FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[faunch]

Or...I've been at this school working my ass off for 2-3 years and then they give a D1 transfer a wad of cash to come in.

I think you're looking at it through the lens of how we would've understood it.  Money in college sports is more and more normalized, and I'm guessing athletes today wouldn't be all that shocked. Sure, we wish D3 would remain a bastion of purity, but there will certainly be cases where money leaks in stuff like this will happen.
[/quote]

Or...I've been at this school working my ass off for 2-3 years and then they give a D1 transfer a wad of cash to come in.

I think you're looking at it through the lens of how we would've understood it.  Money in college sports is more and more normalized, and I'm guessing athletes today wouldn't be all that shocked. Sure, we wish D3 would remain a bastion of purity, but there will certainly be cases where money leaks in stuff like this will happen.
[/quote]

Or how D3 was supposed to be. Honestly I'm getting tired of just about every level of sports. The other day I saw a video of like an 11 year old doing a commitment ceremony for AAU basketball.

[OzJohnnie]

There are something like 230 D3 schools. About 30 of them want to regularly be nationally competitive.  About seven or eight of those want to be championship competitive. Thats where the NIL money goes as well as the $250 a head fundraisers. There are plenty of schools who are there for guys who don't want to risk being displaced by a D1 transfer, only a few who are there to win.

From memory, I think there was a minor meltdown on this board when the Johnnies didn't go deep into the post-season this year with demands that something change so they do.  Well, make your choice: championship competitive or nostalgia lane.  Can't have both.

[maripp2002]

Well, make your choice: championship competitive or nostalgia lane.  Can't have both.

This is a legit question, not just being snarky, but SJU has only a single semi-final appearance (where they lost to UWW who was consequently boat-raced in the finals) and no finals appearances since that 2003 championship. Would it not be fair to say that decision is already made? A quarter century with a single semi-finals appearance would put SJU in the 30 or so that want to be nationally competitive and not the upper crust of "chasing championships". Keeping in mind I'm an outsider to the program and just peeking in every now and again on this board - SJU and the base could very well consider that they've just been incredibly close these last 23 years.

But since SJU last won a national championship, they've had the 3rd most national semi-final appearances...in the MIAC - behind Bethel and the now departed Tommies. Since SJU last played in a Stagg Bowl; Linfield, Cortland and UWRF have all won a natty, UMHB and NCC have won 3 each, and UWW and UMU have each won 6.

Admittedly, between actual Stagg bowl wins, given the limited sample size, SJU wins a D3 championship about every 27 years, so they're due around 2030, but does that count as being championship competitive?

FWIW, I'm serious about not being snarky. Wabash's glory day was a tough Stagg loss in 1977. I'd love for us to be back to being one of those 30 or so programs winning a playoff game or two each year. But I'm also pretty realistic about the fact that we're nowhere close to that upper tier at the moment.

[DuffMan]

Touché

[OzJohnnie]

Yesterday witnessed the greatest Easter Monday classic ever played. The whole family was there for this one, including my parents who are down for a visit. The 85k fans were so loud that the TV camera shook on the final siren.

And the final two minutes.

[art76]

Lifted from my FB feed - posted by Frank Rossi:

"TESTING D3FB NPI OVER SIX YEARS: A REALITY CHECK THAT REQUIRES CHANGES

By Frank Rossi - "In the (D3FB) Huddle"

While the NCAA Power Index ("NPI") has been used for just two years of Division 3 college football playoff selections and seedings, we have the ability to look back MUCH further to see how the current NPI setup would have handled past playoff years and how it compares to the prior Selection Committee efforts used prior to the 2024 season. The report can be found here:
http://d3fbhuddle.com/NPI6Years.pdf -- it utilizes NPI data from our ITH NPI site that we have expanded back to 2019.

In this in-depth report, "In the Huddle" looks at the 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 D3FB seasons and explores how NPI would have performed in each year, whether or not the NCAA analyzed that data. What we learn quickly is that NPI has struggled mightily in identifying the top teams, sometimes in ways that make the prior system look practical.

The report takes an especially large look at the treatment of North Central Football over these six seasons, in which North Central has appeared in the Stagg Bowl every year. It also dives into conference inequities, examines the impact of strength of schedule ("SOS") and its interplay with the shorter football schedule of 9 or 10 games per season, and examines ways to change NPI to eliminate some of its biggest shortcomings in football.

This is not a short document, but it takes the largest in-depth look at football's version of NPI we have seen since its inception. Take a look at the report, and let us know what you think."

https://d3fbhuddle.com/NPI6Years.pdf

[DriftlessDuhawk]

As usual, Frank Rossi doing things about 2 full years after Logan Hansen does it and then proclaims he has made a discovery...

[art76]

Bethel finally posted it's full schedule - no real surprises, though I see they have a second night game at Macalaster on October 24th. This might be the first season in BU history with two night games - I wouldn't even know where to look to confirm that.

Also, the November games are now listed as 1:00 pm starts, but I'm fairly certain the MIAC starts at noon after Daylights Savings Time is moved back.

https://athletics.bethel.edu/sports/football/schedule