FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[OzJohnnie]

At least 7 at-large teams ranked higher in NPI than Bethel all have to lose at least one game in the next two weeks for BU to have a shot at the play-offs. Not gonna say never, but it doesn't bode well for the Royals this year.

I fed a bunch of data into Claude, gave some prompts (rather insightful prompts, if I do say so myself) and set off Opus 5.5 on max to create you a death watch.  Who knows if it's right, but here you go.  I'll update after each weekend to see who you need to die.

Games to watch

Nov. 7, Baldwin Wallace at Mount Union: cheer for BW.
Nov. 7, Heidelberg at Capital: cheer for Capital.
Nov. 14, CNU at Salisbury: cheer for CNU.
Nov. 14, Denison at John Carroll: cheer for Denison.

Every game: cheer against Eau Claire, Brockport, F&M, Ursinus, Case Western, Benedictine, Mary Hardin-Baylor, UW-River Falls, Merchant Marine and Trinity (Conn.).

[art76]

At least 7 at-large teams ranked higher in NPI than Bethel all have to lose at least one game in the next two weeks for BU to have a shot at the play-offs. Not gonna say never, but it doesn't bode well for the Royals this year.

I fed a bunch of data into Claude, gave some prompts (rather insightful prompts, if I do say so myself) and set off Opus 5.5 on max to create you a death watch.  Who knows if it's right, but here you go.  I'll update after each weekend to see who you need to die.

Games to watch

Nov. 7, Baldwin Wallace at Mount Union: cheer for BW.
Nov. 7, Heidelberg at Capital: cheer for Capital.
Nov. 14, CNU at Salisbury: cheer for CNU.
Nov. 14, Denison at John Carroll: cheer for Denison.

Every game: cheer against Eau Claire, Brockport, F&M, Ursinus, Case Western, Benedictine, Mary Hardin-Baylor, UW-River Falls, Merchant Marine and Trinity (Conn.).

Thanx, Oz! - But what a tangled web we weave? It's still close enough to Halloween, right?

[OzJohnnie]

Thanx, Oz! - But what a tangled web we weave? It's still close enough to Halloween, right?

I was surprised that there are 14 teams that can help you get your eight spots.  It's like having a bunch of outs after the flop in Texas hold 'em, and you'll see your outs drop as each week/card comes along.  The other thing you need to cheer for is that no conference champions are upset.  The model assumes the conferences finish with the champs they have.  A conference with an upset finish could put another team in front of you.

[art76]

I was surprised that there are 14 teams that can help you get your eight spots.  It's like having a bunch of outs after the flop in Texas hold 'em, and you'll see your outs drop as each week/card comes along.  The other thing you need to cheer for is that no conference champions are upset.  The model assumes the conferences finish with the champs they have.  A conference with an upset finish could put another team in front of you.

Saw this and wanted to share: https://d3fbhuddle.com/at-large-guide-w9.html

This morning's podcast has BU still on the bubble, but there are a lot of moving pieces for it to happen.

[faunch]

Johnnies will struggle to get past their 2nd playoff game again. The possession at end of the first half was a joke. And why was the referee wearing gloves today. Clearly his furnace had been on for the past month.

Man, your team is undefeated, looks great, and this is where you're at.   

I'm just saying that in late November/ early December, 2 interceptions, 2 fg instead of touchdowns and a missed fg and 5/12 on 3td down is a recipe for having weekends free for Christmas shopping. You get easy with that when you have a good defense against a slightly better than anemic offense.
Again i hope I'm wrong.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Johnnies will struggle to get past their 2nd playoff game again. The possession at end of the first half was a joke. And why was the referee wearing gloves today. Clearly his furnace had been on for the past month.

Man, your team is undefeated, looks great, and this is where you're at.   

I'm just saying that in late November/ early December, 2 interceptions, 2 fg instead of touchdowns and a missed fg and 5/12 on 3td down is a recipe for having weekends free for Christmas shopping. You get easy with that when you have a good defense against a slightly better than anemic offense.
Again i hope I'm wrong.

I hear ya.  IMO, some of that is a symptom of the lopsided conference.   I'm sure the coaches do all they can to get the team focused and performing regardless of who they are playing, but everyone on SJU knows in their mind that for almost all of their conference games, they could play their third stringers and still likely win.  I think it's hard to be super sharp and show up 100% on every play when that reality exists.

[GoldandBlueBU]

I realize that it's in the spirit of what Division III stands for and represents that the playoffs are all about inclusion, but it's also disappointing knowing that teams such as Bethel, who are capable of beating most teams that will earn a bid, are left out.

Yes, disappointing that they could have scheduled Crown and won 100-0, and be firmly in the playoffs, but because they wanted to better the program and play a strong team, chances are they will be out.  Oh well, I'm still glad they pushed themselves by scheduling NC.

[Mister36]

I realize that it's in the spirit of what Division III stands for and represents that the playoffs are all about inclusion, but it's also disappointing knowing that teams such as Bethel, who are capable of beating most teams that will earn a bid, are left out.

Yes, disappointing that they could have scheduled Crown and won 100-0, and be firmly in the playoffs, but because they wanted to better the program and play a strong team, chances are they will be out.  Oh well, I'm still glad they pushed themselves by scheduling NC.

Especially since according to Hansen Ratings, they are #5...just happened to play #1 and #4

[hazzben]

Cobbers are definitely on the upswing. That's good for the MIAC, I'd love to see GAC get to this level too. Their WR's were as big a group of D3 pass catchers as I can remember. Both teams had success through the air. The difference in the game was BU run game and run D. Duling did a good job sticking with the run.

I couldn't make sense of how the Cobbers handled their QB rotation. Then again, the fact there wasn't much difference between the two maybe explains why they run a rotation.

Hoping the Cobber WR is ok who slid into the endzone bleachers on his TD catch. I was sitting about 2 feet away from where he hit. The metal corner of the bleacher took him right in the abdomen. Had to chuckle, Terry ran over and as the trainer was looking him over he says "hey, we got six!!!" ... at the time I think the kid was just trying to figure out if he still had a spleen or not