I think that the 5 for 5 proposal for football is a no brainer. If a kid wants to play 5 years of football he would just leave a single class for the fall of the fifth year and be done with it. Maybe accrue an extra 1-4k in debt?  That is what most of the 5th year covid seniors did and I would bet most of those guys would tell you it was the correct decision.

That being said football (and all fall sports) are in a much different place than winter and spring sports. Staying for an extra semester and taking 1-3 credits feels like a no brainer with a limited cost. Staying for a full semester plus additional classes in the spring costing up to around 10-20k extra for one more year? That year starts to seem less worth it.

I totally understand why the ARC is leading this charge. Most of the schools in the conference are enrollment based institutions that need more and more kids enrolling than ever. They most likely see this as a cash cow and are willing to pass the buck along to the students to bear the load of some of their debt. I personally do not believe that these schools are searching for what's best for the athletes, and simply looking for ways to stay open.

All that being said... If it keeps my favorite school and conference afloat then I guess I am here for it.   

Sorry everyone I've been out of commission recently due to some personal things (added a Mrs Driftless/moved to a brand new city) but boy has the ARC been in the news recently!

Players have reported to fall camp! Can't wait for football to be back.

Wartburg with a the only ARC Preseason All-American.
https://www.d3football.com/awards/all-americans/2026-preseason

The ARC is on the forefront of promoting 5 for 5 in D3.
https://x.com/D3Ticker/status/2088317667312582930

ARC bowl game is no longer theoretical but will be announced soon.
https://x.com/sportsguysiowa/status/2088341692780777713?s=46

Demarico Young to return to Simpson following dispute about interpreter.
https://thesimpsonian.com/38004/sports/demarico-young-deaf-star-running-back-withdrawls-from-transfer-portal-after-simpson-regrants-access-for-longtime-interpreter/

SportsGuysIowa interviewing lots of the head coaches in the ARC with season previews.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sports-guys-iowa/id1882617041

Quote from: Kuiper on June 16, 2026, 12:16:50 PMAt many small liberal arts colleges without Greek systems, sports teams often function similarly to fraternities, including mostly living together in on- or off-campus houses that nominally may not be restricted to members of the team, but functionally operate that way.

I have been asked in my professional life what type of organizations I was in during my undergrad years and have been asked if I was in a fraternity. I always respond that I was in no such thing! Now I was in a male only organization in which we all shared a common set of beliefs, all hung out together, lived together in houses that were not always the most well kept, and would walk around campus with a slightly elevated ego. But a frat? No way!

We just wanted to win football games! 

I'll go one step further and say I think that Sorsby should be going to trial for multiple felonies. Last time I checked aiding and abetting is still against the law. The fact this is getting hand waived away is ludicrous. You want to bet on who is going to win the Super Bowl as a college athlete I could really care less. An athlete betting on a game he is a participant in? Absolutely cannot happen. This conversation should not be about his NCAA eligibility...

Quote from: Ron Boerger on June 08, 2026, 08:29:22 AM

• Athletic Expenses 7%+ of Total Expenses (19). Huntingdon (19.48%), Southern Virginia (16.20%), Schreiner (13.82%), Eureka (10.14%), Greensboro (9.74%), Central (9.74%), Brevard (9.35%), East Texas Baptist (9.05%), Centenary LA (9.03%), Thomas (8.98%), Marian (8.53%), Loras (8.27%), Blackburn (8.17%), Piedmont (8.01%), McMurry (7.89%), Crown (7.85%), Howard Payne (7.53%), Wartburg (7.46%), Hilbert (7.44%).

I find it very interesting how this list ranges from schools who have been incredibly successful across sports (Wartburg/Central) to other institutions who have had lack of success across sports (Eureka/Crown). Obviously this tells us where institutional priorities are and how they are choosing to attempt to stay open. Thanks for the info!

Quote from: Gregory Sager on May 27, 2026, 09:41:43 AM* Loras: See above. Maybe not the same institutional cachet as Coe, but a steady stream of suburban Chicagoland kids have bolstered Loras's student body in recent decades, as Loras has appeared to do a really nice job of maximizing its relative proximity to the heartland's biggest population center.

https://www.kcrg.com/2026/05/28/it-was-dire-loras-college-president-defends-financial-progress-after-forbes-gives-d-grade/

Response from Loras' president about the status of the college. When Doyle was brought back most of the college's community knew the money issues that were ahead and were told Doyle was the guy who was going to right the ship. If what he says in this story is accurate, then hopefully I will get to be a proud alum of Loras for many more years.

Quote"Loras College operated at a loss for three consecutive years before Mike Doyle returned to Loras as president-elect in 2024. The stretch included net cash flow losses of $8.8 million in fiscal year 2024 and $5.4 million in fiscal year 2023, leading to at least $38 million in debt.

"Had I known that the cash flow losses, what the situation was when I returned in August of '24, I'm not sure I would've come back," Doyle said, now Loras College president.

Doyle implemented a five-year plan that prioritized fundraising and enrollment, which both declined for a few years, and included eliminating the use of endowment funds for day-to-day operations.

The plan also included suspending benefits and reducing staff, mostly through attrition; he said about five staff members were fired.

After years of losses, Loras now expects its second consecutive year of profit, reporting net cash flow gains of $2 million in fiscal year 2025 and a projected gain of $3.6 million in fiscal year 2026.

The more than $12.4 million turnaround from FY24 to FY 26 comes as the college raising a record $18 million in the last 12 months and paid off $11 million in debt.

Doyle said the college's goal was to pay off 50% of its $38 million in debt by 2030. Having covered about 30% since 2024, he estimates the college is two years ahead of schedule.

"We have stabilized financially and dramatically improved our results in the last two years and we are on the pathway to long-term financial viability, and we are going to get there," Doyle said.

Doyle admitted there is still more work to do, indicating incoming class sizes and fundraising efforts need to continue to grow."

Looking at the conference's noncon schedules I felt it was necessary to rank them by difficulty (ie. I am bored)

1. Wartburg (Monmouth/NCC/UWRF) Wartburg may have the hardest noncon slate in the country this year. When you are good lots of teams do not want to play you. Luckily their are other good teams in the same boat. Having 3 playoff teams/3 conference champs/both Stagg Bowl participants on your schedule is crazy but here we are. 1-2 feels very realistic, 2-1 is a job well done, 3-0 would insinuate that Wartburg is competing for a national title this year.

-gap-

2. Coe (Cornell/UWRF/UWO) Coe has beat Cornell for around 25 years in a row in this game and I expect nothing to change. The other two games will be challenging. Coe played UWRF in a shoot out last year and hung with the eventual national champions. UWRF lost just about all of their production and coach but I would imagine will still be a top half WIAC team. UWO has not been as dominant as they were a decade ago but are still going to be a tough challenge for Coe. 2-1 feels like a win for the Kohawks.

3. ud (UWS/UWP/McMurry) Dubuque plays two WIAC teams as well in the noncon slate with Platteville and Stout. UWP made the playoff last year and UWS was right on the cusp. Dubuque played a close game with UWS last year but couldn't hold on in the second half. They could not run with UWP and got blown out last year. McMurry was above 500 in a poor SCAC and I would imagine the Spartans would be favored in that game. 2-1 feels like a win with 1-2 being more realistic.

-gap-

4. Central (Gustavus Adolphus/Northwestern/Belhaven) GA is a top half MIAC team and Belhaven has been a top tier team in the USAC. Neither of these statements make national teir teams quiver but these aren't gimmies either. NW should be a gimmie on the other hand. I would expect Central to be 3-0 after this stretch.

5. NWU (Concordia Morehead/Dakota St/Chicago) NWU opens the season with 3 games that should all be a challenge. Concordia Morehead is a upper tier MIAC team who went 7-3 last year. Dakota St is a NAIA team that I don't know much about other than they have been on NWU's schedule over the last few years and have beaten the Prairie Wolves more often then not. The last team is University of Chicago out of the MWC who has been sitting in the fourth spot in that league for a while. This should be a fun match up to see how the middle of the MWC matches up vs the bottom of the ARC. 1-2 feels like a win for NWU while 0-3 is likely.

6. Simpson (Augustana/Crown/Howard Payne) Simpson starts with two night games to start the season with Augustana, who they lost to last year by one point and finished 7-3 last year, and then Crown, who they blew out and won the UMAC last year. I would expect something similar in these two games with a close game with Augie that could go either way and a blowout vs Crown. They then travel to Texas to play Howard Payne which was below 500 the last two seasons. Feels like 3-0 is a real possibility.

-gap-

7. Loras (St Olaf/Northwestern/Benedictine) With a new coaching staff at Loras expectations are high. The noncon features a bottom half MIAC opponent, a UMAC team, and a top half NACC team that Loras has been competitive with for the last few years. Feels like anything below 2-1 is a disappointment and 3-0 is something that is possible if the new staff in town is able right the ship.

8. BV (Benedictine/Lawrence/Minnesota Morris) This is most likely the easiest noncon schedule with a UMAC team and a NACC team that has won 1 game in the last 5 years (yes you read that correctly). Benedictine beat the Beavers 35-0 last year and I think that game will tell us a lot about if BV is better this year than last. Would be huge for the conference's NPI to have a 2-1 BV coming out of the noncon.

Overall I really like how most teams scheduled their non-league games. I felt the bottom of the conference went out and found games they could be competitive in and the top of the league went out and tried to challenge themselves. I think that its possible that the majority of the league is above 500 going into the conference schedule. If that is the case, I like the league's chances of getting another at large bid this year.

https://kohawkathletics.com/sports/football/schedule/2026

Coe posts their schedule and we now have every team in the conference schedule! They fill their noncons with perennial rival Cornell, reigning national champ UW-River Falls, and UW-Oshkosh. Woof. Swiping a win from the WIAC would be huge for the conference and would probably signify that Coe will be in the hunt for an ARC title and a playoff birth.

https://duhawks.com/sports/football/coaches

Duhawks posted a more full coaching staff. Staff was talked about by Coach Novak on the D3FB pod linked above.

Included Jack St. Fleur who played at SJU last year. St Fleur will be coaching the secondary. Marcus Dumervil will be coaching the Oline. Dumervil played at LSU/Maryland/Arkansas. Going to be a very young staff thats for sure.

Loved the interview Pat! Lot of excitement in Dubuque surrounding the football program for the first time in a while.

Loras had a tailgate/open practice this last weekend where fans were able to see the new look Duhawks. Not much as changed on the offensive side of the ball from what I saw. Powers' offense is very similar to what they ran last year with a few slight wrinkles. The defense seems to be much faster paced with less complexity than what Loras has attempted to run in the past. The past defensive scheme required multiple positions making checks and calls each play depending on the formation/scheme of the offense. When this was done effectively the defense worked well. In the last two/three seasons this appeared to be a bit too much communication for the back end of the defense and players were rarely on the same page. It appears this staff is taking a much more basic approach to allow players to play much faster and freer. Excited to see the results!

Quote from: doolittledog on April 17, 2026, 10:42:50 AMI wouldn't be against a post season bowl game between the top non playoff team from the ARC and an Iowa NAIA school.  Though I don't know if that is allowed.   

This would be my preferred postseason bowl set up! Lean into the amazing amount of small school college football being playing in the state of Iowa! Call it the Iowa Classic and play it in one of the larger cities in the state. Kingston Stadium in Cedar Rapids or Mediacom Stadium in Des Moines would both work great imo.

I also have no idea if this would be legal by NCAA/NAIA standards.

Really interesting article about the Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy and how he got his start in coaching at the D3 football level. The article talks about him helping CMS to a SCIAC title in 1986 and other fun tidbits. Figured I would share it here for anyone who may be interested.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2026/04/17/the-untold-football-story-of-milwaukee-brewers-manager-pat-murphy/89465648007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z116851p118950c118950e1116xxv116851d--54--b--54--&gca-ft=52&gca-ds=sophi

Quote from: MediaGuy on April 16, 2026, 03:06:51 PMCould be because there are NAIA schools mixed in and every school wasnt looking to make a new conference at the same time when they transitioned. But i cant imagine that egos and "i dont want to play those people" is worth adding a few zeros to your travel budgets to drive past 3 schools to play another school for conference play.

Taking a 8+ hour road trip for football is one thing, where you can miss a few classes after noon on Friday, stay overnight and play on Saturday, but what do these schools do for a volleyball game on a Tuesday, or a tennis/golf meet on a Thursday...thats who I feel sorry for.  I appreciate there are some more schools to fill schedules in non-football sports, but having multiple long roadtrips would be a burden on recruiting for me.

The American Southwest Conference: hold my beer.

Inside of the ARC, Simpson playing Howard Payne in Frisco and Dubuque hosting McMurray are both Iowa/Texas cross overs that if the away team were to drive would be quite the haul. In that same vein UWL is hosting Hardin-Simmons in La Crosse.

WashU being in the NCAC this year has also lead to some long road trips for the Bears as most of the NCAC is in Ohio. Wabash is playing Hampden-Sydney this year in a game called the Gentleman's Cup, as both schools are males only, and includes a 10-11 hour bus ride.

I feel like Region 3 probably has the longest commutes with the conferences covering most of the South and Texas and a lot of the schools in those areas not currently playing nice with each other.

Quote from: doolittledog on April 13, 2026, 08:41:49 PMquote author=doolittledog link=msg=2158718 date=1776127309]

3 home games for Central.  Wow!

That is certainly not an ideal schedule for the Dutch this year. Depending on if the Belhaven game is part of a home/home they should have 7 home games next year tho!

We are now just waiting on Coe and ud for the last of the ARC schedules!