Here’s who you won’t be seeing

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There are some intriguing matchups coming down the line as you look through the NCAA Tournament bracket. Now, granted, we won’t see them come to fruition, but it would be interesting to see anyway.

Larry’s kids: Other than Larry Kehres himself, there are three Mount Union alumni head coaches in the playoffs this season, Jim Zebrowski ’91, Erik Raeburn ’94 and Mike Sirianni ’94. North Bracket No. 7 seed Lakeland and West Bracket No. 6 Coe could meet — in the Stagg Bowl, while No. 6 South seed Washington and Jefferson could meet Coe in the semifinals. Mark your calendars.

Same time, next quarter-century: The regional final could see the long-awaited Occidental/St. John’s rematch. Until last year, the 1985 meeting, a 28-10 Occidental win, could have been considered the SCIAC’s high-water mark on the Division III football scene. And both coaches, Dale Widolff and John Gagliardi, are still at their respective schools.

Yeah, let’s forget this one: The regional final could also provide a less-awaited rematch of the 1985 playoff game between Occidental and Central, a 71-0 Central victory.

Don’t blink, you’ll miss it: The potential Stagg Bowl between Ferrum and Augustana could be a quick one. The option-based Panthers run for 379.7 yards per game and throw for 103, while the Wing-T Vikings run for 352.4 yards per game and throw for just 25. Throw in TV timeouts and we’ll still get done before we need the lights in Salem.

Depth-chart battle: Monmouth quarterback Mitch Tanney could square off against the guy that beat him out, Wabash quarterback Russ Harbaugh. Tanney transferred to Monmouth and both are in the Top 10 in Division III in passing efficiency. Another interesting Stagg Bowl-only matchup.

Bad headline writers everywhere rejoice: We can anticipate many overworked metaphors if Mary Hardin-Baylor meets Capital in the Stagg Bowl. Both teams are nicknamed the Crusaders. We’ll spare you the examples. Similarly, Wilkes and Curry are both the Colonels, but even though those teams are in the same bracket, that matchup is even less likely than a UMHB/Capital title game.

Then there’s Cardinals/Blue Jays, Dutchmen/Dutch, Britons/Scots, and all the various big cats.

22 thoughts on “Here’s who you won’t be seeing”

  2. True, though I was limiting my thoughts to teams actually in the field. Don’t get me started on teams that didn’t get in — I could get kinda riled up by that. 🙂

  4. How about a national championship rubber match between Ithaca and Central
    The 1974 title went to Central
    The 1988 title went to Ithaca
    The 2005 title to…….

  5. Maybe that’s why they matched up Mt. Union and Mt. St. Joseph in the first round. If they would have done what was right and UW-Whitewater was placed in the North, the two Mt.’s probably wouldn’t have met. Sounds crazy, but it doesn’t make any less sense than the brackets. Merry Christmas Mt. Union – you lose a game to a team that wasn’t even playoff caliber and still get at least two home games (the first against a very bad team), while #1 and #6, and #4 and #8 battle it out, likely followed the next week by #2 and #3 in the next round. And yet, this still isn’t as soft and what the top teams in the East get.

  6. Sorry for the rant. Just read my first line, as the rest probably isn’t appropriate for this thread. Pat has started previous threads on the Daily Dose where this could have gone. So, my bad and before this thread turns into another bracket bashing, we should probably try and stick with “intriguing matchups we may or may not see.”

  7. D3former,
    I don’t want to start anything here but it was a very thin line to call ONU not a playoff caliber team. I think from all the pre-bracket talk you would agree. What would have also been nice about that is there would have been “5” MUC related coaches in the playoffs.

    GO RAIDERS (That’s meant to be plural)

  8. I can’t wait to see results from the 2nd round Augustana / Mount Union game. Augustana and Mount Union have more National Championships than anyone.

    Augustana won 4 in a row in the 1980’s (losing the title game the prior year), and Mount Union has won 7 (is it 7?). The longest winning streak in D3 goes to Mount Union, the second longest goes to Augustana.

    Of course, both teams must make it to the second round.

    Then there will be the Augustana / North Central re-match in the 3rd round. An Augie field goal with no time on the clock kept North Central from a perfect season (and a #1 seed to Wabash). North Central can throw, but Augustana can intercept – alot.

    Of course, both teams must make it to the thrid round.

    Then there will be the Stagg Bowl Championship game between UW Whitewater and Augustana. The two top teams from the two top conferences in the county. That will be a great game – just like all of the games in the playoffs.

    Of course, both teams must make it to the Stagg Bowl.

    I know that we won’t be seeing any team from the South or the East playing anyone for the title. Weak schedules, and a stacked West will be their undoing. I would like to see Union and Monmouth go far, but they are just not tested against top caliber teams.

  9. Actually Mount Union owns the 2nd longest winning streak (54 consecutive wins) in NCAA football history (all divisions) as well as the Longest winning streak (55 consecutive wins). The 54 game streak was from ’96-’99 and the 55 game streak was from ’00-’03. Both streaks included wins over Augustana.

  10. Yes its 7 out of the past 12 years and 6 out of the past 9 years Mount Union has won the National Championship. But you are right when you say that the Augustana/Mount Union would be a great game if both make it to round 2. But I am more interested to see who comes from the top part of the bracket between Wabash, North Central, and Capital. I think between the three teams, they are equally matched

  11. Raiderguy, No I’m sorry but I can’t agree with that. Any team that loses 2 games, one by 25 to a team that lost 70-0 (and I don’t care who that 70-0 loss is against) should never be considered for a playoff spot, unless they get an auto bid. I felt the same about previously unbeaten St. Olaf after their 63-9 loss to St. Johns. Maybe (and that’s a strong maybe) St, Olaf should have received consideration if they could have gone on to defeat top 10 Concordia (which they didn’t), but only because they still would have had only 1 loss. ONU’s win over MUC was nice, but you can’t go on to lose 2 games, one by over 3 TDs to a team that gets dominated that badly and be in consideration for a playoff bid, in my opinion.

  12. I’ve always been concerned about Union / Mount Union. Luckily Hofstra is in I-AA, otherwise, we’d have the potential for the Dutchmen and the Flying Dutchmen.

  13. Who would host that game between Union and Mount Union if both teams were to make it to the semi’s? What about other games in the sem-final game? Who has home field advantage if any two teams are ranked the same (like Union and Mount Union both ranked #2)? Is there a list that has who would host over who?

  14. Although, I agree with your arguements posted above, I would like you to consider the following things:
    1. The OAC is pretty darn tough.
    2. Football is all about matchups and scenarios.
    3. ONU is a very good team and just because they lost to JCU by 25 who lost to Mount in the 1st OAC game of the year 70-0, doesn’t mean they aren’t a talented team.
    -They would beat a lot of teams that won automatic bids as well as other teams that got at large bids.
    The OAC has teams that can muster up……football is football. ONU has had a very up and down year.

  21. Augustana versus Mount Union would be between the school with the longest D-III winning streak versus the school with the longest D-III unbeaten streak — that would be intriguing.

  22. True. But I don’t think that falls under who you won’t be seeing. I think odds are pretty good we WILL be seeing that. 🙂

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