FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[janesvilleflash]

I would eat NO pumpkin pie at his house.

[tmerton]

I would eat NO pumpkin pie at his house.

What are you doing at his house in the first place? 

[bennie]

maniac,
Nice story about the Princeton Pumpking Pounder.

I heard that kid is enrolling at Northwestern this spring, maybe AO can show him around.

On a side note, I wonder what he did as a young kid when he was taken to the grocery store

You might want to keep him away from the cantaloupe too...or keep it very well chilled!

[TC]

"Pump'in" pie, with a dallop of "Special Sauce":


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Why is it so quiet in here? 

Sure, the Johnnies have a bye, but that St. Olaf and Bethel game should be pretty huge.  Hatred for Bethel aside, what do people besides Scrubby think?

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I think I'm more Pro-Glen Mason than most on this board.  The fact that people in the Twin Cities even care about the current state of the program is a lot more than could be said during the lovable Wacky Wacker Era.  No one wants to aspire to be consistant Music City Bowlers or to someday dream of a Capital One Bowl, but look at the competition--Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State are arguably among the top 10 college football programs in the nation.  Even Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan State have more prestigious programs over that last 50 years or so. 

On a MIAC-level, Mason hasn't exactly turned Hamline into SJU, but he took a horrible school and made them at least occasionally mildly intriguing--let's call it Hamline to St. Olaf. 

That said, I hope NDSU kicks the crap out of them this week.

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If I had to set up the West Bracket:

1. UW-Whitewater   WIAC      6-0
2. St. John's   MIAC      7-0
3. Central      IIAC      6-0
4. Whitworth   NWC      6-0
5. Occidental   SCIAC      5-0
6. UW-LaCrosse   WIAC      4-1
7. St. Norbert   MWC      7-0
8. St. Olaf      MIAC      6-1

Bubble:  Coe (6-1), Wartburg (5-1), Cal Lutheran (4-1), Linfield (3-2)

*LaCrosse and St. Olaf are in as "Pool C" teams, all others are assumed to have won their conference.  Obviously as the conferences are actually decided these teams could change quite a bit.

*I feel pretty comfortable about the top two teams.  Beyond that, I could hear all kinds of arguments.  Trying to mirror the way the NCAA actually operates, this bracket avoids 1st round flights or matchups of conference teams.

*The complicating issue is Linfield.  On one hand, they are a 3-2 team with only 3 games against Div. 3 competition to build their profile.  On the other hand, their losses came to a strong Div. 2 team and Hardin-Simmons, they still have a shot at Whitworth to run the table in the NWC, and I think there is a decent chance that they are the 3rd best team in the West.  But...  they didn't "Leave No Doubt" and right now they're out. 

(Still, I wouldn't mind seeing them sneak in as a #8 and knock of a Beaver-less Whitewater.)

[bennie]

In other news, my wife is now on her Long road to recovery after her ACL reconstruction

That is good to hear!

[Retired Old Rat]

In other news, my wife is now on her Long road to recovery after her ACL reconstruction, so thank you for everyone's prayers!!

Mighty Royal

Good luck to your wife on her recovery.  I can attest to the fact that recovery from surgery can be very frustrating.  Her surgery was much more serious than mine.

[tmerton]

MR - Glad to hear about your wife.  Sorry to hear the Chuck Norris moved to OK though.  Where's he living - Okmulgee?

[tmerton]

Referee training in the MIAC.

[BUdefense]

Question: does anyone really think there is such a thing as a distinct home field advantage in D3? I mean, I think it's tough to go to Collegeville and win, thats as tough as an environment there is in Division 3, but other than that, I just dont see it. My reason for bringing this up is that I've been told that there are flyers up at Bethel urging students to come to this week's game vs. the Oles. I asked a friend on the team, and he was like, "we need home field advantage". My response to this is, lets say they get 4 or 5000 people there. Would anyone be rattled by this? Most of us have seen bigger crowds than this in high school, I dont think anyone is shakin in their spikes about going into royal stadium, this isnt camp randall we're talkin about here, and crowd noise isnt going to be a factor. I dont know, I just see it as kind of a reach.

That said, I think Bethel wins 14-7, with Bethel holding the oles to less than 250 yards of total offense and Porta rushing for about 100-120 yards. hopefully Bethel can hold on to the ball.

but look at the competition--Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State are arguably among the top 10 college football programs in the nation.  Even Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan State have more prestigious programs over that last 50 years or so.

I dont argue with Mich and OSU, but Penn state? I dont think they qualify as one of the top ten college programs in the nation. With the exception of last year (thanks to QB Robinson and that D), they had been in rough shape. While there is still the tradition and nice facilities, I dont rank it as a powerhouse anymore, and lets not forget they are 4-3 this year. Michigan State has been a perennial underacheiver (although I think the coaching has been killing them for years), an annual 6-6 team you can count on for great starts and equally spectacular collapses. Iowa was relevant in the 80s under hayden fry, then forgotten until the recent resurgence under Ferentz.

[Scrubby41]

I'd agree with post that if STO is up by 28 points by half, it will be via of the air.  Honestly, I don't see that happening based on what I've seen from BU this year.  Someone mentioned that STO has only given up 4 sacks in 5 games, I do think BU has the players to pressure STO.  I think BU has to control the game running the ball.   

[frankrickard]

Well, I figure it's about time to end my 2 week hiatus from the boards...I probably didn't miss much anyways.  I was tearing up Carver County and the great cities of Chaska, Chanhassen and Victoria for a wedding last weekend and this weekend I'm heading up to Fargo for a wedding.  Depending on some others, Mongo and I may take in some of the Cobber game.

[Willy Wonka]

I'd agree with post that if STO is up by 28 points by half, it will be via of the air.  Honestly, I don't see that happening based on what I've seen from BU this year.

No way! I never would have guessed! 

[DuffMan]

Question: does anyone really think there is such a thing as a distinct home field advantage in D3? I mean, I think it's tough to go to Collegeville and win, thats as tough as an environment there is in Division 3, but other than that, I just dont see it. My reason for bringing this up is that I've been told that there are flyers up at Bethel urging students to come to this week's game vs. the Oles. I asked a friend on the team, and he was like, "we need home field advantage". My response to this is, lets say they get 4 or 5000 people there. Would anyone be rattled by this? Most of us have seen bigger crowds than this in high school, I dont think anyone is shakin in their spikes about going into royal stadium, this isnt camp randall we're talkin about here, and crowd noise isnt going to be a factor. I dont know, I just see it as kind of a reach.

That said, I think Bethel wins 14-7, with Bethel holding the oles to less than 250 yards of total offense and Porta rushing for about 100-120 yards. hopefully Bethel can hold on to the ball.

but look at the competition--Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State are arguably among the top 10 college football programs in the nation.  Even Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan State have more prestigious programs over that last 50 years or so.

I dont argue with Mich and OSU, but Penn state? I dont think they qualify as one of the top ten college programs in the nation. With the exception of last year (thanks to QB Robinson and that D), they had been in rough shape. While there is still the tradition and nice facilities, I dont rank it as a powerhouse anymore, and lets not forget they are 4-3 this year. Michigan State has been a perennial underacheiver (although I think the coaching has been killing them for years), an annual 6-6 team you can count on for great starts and equally spectacular collapses. Iowa was relevant in the 80s under hayden fry, then forgotten until the recent resurgence under Ferentz.

Where did you go to high school that you got more than 5000 at a game?  We had the Randy Shaver at a game my senior year for Prep Game of the Week and I think we had about 2000, and that was a lot.

[TC]

Question: does anyone really think there is such a thing as a distinct home field advantage in D3?

I'm sure the people who actually played can add a lot more insight, but I would assume that SJU and Concordia are the only road trips that are anything but ordinary.  

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Re: Penn State as a College Football Dynasty

I agree with what you said--I almost didn't include them with Michigan and Ohio State.  Then I thought about it some more...  Joe Paterno is still a coaching icon, PSU has the 7th most D1 wins (here's the top 10: Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas, Nebraska, Alabama, Ohio St., Oklahoma, Tennessee, USC--the ACC/SEC is underrepresented, but no slouches in the list), they have a national recruiting pressence...  I decided to include them.  Either way, the Gophers are at a distinct disadvantage recruiting against them, but obviously their success is cyclical, too.

[finsleft]

Greetings from the great white north. Woke up to a dusting of snow this morning, but it's all gone now. Stopped at the Sawmill in Virginia and scored a terdy pak of Hamm's for the weekend. Yesterday we walked over 5 miles through woods and trails with 1 bird to show for our efforts. As we arrived home there were 3 birds at the end of our driveway, and we bagged 2 of 'em.

JR- We didn't have a spatula last weekend so we used the Paris CD to flip the burgers. I hope she's OK.

Duff- I trust the ducats arrived by now. I arranged for an agent of the federal government to personally deliver them to your residence.

Look for a double stomp tomorrow. Bet a Hamm's on it. Now it's time to go out and bag some partridge for dinner tonight.