D3 Championship Belt

[sac]

parish the thought, but is it possible for the belt to get stuck in the WIAC and never be available in the NCAA's?

The horror.

[John Gleich]

parish the thought, but is it possible for the belt to get stuck in the WIAC and never be available in the NCAA's?

The horror.

I don't think so...  the four teams that River Falls has left on the schedule are all currently in the conference tournament.


2/5    vs. UW-Whitewater
2/12    at UW-Stevens Point
2/16    at UW-La Crosse   
2/19    at UW-Platteville

The Falcons beat WW by 6, SP by 13, LaX by 6, and Platte by 3.

If WW should wrest the Belt from the Falcons, they have the best chance to lose it to a non-WIAC Tourney participant... they finish the year with:

2/9    at UW-Platteville   
2/12    vs. UW-Eau Claire
2/16    vs. UW-Oshkosh   
2/19    vs. UW-Superior

after RF on Saturday.

They beat each of these 4 opponents, but just by 3, 12, 2 in 2 OT, and 6... so that's the most precarious... though probably most likely to lose to Platteville, who is in the tourney (at this moment).

But WW winning is the least-likely of RF's opponents. 

Should RF lose to Stevens Point on 2/12 (Massey has SP winning 71-62), SP plays:

2/16    vs. UW-Platteville
2/19    at UW-La Crosse

Both of these teams are (at least as of today), in the tourney.

LaX plays Point right after playing RF, so if the Pointers don't take it from RF, they may still take it from LaX in the last week of the season.

And if RF beats WW, SP, and LaX, their last game is against Platteville... and PVille, though currently the 5th place team, has a 2 game lead on the non-WIAC tourney field... and would need to have somebody get hot (and likely for them to lose their next 4) to have Platte get the belt and not bring it to the WIAC tourney.



So, the answer is that it's possible... but not probable. 

[sac]

no other mythical trophy in modern sport could elicit such and thorough response.  +k

[hickory_cornhusker]

no other mythical trophy in modern sport could elicit such and thorough response.  +k

if you had used the word "title" instead of "trophy" I could have suggested the BCS can elicit a thorough analyzation.

[magicman]

And The Belt^TM finally changes hands as UW-River Falls loses to UW-Whitewater 70-66. The Warhawks never trailed in the entire game as they avenged an earlier 85-79 loss to the Falcons.

[Mr. Ypsi]

And The Belt^TM finally changes hands as UW-River Falls loses to UW-Whitewater 70-66. The Warhawks never trailed in the entire game as they avenged an earlier 85-79 loss to the Falcons.

OK, PS, Mr. "WW is the least likely to beat RF" - time for a new analysis.   How likely is The Belt^TM to finish out of the tourney?

(Or will Platteville immediately grab it?)

[John Gleich]

And The Belt^TM finally changes hands as UW-River Falls loses to UW-Whitewater 70-66. The Warhawks never trailed in the entire game as they avenged an earlier 85-79 loss to the Falcons.

OK, PS, Mr. "WW is the least likely to beat RF" - time for a new analysis.   How likely is The Belt^TM to finish out of the tourney?

(Or will Platteville immediately grab it?)

Hmm....  Let me ponder that a bit.

At first look, the Pville/WW game is a toss-up... and WW should beat EC, though the Warhawks have historically had some difficulties with second-time-around games against the Blugolds (even Blugold teams that are less-than-impressive).  And I think Superior may be the best team out of their 4 opponents.

The WIAC tourney isn't set in stone yet.  A lot could happen (and I haven't even seen the other WIAC results as of this posting... just got off an airplane to a text from Old School saying that RF lost!).

I'll take a look and analyze a bit tomorrow!

[sac]

So Whitewater has the belt and the D3 football Championship trophy.

Unprecedented?

[John Gleich]

So Whitewater has the belt and the D3 football Championship trophy.

Unprecedented?

Hmm.... well... has Mount Union ever had the belt?  They'd be the other team with this possibility!

[Just Bill]

I know you saw the postgame celebration last night, and yes, that was in fact the D-III Championship Belt^TM on loan to the Clay Matthews so he could present it to Aaron Rodgers. Trust me, security was at an all time premium.  The rumor is when Matthews' hair touched the Belt^TM the exponential greatness of the two objects caused a black hole to open a swallow a neighboring galaxy.

[Ralph Turner]

I thought that I recognized it.  It's a good thing that The Belt ^TM was not hi-jacked  to the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

[hopefan]

Now that the history of the Diva Belt has been made public in the Diva Belt Chambers, I'm curious as to if and when both belts have been held simultaneously by the same school.....   I think there are at least 2 good candidates......

[Mr. Ypsi]

Now that the history of the Diva Belt has been made public in the Diva Belt Chambers, I'm curious as to if and when both belts have been held simultaneously by the same school.....   I think there are at least 2 good candidates......

Well, earlier this season UWSP just missed out.  The men lost it on Dec. 4; the women won it on Dec. 8.

[John Gleich]

I didn't have my analysis complete prior to the game starting... but it's just sort of a "wait and see" after tonight's game.  Platteville has led by as many as 9, but Whitewater leads 47-42 with 11:00 left.

[John Gleich]

The Belt will move west... UWP beats Whitewater 65-59

Platteville's remaining schedule:

2/12    vs. UW-Stout
2/16    at UW-Stevens Point
2/19    vs. UW-River Falls

Stout is out... they were eliminated tonight.  Stevens Point and River Falls are both in.

Should Stout beat Platteville and wrest the Belt away from the Pioneers, here's their schedule:

2/12    at UW-Platteville
2/15    vs. Crown
2/19    vs. UW-Eau Claire

That wouldn't be good... I'm not sure about the UMAC's conference tourney this year (if Crown would even be eligible), but EC is all-but-eliminated from the WIAC tourney, if they're not out already.