I follow the ARC more than any other D3 league, but am curious about the future of the four football schools in the ASC. I haven't seen any info on potential additions nor where any of the four are looking to land. Can someone shed some light on this for me. Thanks

Quote from: DriftlessDuhawk on June 27, 2025, 07:08:51 PM

Quote from: HansenRatings on June 27, 2025, 03:51:30 PMI said this before, but I think Augustana would make a lot of sense for both parties. They're a good fit for the ARC geographically & fit the mold of the current institutions, and if Monmouth gets/accepts an invitation, that would be a good travel partner for them.

I'm not sure who else from the Twin Cities area would make sense, either for the ARC or for a school potentially looking for greener pastures.

I agree with Logan that Augustana would make the most sense as they fit the mold and geography of the conference very well. The question is are they willing to trade in drives to Chicagoland for drives to Lincoln and Storm Lake?

I have also heard that some members have thrown around the idea that they could try to lure an NAIA team to the D3 ranks. I haven't heard if any of these schools have expressed interest, however. Personally, I don't know much about most of the NAIA schools in the area, but I'm not sure why a school would go from offering scholarships to not offering scholarships. I know that Grandview/Northwestern (IA)/Morningside have been fairly dominant for a number of years, and I don't know that a move like this would benefit them all that much.

I have always thought that Iowa could produce a magnificent football conference by including the ARC (sans NWU) with Morningside, Northwestern, Grand View, St. Ambrose and possibly Clarke and/or Briar Cliff. Only problem, as mentioned, is who blinks first: ARC moves to NAIA (which most were at one time) or the others roll to NCAA D3. I guess it's just wishful thinking.

Congrats to D-III getting APU. Quality school that fell into some issues that hopefully are rectified. Would love to have them back in NAIA where they were a Top 10 team from 1997 thru 2004, (Won the NAIA title in 1998). Got to see them play in person in 2007 in the old NAIA First Down Classic in Mo.

Quote from: hazzben on November 17, 2024, 06:02:51 PMCorrect me if I'm wrong, but I think this is the first time Bethel and Coe have ever played. Now I gotta convince my wife she really wants to visit Cedar Rapids next weekend!

What can I sell her on to convince her it's more than a football road trip? Any recs?

If she's a scrapbooker, C.R. has one of the Midwest's best stores. Scrapmania My wife is a professional scrapper.

As an NAIA'er, I was surprised at 2 things. I did not expect a W by Bethel, just a tight game. And, how fast the fall from annual contender for a D3 title to not making the playoffs for UMHB. Since they lost to Linfield in the title game about 20 years ago, the Crusaders have been a Top 5 or 10 team ever since.

But coaching at this level is everything.

Coming to Northland's situation a bit late. Did the Accreditation Group place the school on probation? I did not find a mention of it.

Quote from: hazzben on November 13, 2023, 11:58:21 AM

Quote from: BLynn on November 12, 2023, 09:22:00 PM

Quote from: DriftlessDuhawk on November 12, 2023, 08:26:34 PM
Certainly getting two teams out of the conference is great for the league, but I have no idea how Coe was selected for an at-large bid...

My guess is that Coe had the 'best loss' of any of the at-large schools.

Wheaton's loss to NCC gets the 'best loss' at-large ribbon for sure.

Not so fast my friend, Wheaton played NC at home and was down 35-7 at half. Coe went on the road and went toe-to-toe with WU, losing 28-21 I believe.  Yes, playing #1 would make you think it was a better loss, but Wheaton was literally never 'in it' as Coe was.

Quote from: DriftlessDuhawk on November 12, 2023, 08:26:34 PM
Certainly getting two teams out of the conference is great for the league, but I have no idea how Coe was selected for an at-large bid...

My guess is that Coe had the 'best loss' of any of the at-large schools.

Happy for Coach Keller at NWU. 4-1 with a few winnable games left on the schedule.

Quote from: Schipper Strong on September 02, 2023, 08:57:48 PM

Quote from: sjujohnnie on September 02, 2023, 10:17:04 AM
Are the GPAC (NAIA conference) teams like Morningside & Northwestern better than any of the teams in Iowa representing Division III? Last season Wartburg was the strongest in Division III, but Northwestern won the NAIA national championship & Morningside had been largely uncontested for years until Northwestern improved. I would love to see the top NAIA teams join Division III so we could see the matchups. Opinions on outcomes of those hypothetical matchups?

It is hard to say how those schools compare as none of the ARC schools tend to schedule NAIA non conference opponents. For the top teams it hurts playoff chances and I don't think the lower tier teams schedule them either. Decades ago Central and Northwestern played each other the first game of the season for several years. We are RCA sister schools. I am not sure if we have played them since 1974. Northwestern won the NAIA championship in 1973 and we beat them 27-0 at home in the 1974 opener. We went on to win the NCAA title that year. We quit playing each other after that as it would knock one or the other of us out of contention for the playoffs.
[/quote
I found that Northwestern leads the series with Central by 8-5-1, the last game played was 1983, won by NWC 45-27 as the Red Raiders went undefeated and won their 2nd NAIA (division II) title. They beat St Thomas (now FCS), William Jewell (now D2) and then Pacific Lutheran for the Championship. NAIA was something back then.

Thanks T-Dome21: I didn't think ONU would hang with Wheaton but also didn't expect them to embarrass themselves. Sounds about what I expected. Glad there is some inter-classification action.

I heard Olivet Nazarene (NAIA) and Wheaton were scrimmaging today or tonight. Did anyone watch? Would like to know how ONU, as a mid-level NAIA team matched up with a Top 10'ish D3 program.

This is directed mainly to Doolittledog, but anyone may respond; Loras has not won more than 5 games in the past 20 years, (per this site's info), so they aren't pointing to a post season run normally. Why not schedule Clarke which is literally next door. I'd suggest the same for Dubuque U, but they have had some good seasons in the past decade so I know they would be concerned about points.

Dolittledog, do you think that there is something to the fact that the 'schools to watch' list is almost entirely NAIA colleges? I mean in the vein that being NCAA creates more donations, better endowments etc?

My oldest daughter went to NWU and I try to keep track: Saw Kevin Crume, NWU D.C. left for Concordia of the NAIA's GPAC. More changes coming?
When I started watching the GPAC back in 2002, NWU was top-3 team, then started to slowly drop, but rarely under .500 in the league. I really thought they'd be more competitive in the ARC.