promise last year.
* Nick Robinson, LB