I’ve been asked this question more this year than any other, and it usually takes one of a couple of forms:
Isn’t it boring if the same team wins all the time?
Don’t you hate that Mount Union wins every year?
Is it boring? Ehh, probably a little bit.
Do I hate it? Nah, not at all. We’re watching one of the greatest dynasties of our day. It’s not like Mount Union 2002 and Mount Union 2005 have anything in common. Each year is a little different.
However, what I don’t like in Division III football is when we enter the season with Mount Union’s championship being a foregone conclusion. Unfortunately, it looks like 2007 is shaping up to be one of those years. Mount Union loses a key piece in Justen Stickley, but the Purple Raiders have proven that offensive linemen are replaceable and Greg Micheli returns, as does Nate Kmic and Pierre Garcon.
Everywhere else you look, teams are losing key pieces. UW-Whitewater loses its coach, its quarterback, three of its four starting defensive linemen, its No. 1 receiver. Capital loses the only quarterback they’ve had during this run of impressive seasons. St. John Fisher loses the best running back in school history and its top tackler. And those are just a few of the key names on the list.
So this is the challenge I throw out to the other 233 Division III teams. Show us something, please. Give us something to be excited about. Move your game to the next level. Otherwise fans outside of Alliance will be hitting the snooze button and waiting for 2008.
Or 2009.
Buddy, thanks for the research. You answered my question, Mt. Union hasn’t played a road playoff game in 10 years. Since ’93 they are 23-2 at home in the playoffs (.920), 2-1 on the road (.667). See the difference? Every year that they go undefeated and win the North, they can count on being handed home field advantage by the NCAA no matter what anyone else does. Let’s rotate the site of the semifinals and see what happens. I’m sure Mt. Union will do just fine without the favorite-son treatment they always get.
Wesleydad,
I’m basically disagreeing on the rotation angle.
Here are the lines I responded to:
“based on others arguments, wesley earned the right to have a home game that day. i dont think it will change and that is a shame as it seems that region reputation is the determining factor.”
It’s not just “regional reputation” that produces the seedings.
And nasedo’s assertion that there’s something wrong with MUC getting home semifinals (“How does one “earn the right to home field advantage” when the NCAA gives it to Mt. Union every time they win the North?”) shows a lack of understanding — when you consider that MUC consistently has proven deserving by its performance one week later.
I just don’t think rotating the regions is the answer.
If we trust the NCAA to see for the regionals, why not for the final four? Make no sense to do otherwise. Perhaps we should just throw all of the tournament qualifiers into a regional hat and draw names? Or if you take it further, since decisions are used just to pick qualifiers, how about a random draw for the 32 spots?
At some point, the system must fall on the judgment of humans.
The bottom line: the best teams should get home field. Choosing them is not perfect (my opinion) but most years, including this one, the folks that do it get it right (fact).
As for Wesley vs. the rest of the West, sure it’s just my opinion, that’s what this site is for. But I watched SJU play UWW and watched Wesley play UWW and expect most unbiased eyes would conclude (as did the d3 pollsters) that SJU and UWLX were better teams.
Still, I was hoping for a semi in Dover and even was shopping hotels over the internet. Since I live in the DC area, it would have been a nice trip. Best of luck to Wesley next year.
Nasedo,
I find it interesting how you come to your conclusions. For example you (re)posted the following comments:
1.) Is it true that the NCAA seeds the regions? I’m not talking about teams in the same region, but the regions themselves. For example, if Mt. Union is undefeated in the North, and any other team is undefeated in any other region, why is the semifinal game always played at Mt. Union? Can’t you see what an advantage that is?
Answer: If 2 teams from different regions have the same seed, the higher nationally ranked team gets to host.
2.)How does one “earn the right to home field advantage” when the NCAA gives it to Mt. Union every time they win the North? Undefeated region champions are common, but has any team ever hosted Mt. Union in a national semifinal game?
Nasedo, is it “favorite-son treatment,” or just desserts? MUC comes out of one of the top two conferences in the country. (I think whether the OAC or WIAC is tougher might depend on which way you look at them, but regardless, they’re both great conferences). If they go undefeated through that conference and their non-conference schedule, and absolutely decimate most of the teams they play, why don’t they deserve to host? Can you point to any semifinal opponents who had to play in Alliance who had similar credentials to the Purple Raiders for that season? It’s not impossible that there has been such a team, but I’d be curious.
As Repete noted, why have a different procedure for semifinal games than all the games before that? Is it just because you don’t like the fact that MUC gets so many home games? Like I said before, if things had worked out according to the seeds last year, MUC would have had to win twice on the road to get to Salem. It’s tough to blame them for the “favorites” not winning.
Even if MUC had to go on the road, I’ll bet they’d do just fine. I know SJU had great success as a seven seed. They won four playoff games before losing on a last-second field goal in the 2000 Stagg, and this year beat two top-ten teams on the road before losing by a field goal to UWW. In 1999, PLU won it all as a #7 seed.
Nasedo, (continued)
Answer # 2: Don’t you think that the highest ranked team should host? Why should a lower ranked team get to host a higher ranked team. The NCAA does not “give” Mt Union home field advantage. Mt has EARNED the right to host. Nothing is given. You seem to think that since Mt has been the best football program since 1990, that things are “given” and not earned, which is obsurd. Right now you sound like the kid on the playground that complains that its not fair that the other kids are better than him, so he is going to take his ball and go home. And just an FYI, the NCAA did rotate the regionals, (Mt. Union beat La Crosse in Madison in ’96), but funny thing is, the NCAA D3 football COACHES thought it was unfair to send higher ranked teams to play lower ranked teams, so THEY, not the NCAA voted to change the practice. If you are so upset about the way the system is currently, then you need to contact each coach who voted after the 1996 season and complain to them.
If you’re curious as to similar credentials how about your Johnnies in ’93? Why did they have to play in the pig slop at Alliance after the season they had?
As for the different procedure arguement, teams in the same region are seeded but that should be the end of the seeding. Once a team is a region champ, they should be treated as the equal of any other region champion and rotate the site of the semifinals. If not, why bother with having regions at all? Should we just rank all the teams in the nation and have #1 play #32 in the first round every year? NCAA division one basketball playoffs seed the regions, but once the teams reach the Final Four, the pairings are rotated not seeded. That’s all I’m suggesting, that once the Final Four is set, it should be predetermined where the semifinal games will be played on a rotating basis. The way it’s set up now, the home field advantage is Mt. Union’s to lose every year no matter what anyone else does. It becomes a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy to stack the deck in their favor every year.
Nasedo,
The NCAA did rotate regionals up until I believe in ’98 (Pat, please correcct me if I am wrong). That is one reason why St John’s played in Alliance, although Mt was ranked #1 in the country, and remember that ’93 was the 1st of 9 national titles. But do you really think that the score (56-8) of the MUC/StJ game would have been that dramatically different in Collegeville? Even Coach G said that the MUC team was the best he had seen that year, and even if they played a perfect, they wouldn’t of won. Although having met him on a few occasions, I am not surprised by his comments, because he is a truly great coach, and an even classier person.
“The way it’s set up now, the home field advantage is Mt. Union’s to lose every year no matter what anyone else does.”
Although it seems that way, it’s not the case. Say, for instance, MUC loses during the regular season and three other region champs are undefeated. I doubt MUC would get the homefield (or complain much about hitting the road if you know anything about LK and his program.)
What if it had been North vs. West in the semis this season? Would we have had the best Stagg? (This question, of course, is sure to ignite any SJF fans left here …)
And no, the NCAA D1 hoops semis are no longer rotated …
for that very reason …
I have no idea how the semifinal sites were determined back in ’93. I know that the playoff format has undergone heavy revision since then, so it may have been entirely different. But I really have no idea. Of course, it would have been nice to host MUC in Collegeville, though I would have been to young to appreciate it (and their dynasty was only beginning). Heck, I’d still love to see the Raiders come to Collegeville, especially on a beautiful day in early fall — if nothing else, just to see if the Johnnies can break their attendance record of around 13,000.
The other problem with a rotating semifinal is that you quite frequently see non-#1 seeds in the semifinals. Generally, I think a higher seed should host. I’ll grant you that this is imperfect because we all know that a #3 seed in the East is not the same as a #3 seed in the West, but it still seems to me that a #1 seed deserves to host against a lower seed. I think the NCAA does a good job of deciding the tiebreaker by seeding the top four teams. I don’t recall having any substantial agreements.
In the end, there usually aren’t a lot of teams that, in a given year, are undefeated against a quality schedule and have truly dominated most of their opponents. I’d say there are usually 1-2 teams in that category. Those teams get to host in the semifinals. I just don’t see what’s wrong with this.
I should also note that even if you assume that the NCAA favors MUC, I highly doubt they did back in ’93. Back then, Mount’s run of dominance had yet to begin.
Repete, in your scenario Mt. Union had to LOSE to forfeit their apparent birthright of home field advantage throughout the playoffs. That’s what I mean by “it’s theirs to lose.” As for the best possible final game, often the semifinals are the best game, what’s wrong with that? That happens all the time in Final Four of D1 basketball.
SJU_Nick, if you think having the NCAA give Mt. Union all home games every year is a good thing, well I have to disagree. Wouldn’t you like to see if they can win a playoff game on the road once in a while? Wouldn’t Mt.Union at Linfield, Mary Hardin Baylor, or Rowan be a lot more interesting to everyone than yet ANOTHER game at Alliance? If the site of the semifinals was predetermined there wouldn’t be any need to define “quality schedule” or what is meant by the term “dominate” opponents.
By the way, mainjack, you stated that D3 players don’t measure up to other classes. I agree. I follow the local D3 team in my area and they are very, very good at their level. During their bye week, I saw the local D2 team which is very, very mediocre. The difference in the level of play was eye opening, the D3 team would have NO CHANCE against the D2 team for the reasons you mentioned.
’93 was MTU’s first championship.
They would have had to play on the road last year if the top seed from the East had won the bracket.
Well, UMHB beat MUC in Alliance in what was a pretty interesting game. MUC and Linfield were the top two seeds in 2004, so they wouldn’t have played in the semis. MUC at Rowan, in a good year for the Profs, would undoubtedly be interesting.
But my point isn’t what would be the most “interesting.” My argument is that teams should get what they deserve. Let’s start with 1999, when the playoffs were expanded to 28 teams. I consider that year the beginning of the “modern” D3 playoff era. I haven’t looked, but I’ll ask you, Nasedo: in which of those years did MUC not deserve to host the semis?
Now, I’d love to see MUC hit the road some more in the playoffs, because it might make things more interesting. But I wouldn’t wish them road games merely to satisfy my own desires; I would wish them road games only if other teams were more deserving of hosting.
Pat Coleman, they would have been on the road because they LOST a game during the season. That’s what I mean by the home field is theirs to lose.
Mt. Union has been in at least eleven consecutive semifinal games and they have been at home for all eleven of them! Doesn’t that seem just a little odd? I wonder if their remarkable success in the post season would be as remarkable if they had to do what everyone else does, that is, win a semifinal game on someone elses field.
PRP96, your posts just appeared on my computer now even though you posted them earlier. You have good information, if it’s true that the coaches want this kind of arbitrary dtermination of playoff sites then they are getting what they deserve.
Nasedo, you’ve yet to explain what’s arbitrary about this system. If you want to make an argument that a team that did not host was better than a team that did host, and that the two had the same seed within their respective regions, please do so. At this point, all you’ve done is complain about MUC getting home games without arguing that they were undeserved.
Another observation I’ve had is that it seems to me that semifinal games are quite often blowouts, and that the quarterfinal games are often much closer. I’d attribute this to the frequent disparity between certain regions, and argue that quite frequently it is more important to host in the quarters than in the semis.
Nasedo: “NCAA division one basketball playoffs seed the regions, but once the teams reach the Final Four, the pairings are rotated not seeded. That’s all I’m suggesting, that once the Final Four is set, it should be predetermined where the semifinal games will be played on a rotating basis.”
The main differences between D3 Football and D1 Basketball are that the basketball tournament is played entirely at neutral sites and the regionals aren’t determined by actual geography. Who’s playing who can be rotated at that level because nobody has a “home court advantage” over anyone else (at least in theory) and nobody’s guaranteed to be in the same region two years in a row. While I’d love to see neutral sites and non-geographic regions used in D3, the money isn’t there. The NCAA can’t send Rowan or SJF all the way out to Linfield (random example) in the first round just because it would be the best matchup. They also can’t put those two teams at a neutral site early in the playoffs because both teams would have to fly (lots of $$$) and no fans would make the trip (loss of $$$).
I have no problem with MUC having home semifinal games because they’ve earned their spot and/or gotten the right breaks. With the level MUC is at right now the only way to guarantee they don’t have a home game is to use neutral sites, which will never happen (except in special cases) before Salem.
What’s arbitrary is that a bunch of guys at the NCAA gets to decide which region champ is better. If they are so infallible there would never be a road victor but of course there have been. Just rotate the sites and let every team have the same path to the championship.
When a team can go to the semifinals and beyond every year for ten years and never play a road game, the system is broken and their success is cheapened because of it.
When a team can go to the semifinals and beyond every year for ten years and never play a road game, the system is broken and their success is cheapened because of it. That’s all I’m saying.
I have no idea why that paragraph appeared twice.
please…someone change the picture on d3football…its getting old
“Nasedo Says:
The 29th of December, 2006 at 4:24 pm
What’s arbitrary is that a bunch of guys at the NCAA gets to decide which region champ is better. If they are so infallible there would never be a road victor but of course there have been.”
Actually the system is not arbitrary. The Championships Committee has set the guidelines by which the seedings are determined. They are published every year. Every AD and Head Coach in the country can find out what any proposed rule changes are for the coming season.
The Handbook is very specific. Wesley needs to schedule more in-region games. They only had 5 last year.
As hard as it is for an independent team such as Wesley to schedule games, this is a fact of life. The ACFC is not an official conference, so those games versus the New York teams (Brockport this year, Buff State last year, Morrisville State if they join the ACFC) do not count as in-region.
South Region Independents which might need games include Huntingdon and LaGrange. The NJAC schools and the New England schools (from the 6 New England states) are in-region by virtue of the more liberal administrative region rule change that made UWW vs UMHB an in-region game.
I am happy that Wesley’s program has returned to the top. I hope that they can construct a schedule that will assist in getting a Semi-final game. My recommendation is for Wesley to push the other Capital AC members into adopting football and the CAC becoming a football conference.
And, I’ll say it again, d1 hoops no longer rotates — because of concerns that rotated semis would match the top two teams. Rotated semis ended in 2004.
Plus even if it were “arbitrary” Mount has proven those arbitrators correct very, very often.
The issue gets back to the original topic of the threat: MUC has taken d3 ball to a new level and until others step up. It’s likely to be a semi host. The problem isn’t the systems. It’s that not enough teams can beat MUC at this point in d3 history. Is it fair to handicap them for their success?
d3 isn’t such a money-making thing that it can have neutral fields throughout the playoffs. and it does have fans to take into consideration. for instance, where is a neutral site for UWW-wesley game that fans from both sides can handily attend?
mount benefits from its circle of success. its reputation and great play get it ranked highly, then it justifies that ranking by zipping through the playoffs and winning championships. so it definitely gets the benefit of the doubt as long as it remains unbeaten as usual in regular season. how can you fault the voters from their decisions when they’ve seen how often they are correct?
finally, when mount stumbles, as it did against ohio northern in 2005, it gets docked. hardly mount’s fault that the #1 ranked team in its playoff region that year couldn’t hold home field advantage.
naseda, you’re complaining about a system that, absent mount’s domination, no one would be complaining about because it works well. it gives the best teams in the country the chance to win a championship on the field, and it rewards the highest-achieving teams with the home-field.
acoltfan & sakman,
Where did you guys get the info on the WW hiring? I can’t find anything on WW’s website, or anything in local papers. Has the hiring been announced?
It’s only rumored.
It’s rumored but it’s from a highly reliable source. I didn’t want to believe it either but when I asked around I got the same responses. They won’t announce it formally until Jan. 3rd
Ralph Turner, are you saying the system isn’t arbitrary because the Championship Committee that makes the selections follows guidelines set up by….the Championship Committee?! Lots of checks and balances in that system. Sheesh.
repete, you are correct. The Final Four no longer rotates, I looked it up. Not quite analogous to D3 since the Final Four is at a neutral site and Mt. Union always gets handed a home game if they’re undefeated, but you are correct anyway. Your last sentence seems to indicate you consider a road game a “handicap.” Interesting choice of words. That’s what I’ve been saying all along 🙂
Buddy, you point out that D3 can’t afford to have neutral fields. All the more reason to rotate sites. Otherwise you could end up with a team playing ten consecutive years of playoff games at home! What you call Mt. Union’s “circle of success” could also be called a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Give anyone enough of an advantage and their record will look more impressive than it really is. You point out that when they lose they get docked, but that also says the home field is theirs to lose every year no matter what anyone else does. You say this system works so well…for who? For Mt. Union, certainly, since they seem to have a manifest destiny to play all their playoff games at home. For ESPN 2 and their miniscule Stagg Bowl ratings? Hardly. Even Sports Illustrated barely acknowledges D3 football anymore. “it gives the best teams in the country the chance to win a championship on the field” you say, but what it really does is give teams a chance to win on Mt. Union’s field, since the road to Salem ALWAYS goes through Alliance, ten years in a row. If Mt. Union had played five of those semifinals on the road, I’d be a lot more impressed. My point is just this, Mt. Union doesn’t need all the help they get from the way things are set up now. If everything is so wonderful here in D3 what is the subject of this blog? I detect a little Stockholm Syndrome here, I think.
Nasedo, quit whining, you big “dee dee dee”. If you want to continue whining, call the waaaaaaaaaaaambulance or the NCAA.
Mount Union does not get “handed” a home game. They EARN a home game usually by being ranked #1. Now, why are they often ranked #1 at the beginning of the season? C’mon dee dee dee, try removing your head from your rear end and use it to think. That’s right, they win the championship the year before! Interesting concept, huh? Look at the talent, look at the conference, look at the RESULTS, they win! Funny thing this season is that 6 of their regular season games were on the road. Still won them all.
No one gets handed anything. You want home field throughout, win all your games and be ranked #1 or higher than Mount Union. If ANY team loses a game in the regular season, chances are they will not be hosting a first round game, if any at all. Look at St. Johns (MN). Look what they did, played amazingly on the road and lost to UWW by 3. This does not apply to simply Mount Union.
Stockholm Syndrome? Riiiiight. When the kidnapped person falls in love with the kidnapper. Yeah, that makes sense D^3. You have NO POINT WHATSOEVER. They don’t get “help” from anyone. They win their games. Period. They have won the last two Stagg Bowls, which are in Salem, Virginia if you have not figured that out already. No, they did not play a road game prior to that. Guess what, neither did UWW. Why not whine about them, too. I guess they did not have to do the same thing during the regular season, too. What is it that they did? Oh yes, win their games. Hmmm. Toughest conference in the country, win all your games, earn the right to host. Neat concept. The road to Salem goes through Alliance for half of the field, usually. Remember there is the other half of the bracket that has had to go through UWW the last two seasons. You could whine about UWW, too. Why don’t you get started on that now?
You said yourself that you are pretty new to D3. That has been made abundantly apparent with your ignorant comments and whining. If you want the system changed, you have been told where you can go to whine. Doing it here will not help you. You picked the wrong place to try to argue because in a battle of wits, you are simply unarmed.
Best wishes to all the Division III football teams who work hard on and off the field and play the game to their highest potential. It is nice to see true student-athletes play such an awesome game. It is too bad there are people like “Nasedo Don’t Know” that whine like crazy. Sour grapes are sour grapes. To quote Carlos Mencia: “Dee de dee, doesn’t mean mentally retarded. It means stupid. This song goes out to all the stupid people out there, you’re gonna find this song hilarious, and you don’t even know…it’s about you.”
Nasedo, the Championships Committee determines the guidelines that are used for the post season playoffs in all sports, football to field hockey, softball to soccer. They are duly appointed by the NCAA thru its members themselves. The participants on the (Football) playoff selection committee are a different group and their names are listed in the Football Handbook.
http://www.ncaa.org/library/handbooks/football/2006/2006_d3_football_handbook.pdf
For all of the “belly-aching” that we fans do, the process is so transparent that we D3fans have gotten to the point that we can almost cite the arguments that occur behind closed doors for the selection of the 32nd team, and the non-selection of the 33rd, IMHO, Cortland State. In fact, I sent a very heated email to R. Wayne Burrow when it became apparent that the staffers in his office failed to inform the D3Football Selection Committee that the mileage standard now permitted a Millsaps-to-UMHB game, as Pat Coleman had predicted. He could not respond otherwise.
Nor am I a Wesley hater. I was the consistent first place vote for Wesley (every week thru the entire season) in Kid’s South Region Fan Poll.
There are so many resources available on these boards that their use will make the enjoyment that much greater. As for SI, the number of pages that SI gives to all sports is dramatically down in the last 10-15 years. Ad revenue is down for all publications, and the internet has had a big impact on it. This site is becoming the “SI” and the “National Daily” for D3. The most knowledgeable D3 fans in the country are defining the content, the direction and the success of D3 athletics, one click at a time, on these boards. We have been empowered to enjoy sports as no group of fans has ever been, and it is gets more fun every year!
Have a Happy 2007! 🙂
Whats the chances that Mount Union’s coach could be headed to a D-1 program…speculation about Alabama looking at him as a possible (longshot) fit. After all the success he has had at the D3 level, he has to be thinking about how he would fair at a higher level. If he decides to go it would make a lot of jealous D3 fans happy.
That would be great for him, from what I hear that job is like a 50 million dollar job.
kehres has had many chances to go D1 and turned them all down. i can’t imagine him moving now, though if someone like alabama came calling (which i also can’t imagine actually happening), he’d have to at least give that one some thought.
and the sports illustrated-d3 comment is pretty funny, nasedo. when has SI ever covered D3 football?
and on the issue of homefield – used to be teams bought the rights for homefield in the playoffs by bidding. at least that’s been ended.
Buddy, SI had three pages on the 2003 Stagg Bowl, had a nice article on PLU after their championship season, and always used to include D3 in their pre-season predictions.
Nasedo,
MUC is not handed anything. Please look up the record in any of the 11 years you are whining about find a single year where the opponent should have hosted the game based on their performance during the regular seasona and playoffs prior to the semifinals. Until you can find some shred of evidence absent your envy of the Purple Raiders, you can continue to whine but everyone else here sees your arguments for what they are.
RT, you sent a “very heated” letter? C’mon, you’re Mr. Measured … especially amid this pool of hyperbole 🙂
Next thing we know, you’ll be using the word “darn”.
But you’re absolutely right, the worst seeding/location issue in d3 is always in the early South rounds.
Happy New Year all!
I’m the father of a Capital football player and for the past four years have followed this and other web sites concerning D3 football. I’ve watched Mount play several times over that period 6 times in person and several more on Tv or tape delay, from that first time i saw them play against Cap I said to my son they are beatable. I watched the gap close until Cap seemingly would beat them ,but alas Mount found a way to win the game.In 2005 it ended up 34-31 and this year it was 17-14. How good is the OAC, pretty good I think but that will always be debatable. IMO if you would split the top two teams from the OAC you could easily end up with them playing for the title, but that could be argued from a couple other leagues as well. Can Mount be beat, sure they can just ask Ohio Northern and St. John’s, but you better bring your A game and then not be afraid to play some good old fashioned smashmouth football. Is it boring to see them keep winning, not in the least! Their the best and they play by the same rules and guidelines that everyone else plays by. When my son was being recruited by several schools , this was the challege he wanted. To play in the toughest conference against the best team in the country. It was the greastest experience in our lives even though he and Cap came up short. By the way my son did play very well against them 11 catches 143 yds 1td and also is a three stater in baseball. In closing please leave the playoffs alone, it truly is one of the pleasures of an athlete and fan to partake in. Good luck to Capital and
SI has also had stories about mount union over the years. but the magazine has never “covered” D3 football, in the sense that it follows it regularly.
GBILL$–I couldn’t agree more with your Dec 26 post regarding Stan Zweifel! It’s good to know you’re still out there supporting the Z-Train!
I am still unable to believe that the “administration” would chose anyone other than Z for head coach. I am extremely interested in finding out exactly how this decision was made. It seems to me that if the interview process is open to the public, because UWW is a public institution, then the reasons for chosing a coach should also be a matter of public record.
ACOLTFAN, SACKMAN1111–Please keep me posted on any other info regarding the unfortunate turn of events.
Aren’t we all thankful we have D3Football.com!!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all
Yes, repete, I was “hot under the collar” that night! I explained the performance of his office in terms that I understood. He is specifically hired to execute the policies of the NCAA as they have been determined and voted. The failure for his sub-ordinates to conduct their responsibilities in that manner should reflect very poorly on them, and in turn, him. Heads should have rolled. Some junior administrative assisstant is writing in his/her Christmas letter that s/he has this hi-falutin job with the NCAA. Well, they botched it so big, that the fans caught them.
We expect modern systems to work “six-sigma” and when they don’t … We expect “perfect” execution, at the best of their abilities, from professionals, and we professionals know that is what is pushing us to excellence.
MUC basically gets another season every second year by virtue of their propensity to play 4-5 post-season games.
I had not even expanded on the opportunity for HSU and UMHB to get some good playing time for the #31 thru #52 players on the roster in a playoff game. You cannot get that experience any other way. Mr Burrow robbed those players of that experience. Rather, UMHB and HSU had a “knock down/drag out”, again, and the younger players were not running the game plan in the 3rd quarter with a 3TD lead.
Mount has this culture of the second season, and the upperclassmen just transmit the “Mount” way to the younger players in those playoff games, year after year.
Happy New Year, Capsurfer!
Not sure this is totally public knowledge yet…but rumor has it that Lance Leipold who is the associate Head Coach at University of Nebraska-Omaha will take over at UWW as early as Tuesday here is some background below…
Leipold earned his bachelor’s degree in 1987 and later his master’s degree in 1991 from Wisconsin-Whitewater. A four-year letterman, he set nine school records as a quarterback and was inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame in 2003.
His coaching career began at Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1987 and 1988. He then coached on the staff at Doane College in 1989 before returning to his alma mater as the offensive coordinator in 1990. That year, he helped lead the team to a 9-0 regular season record and a berth in the NCAA III playoffs.
There was a report in the Omaha World Herald detailing his departure
Happy New Year to all.
VOJ — read the comments above. Already discussed.
now official …
http://www.uww.edu/athletics/news_events/2007_02_03_MFootball_LeipoldAn.html
A lot of the latter posts in this thread are back on the “West is far superior to the East” bandwagon. Rowan getting crushed at Linfield is becoming old news. Keith mentioned earlier that the East was the most balanced bracket this playoff, and perhaps the deepest. I agree. Imagine how deep it would have been if Alfred, RPI, or Cortland could have taken the place of the NEFC winner? Unfortunately the Eastern bracket gets diluted by the 1 automatic punching back from the NEFC every season.
All I saw this playoff was St John Fisher give Mt Union a very tough game at Alliance, while Mt Union won more convincingly over Whitewater on a neutral field. As far as I can tell, you can make convincing arguments for Capital and Fisher being at least as good as, if not better than, Whitewater in 2006. I mean no disrespect to Whitewater, whose bandwagon I jumped aboard early in 2005. An undefeated team in the WIAC is a rare and special achievement.
Long term the West has been superior to the East, and it is probable the trend will be similar in the future. However the present does not indicate there is that much of a difference.
Cortland,
Every region, including the West, has an AQ from weak conference (although I would say the MWC is probably a notch up from the NEFC).
As for the East close to the West this season, I’d say they were closer but not close. At least, not close enough to say there’s “not much of a difference.”
Consider the final rankings: three West teams in the top six, four in the top nine and five in the top 11. I saw the UWW-MUC and SJF-MUC games and would (as did the d3 rankers and several MUC posters) place UWW over SJF.
Right now, it’s MUC and everyone else. In the Everyone Else Division, the West is dominant. Small consolation.