Bracket analysis, podcast

If you think this bracket is good … and I do, at least a little … you should’ve seen the first version that went out. It had one extra flight in it, and that made a world of difference.

Instead, we have business as usual. And I mean business.

I’m in between show No. 3 and No. 4. I’ll be on North Central’s radio station later, where I’ll probably get asked most of the same questions, which is fine, because it’s a different audience. But there are a lot of things on people’s minds.

We took a ton of questions on our post-selection analysis show. If you missed it, it’s below, and it will end up in your feed if you’re a podcast subscriber.

We also talked with Wheaton coach Mike Swider, Willamette coach Mark Speckman, Mount Union quarterback Greg Micheli and Washington and Jefferson coach Mike Sirianni. Plus, you’ll get an interesting insight into the bracket that did not make ESPNews.

Thanks to the more than a thousand people who listened to the show live, and to the 75 percent of our audience that stuck with us even as we went 45 minutes longer than we planned. But we got to everyone’s questions.

59 thoughts on “Bracket analysis, podcast

  1. Wiac watcher:

    I stand corrected. UWW is the WIAC Co-champion.

    R24aider:

    I was referring to my fictional scenario of playing a football game between teams actually selected from the student body of each school. Obviously, with a pool of students 4x greater to choose from, UW-Whitewater would have a huge advantage in that scenario. (unlike in reality, where the players are recruited and not just chosen from a student body).

    Sooo, my point was that UW-Whitewater would indeed be working from a stacked deck in that scenario. My sentence you quoted was a tribute to Kehres, meaning that even with the stacked deck, maybe Mount would win if he coached their team.

  2. cleaf: “Question. UW-Whitewater, how can you be 4th in the top 25 and 5th in a regional bracket?”

    It’s all about the regional rankings. The NCAA has four regional rankings determined by regional committees. In the last rankings that were made public (http://www.d3football.com/dailydose/2008/11/12/regional-rankings-final-release/) there were four teams ranked ahead of UW-W, including the team that beat them, UW-Stevens Point. The Regional Rankings tend to put more emphasis on records and won/lost results than on perceived strength or who is the “better team.” All four of those teams won, so I assume that they remained ahead of the Warhawks when the final regional rankings were determined (not released to the public). Since none of those teams (or the Warhawks) were put into a different regional bracket, they are all seeded ahead of UW-W.

    Contrary to D-I FBS (emphasis on the BS), the media/coaches polls do not matter when determining post-season spots. The people that vote in the D3Football.com Top 25 poll are not necessarily the people that have input into the Regional Rankings.

    Agree or disagree with the Regional Rankings, that’s the way the D-III playoffs work. It may not be the best system, but it’s a heck of a lot better than that BCS crud that they keep talking about on ESPN.

  3. Pat: Just want to thank you for the nice coverage on Franklin football and Chad Rupp’s career on the site’s front page today. On Sunday, I was questioning the amount of “pub” the Grizzlies were getting and on Wednesday, a “front page” story as well as a feature on Around the Region!! Thanks very much. Rupp’s career has been very impressive as he is close to eclipsing all of both Reece Mann and Steve Wray’s quarterback records ( completion %, passing yardage, total offense, etc). As you may know, Wray played for the San Diego Chargers for a season or two after he graduated, so Rupp is putting up numbers and being compared to some pretty impressive QBs in Franklin history. Saturdays game at Otterbein…..your thoughts??

  4. The stacked deck in favor of the WIAC comes in the form of tuition cost with all of them being state universities. In Ohio, it would the same as Bowling Green, Toledo, Ohio U, etc being Division 3. What somewhat balances out the $ advantage is Ohio’s depth of HS football over Wisc.

  5. The playoff team capsules is one best things to read all year! Great job, as always!! It doesn’t seem clear who you think will meet Mount in the Stagg bowl. My pick is Whitewater, but the capsule remarks seem to be leaning towards Millsaps, maybe?

  6. Repete you are so correct. All the most reputed, high end, top notch schools are located in the midwest.

  7. HScoach,
    So, I guess you are agreeing with me that enrollment is not a “stacked deck” issue. I have always respected Keith’s opinions, so I am still wondering if I am missing something regarding enrollment.

    Regarding tuition, I am not familiar with the financing options available at private schools. My son is a senior in HS and from the private schools that have contacted us, they gave us the impression that there were significant grants available to really reduce our out of pocket costs. Now, maybe that was just a sales pitch. I’m not sure.

    I have seen the financial “stacked deck” argument quite a bit. Being a supporter of a state school (UW-Whitewater), I never realized that when we faced a private school, we were playing against a bunch of rich kids who could afford tuitions that many of our athletes could not afford. I have never looked at things that way before. Maybe I am naive. If the state schools are affording an education to kids who could not otherwise afford it, it is very hard to feel badly about that. Many of these kids have overcome other “stacked decks” just to get on the field. Giving these kids an opportunity to line up against athletes fortunate enough to be able to afford private schools is a small part of what makes our country great!

    Just an observation: It seems like we all forgot to tell Mount Union the deck is stacked against them. My guess is that Mount and their fans could care a less about this whole discussion. They are too focused on trying to win yet another Stagg Bowl Championship.

  8. Ah, dlippiel, you’re smart enough to know I wasn’t saying or implying any such thing. Not even close. But after living in the East for more than 10 years, I certainly have become aware of the pretentiousness and general lack of recognition for anything west of the Alleghenies.

    But no, the East does not have a monopoly on expensive schools or strong academics. Naw, just a strangehold of being unable to put a team in Salem.

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