Quote from: Mitch Hall on March 14, 2026, 07:47:49 PMEagles fall short 73 to 68. Massey is pretty smart.

La Crosse was down 69-64 with under 2:00 to go... They 4-6 from FT line over next 3 possessions and were forced to foul down 1 with 20 seconds left.

The two guys that missed FT's late (Grieger and Derousseau) combined to go 14 for 14 the rest of the game from the FT line. As a friend of mine likes to say, "Not all free throws are created equal!"

That first half technical on the bench proved costly as well, as UMW hit both free throws...

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on March 13, 2026, 11:36:07 AMDoes the WIAC (still) have that rule where you have to sit out a year if you transfer within the conference?

Wouldn't Uttech playing at Stout this season answer that question?

Stout also opened the season over the weekend, however things didn't go well...  Pitchers combined to give up 26 runs while the offense tallied just a single run while being swept in a DH by Coe, by 11-0 and 15-1 scores.

Tough start to the season for the defending 2025 National Champion as Whitewater travels to San Antonio and drops three out of four games vs Trinity.  They won the opener 6-2 and then lost the final three by scores of 12-1, 5-4, and 6-5. 

Whitewater actually held a 4-0 after six innings in the series finale, but then gave up two in the 7th, three in the 8th to tie it, and then got walked off in the 9th.  This was after falling behind early in Game #3 of the series only to tie it up 4-4 before Trinity scored the eventual game winning run in the 8th inning.  Game #2 could be described with just one word... U-G-L-Y!

I have a feeling that despite all of the pitching that transferred out, people around the WIAC might not want to get their hopes up just yet.  The duo of Gradin Taschner and Theo Zeidler are going to cause some headaches for opposing hitters this season.

Quote from: WIACer on January 25, 2026, 12:18:42 PMWatching UWO in previous games I was surprised at how many illegal screens they were allowed to do without a call. I noticed on their ball screens they all have a 2 hand push off defender. Enough to knock off balance. Maybe it caught up to them?? Missing 3's hurts too.

Here I figured it was just the "gimmick offense" finally catching up to them... 

Quote from: D3fanboy on January 04, 2026, 08:45:09 PMUWRF defense isn't going to last very long with NCC running all over them and the UWRF offense having quick drives.

Pitching a second half shutout on the back of just one turnover against an offense some considered the best in D3? I'd say the held up just fine... Maybe it helped that the River Falls defense was used to playing four quarters the majority of the season (especially during WIAC play) instead of sitting and watching from the sidelines in the second half because of constant blowouts?

It's interesting/entertaining to go back and read some of the predictions from before the game... The common theme seemed to be that the River Falls defense would struggle to stop North Central. Ironically, that unit posts a shutout in the second half against the vaunted North Central offense despite just one turnover, albeit an incredible individual play by a d-lineman in the 4th quarter.

While Blaha was the best player on the field, that that River Falls defense stood tall and deserves a ton of credit for the Stagg Bowl victory!

Quote from: hazzben on January 05, 2026, 11:05:43 AMThe leadership and steadfastness to take a team out of the wilderness, survive winless seasons, etc. and keep the staff, admin, and players bought in. How many times did he have to look himself in the mirror and convince himself to stay the course?! It's one thing to take over a team that's had success, but to pull off the turnaround is just a great story.

I was impressed with how the telecast shared that the current DC was the former OC before Coach Walker made the tough decision to take over play-calling duties...  That's not always an easy choice to make and usually ruffles feathers.  I give the DC a TON of credit for not taking it personal and adapting to his new position.  Pretty impressive to see that defense pitch a second half shutout last night against North Central!

Congrats River Falls and especially Fred Falcon!

Watching the game, I thought two things made the difference... One, obviously the turnovers... Winning the turnover battle 3-0 and having two of them come in the redzone, can't be understated. Two, North Central looked totally out of sorts with being down multiple scores in the 4th quarter. River Falls definitely looked like the more battle tested team on the field tonight, and I'd like to think the grind of the WIAC schedule helped prepare the Falcons for tonight.

If you would've been told River Falls would have the lead in the 4th quarter AND have possession, I'd take it in a heartbeat!

Quote from: Bofadeeznuts on December 06, 2025, 07:13:39 PMOr final 8. Or final 16.

You could invite top 4 teams from some of the other conferences and they'd have the same lack of success the WIAC just had. Feels like other conferences are having more success these playoffs.
Depends on what you consider definition of "best conference. "
No doubt WIAC is most competitive league top to bottom. But that doesn't mean best conference. Not to me.
Based on playoff success, or lack of success over the last 5 years, I could maybe say the conference is full of average teams. Maybe the NCC/Wheaton conference is a better conference. Maybe those teams that NCC & Wheaton beat up during the season would have some success in the WIAC. Maybe?
That's why you CAN base best conference on playoff success. Or the lack of.
Again. It's what someone considers the definition of. But I don't. And that's just me.

Circling back to this now that there's some down time until the next game...

Three different WIAC teams (UWO, Whitewater, and now River Falls) have played in the D3 Semifinals since 2017... Does any other D3 Conference have even TWO semifinalists over that same stretch of time?

You can take it a step further as those same three teams have all also played in a Stagg Bowl since 2016.

What a weak conference the WIAC is... 

That makes three teams from the WIAC to make the Stagg Bowl over the last nine years/eight editions. Impressive to say the least!

Congrats Falcons and Fred!

River Falls looks to be well on their way to a berth in the Semifinals as they lead 46-21 with under 3:00 remaining.

Congrats Fred!

Quote from: Bofadeeznuts on December 06, 2025, 07:13:39 PMMaybe the NCC/Wheaton conference is a better conference. Maybe those teams that NCC & Wheaton beat up during the season would have some success in the WIAC. Maybe?

Like the 3rd Place CCIW team WashU?

They just so happened to lose to the 5th Place WIAC team in the Isthmus Bowl...

Not much doubt about the best team in D3 Villeyball this season.

UWO dominates in the NCAA Championship from beginning to end as they win every single set they played to go 18-0 enroute to a perfect 6-0 match record to claim the school's first Volleyball Championship!