FB: American Rivers Conference

[Gregulator316]

So, would the games last year have been Central vs Lake Forrest and Adrian vs Benedictine? Or some combination of those teams?

[DriftlessDuhawk]

Yes, by my understanding, those would have been the teams selected based on each conference's rules for determining finishing order.

But I believe what Stroman said was that once the four teams were selected, they would use NPI to determine the matchups. With the higher two playing each other and the lower two playing each other. Central (finished 40th in NPI) would play Adrian (finished 50th in NPI) and Lake Forrest (finished 86th in NPI) would play Benedictine (finished 78th in NPI).

This would all be a lot easier if the Lakefront Bowl didn't exist 

[The Third Division]

https://rollrivers.com/tournaments/?id=477

Team selection for the Riverbend Bowl Series will come from the ARC/MWC/NACC/MIAA.

After giving a listen to the Left Hash Call podcast where Seth interviewed Marie Stroman (the ARC commissioner) I feel a bit better about some of my questions about the bowl games.

Still a bit sad about the MIAC not being involved, and I do wonder where the NACC/MWC fall into this with the Lakefront bowl already existing. Stroman did mention that the selection process would be based on each conference's process for selecting at-large teams. She also said that they would not dip below the top three teams in each conference. So if the MWC sends two teams to the NCAA tournament (thanks NPI!) and then the third team goes to the Lakefront Bowl, the MWC's fourth best team will not be invited to the Riverbend Bowl. She states that if that scenario happens the ARC will assume that bid and will send a second team.

This is an extremely convoluted excuse of not just letting the ARC and MIAA each send their best non-playoff team against each other while having the next next best non playoff team from the nacc and mwc play each other-

wait why are we giving the nacc and mwc another bowl game???

[AndrewB]

So I'll just throw this out.  I have no knowledge of the situation.  But for the MIAC it makes much more sense to have a tie in game with the WIAC.  Could be in the Twin Cities, Eau Claire or even the Wisconsin Dells.  My guess is they're waiting on maybe a Culver's Bowl 2.  Even the 2nd best non playoff team from the WIAC this year could be La Crosse, Stout, River Falls or Eau Claire. 

[Schipper Strong]

Congratulations to UD on playing well and even leading Wartburg for part of the game today. That makes me feel slightly better about losing to UD. I did not see NWU beating Loras today either. What the heck? I take it neither defense showed up for the game. Wow, just wow. That makes me feel a bit better about heading to Loras Saturday. I still don't know what to think of Central. They had two nice wins, but against the bottom of the conference. I will take the confidence boost and the fact that we have made some progress in getting new players some experience. I think for the first time this season we might have gone a game without losing a starter to injury. We saw limited play from one starter who has been out and some playing time by a freshman that I think may have been injured up until recently. It still does not tell me how next Saturday will go.

[doolittledog]

I would have loved to see a Spartan victory over the Knights yesterday.  But I am happy that UD is the first conference team to make Wartburg have to work for it this season. 

Central does seem to be back to their normal selves over the past two weeks.  Sometimes those new starters called in due to injury take some time to adjust.

Coe just eeking out a victory over Simpson gives me some confidence that UD can win out...and make a bowl game this year!

Like Schipper Strong, I am a bit surprised by that Loras/NWU result. 

[DriftlessDuhawk]

What happened in Lincoln on Saturday was a complete and utter disaster...

I am still in shock as to what I saw. Loras was completely lost on defense and NWU could run anything it wanted. The Duhawks have now played 5 different QBs this season as Helminiak is hurt. They have not found a back up they are satisfied with clearly. Injuries are a part of the game but, Loras is now down 3/5 starters on the OL, the starting QB, a RB or 2, their starting MLB injured his knee this weekend and looks like he may be done for the year...

Not really sure where the team goes from here. This has not quite been the turn around season the people were hoping for from a new coaching staff.

[Schipper Strong]

I get how you feel Driftless Duhawk. Central has battled with key injuries this year also. It does take time to fill those holes even with a big team full of guys wanting to show what they can do. We have a pretty young team this year and it has taken some time to get back to looking like a Central football team. I know we aren't looking like we once were, but we are gaining momentum. We are getting a player or two back. Hope that is enough to win at the Rock Bowl on Saturday.

[doolittledog]

I'm about 8 hours away from either being in a great mood, or spending the rest of the weekend with a suboptimal disposition. Mrs Doolittle is hoping for Spartans and Hawkeyes victories today so it's easier for her to get me to do chores the rest of the weekend.

[doolittledog]

Halftime scores...
Wartburg 28-0 over Simpson
Dubuque 14-0 over BVU
Central 20-0 over Loras
Coe 34-7 over NWU

[doolittledog]

Final scores...
Wartburg 63-14 over Simpson
Dubuque 48-7 over BVU
Central 40-28 over Loras
Coe 48-21 over NWU

Outcomes were about what I expected.  The scores might have been a bit surprising here and there.

[Schipper Strong]

Final scores...
Wartburg 63-14 over Simpson
Dubuque 48-7 over BVU
Central 40-28 over Loras
Coe 48-21 over NWU

Outcomes were about what I expected.  The scores might have been a bit surprising here and there.

The UD-BVU score was about what I would have predicted. Everything else was a bit surprising. I thought Simpson seemed to be doing pretty well this year and with a WB grad coaching I thought the score would be closer. I thought Simpson would either have an inside track or not incur the offensive wrath. I was wrong.

Central didn't seem on track today. They settled for 2 FGs instead of TDs I think they could have gotten, then the defense totally fell apart the second half and the offense didn't look much better. We jumped out to a 34 point lead, then the team mentally got on the bus. I give Loras credit for stepping up, I know they made us look bad, we didn't actually just roll over, but we didn't stay aggressive either. I see one option that could give us a shot at giving WB a game next week and I don't see it happening.

I thought Coe would have won by a bigger margin. I think I am just kind of getting through this season. As a Central fan it has not lived up to my high, perhaps unrealistic expectations. I am happy we got our 5th win of the season though. I was afraid this would be the first time in decades that we had an actual losing season. At worst it could end up a non-winning season.