FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[SagatagSam]

MIAC official conference schedule webpage shows football championship weekend has been eliminated.

Boz Bostrom broke the story on Twitter:
https://x.com/bozbostrom/status/1928650310127358307?s=46&t=mGqTC79GJ1s2EzukNSOUQQ

[art76]

MIAC official conference schedule webpage shows football championship weekend has been eliminated.

Boz Bostrom broke the story on Twitter:
https://x.com/bozbostrom/status/1928650310127358307?s=46&t=mGqTC79GJ1s2EzukNSOUQQ

Bethel's website is a little behind it seems - thanx for sharing.

[Redtooth]

Not spilling the names or details (to quote John G. "No damn scouting reports") but SJU's offense just picked up a couple MAJOR transfers that could/should/will have an enormous impact on production and efficiency in the post Syverson era......

Thrilled that the "Championship Game" has been eliminated and the divisional garbage that came with it.

[DuffMan]

What a tease.

[SagatagSam]

Some noteworthy items announced for the upcoming season:

Divisional structure officially eliminated and replaced with a true round robin. This was changed already on the MIAC website, but now teams and the conference are making the official announcement.

Games played after the end of daylight savings time (which is the final two weeks of the regular season) will kickoff at noon instead of 1 p.m.

https://gojohnnies.com/news/2025/6/2/football-miac-eliminates-championship-week-sju-to-play-all-nine-conference-opponents-in-2025.aspx

[SagatagSam]

Some noteworthy items announced for the upcoming season:

Divisional structure officially eliminated and replaced with a true round robin. This was changed already on the MIAC website, but now teams and the conference are making the official announcement.

Games played after the end of daylight savings time (which is the final two weeks of the regular season) will kickoff at noon instead of 1 p.m.

https://gojohnnies.com/news/2025/6/2/football-miac-eliminates-championship-week-sju-to-play-all-nine-conference-opponents-in-2025.aspx

Looking ahead, the Johnnies will play Bethel early in the season in 2025 and 2026. The 2026 game could potentially be SJU's homecoming game as it falls on October 3. If so, it would fall on the 17th anniversary of Russell Gliadon's game winning 49-yard field goal in 2009.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiKMd6jTa-w

The two teams won't meet in a late season showdown until 2027 and 2028.

[faunch]

Not spilling the names or details (to quote John G. "No damn scouting reports") but SJU's offense just picked up a couple MAJOR transfers that could/should/will have an enormous impact on production and efficiency in the post Syverson era......

Thrilled that the "Championship Game" has been eliminated and the divisional garbage that came with it.

Hopeful the new guys will make in impact on the offensive side however the offense hasn't been our Achilles hell the last couple of seasons. I'll take a disruptive d-lineman, stud linebacker and a shut down corner in the mix as well.

[hazzben]

Thanks Pat, appreciate the off season info! #Isitfootballseasonyet

[OzJohnnie]

What a tease.

When is the kickoff luncheon? We'll surely find out then if redtooth forces us to wait.

[HSCTiger74]

Oz, what's up with the Hawks? I can't remember the last time they lost three in a row (although I'll admit that I don't follow the matches as closely as I used to).

[OzJohnnie]

Oz, what's up with the Hawks? I can't remember the last time they lost three in a row (although I'll admit that I don't follow the matches as closely as I used to).

Two things, unfortunately.

First, the forward line has been under-manned all season. We've cobbled together a line that doesn't include a big gorilla to anchor it. Well-structured defence can just sit on everyone.  So if you can only generate limited scoring shots, you must score six every time. We haven't.

Second, our effort has really fallen off. Footy is a game that requires players to push themselves beyond their limits when the lungs are burning and the muscles are so tired. We've had a run against three top teams, the fourth in another day, and they have simply outworked us.  Good footy is 90% effort. If you're willing to outwork the other team (tackle more, repeat sprints in defence to maintain zones, thankless repeat sprints off the ball in offence to provide options that may never be taken) then you win nearly every time.

We'll see how we go. Four quarters of 100% effort is the only way to win at the top of the ladder.

[DuffMan]

UM-Morris, Auggie Tech, Mac, Hot Carls, and St. Scholastica at home?  What an awful home schedule.  I'll set the over/under for regular season points given up at Clemens at 7.5.

Ooh, and now we add the Potato Oles as a 6th home game.  Wonderful.

[OzJohnnie]

There you go. A four quarter effort of high defensive pressure and the hawks are back in the winners circle.  The forward line was still too inefficient but the defensive effort didn't need a huge score. Keep this up and the hawks are good. The forwards finally click and they are very dangerous.

[SagatagSam]

I asked ChatGPT to write an obituary for the MIAC Championship Game. Here's what it gave me:

Obituary: The MIAC Football Championship Game (November 13, 2021 – November 16, 2024)

It is with a mixture of reverence and resignation that we mark the passing of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Football Championship Game, which ran its course from 2021 to 2024. Born out of necessity and competitive spirit, the championship game was both a symbol of renewed structure in Division III football and a showcase of Minnesota grit. It has now joined the annals of college football history—brief, but impactful.

Established in 2021 following the MIAC's reorganization into two divisions (the Northwoods and Skyline), the championship game was created to determine the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Football Championship. This structure was intended to resolve the long-standing dominance of a few programs while reinvigorating competition across the board. For four seasons, it did just that.

The inaugural championship game in 2021 set a dramatic standard that would prove difficult to match. Played in a swirling snowstorm in Arden Hills, it was an instant classic between two MIAC titans: Saint John's and Bethel. With the game on the line, Saint John's orchestrated a stunning 72-yard drive in the final minutes—eight plays capped by a 4th-and-goal touchdown from the Royals' 3-yard line with just one second remaining. It was a signature moment in MIAC history, steeped in tension, grit, and sheer will.

Yet, as the seasons went on, the championship game never quite returned to that same fever pitch. There were memorable plays and worthy champions, but the magic of that first finale in the snow remained unmatched—a reminder that lightning rarely strikes the same field twice.

Ultimately, shifting conference priorities, logistical challenges, and differing visions for the future led to the quiet sunsetting of the MIAC Championship Game after the 2024 season. There was no grand announcement, no farewell ceremony—just the soft close of a chapter that many will look back on with fondness and perhaps a touch of longing.

The MIAC Football Championship Game is survived by the teams and rivalries it helped elevate, the student-athletes who played with passion under late-autumn skies, and the fans who cheered with mittened hands and loyal hearts. Its legacy will linger on campus fields, in stat books, and in the memories of those who witnessed its brief but brilliant existence.

Requiescat in pace, MIAC Championship Game. You were gone too soon, but you burned bright while you lasted.

[GoldandBlueBU]

I asked ChatGPT to write an obituary for the MIAC Championship Game. Here's what it gave me:

Obituary: The MIAC Football Championship Game (November 13, 2021 – November 16, 2024)

It is with a mixture of reverence and resignation that we mark the passing of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Football Championship Game, which ran its course from 2021 to 2024. Born out of necessity and competitive spirit, the championship game was both a symbol of renewed structure in Division III football and a showcase of Minnesota grit. It has now joined the annals of college football history—brief, but impactful.

Established in 2021 following the MIAC's reorganization into two divisions (the Northwoods and Skyline), the championship game was created to determine the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Football Championship. This structure was intended to resolve the long-standing dominance of a few programs while reinvigorating competition across the board. For four seasons, it did just that.

The inaugural championship game in 2021 set a dramatic standard that would prove difficult to match. Played in a swirling snowstorm in Arden Hills, it was an instant classic between two MIAC titans: Saint John's and Bethel. With the game on the line, Saint John's orchestrated a stunning 72-yard drive in the final minutes—eight plays capped by a 4th-and-goal touchdown from the Royals' 3-yard line with just one second remaining. It was a signature moment in MIAC history, steeped in tension, grit, and sheer will.

Yet, as the seasons went on, the championship game never quite returned to that same fever pitch. There were memorable plays and worthy champions, but the magic of that first finale in the snow remained unmatched—a reminder that lightning rarely strikes the same field twice.

Ultimately, shifting conference priorities, logistical challenges, and differing visions for the future led to the quiet sunsetting of the MIAC Championship Game after the 2024 season. There was no grand announcement, no farewell ceremony—just the soft close of a chapter that many will look back on with fondness and perhaps a touch of longing.

The MIAC Football Championship Game is survived by the teams and rivalries it helped elevate, the student-athletes who played with passion under late-autumn skies, and the fans who cheered with mittened hands and loyal hearts. Its legacy will linger on campus fields, in stat books, and in the memories of those who witnessed its brief but brilliant existence.

Requiescat in pace, MIAC Championship Game. You were gone too soon, but you burned bright while you lasted.

LOL!

Liked it overall - I'd ask Chat to revise it with a tone that reflected that everyone was actually quite happy to see it die.