FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[faunch]

Obviously a lot of games to go, and wild things can happen, but based on the Gustavus - Concordia result, and the BU vs. Gustavus and SJU vs. Concordia results, it sure seems to point to a MIAC championship rematch.

Hopefully long term some other MIAC teams can elevate over time, or it's going to be a MIAC season of limited excitement.  Also, if historical trends hold true, and BU has a couple of down years mixed in now and then, it could be pretty boring for SJU, assuming they stay strong.

Also - UST just went up 24-14 in the 3rd quarter.  Wow!

Pioneer League must really suck!!!

Tommie$ lose 27-24. I was really hoping they could run the table in their conference and then get blown out in the first round of the FCS playoffs.

[Pat Coleman]

FWIW I don't think UST is eligible for the D-I postseason for a while.

[faunch]

FWIW:
Johnnies and Cobbers played in front of almost 6,000
Tommies and Toreroes barely 1,000. Geez D1 is cool 😎!!!

[OzJohnnie]

FWIW:
Johnnies and Cobbers played in front of almost 6,000
Tommies and Toreroes barely 1,000. Geez D1 is cool !!!

Not that it is directly related but a friend of #1's since primary school at the local Catholic parish is the punter for the University of Richmond, D1 FCS.  He punted 9 times against Virginia Tech last weekend in front of over 53k fans.  You won't see crowds like that here outside of AFL games.

[AO]

What's your number crunching that led you to +3.5 for UST @ San Diego? That's a tighter line than I would have expected, but it also appears San Diego is down a bit from recent years, so maybe we're going to make a close game of this.

I wondered that as well, but I wanted to make my pick right away just so there could be no adjustment to the spread.

I'm hurtin' pretty bad in pick 'ems and need all the help I can get.

Mostly a wild guess but Massey has it at 7, and I think there will be some overreaction to the recent results.  San Diego looks to have taken a few steps backward since they had a team capable of winning a playoff game.

Like I was saying, my number crunching should never be questioned.   

[DuffMan]

CSS is getting a rude welcome to the MIAC.  They might be lucky to get a lone W to close out their season.

Looks like Veldman didn't play for GAC today. 

[DuffMan]

Syverson went 20-24 for 289 yards, 0 interceptions, 4 TDs--and rushed for a TD--in the first half this afternoon.  Talk about putting on a clinic!

[OzJohnnie]

Syverson went 20-24 for 289 yards, 0 interceptions, 4 TDs--and rushed for a TD--in the first half this afternoon.  Talk about putting on a clinic!

A 239.48 passer rating.  He was running very hot.  His rating for the season so far is 165.01.  And looking at the stats, I think he's steadily improved each game.

Aurora: 112.69
Martin Luther: 227.18
Bethel: 137.71
Concordia: 239.48

Not quite steady (after working out each game), but definitely settling in well.  An incredible start for a first year Johnnie and a guy that hasn't played a game since high school over two years ago.

[OzJohnnie]

You've made me curious, duffman, about the passer rating against our defense this year and how that's developed.

Aurora: 154.87
Martin Luther: 78.51
Bethel: 138.52
Concordia: 84.98



Hmm... perhaps we've been a bit overly critical on here.  We'll see how we go against Augsburg who are not afraid to throw it this year.

[corn horn]

Ouch!

That's all.

[sjusection105]

It appears the Johnnie defense is finding their idenity.

[RoyalsFan]

Syverson went 20-24 for 289 yards, 0 interceptions, 4 TDs--and rushed for a TD--in the first half this afternoon.  Talk about putting on a clinic!

A 239.48 passer rating.  He was running very hot.  His rating for the season so far is 165.01.  And looking at the stats, I think he's steadily improved each game.

Aurora: 112.69
Martin Luther: 227.18
Bethel: 137.71
Concordia: 239.48

Not quite steady (after working out each game), but definitely settling in well.  An incredible start for a first year Johnnie and a guy that hasn't played a game since high school over two years ago.

IMO, the NCAA quarterback rating is a bit of a joke, with a low of -731.6 to a high of 1,261.6. I don't know why they don't use the qb rating that the NFL uses.

[art76]

The new Divisional setup for play in the MIAC makes for some interesting consequences in scheduling. It may be obvious to some, but I'll point a couple of them out, starting with, that beginning this week, four of the games will be in division, with the fifth game being across divisions. Math rules! (In the formulations.) So some teams won't see each other this year, and I suspect the following year as well. For example, Carleton and Bethel do not see each other this year, or the Johnnies and the Pipers.

There are only two undefeated teams left in the MIAC after 5 weeks of play, and they don't square off until week ten, the week before the playoff week – week eleven. Will they both still be undefeated then? And if they are, would they play again in week eleven, even if there was another team left standing with one loss? I must confess, I haven't looked into the "what ifs" conditional clauses for determining who goes into the playoffs if one team is 9 and 0, with two teams at 8 and 1 and haven't faced one another during the year. If, and I recognize it's a big if, Carleton gets through the season undefeated, then loses to St. John's in week 10 – who would St. John's play for the conference title – Bethel (provided they do not lose another game) or Carleton? Obviously, it's way too soon to worry about these things, but one wonders...

Edit: Never mind - If Carleton were still undefeated and then lose to the Johnnies, that would make them the number 2 team in the Northwoods Division and they would have no chance of getting the automatic bid after week 11. And if there were three teams in the MIAC with 9 and 1 records at the end of the season, I'd hate to be sitting on that Pool C committee...

For the coming weekend the cross divisional game has Augsburg traveling up to Collegeville to meet St. John's. The Auggies have posted 54 and 56 points on the scoreboard the last two weeks while the Johnnies have only posted 31 and 49, so that must mean because Augsburg scores more points, they must be favored, right? Hardly. The Auggies will be hard pressed to get on the board, as the Johnnies shut-out the Cobbers last week when they "only" scored 49 points in that win.

The blow-out game of the week has to be Gustavus traveling up to Duluth to take on St. Scholastica. The Gusties were averaging almost 48 points per game for their first three games, only to be limited to 9 points last week by Bethel. They were thwarted by the Royals, and the Saints stand a good chance of being the recipients of that frustration in a drubbing by simply being the next team that the Gusties play. 

Another lopsided victory is almost assured as Bethel goes down Snelling to take on Hamline. Both of these teams boast 3 and 1 records for the season, and here we see again that quality of wins/losses trumps number of wins/losses. The Royals have stood toe to toe in a tough loss to the Johnnies, while the Pipers got thumped that same weekend by the other undefeated team in the MIAC – Carleton.

Concordia comes down I-94 to meet up with Macalester in this week's fourth contest. Both of theses teams come into the contest with 1 and 3 records. However, his is a "must-win" situation for the Cobbers if they want any chance of staying the number 2 team in the Skyline Division. The same could be said for the Scots, though it seems to me to be disingenuous to say that out loud. At this point in the season it is apparent that the Northwoods Division seems to have sorted itself out already.

The game of the week in the MIAC has to be for the Goat Trophy as Carleton crosses the river in Northfield to play at St. Olaf to try to take back the trophy, last won in 2019 by the Oles. Both of these teams have beaten Macalester already this season – The Oles 40 to 27 and the Knights 24 to 10. It seems to me that the Knights have more to lose and more to prove in working to maintain their unbeaten record for as long as they can. Should be a good game, as the remainder of the MIAC docket seems to be chalk with no possible upsets in the wind.

[OzJohnnie]

The new Divisional setup for play in the MIAC makes for some interesting consequences in scheduling. It may be obvious to some, but I’ll point a couple of them out, starting with, that beginning this week, four of the games will be in division, with the fifth game being across divisions. Math rules! (In the formulations.) So some teams won’t see each other this year, and I suspect the following year as well. For example, Carleton and Bethel do not see each other this year, or the Johnnies and the Pipers.

It's never been stated as far as I'm aware but I suspect the scheduling has been organised so that the bottom teams don't have to play both SJU and BU in a season.  Take one of those contests out and let them schedule out of conference against more level competition.  I'll do a quick (alphabetical) review of who plays BU & SJU.

AUG: Both
CAR: SJU
CON: Both
GAC: Both
HAM: BU
MAC: BU
STO: Both
CSS: SJU

Yeah, it looks like the bottom two in each division all play each other and skip the top team in the other division.  The bottom two teams also play just one of the other division's middle two teams.  So it's weighted that the top teams play the top teams and the bottom teams play the bottom teams.  Not exclusively but weighted that way.

I don't mind that.  It helps all teams with their goals.  The bottom teams get the opportunity to play more often against more appropriate competition, making for a more enjoyable experience for their squads, while the top teams do the same and help with their development and post-season positioning.  A surprisingly balanced and nuanced solution to MIAC football scheduling.  We'll see how it holds up over time but it looks good to start.  If the STO AD came up with this then we know the end of times are near.

EDIT: One of the consequences, if this is indeed the scheduling formula, is that Mac and Hamline will never play SJU if they don't improve to at least third in the Skyline division.  That means that they have to get better than Augsburg or Concordia.

Going back as far as the MIAC site has stats (2007), Hamline twice finished above AUG in 2018 and 2016, so that's possible.  Who knows the last time Mac didn't finish bottom two in the conference?  Yeah, it may be a long time before SJU play those two teams.  Carlton will be lining up against both SJU and BU next year if they finish third in Northwoods, which they are very likely to do at this point.

[art76]

Looking through my Bethel ruby colored glasses, sometimes I just don't get it. If we look at the latest top 25 posted by D3: https://www.d3football.com/top25/2021/week5

UW Oshkosh holds off UW Platteville by a score of 35 to 32 this past weekend and gets away with a win, a team Bethel handled by a score of 28 to 7, and Bethel garners only 20 more votes/points from the previous week's standing? What? If BU doesn't move up, at least Oshkosh should take more of a hit than 17 votes/points. A lot of somebodys are not really paying close attention of who is playing whom and using that information to cast their votes. I am not saying they should switch positions, but should be a lot closer together in the standings.