FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[DuffMan]

There's a lot on the line for the Johnnies tomorrow.
Win (as they should), and I will be thrilled.
Lose, and I will not be a pleasant person to be around.
 

[sju56321]

What-you are sometimes pleasant?
My thought is if SJU wins and bethel wins-SJU is in, as everyone is saying. Then, I see SJU between a 3-6 seed,depending on which bracket they are assigned. I could see a 4 seed and open against Wheaton at home- if the committee seeds teams based primarily on regional wins and sos. If they look at losses (2) and where we finished in miac - then I could see a 6 seed and open at Aurora. All assuming the teams that should win today do win-no upsets.
Oh, and go dark fans-right Wick?

[hazzben]

Game day. Bolt got a little banged up from what I hear. Hoping he's 100%.

I think any MIAC team in the field is going on the road. Frankly, road playoffs games are fun for players.

[faunch]

As I've said before i want SJU to win just so we can see if they get a pool c.
That being said two seasons of 2 and BBQ (at home) in the playoffs followed by a season where we easily could have 4 losses is a wake up call.

[Ice Bear]

Hoping for a big game from the Royals today.

[hazzben]

Hoping for a big game from the Royals today.

You've made me a union fan by extension Ice!

[hazzben]

MIAC should have two in...now it is all about the matchups.

[Ice Bear]

Hoping for a big game from the Royals today.

You've made me a union fan by extension Ice!

Thanks Hazz! We got a huge W against RPI in the annual Shoes game this afternoon. +k my friend.

[Ice Bear]

Congratulations to Bethel on what seems to be a very convincing W today and MIAC championship! So proud of the Royals and, even with an early season loss to SJU, they bounced back and did what they needed to win the title and get to the NCAA tournament. I really thought with the loss of Geebli and some of Bolt's early season struggles it may have been a 3 or even 4 loss season. Another incredible job by Coach Johnson getting this team to find an identity and run with it. Very happy!

[OzJohnnie]

Good work today Johnnies and Royals!  I stepped away from the game to go to early Mass and it was a very pleasant moment when I saw the scores back in the car. Now fingers crossed we are selected for pool C. And if we are then I award myself a case of beer if the committee sends us to Aurora first up.

[hazzben]

Hoping for a big game from the Royals today.

You've made me a union fan by extension Ice!

Thanks Hazz! We got a huge W against RPI in the annual Shoes game this afternoon. +k my friend.

Saw that...congrats on the Dutchman's Shoes win. Fun fact, as someone who is 100% Dutch, from a community of dutchmen, I put on a pair of wooden shoes every May for my hometown's Tulip Festival. The rivalry already had a special place in my heart. Now I just know which team I want to prevail thanks to Ice Bear!!

[Redtooth]

Fun to watch the Johnnies take care of business today in Moorhead.  Some sloppy and lazy moments (which if corrected would have led to several additional TDs for SJU).....the clown penalties by what seems to be the same defensive players every week need to end or the post season could be brief. 

Huge kudos to Cooper Mattern from Concordia......the kid is tougher than a $2 steak, has to play QB in an offense that doesn't have a run game, a decent Oline or skilled receivers....but continues to try and will his team into the end zone......and today did so against his former teammates (who were often talking $hit...which was embarrassing).  His task was even more challenging with the Cobber defense playing with Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder at corner......Syverson would love to play Concordia every week forever......Career stats in 4 games against Concordia; 1,600 yards passing and 19TDs.

One observation from the day, the home crowd was dismal at best.....Concordia reported attendance of roughly 2,100.....if so, SJU had 1,800 of that number.  I took a picture of the home side right before kick off and there could not have been 300 total fans on that side....if there were more than 50 students (not players) from Concordia I'd be shocked.  Very sad to interest deteriorate so terribly, although being 24-26 over the last five years probably has something to do with that.

Last topic for the day......I am not one to criticize officials or officiating, but the crew that did today's SJU/Concordia game were beyond brutal and frankly one of the worst crews I have ever seen.  The job is tough and thankless, but good Lord these guys were horrible.  Do not put these group in any meaningful game!

[Pat Coleman]

Have to assume that the highest-rated MIAC crew was probably doing the title game.

[RoyalsFan]

Congrats to Bethel on winning the MIAC and to Coach J getting a MIAC Championship for his farewell season. Hoping they do well in the playoffs.

For those who don't know, an incredibly gutsy call on Bethel's first possession today. They faced a 4th and 10 at their own 24 and ran a fake punt to the up back Ellingson, and he took it to the house 76 yards. I can't imagine how that might have changed the game if the play had failed. They must have seen something on tape to call that play in that situation. Some may look at the stats from today's game and see Bethel only threw for 66 yards, but they really didn't need to throw the ball much today since their ground game was working so well, rushing for 320 yards. Hopefully that will be to their advantage in the playoffs when the weather turns colder and it is harder to pass. The defense was also stellar today getting 4 interceptions and a fumble recovery. The year didn't start too well for the team with questions at quarterback and some key injuries to Farm and Kidder, but Bolt has settled in nicely and Farm and Kidder have been back for the last few games.

[GoldandBlueBU]

The projected bracket is posted- it shows bethel at Whitewater, and SJU hosting Wheaton.