FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Ice Bear]

I don't know enough about the teams from the east, outside of them generally not doing well late in the tournament.  Is it likely that the semifinal between the winners of the Lacrosse vs NC and Wartburg vx UWW is more of the true title game?  Or does the other side of the bracket have a chance?

I'll be honest. The upcoming Wartburg-NCC game is the de facto national championship game in my mind.

However, those east teams will get their shot to prove my biases wrong. Looking forward to how this season plays out.

I think those biases are warranted based upon actual results over the last two decades. Listen, Cortland is a very good team. Their performance against Alma was one of the best performances from an Eastern team in quite some time...quite some time. I watched that game from start to finish and while the game was close, to me, according to that game, Cortland was the better team. Granted there are always variables that can be taken into consideration and it was only one game, but they took that second half completely over.

With that said, I would be absolutely shocked, shocked on almost a 1980 USA Men's Ice Hockey Gold Metal level shocked, if Cortland won the Stagg. I believe they will play a tough game on Saturday, but RM will come away with the W. Cortland doesn't have the defense to compete with an elite D3 team it's just plain and simple. To me, Cortland is the best team to come out of the traditional Northeast since Brockport a few years back. I am incredibly proud of all they have done. With that said, the ride should end Saturday.

[faunch]

I don't know enough about the teams from the east, outside of them generally not doing well late in the tournament.  Is it likely that the semifinal between the winners of the Lacrosse vs NC and Wartburg vx UWW is more of the true title game?  Or does the other side of the bracket have a chance?

I'll be honest. The upcoming Wartburg-NCC game is the de facto national championship game in my mind.

However, those east teams will get their shot to prove my biases wrong. Looking forward to how this season plays out.

NCC by 10 tomorrow

[Redtooth]

I don't know enough about the teams from the east, outside of them generally not doing well late in the tournament.  Is it likely that the semifinal between the winners of the Lacrosse vs NC and Wartburg vx UWW is more of the true title game?  Or does the other side of the bracket have a chance?

I'll be honest. The upcoming Wartburg-NCC game is the de facto national championship game in my mind.

However, those east teams will get their shot to prove my biases wrong. Looking forward to how this season plays out.

I think those biases are warranted based upon actual results over the last two decades. Listen, Cortland is a very good team. Their performance against Alma was one of the best performances from an Eastern team in quite some time...quite some time. I watched that game from start to finish and while the game was close, to me, according to that game, Cortland was the better team. Granted there are always variables that can be taken into consideration and it was only one game, but they took that second half completely over.

With that said, I would be absolutely shocked, shocked on almost a 1980 USA Men's Ice Hockey Gold Metal level shocked, if Cortland won the Stagg. I believe they will play a tough game on Saturday, but RM will come away with the W. Cortland doesn't have the defense to compete with an elite D3 team it's just plain and simple. To me, Cortland is the best team to come out of the traditional Northeast since Brockport a few years back. I am incredibly proud of all they have done. With that said, the ride should end Saturday.

Your statement regarding the biases being based on results is 1000% accurate.  An East Region team HAS NOT won a Stagg Bowl since 1991....I was a junior at SJU when that happened, the week after we lost to Dayton in the semis.  The team that won that title was Ithaca.....after that, Rowan played in the Stagg back in 1998 and 1999 as the most recent East Region participants.

BTW—-North Central will win this week and next by 20+

[SagatagSam]

Here's how I'm going to spin the loss to Gustavus:

"Hey, we lost to a team that had a Gagliardi Trophy Finalist!"

Congrats to Jake Breitbach on his becoming a finalist!

[sjujohnnie]

Wartburg just took a one point lead with a little over 12 minutes remaining in the semifinal versus North Central. They trailed North Central 26-7 late in the 2nd quarter. It is North Central's first time trailing all season.

[johnnieboy41]

Congrats to North Central on winning the National Championship tonight in Iowa. I expect them to beat Cortland by 4 scores.

Hats off to Wartburg. They are a really good team, likely the 2nd best in the country.

[hazzben]

Wartburg was so well coached. Awesome in game adjustments. Don't see how Cortland has the line play or D to hang with NCC

[carletonknights]

That was a good fought game. I'm glad I tuned in for it

[bleedpurple]

Congrats to North Central on winning the National Championship tonight in Iowa. I expect them to beat Cortland by 4 scores.

Hats off to Wartburg. They are a really good team, likely the 2nd best in the country.

I agree with this. They accomplished a lot last night. While Cortland will have something to say about this, I suspect you are right. They not only established themselves as the likely #2, but they also established that the gap between #1 and #2 isn't as extensive as many believed.

[USee]

All of us who have been around a while understand that circumstances, affecting 1-2 players, can make these gaps appear larger or smaller in any given year. Bleed and I have discussed this and the reality is there are a handful of programs that are 1 to 3 players away from the Stagg Bowl. Sometimes those players aren't on your team, sometimes they are and they get injured. It takes consistent recruiting to build great depth, great coaching and a little luck to be one of the premier programs year in and year out.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Wartburg just took a one point lead with a little over 12 minutes remaining in the semifinal versus North Central. They trailed North Central 26-7 late in the 2nd quarter. It is North Central's first time trailing all season.

That is wild.  Hard to have never given up the first score in the game, let alone never fall behind at some point against a decent team.

[Ice Bear]

Wartburg just took a one point lead with a little over 12 minutes remaining in the semifinal versus North Central. They trailed North Central 26-7 late in the 2nd quarter. It is North Central's first time trailing all season.

That is wild.  Hard to have never given up the first score in the game, let alone never fall behind at some point against a decent team.

I'm amazed at Wartburg's ability to go down early and battle back against excellent opponents. Obviously they came up a hair short on Saturday but my goodness, what a resilient team with a big time defense. Hats off to the Knights on an incredible season by an incredible make up of players who never quit. very impressive.

[MadRedFan]

Wartburg just took a one point lead with a little over 12 minutes remaining in the semifinal versus North Central. They trailed North Central 26-7 late in the 2nd quarter. It is North Central's first time trailing all season.

That is wild.  Hard to have never given up the first score in the game, let alone never fall behind at some point against a decent team.

I'm amazed at Wartburg's ability to go down early and battle back against excellent opponents. Obviously they came up a hair short on Saturday but my goodness, what a resilient team with a big time defense. Hats off to the Knights on an incredible season by an incredible make up of players who never quit. very impressive.

Yes to all the positive comments about Wartburg. I had this idea they were a tough defensive team, and that's what got them through.  Yes to that, but they had a nice QB, very nice RB, decent receivers, etc. A well-rounded team, very legit to me.

[DuffMan]

I have to wonder if Wartburg will drop off a bit now or if they're here to stay.  Historically, the IIAC (I still can't handle ARC) has had a lot of ebb and flow.  Is Wartburg's recent success due to a really talented class, or will they maintain their grip?  Time will tell.

[hazzben]

I have to wonder if Wartburg will drop off a bit now or if they're here to stay.  Historically, the IIAC (I still can't handle ARC) has had a lot of ebb and flow.  Is Wartburg's recent success due to a really talented class, or will they maintain their grip?  Time will tell.

I believe they had a boatload of Covid 5th-year Seniors. The D in particular was filled with them. They've proved through the years they'll be back, but I'd guess they have to do a bit of a reload. ARC seems like more of a legit 3 team race with Coe, Central and Wart. And I doubt they're primed for a near-Stagg run again with all they lose.