UWRF defeated themselves today at sunny Ramer Field as the defending Iowa champions (Coe College) underwhelmed the Falcons 13 - 9.  Despite holding a statistical advantage in every offensive and defensive category. the red-and-white demonstrated big play ability of the wrong kind, including a missed tackle for a TD--not to mention dumb penalties, butter-fingered fumbles, 3 INTS, and two missed FG's and a PAT.   QB Travon Hearns went 2 - 12;  co-QB Sawyer Moon fared better if one overlooks the leg injury that sent to the sidelines in the 4th quarter. Otherwise, the Birds looked improved over last year.

I find it interesting that as UWW has risen to a position of dominance, the majority of its WIAC rivals have descended into mediocrity and worse.  This year Whitewater has an excellent team and Oshkosh and Platteville are good, BUT then there's everyone else.  Conversely, over in the MIAC as St. John's has fallen from its position of dominance, virtually all of its rivals are ascending.  Bethel is excellent and St. Thomas and Concordia are very good.  St. John's is still a decent team and up-and-coming Gustavus and dangerous Augsburg are on a par with the Johnnies.  Lightly regarded Carleton even  had Concordia on  the ropes in the 4th quarter Saturday.  If competitive balance is the measure of a great conference, then the WIAC's claims of superiority ring hollow at this moment in time.  Let's hope the WIAC doesn't go the way of the OAC, where Mt. Union essentially plays a 10-game exhibition schedule in preparation for the post-season.

More reciprocity agreements (discussed on these pages earlier) are being implemented as a reaction to demographics that  project a slow, but continuous decline in the number of future Wisconsin high school graduates for the next several years.  Platteville's Tri-State Initiative (sold to the Board of Regents as a means of attracting more future engineers) has been highly successful.  For decades UWRF was several hundred students larger than UWP.  That situation has been reversed.  My granddaughter is a student in Marion, Iowa (next door to Cedar Rapids).  A Platteville recruiter was there a week ago Thursday.  Finally, there is no such thing as out-of-state tuition at UW - Superior, regardless of whether the student comes from Duluth, MN or Brisbane, Australia.

As the MIAC race is about to be to begin, I would like to encourage all D3 fans to employ the Caruso Respect-O-Meter, which reveals the level of respect the opposition commands from the lofty perspective of mighty UST as game day unfolds. The Caruso Respect-O-Meter, consists of three disrespectful play calls.  Your team is respected if none of these are used against you.  On the other hand,, if all three are activated, then your stalwarts are viewed as mere cannon fodder and are viewed as no more than a poll enhancing opportunity.  To wit, the "up yours" play calls include (1) go for 2 after the first UST TD (even though the cock-eyed PAT alignment is correctly defended); (2) fake a makeable FG inside the red zone on 4th-and-long early in he game; and (3) after taking control of the game with a  4th quarter TD, immediately try an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff.  Sorry, UWRF fans, your team earned a perfect score of disrespect Thursday night. RIP.

Apparently UW - River Falls has lost its #1 recruit, a 6'6 - 310 offensive tackle to the Tommies.  The Wisconsin farm boy is an excellent student and initially indicated he would pursue an agricultural business degree with a strong possibility of returning home one day to participate in the operation of the family business.  In their inimitable self-assured style, Caruso et. al convinced the young man that his thinking was provincial, and therefore self-limiting, and that  he would do better to expand his world view to include a more expansive global perspective, one that stretched at least as far as Salem, VA.

Janesville paper reports Levelle Coppage arrested.

"Staying on top may be more difficult than getting there" is one of those urban myths that simply does not stand up to any kind of close scrutiny.  How else does one account for the long-term supremacy of Linfield, St. John's, Mount Union, or Whitewater?  What really deserves discussion is how one-team dominance destroys competitive balance within a conference over time.  With the exception of Oshkosh and Platteville (saved by the Tri State initiative), every WIAC football program today is clearly inferior to the team it put on the field in, say, 2005. The fall of La Crosse and Stevens Point has been particularly dramatic. The ineptitude of the River Falls offense hasn't been seen in the WIAC/WSUC since Superior dropped football.  Meanwhile in the Ohio Conference, Mt. Union essentially plays an exhibition schedule until the playoffs begin. Down there, a few doubters have whispered, "Staying on top FOREVER may be more difficult than getting there."

UWRF's Joel Yogerst ranked #7 on Mel Kiper's top 10 list of fullbacks heading into the NFL draft.

Forgotten during the 30 minutes of UWRF's miserable play (i.e., 40% from the line and 1/10 from behind the arc at one point) were Edgewood's four answered prayers:  three long range field goals scored a fraction of a second before the time clock sounded and a UWRF basket that was waved off because it bounced high off the rim and edged the top of the backboard (technically out of bounds) before falling through.  Remove fickle fate and undeserving UWRF would have won by 2 or 3.

Coach Siverling won't win Coach of the Year honors, but he deserves some votes for the progress Superior has made after starting the year with a two-point win over a woeful Northland team, especially now that Buchanon's fab freshmen class are no longer there.  If the 7'0 center can improve his stamina and get stronger in the weight room, he could be a real force in the next two years.

I saw UWRF last night for the first time this year and don't know what to make of them.  They are not particularly good shooters (and tend to force shots besides), and both their O and D look helter-skelter at times, but they are as quick and as athletic as anyone I've seen in awhile.  They have some women who are quick off the floor and rebound well for their size.  Plus, they have a little swagger many women's teams don't display, while rotating 8-9 players with little drop-off in play.

I believe UWW's AD Paul Plinske is on record as saying, "We want to provide our football players, student body, and fans with a Division I experience."  And, with that statement we know that the old DIII justification for football as an educational experience that promotes the values of fair competition and good sportsmanship are no longer of primary importance at UWW.  Winning is the name of their game, and to maintain a winning edge money becomes the difference-maker, money that builds and maintains state-of-the-art weight rooms, locker rooms, FieldTurf, Jumbotrons, and stadia.   At UWO, for example, every sport had its budget cut while football received a slight increase in these tough budgetary times.  Is Oshkosh's goal a better educational experience for their players?  Or, a more competitive team for their students, fans, and alumni to rally around? I believe the two goals are mutually exclusive.  Does anyone doubt that there is an almost perfect correlation between a team's rank in conference and its rank in terms of financial and physical resources?  Perhaps the idea of a Division IV should start to become more than just talk.   

hazzben, your mini-treatise about the Sioux-Dakota-Lakota was a historical tour de force, one of the most informative posts on these sites----ever.

Sounds improbable perhaps, UWO fans, but Nate Wara has long dreamed of being a Badger. Fulfilling his dream would cause Titan fans some sleepless nights, no doubt.

The source eludes me, but read somewhere that the new coach at UWL will be able to hire two on-staff assistants. While still under-staffed, that's a big leap forward, and the new AD should get some credit for gaining concessions from a disinterested administration .