Pick'em rules are posted and week 1 picks are up!

We had a great turnout last year and I hope you all chose to play along again this year!

Looking at the ARC for week 1 does appear to be a touch lackluster in my opinion...

Wartburg and Monmouth have played some ok games over the last few years, but the Knights have been so good that I don't really see another outcome.

Talk of winning streaks above, Coe looks to increase their win streak over long-term rival Cornell to 25 years in a row. Central takes on Illinois Wesleyan, who has been struggling over the last few years. Loras hosts Hope, which was a playoff team last year and holds a number of one-sided victories over the Duhawks. BV and Luther both play teams that may actually lead to competitive football games, but don't exactly catch the eyes of people who may want to watch fundamentally sound football. NWU plays an NAIA team, which does not leave me much to comment on, as I know hardly anything about NAIA football.

And then UD plays UW-Stout and Simpson plays Augustana. I think that these two games will tell us the most from the weekend. A win by either conference team here would imply that someone outside of the top 3 of Wartburg/Central/Coe has a legitimate chance to contend for the conference title or an at-large bid. I think that Simpson beating Augustana would not be as impressive as UD beating Stout, but it would show that the Simpson program, which looks to be improving, is going to take a big step this year. UD beating Stout would be the big shocker of the weekend, as Stout went into the last weekend of the season last year with an opportunity to win the WIAC. It would be a great look for the conference and would signify the amount of depth in the league.

Quote from: doolittledog on August 29, 2025, 04:22:49 PMHaha, yeah, I almost didn't make that post for that reason!  Even if it happened before your lifetime, Loras does have that 20 game win streak against UD from 1985-2004 

Trust me doolittle... I was reminded of said streak on a what seemed like a bi-monthly basis as a player...

I will say that I do not like that the Key game is so early this year. Week 3 and conference game number 1 feels all too early for what those of us on the eastern side of Dubuque think of as the biggest game of the year. Can't wait for games to be played this weekend!

Well, there was a 118 point swing between the 2023 Loras/Simpson game and their 2024 matchup.  We went from an 82-16 Loras win, to the next year seeing Simpson win 66-14.  So I guess anything is possible 
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Why can't we have fun light light-hearted conversations on this board without bringing up anxiety producing memory recalls?!?!

If you're going to slow down just make sure it's in Rosendale, otherwise you'll have to stop into the gas station to buy a t-shirt...

Quote from: doolittledog on August 07, 2025, 08:16:23 PMI am assuming DriftlessDuhawk will be running the pick-ems again this year.  He did a great job last year!

Pickem' will be back with a more thought out scoring system. We will once again be using Logan's point spreads to make things more interesting! When the calendar turns to August, that means football is just around the corner!

I just think it's the classic case of the old guard not liking change. Frank has done awesome things for D3 football for many years. Now, with social media, there are many more people (D1R podcast/Logan/Third Division/Dingo Talk podcast) who want to cover the sport, and they are all using different and unique perspectives. Pat and Frank (plenty of contention there as well) are more the old guard, classic journalist types (the first ones to do it and for that deserve an incredible amount of respect). That's great! The sport needs that type of reporting! Kobe and D1R are taking a more fun/entertaining approach to presenting their information. That's great too! Logan is a numbers guy, so he built a website based around a power rating algorithm. I love that too! The Third Division is looking for a lane to present the sport in short-form video, and he often has to walk back his humor because Frank told him to (honestly, I just wish he would let his takes/jokes fly and not worry about what others think about them). Hopefully, he sticks with it and keeps putting out content. I think we are just seeing a guy who is used to being one of the only voices who covered a sport now having to come to grips with the fact that multiple outlets are doing the same thing. I personally think that more perspectives are great and that each one should use their own unique background to showcase this sport in the best possible way.

That being said, as soon as you become a public figure (on twitter or in real life), you are opening yourself to criticism, and you better be ready to face it with some tough skin.

A bit late, but I just wanted to thank Logan for all of the stats and info he provides here, on twitter, and on his website. I loved using the spreads for the pickems last year as I felt like it added a bit more nuance to the season. I don't quite understand why certain members of the D3 media feel so personally attacked by an algorithm, one that Logan has clearly worked very hard on I might add, that is a passion project from a guy who obviously loves the D3 game. Hopefully, bridges can be mended one day, but until then, I'm firmly in your corner Logan!

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 also don't see a ton of value in adding another school to the conference in *ducks* another small town in the middle of Iowa. If the conference is going to expand, I believe they should look for a peer institution that also adds something of value to the league. Adding an Augustana/St. Ambrose would add a school in the Quad Cities, which is a large population center the whole league could then draw from easier. I could be convinced that a Briar Cliff in Sioux City/South Dakota, would provide a similar boost. I don't see much value in adding a Waldorf just to open up the potential in Forest City. I believe this is the thought process with thinking about the Northwestern (MN) proposal. I don't think that the ARC would immediately gain footholds in the cities, but the door would at least be cracked open.

Yeah, Logan and I have very similar sources, as these are the two schools I was referring to. The only thing I would add is that with Luther leaving, the conference is looking to move to a "travel partner" approach for all non-football sports.

With that being said, adding both Monmouth and Northwestern doesn't really work with that idea, and so the league would rather expand in one direction by getting two schools. So, either looking for an additional school in western Illinois or another one in the Twin Cities area.

Quote from: HansenRatings on June 25, 2025, 10:17:50 PMI could maybe see something where the top non-playoff team from a combination of the UMAC/MWC/NACC matches up with the next best team from the ARC, but that would probably, regrettably mean the dissolution of the Lakefront Bowl.

The other issue with this is that I know a couple of teams in these conferences have asked if the ARC plans on moving up to 10 teams with the subtraction of Luther, according to my "sources".

So happy to hear this news about the future of an ARC team playing in a bowl game. I have long said that I think the MIAC would be a great conference to match up with. I know Rochester Community College has a pretty decent stadium, and it would be halfway-ish between the cities and Iowa, not to mention you could ask Mayo to spare a few bucks to sponsor it. Otherwise, a game in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area would make sense (UNI dome?).

My only issue with this idea is if the game tried to make a Floyd of Rosedale-esque trophy, as I personally cannot stand the two D1 teams who play for that silly pig. 

Quote from: doolittledog on June 23, 2025, 08:21:12 PMGoing way back here.  The old dog track has morphed into a casino and great live music venue.  We highly recommend.  I liked Fat Tuesday's, but we were more Whiskey River (pretty much across the street) types.  One summer I lived across the street from the Walnut but wouldn't go there as it was known as a Loras bar     I am to this day, a Dog House fan. A couple of years ago my daughter got kicked out of Paul's because the bouncer didn't like her attitude...all 4'11" of her attitude!  So I have not been to that place.  I agree, the Yardarm is a great place during the summer months.  Our kids and their friends agree.   

I was unaware of your game doolittle...

The Whiskey is one of the best kept secrets in Dubuque.

Quote from: Fannosaurus Rex on June 14, 2025, 06:40:11 PMThe weekend Wall Street Journal has an article about how to spend a three day weekend in Dubuque. Of course the fist thing to do should be to get back in the car and drive to Pella. They missed that obvious move but it still paints Dubuque in pretty nice light.

Now I'm not sure I would go as far as to say you should be spending a full 3-day vacation in Pella  , but the article Fannosaurus Rex is referring to is written by David Farley, who is a native of Dubuque. Farley also owns lots of real estate in the city of Dubuque, and those who are aware of this took the article in a very tongue-in-cheek way, as clearly there is no ulterior motive behind the article...

That being said any sort of Dubuque itinerary that does not include a stop by one of the two casinos in town, a drink from Fat Tuesday's or the Walnut Tap, or dinner and live music at the Yardarm on the river is not exactly highlighting the best of things to do in Dubuque, in my opinion. He did get it right that the best burgers in town do come from Paul's Tavern, however, so I will give him that.

A lot of non-answers in that interview...

I think that the most interesting aspect was that he said they had an invitation to the MWC since 2022. From my understanding, they did not alert the league office to their intention to leave the conference until the day prior to the press release. They are also not leaving the conference in the way agreed upon in the bylaws, and thus will be paying additional fees to leave in such a hasty manner. It makes you wonder why they sat on this idea for so long, but now feel the need to rush out of the league.