FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[DuffMan]

...but man I miss oldpa and drinking frozen beers from his trunk -the Cadillac.

Oldpa/JF was awesome.  The first time SJU played at The Perk, he told me, "I'll be the old guy that looks like Santa drinking beer from the truck of a Cadillac."  When we got there, I easily found him and shared several beers with him.  Great guy!  RIP!

[USee]

https://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2021/final-regional-ranking

Final rankings are out.

[sjujohnnie]

How would St John's fare against Linfield? Any insight? I'm guessing we'd have to defeat #7 Linfield, #2 UMHB, #3 Whitewater, & #1 North Central to win it all! Owzzers!

[jamtod]

How would St John's fare against Linfield? Any insight? I'm guessing we'd have to defeat #7 Linfield, #2 UMHB, #3 Whitewater, & #1 North Central to win it all! Owzzers!

My wife will be gone in New Jersey that weekend but I'm already making mental plans for child care (or tailgating buddies) for SJU vs Linfield

[DuffMan]

How would St John's fare against Linfield?

Easy win.  Phone it in. 

[Johns Knees]

So is it safe to say that the MIAC's new scheduling arrangement worked fairly well? SJU had the best SOS in the nation and Bethel still made the playoffs. Basically eliminating a couple bottom feeders from the schedule and a championship game are going to give SJU home playoff games as long as they keep winning.

And the second place team still got in.

[DuffMan]

Well, that's how it worked out this year.  I still don't like it.

[hazzben]

So is it safe to say that the MIAC's new scheduling arrangement worked fairly well? SJU had the best SOS in the nation and Bethel still made the playoffs. Basically eliminating a couple bottom feeders from the schedule and a championship game are going to give SJU home playoff games as long as they keep winning.

And the second place team still got in.

Barely though, instead of being a near Pool C lock. Let's say SJU doesn't convert the last 4th down ... still feel the same if you're in UWL or Bethel's shoes, instead of a 1 seed with home field until the Stagg??

[AO]

So is it safe to say that the MIAC's new scheduling arrangement worked fairly well? SJU had the best SOS in the nation and Bethel still made the playoffs. Basically eliminating a couple bottom feeders from the schedule and a championship game are going to give SJU home playoff games as long as they keep winning.

And the second place team still got in.

Barely though, instead of being a near Pool C lock. Let's say SJU doesn't convert the last 4th down ... still feel the same if you're in UWL or Bethel's shoes, instead of a 1 seed with home field until the Stagg??

You're forgetting that you'd be replacing St. John's with Scholastica, which would give your SoS a massive hit.  Gustavus would be adding Macalester and they might not make it in the regional rankings.  Could easily see the committee taking Randolph-Macon or Hardin-Simmnons instead of Bethel in that case.

[OzJohnnie]

So is it safe to say that the MIAC's new scheduling arrangement worked fairly well? SJU had the best SOS in the nation and Bethel still made the playoffs. Basically eliminating a couple bottom feeders from the schedule and a championship game are going to give SJU home playoff games as long as they keep winning.

And the second place team still got in.

Barely though, instead of being a near Pool C lock. Let's say SJU doesn't convert the last 4th down ... still feel the same if you're in UWL or Bethel's shoes, instead of a 1 seed with home field until the Stagg??

You're forgetting that you'd be replacing St. John's with Scholastica, which would give your SoS a massive hit.  Gustavus would be adding Macalester and they might not make it in the regional rankings.  Could easily see the committee taking Randolph-Macon or Hardin-Simmnons instead of Bethel in that case.

SJU missed out on playing both Hamline and Macalester, replacing them with Bethel and Martin Luther.  The division structure is obviously very good for the bottom of the MIAC and the very top.  And, I guess, the masters of scheduling would also argue it's good for that last weekend which saw all well-matched contests bar one.  A second seed in the post season requires a #2 that is very, very good and a bit of luck elsewhere, but here we are.

I think this first year will give a long life now to this division structure.

[retagent]

You guys had to move it off site for the playoffs -right? And now it is completely banned?

Yeah, no artificial noise makers in the playoffs.

Is the band an artificial noisemaker?

[art76]

Assuming that BU has the number 2 ranking in the Region behind UW La Crosse, and UW La Crosse is picked first for a Pool C bid, the Royals are going to be at the table for the final 4 rounds. In the D3 mock picking (and they've proven to be pretty close in the past), I still like Bethel's chances against either Johns Hopkins or Ithaca in the final round. So, fingers crossed.

If, and we all know that's a big if, BU gets in, I think it helps the brackets and especially the Johnnies chances of being a number one seed, because it puts another team within 600 miles of UW Whitewater and North Central. Which in turn frees up a team between the Warhawks', North Central's and Mount Union's brackets. Doing this almost assures that the Johnnies would be seeing either or both Linfield and UMHB, but both of them would have to travel to Collegeville, which to me seems fitting. But what do I know?

"Sometimes even a blind dog gets the bone." Looks like I got it right concerning the road the Johnnies have to take to get out of their quadrant.

So, looking at the final regional rankings, and using Greg Thomas' logic that if both Ithaca and Bethel were left in the final round that he would pick Ithaca, does that mean Bethel was picked ahead of Johns Hopkins? How much influence do you suspect the SOS numbers played in the selection order? I can see UW LaCrosse being first off the board, and Bethel being picked as high as second with an SOS only .003 behind them. Anyone with a better handle on the situation want to take a gander at how the five at large were picked in what order?

[02 Warhawk]

You guys had to move it off site for the playoffs -right? And now it is completely banned?

Yeah, no artificial noise makers in the playoffs.

Is the band an artificial noisemaker?

Exactly

[OzJohnnie]

Assuming that BU has the number 2 ranking in the Region behind UW La Crosse, and UW La Crosse is picked first for a Pool C bid, the Royals are going to be at the table for the final 4 rounds. In the D3 mock picking (and they've proven to be pretty close in the past), I still like Bethel's chances against either Johns Hopkins or Ithaca in the final round. So, fingers crossed.

If, and we all know that's a big if, BU gets in, I think it helps the brackets and especially the Johnnies chances of being a number one seed, because it puts another team within 600 miles of UW Whitewater and North Central. Which in turn frees up a team between the Warhawks', North Central's and Mount Union's brackets. Doing this almost assures that the Johnnies would be seeing either or both Linfield and UMHB, but both of them would have to travel to Collegeville, which to me seems fitting. But what do I know?

"Sometimes even a blind dog gets the bone." Looks like I got it right concerning the road the Johnnies have to take to get out of their quadrant.

So, looking at the final regional rankings, and using Greg Thomas' logic that if both Ithaca and Bethel were left in the final round that he would pick Ithaca, does that mean Bethel was picked ahead of Johns Hopkins? How much influence do you suspect the SOS numbers played in the selection order? I can see UW LaCrosse being first off the board, and Bethel being picked as high as second with an SOS only .003 behind them. Anyone with a better handle on the situation want to take a gander at how the five at large were picked in what order?

You did pretty well, Art.  Time to go on vacation.

[wally_wabash]

Assuming that BU has the number 2 ranking in the Region behind UW La Crosse, and UW La Crosse is picked first for a Pool C bid, the Royals are going to be at the table for the final 4 rounds. In the D3 mock picking (and they've proven to be pretty close in the past), I still like Bethel's chances against either Johns Hopkins or Ithaca in the final round. So, fingers crossed.

If, and we all know that's a big if, BU gets in, I think it helps the brackets and especially the Johnnies chances of being a number one seed, because it puts another team within 600 miles of UW Whitewater and North Central. Which in turn frees up a team between the Warhawks', North Central's and Mount Union's brackets. Doing this almost assures that the Johnnies would be seeing either or both Linfield and UMHB, but both of them would have to travel to Collegeville, which to me seems fitting. But what do I know?

"Sometimes even a blind dog gets the bone." Looks like I got it right concerning the road the Johnnies have to take to get out of their quadrant.

So, looking at the final regional rankings, and using Greg Thomas' logic that if both Ithaca and Bethel were left in the final round that he would pick Ithaca, does that mean Bethel was picked ahead of Johns Hopkins? How much influence do you suspect the SOS numbers played in the selection order? I can see UW LaCrosse being first off the board, and Bethel being picked as high as second with an SOS only .003 behind them. Anyone with a better handle on the situation want to take a gander at how the five at large were picked in what order?

My guess at the order of selection is UWL, BSC, Wheaton, Bethel, Hopkins. 

What makes me scratch my head is why Bethel before Hopkins but not Wheaton?  And maybe it wasn't- maybe it was Bethel before Wheaton and Hopkins.  I do think Hopkins had to be the last one in because Ithaca on the board with Bethel tilts to Ithaca- unless the committee really for whatever reason talked themselves out of Ithaca's losses being as valuable as Bethel's- to a significant degree. 

I do believe Region 2 got too cute by half with their rankings.  RPI needed to be the #2 team in that region.  If RI is Region 2 ranked #2 and Ithaca's losses are by 3 and 2 to the region's top two teams, plus their SOS advantage over Bethel, maybe they get in.  But those scores against the #1 and #4 ranked teams plays slightly differently, especially when compared to two results to a regional #1. 

Fascinating selection process this year.  This was one of the more difficult years for the committee to pick 5.