FB: Midwest Conference

[The Roop]

I don't have a problem with scheduling those games, I just don't think a series like that would ever happen because of the politics involved. Why should the sweet, innocent, small private college have to risk getting mauled by the big, mean, evil public university, etc. etc. I think it's silly and unfortunate but that's how it works in many cases; and it's not just a MWC thing. Top to bottom the CCIW would be a more competitive series of games vs. the WIAC but my theory is why that hasn't happened either.

Beyond that I will speculate a little bit. Would we actually see Whitewater vs. Monmouth or Point vs. St. Norbert ?? Probably not. Teams at the top of the WIAC have an eye on Salem every year so why risk a D3 loss that might keep you out of the play offs. Instead we probably get Whitewater vs. Lake Forest and Point vs. Lawrence.

Why not kick Superior in the pants and have them get a football program started, then you've only got 2 non-conference games to fill. In the mean time Beloit has Blackburn the next 2 years but if Whitewater wanted to buy them out I'm sure Beloit would give them a game.

[SNCOLDAD]

Holy Crap!?!?!?   I stay away for a little while and look what happens. 

I guess the only solution is to break up the MWC and either re-distribute teams, or start a couple new conferences or a combination of both. Maybe that will make everyone happy.     

#1  We are all biased.  Yes we are. I toward SNC, Roop and Beloit, Pat, scottie, all of us. And not just on our favorite team.
#2  Some conferences are stronger than others. Duh!?!?   
#3  Some conference rules inhibit strengthening football programs. Others rules encourage. 
#4  Monmouth has a pretty good team in a fairly weak football conference.    Hello? Boise State?   
#5 Polls are SUBJECTIVE.  8)  Always have been. Always will be.

If any of you were at the Norbert - Lake Forest game on Saturday you sat for 15-20 minutes in pretty much STONE QUIET as the paramedics stabilized a Lake Forest player. And then as he was being loaded into the ambulance, the place exploded as that player gave a thumbs up for all to see. Stay in perspective

Let's play some football. Let's root for our team.Don't boo the opposition.

scottie, I am with you on the 9-1 season, except for one small detail.  Monmouth be 9-1 and get into the playoffs. 

GO GREEN KNIGHTS

[BoBo]

I don't have a problem with scheduling those games, I just don't think a series like that would ever happen because of the politics involved. Why should the sweet, innocent, small private college have to risk getting mauled by the big, mean, evil public university, etc. etc. I think it's silly and unfortunate but that's how it works in many cases; and it's not just a MWC thing. Top to bottom the CCIW would be a more competitive series of games vs. the WIAC but my theory is why that hasn't happened either.

Beyond that I will speculate a little bit. Would we actually see Whitewater vs. Monmouth or Point vs. St. Norbert ?? Probably not. Teams at the top of the WIAC have an eye on Salem every year so why risk a D3 loss that might keep you out of the play offs. Instead we probably get Whitewater vs. Lake Forest and Point vs. Lawrence.

Why not kick Superior in the pants and have them get a football program started, then you've only got 2 non-conference games to fill. In the mean time Beloit has Blackburn the next 2 years but if Whitewater wanted to buy them out I'm sure Beloit would give them a game.

It's the politics that have kept it from ever happening...jumping out of the box is the only thing that will break the stalemate.  Your solution?  Send the CCIW to the lions - I bet you're not on their Christmas card list!! Your speculation makes me LMAO! I know you're just trying to be funny, but in a way I think you really believe what you're saying.

#4  Monmouth has a pretty good team in a fairly weak football conference.    Hello? Boise State?   

[The Roop]

In that a CCIW vs. WIAC series would be more competitive than a MWC vs. WIAC series; yes I was serious. IIAC or MIAC probably work as well. Beyond that I was just speculating. Play the NathCon for all I care as I don't schedule the games. But you are right, somebody needs to break the ice and it still looks pretty thick to me.

[hickory_cornhusker]

We should be thankful this isn't the FBS. As long as you keeping winning you'll get your chance to prove your team is for real. The polls are just to give us something to argue about. They ultimately mean nothing.

[The Roop]

Just like Ohio Northerns chances of making the playoffs with 2 losses and being a 3rd place team in their conference. Hows that top 10 ranking at seasons end feel when you get snubbed ??

[MWCfan787]

We should be thankful this isn't the FBS. As long as you keeping winning you'll get your chance to prove your team is for real. The polls are just to give us something to argue about. They ultimately mean nothing.

So true, and I love that about d3 football.  Just hope MC does enough to break into the GOB club so they can have tenure on top 10 rankings.

[scottie]

We should be thankful this isn't the FBS. As long as you keeping winning you'll get your chance to prove your team is for real. The polls are just to give us something to argue about. They ultimately mean nothing.

So true, and I love that about d3 football.  Just hope MC does enough to break into the GOB club so they can have tenure on top 10 rankings.

I've got some special real estate I'd like to talk to you about.   

[Redmen09]

Ripon vs Oshkosh was the only consistent MWC/WIAC matchup in the past four years, and Ripon didnt fair too well with the exception of last year, maybe.  This was the last year of the contract for those two teams.  A win over UWO wouldve been impressive, but UWO has been a 'bottom feeder' in the WIAC during those last four years, so in the long run most people wouldnt have given it much credit. 

[Pat Coleman]

I'd say Ohio Northern definitely the 16th best team in the nation or better....but I think you should be punished in the poll for being 1-2, unless you played 3 quality Division 1 or Division 2 teams with scholarships.  It's the poll for week 4...not what you think the final poll is gonna be.  Comparison: If say preseason unranked Tennessee (Ohio Northern) opens with a win against Penn State (North Central), then drops two straight to Florida (Mount Union), and Georgia (Otterbein).......are they still ranked 16th in the polls?

What I don't get is how a win over Coe allows Central to jump Monmouth.  Yes, Central's win over Stevens Point was impressive but why wouldn't they have been ahead of the Scots last week? Why the jump this week?

It just seems weird for Monmouth to keep winning (and winning big like they should against some weaker teams on their schedule) but to keep getting jumped by teams.  Feels like voters are finding ways to keep the Scots out of the top 10 until they win playoff games.

I guess the Scots regular season schedule is so weak that voters feel 10 teams would put up even better numbers against who Monmouth plays.  Really a diss to the whole conference and the whole conference should look at that, feel disrepected, and step their game up.  I mean Pat thinks they shouldn't even be #11.  Dunno its hard to improve your overall conference perception when everyone only plays 1 non-conference game a year.

Lawrence: you lost to Monmouth 56-3 and the first string played one series in the second half, but against 10 or more teams it would've been worse

Beloit: you lost to Monmouth 58-0, but against the best team or someone good from the Roop's aforementioned "good ole boy" conferences (OAC, WIAC, MIAC, CCIW, ASC, E8, NJAC, ACFC) it prolly would've been 98-0

Carroll: you lost to Monmouth 41-3, but well you lost to Beloit (sorry Roop), that means a "GOB" team would simply take the field and trip into a hundred point victory

Loras: your 19 point loss to Monmouth means you should prolly just give it up and drop the football program

St. Norbert/Ripon: If you beat Monmouth this year....don't even get excited unless you blow them out.

Nationally noone believes in Monmouth yet, and I've realized as an MC fan that I actually prefer that.  In fact I'm rooting for SNC to go 9-1, get in, and for 2 MWC teams to make playoff runs.

Down with GOBs!

Clearly nobody believes in Monmouth. Heck, they aren't even in the Top 25, right?

Ohh ... wait ... what voters don't believe is that Monmouth is a Top Nine or Top Eight team. Based on beating the NATHC champ last year and losing at home to the IIAC champ, then this year's results I can see why they're hitting the ceiling where they are. And we seem to have this discussion fairly often about the Midwest Conference, but with a 2-10 playoff record in the past decade it's easy to understand where the voters are coming from.

Besides, I haven't heard of the WIAC begging for games from MWC teams recently. Instead the idea is to schedule non-conference games against conference opponents to save on travel.

Yes, because the Midwest Conference and other leagues in the state won't schedule them. Wouldn't UWW rather play Monmouth than Midland Lutheran, or Ripon than Puget Sound?

[gbpuckfan]

Pat's right - the MWC has to show it when it counts - in the playoffs.

Just like St. Norbert's at-large playoff bid in 1989 (pre-AQ) - and subsequent seven turnover, 55-7 loss to Central hurt the conference in terms of reputation and future bids, so does the conference's record in the AQ era.

SNC losing at home to UWEC hurts. Monmouth's win last year helps.

SNC has, at times, played WIAC schools. The last time SNC played some WIAC schools: Eau Claire '07 (playoffs), Whitewater '06 (playoffs, '05 reg season), LaCrosse '04 (playoffs), Oshkosh '99, Stevens Point '89.

Until we do better then - with the occaisional non-con impressive win - and get some conference teams that don't go winless (parity), I think a top-10 ranking may be unttainable and unwarranted.

[SNCOLDAD]

BINGO!

Pat and puck got it. We can respect Monmouth and we do. They are a good team and are ranked. But we also have to recognize the amount of research done by others on all conferences.

I think the final points made by Pat and supported by puckfan covers it.

GO WARTBURG!

GO GREEN KNIGHTS

[scottie]

A little humble haggus pie, if I may....  Ol' Scottie remembers when MC used to open its season with L's courtesy of Eureka.  They then scheduled Loras for two years, then Concordia (WI) for two, Wartburg for two, and now Loras again.  I believe I heard that Illinois Wesleyan is the next on contract.  So, generally, I think the Scots were interested in upgrading their schedule on a relative basis.  The program now appears ready for a WIAC opening test, but I'm sure that most MC backers, Scottie included, would never have believed they'd actually be ready to face a top UW-why-aren't-you-DII? team. 

So, in the meantime, let's just hope that the Scots are healthy going into the playoffs and can put their best foot forward - and also that either SNC or Beloit can finish the season with one loss and make the selection show interesting.    (With one loss already, Ripon would have to beat MC so I am not including them in Scottie's "Three to watch.") 

[tm343407]

The problem is if the MWC wants respect it is going to have to beat the WIAC teams and that is a very tough thing to do for any conference. The MWC usually draws the WIAC in the playoffs.

I would love to see more MWC-CCIW matchups. I think we all agree the CCIW is a stronger conference top-to-bottom, but I think the top three in the MWC (MC, RC, SNC) could compete with the top three in the CCIW. I still give Wheaton, North Central, (CCIW #3) the edge, but I think its closer than most people think. North Central has a high ranking most years, though they also do not have any recent big wins in the playoffs.

[badgerwarhawk]

UW-why-aren't-you-DII? team.

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