FB: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

[SaintsFAN]

riders is something thats going to land MSJ on probation after an investigation...

[Adam Sayer]

Riders are beers you take while riding in the car. Probably not a good idea, but hey, I was already in a different state of mind. Monday was a struggle, even though I fell asleep at 8:30 Sunday night.

Kevin...you're a d!ck! Give me a shout or send me a message. Let me know what's up for the weekend.

[70_dc_alum]

has_been in DC land those are known as "Road Pops"

[cave2bens]

In "dark ages" at DC, referred to road brew as EGFs (enhanced glomerular function).  Decades later, in ridge runner country, Ms. Caves and I resort to nips of homemade stumpblower as "rheumatiz medicine" unless alum representative shows for endowment shakedowns with fancy, store-bought goods.  

[SaintsFAN]

NEW TOPIC: 


Coming off a 2007 season that saw two HCAC Teams participate in the Playoffs....

Where does HCAC Football compare to some of the other conferences out there...excluding the WIIAC and OAC? 

What do you think needs to happen for the Champ of this conference to be able to compete at the National Level (we've only been able to COMPETE at the Regional Level).

My thoughts to follow later today...

[Ralph Turner]

NEW TOPIC: 


Coming off a 2007 season that saw two HCAC Teams participate in the Playoffs....

Where does HCAC Football compare to some of the other conferences out there...excluding the WIIAC and OAC? 

What do you think needs to happen for the Champ of this conference to be able to compete at the National Level (we've only been able to COMPETE at the Regional Level).

My thoughts to follow later today...

All-time playoff record of the HCAC since the era of the Pools began...

1-10.  We SCAC/Millsaps fans think that they were a better team.  We think that the numbers just worked in favor of MSJ as opposed to Millsaps.

[cave2bens]

NEW TOPIC: 


Coming off a 2007 season that saw two HCAC Teams participate in the Playoffs....

Where does HCAC Football compare to some of the other conferences out there...excluding the WIIAC and OAC? 

What do you think needs to happen for the Champ of this conference to be able to compete at the National Level (we've only been able to COMPETE at the Regional Level).

My thoughts to follow later today...

Program consistency (exceptions granted MSJ and Franklin, lately), value-added features of campus environment, endowment/foundation strengths as related to scholarship/financial aid packages, expansion of recruitment base, and regional media coverage in addition to sporadic local support.

[SaintsFAN]

Ralph,

You're right....it was the extra loss that did Millsaps in.  I remember Dubose's gamble early in the season, by removing starters and IMO, that cost them.

I believe it was a fluke for the HCAC to have two teams....unless they play better competition and keep their winning % up there...

Also, if you look at prior to the pools being established, Hanover was a worthy playoff opponent...if you look back further.

[dc_has_been]

If Franklin fields a team that is just as good as last years & w/ their experience they could be easily a top 25 caliber team.  MSJ looks to field a pretty good team again too.  I would like to say DC will be in the mix, but w/o a QB there could be some trouble at the Hive!

[SaintsFAN]

Sayer,

Check your hotmail account.

re:  TMC Update

[Adam Sayer]

Franklin has done a very good job proving that they can compete with "big time" programs. They beat a very good Wabash team 2 years ago, played them very tough last year, and lost last second during a playoff game to the CCIW Champ. MSJ showed the same last year. They hung with Wabash till the end and beat one of the better CCIW teams. Say what you want about the CCIW being "down" last year, but top to bottom they are better than the HCAC. As a whole, I don't know how much good it does the conference having 1 or 2 standout teams, but the top teams in the HCAC (MSJ and FC) have proven they can compete with traditionally good teams in recent years.

I think for the HCAC to compete on the national level, they need to branch out their recruiting. We had a huge discussion on this a while back involving why Wheaton is usually so good year in and year out (Wheaton being an example). They get kids from all over the U.S. Their recruiting isn't limited to the Chicago, NW Indiana, and SE Wisconsin area. I think that's the biggest factor in terms of establishing a program. You need connections in the South, out in California, etc. Ohio plays some damn-good football, but there are kids out there in other lands who can play and are being overlooked by the DI schools just because they arn't DI good.

I'm almost ashamed to say this, but look at Rashan, MSJ's QB a few years back. Unbelieveably talented...just couldn't play QB and was a cancer. But he was one hell of an athlete. He was from Texas. You need to be able to recruit nationally to be a national contender.

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph,

You're right....it was the extra loss that did Millsaps in.  I remember Dubose's gamble early in the season, by removing starters and IMO, that cost them.

I believe it was a fluke for the HCAC to have two teams....unless they play better competition and keep their winning % up there...

Also, if you look at prior to the pools being established, Hanover was a worthy playoff opponent...if you look back further.

I think some North Region dynamics may favor the HCAC as new Pool A conferences come on board.

The old IBFC is will be two Pool A conferences by 2010, if not sooner.  (The NATHC and the SLIAC.)  That extra Pool A bid will pull a Pool B bid away from the usual suspects.  The geographic proximity of ostensibly "weaker" conferences may juggle the brackets to where the HCAC is now a 4/5 playing a 5/4 or even a #3 drawing a #6 instead of being the #6 or #7 and going on the road.  (The other Pool B schools going to Pool A this year are the Northwest Conference schools.)

[Mr. Ypsi]

I think for the HCAC to compete on the national level, they need to branch out their recruiting. We had a huge discussion on this a while back involving why Wheaton is usually so good year in and year out (Wheaton being an example). They get kids from all over the U.S. Their recruiting isn't limited to the Chicago, NW Indiana, and SE Wisconsin area. I think that's the biggest factor in terms of establishing a program. You need connections in the South, out in California, etc. Ohio plays some damn-good football, but there are kids out there in other lands who can play and are being overlooked by the DI schools just because they arn't DI good.

While you may be able to establish particular pipelines in targeted areas, only a handful of d3 schools have any real hope of truly national recruiting.  And Wheaton is an unworkable model.  Billy Graham's alma mater has a unique status among at least some segments of evangelicals - kind of like Notre Dame or BYU among their constituencies.  Wheaton doesn't really directly recruit nationally; their status and network does it for them.  Probably a great majority of potential recruits would never consider Wheaton because of what they are (nor would they be welcomed at Wheaton), but enough are lusting (dare I use that term? ) to go there that the effect is truly national recruiting.  (If only more physics and engineering 'geeks' were athletic, Caltech and MIT would be unbeatable! )

[M and L]

Ah, finally recovered from this past weekend.  Now who ready to do it all over again.

Sayer, I don't even remmber what they looked like!

[SaintsFAN]

Sayer,

I'll be calling you today about this weekend. 

Sorry about just getting to this now, our weeks as you can probably imagine, really suck in the lead up to Holidays where food is consumed.