FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hazzben]

To quote Gagliardi to Mike Johnson after the SJU dome game in 2002 "If we'd have had you at RB we'd have run the table the last three years."

That SOB hit harder than any RB I've ever tackled (including Fred Jackson).

Mikey J always ran mad, there was no need to get him pissed. I always told him he had more inside linebacker in him than running back. Probably just means he was too athletic to be an ILB

[Boys of Fall]

I haven't seen STO play yet this year, and know they're not a top-tier team, but does this have a chance to be a sucker game?  The Johnnies have some experienced seniors and the coaches will try to keep them grounded, but they're still 20 year old kids.  Wondering if having Bethel and UST in the rear view mirror makes them vulnerable this week.  Bucky Badger might have a different perspective than most of us.

[art76]

Thought I would wait a bit before chiming in to see what everyone was talking about concerning the Johnnie-Tommie game. I was deer scouting this past weekend up near the Canadian border, came out of the woods around 3:30 pm, sat down at a picnic table with a water bottle with my younger son and tuned in the audio on my cell phone. The Tommies were driving just after the Johnnies had gone up by 11. Very good end to the afternoon after walking through the woods most of the day. Bethel romped - wow! I've invited my neighbor and his son to the last Bethel home game on the 2nd of November against Hamline. Hoping the weather is ok for viewing.

[MRMIKESMITH]

Some of you seem to be stuck in a time-warp.  It has been almost a decade since the NCAA moved away from region-based quadrants.  The committee selects the four top national seeds, then builds quadrants around them.  No one gets SENT east; the east region teams simply get put into whichever quadrant works out best for travel purposes - most typically that has meant UMU (they are at the eastern edge of Ohio, after all), but not always.

Right now, the top four would seem to be UMHB, UMU, UWW, and SJU (with Wheaton, Muhlenberg, and Ithaca breathing down their necks), though that is based on the (irrelevant to the NCAA) d3football poll - I haven't taken a look yet at SoS or RR%; maybe in a week or two.

The committee chair admitted last year that they don't truly do the top four seeds nationally.  If they've got someone in the East that looks remotely deserving of a 1 seed they won't even bother to compare them to a team like St. John's.

You beat me to the punch. It's hard to imagine that the committee really thought Brockport was better than St. John's last year. UMHB people probably disagreed too as some I know were higly complimentary of the Johnnies. This year will be the real test of the supposed non-regional top seed philosophy assuming both St. John's and UMHB win out. Selection Sunday could be interesting.

Sorry, I either missed or forgot the committee chair's admission.  (With Joe Germinerio at QB, Brockport was NOT an outlandish choice.  I'd say them vs. SJU would be a 'pick-em', with a slight nod to the Johnnies.)

This year, Ithaca (with Joe G. at QB) as a top four is a bit more unlikely, but there are still several weeks to go.

Massey had that potential 2018 Brockport vs St. John's matchup as a 25 point monkey stomp.  I think that's being generous.

I think this highlights the issue with using the prior years playoff criteria to tie-break between unbeaten teams when it comes to 1 seeds.

In theory it makes perfect sense, and was born out of Mount getting potentially sent on the road for a semi-final playoff game I believe (which didn't ultimately happen). However, this only works if you are truly building balanced regions that don't have geographic/travel restrictions. As it stands, the East region teams are in a somewhat protected bubble. So Brockport made a deep run in 2017 and looked super good, shielded by a weak region around them. Fast Forward to 2018 and Brockport went deeper so gets the nod over SJU, who looked better on paper, in advanced analytics, and just the eye test. Brockport was a very good, not quite elite team. SJU was definitely an elite team (probably the second best in the country) and should have been playing in the semifinals. If SJU gets a 1 seed and gets UWW or Mount's side of the bracket, they may have been playing for the Stagg Bowl.

Until the East can hold its own (hasn't happened in the 20 year expanded playoff era) and has teams that can actually win the Stagg, this isn't an equitable element in the selection process. Right now there are teams in the South (UMHB), West (SJU, UWW), and North (Mount, Wheaton) who have Stagg Bowl potential. The East remains the obvious outlier.

Assuming no upsets, regions should be built around UMHB (South), SJU (West), UWW (North), Mount (East). And I know, I know, technically they aren't geographic regions. But for all intents and purposes, they do build the regions around 1 seeds that have some proximity to those areas.

Part of what makes this possible is that the MIAC, CCIW, WIAC, ARC, MWC, UMAC, etc. have teams that can easily be slid into the "north" or "west" regions when they build these brackets.

I'm not going to argue that the west is not a very good region. I had the opportunity to watch first hand how good the top representative of the region can be, in that of UW-W a few years back. Also, I went to the Stagg bowl for Mount vs. UMHB as they represented the North and South. The major difference between the east and the west and UMHB and Mount (Including having superior athletes) IMHO is the line play. So I know it's a tough outing for East region teams. However, if I had an argument, it would be how many teams in the North have made the Stagg or beaten Mount in the past 20 years? How many teams from the South have made it to the Stagg outside of UMHB? I do believe the West to be the most dominant region. I'm not going to cry about being a number 1 seed or if we should play such and such team this round. Majority of the time, we had to play Mount, UMHB, and UW-W on various occasions who went on to win Staff. Nevertheless, outside of UW-W, Mount, and UMHB  who has played against an East region team? The only one of note was St. Thomas and that was against Hobart in 15 that I can recall. I know a lot of teams would rather lose in the Stagg instead of the semi or quarters, but you still have to go through UW-W or WIAC or UMHB or Mount to win the Staff. UW-W has done it on plenty of occasions and have had to travel to do it to the East region. St. Thomas done it back in 15, no one else in the past 10 to 15 years can say otherwise.

[DuffMan]

On Sunday, our priest even mentioned that we had a lot of happy folks due to the Johnnie win.  Part of me was hoping that we'd have a certain fill-in priest that teaches at U$T and mentions U$T football during every mass (I know that Pat knows who I am talking about).   

[MiacMan]

On Sunday, our priest even mentioned that we had a lot of happy folks due to the Johnnie win.  Part of me was hoping that we'd have a certain fill-in priest that teaches at U$T and mentions U$T football during every mass (I know that Pat knows who I am talking about).   

Just glad to see you made it to Mass 

[DuffMan]

Just glad to see you made it to Mass 

I had to pray for the well-being of you Tommie supporters!!!

[SJUrube]

I don't think enough can be said about Gary and his coaching staff. After 3 ho-hum seasons from 2010-2012 the wagons were circling SJU. In now his 7th season he's evened up his record at 4-4 against his biggest rival, should win his 3rd MIAC title and tie John Gagliardi as the only MIAC coaches to lead teams to the playoffs in 6 consecutive seasons.

[jamtod]

http://www.startribune.com/st-john-s-rips-tommies-while-it-remains-as-a-perfect-fit-for-miac/563544872/

There was some grumbling from a minority of St. Thomas followers on Saturday, when St. John's quarterback Jackson Erdmann threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to receiver T.J. Hodge with 34 seconds remaining to increase the final to 38-20 in favor of the unbeaten Johnnies.

Where are these people? I'd like to have a word with them and tell them they are dumb.
Unless it was done tongue-in-cheek. Then I applaud it.

[wally_wabash]

Some of you seem to be stuck in a time-warp.  It has been almost a decade since the NCAA moved away from region-based quadrants.  The committee selects the four top national seeds, then builds quadrants around them.  No one gets SENT east; the east region teams simply get put into whichever quadrant works out best for travel purposes - most typically that has meant UMU (they are at the eastern edge of Ohio, after all), but not always.

Right now, the top four would seem to be UMHB, UMU, UWW, and SJU (with Wheaton, Muhlenberg, and Ithaca breathing down their necks), though that is based on the (irrelevant to the NCAA) d3football poll - I haven't taken a look yet at SoS or RR%; maybe in a week or two.

The committee chair admitted last year that they don't truly do the top four seeds nationally.  If they've got someone in the East that looks remotely deserving of a 1 seed they won't even bother to compare them to a team like St. John's.

You beat me to the punch. It's hard to imagine that the committee really thought Brockport was better than St. John's last year. UMHB people probably disagreed too as some I know were higly complimentary of the Johnnies. This year will be the real test of the supposed non-regional top seed philosophy assuming both St. John's and UMHB win out. Selection Sunday could be interesting.

Sorry, I either missed or forgot the committee chair's admission.  (With Joe Germinerio at QB, Brockport was NOT an outlandish choice.  I'd say them vs. SJU would be a 'pick-em', with a slight nod to the Johnnies.)

This year, Ithaca (with Joe G. at QB) as a top four is a bit more unlikely, but there are still several weeks to go.

Massey had that potential 2018 Brockport vs St. John's matchup as a 25 point monkey stomp.  I think that's being generous.

I think this highlights the issue with using the prior years playoff criteria to tie-break between unbeaten teams when it comes to 1 seeds.

In theory it makes perfect sense, and was born out of Mount getting potentially sent on the road for a semi-final playoff game I believe (which didn't ultimately happen).

The use of previous year's championship results came about after the 2010 UWW team got put on the road in the QF and SF rounds despite being undefeated defending champions.  They won the championship in 2010 anyway, but the ability to go back to the previous year's tournament results was codified after that bit of controversy. 

I'm not really sure how much the committee used that provision in their decision last year, but if it comes to that this year, SJU is going to have an advantage over East region contenders Ithaca and Salisbury, neither of which played in the tournament last year. 

Still though, do not be surprised if Ithaca or Salisbury have a criteria-based profile that is worthy of a top seed.  Who would win in a game between St. John's or Ithaca/Salisbury is a separate, unrelated question. 

[OzJohnnie]

I don't think enough can be said about Gary and his coaching staff. After 3 ho-hum seasons from 2010-2012 the wagons were circling SJU. In now his 7th season he's evened up his record at 4-4 against his biggest rival, should win his 3rd MIAC title and tie John Gagliardi as the only MIAC coaches to lead teams to the playoffs in 6 consecutive seasons.

He's done a phenomenal job on the transition of the program to the model needed for national competitiveness in the current era.  It's easy to see things that are needed like national recruiting and a JV program, but it's another thing to build those effectively.  And although he's said yes to a few things John Gagliardi said no to (and a few other changes which would have been very difficult but are clearly working today), I think Gary has done an excellent job of building on and preserving the legacy he was entrusted with.  What do others think?

[jamtod]

I don't think enough can be said about Gary and his coaching staff. After 3 ho-hum seasons from 2010-2012 the wagons were circling SJU. In now his 7th season he's evened up his record at 4-4 against his biggest rival, should win his 3rd MIAC title and tie John Gagliardi as the only MIAC coaches to lead teams to the playoffs in 6 consecutive seasons.

He's done a phenomenal job on the transition of the program to the model needed for national competitiveness in the current era.  It's easy to see things that are needed like national recruiting and a JV program, but it's another thing to build those effectively.  And although he's said yes to a few things John Gagliardi said no to (and a few other changes which would have been very difficult but are clearly working today), I think Gary has done an excellent job of building on and preserving the legacy he was entrusted with.  What do others think?

I hate it and think he should be fired.

[Retired Old Rat]

http://www.startribune.com/st-john-s-rips-tommies-while-it-remains-as-a-perfect-fit-for-miac/563544872/

There was some grumbling from a minority of St. Thomas followers on Saturday, when St. John's quarterback Jackson Erdmann threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to receiver T.J. Hodge with 34 seconds remaining to increase the final to 38-20 in favor of the unbeaten Johnnies.

Where are these people? I'd like to have a word with them and tell them they are dumb.
Unless it was done tongue-in-cheek. Then I applaud it.

Your response is gracious.

I would characterize Dave Lee and Eric Nelson's reaction as miffed:

https://youtu.be/jQC276Mtdgs

[jamtod]

http://www.startribune.com/st-john-s-rips-tommies-while-it-remains-as-a-perfect-fit-for-miac/563544872/

There was some grumbling from a minority of St. Thomas followers on Saturday, when St. John's quarterback Jackson Erdmann threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to receiver T.J. Hodge with 34 seconds remaining to increase the final to 38-20 in favor of the unbeaten Johnnies.

Where are these people? I'd like to have a word with them and tell them they are dumb.
Unless it was done tongue-in-cheek. Then I applaud it.

Your response is gracious.

I would characterize Dave Lee and Eric Nelson's reaction as miffed:

https://youtu.be/jQC276Mtdgs

If it wasn't 4th down, I might say the call is to run it and keep the clock moving, but on 4th down, throw away.

Steve Thomson (Stevie T, WCCO) was the main one I saw on Twitter commenting on it. He's kind of an obnoxious troll on there anyway, so I won't get too excited about that.

[OzJohnnie]

http://www.startribune.com/st-john-s-rips-tommies-while-it-remains-as-a-perfect-fit-for-miac/563544872/

There was some grumbling from a minority of St. Thomas followers on Saturday, when St. John's quarterback Jackson Erdmann threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to receiver T.J. Hodge with 34 seconds remaining to increase the final to 38-20 in favor of the unbeaten Johnnies.

Where are these people? I'd like to have a word with them and tell them they are dumb.
Unless it was done tongue-in-cheek. Then I applaud it.

I think the next paragraph recovers the situation.  Tommies may suck but they aren't, by and large, drooling morons.

The more-astute Tommies supporters would be aware of the nonsense in questioning an add-on touchdown in a competitive game against the archrival opponent – considering a good share of the reason St. Thomas was invited to leave the MIAC was the brutal drubbings it had administered to overmatched opponents since coach Glenn Caruso turned it into a national power in Division III football.