All Things D2 and D3 College Football 2023 Season Thread

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Some guy said:
Also depends on when.
One game some d2 could compete with some FCS.

Mid season, probably not. The depth of the FCS schools would likely show mid season and late in games.

FBS = 85 full rides
FCS = 63 full rides
D2 = 36 but can be split


Last year there were about 28 d2 vs FCS games. I haven’t looked up all the results but would guess there is at least one upset
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Good question. The NCAA tracks non-conference record by division against each other (it's buried). Here was last year's results.

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I've always said the top teams in one division could compete well with all but maybe the top 20% of the next division up (pulling that number out of my ass). There are numerous examples where a team that moves up immediately competes with most of the new upper division conference. Regional examples include Sioux Falls (NAIA to D2) and much of the old NCC going FCS. UST competed right away in the Pioneer. WIAC teams hold their own against D2 teams most years. Concordia-Moorhead, when they were good, had a decent record against Moorhead State back when they played every year.

As for D2 scholarships, they are almost never full rides, so some D3 schools can actually compete in the financial aid race. I thought I remembered Adam Thielen saying his scholly at Mankato was a whopping $500.
 

Panthadad2 said:
I've always said the top teams in one division could compete well with all but maybe the top 20% of the next division up (pulling that number out of my ass). There are numerous examples where a team that moves up immediately competes with most of the new upper division conference. Regional examples include Sioux Falls (NAIA to D2) and much of the old NCC going FCS. UST competed right away in the Pioneer. WIAC teams hold their own against D2 teams most years. Concordia-Moorhead, when they were good, had a decent record against Moorhead State back when they played every year.

As for D2 scholarships, they are almost never full rides, so some D3 schools can actually compete in the financial aid race. I thought I remembered Adam Thielen saying his scholly at Mankato was a whopping $500.
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Well Adam wasn’t all that great at Mankato. Sr year was decent. Don’t think was much of a recruit coming out of high school so doubt the scholarship would have been that much compared to some others. Just kept getting better. Amazing story.
 

In the threads for D2 and D3 football, last year sooo much space was wasted on discussion over high school teams potentially beating D3 teams. It is interesting to see how far things have come.
 


Schnauzer said:
In the threads for D2 and D3 football, last year sooo much space was wasted on discussion over high school teams potentially beating D3 teams. It is interesting to see how far things have come.
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I think complaining about wasting space in an off-season thread on a message board is pretty ridiculous tbh
 

Some guy said:
I think complaining about wasting space in an off-season thread on a message board is pretty ridiculous tbh
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Taking yourself very seriously is how you average over two thousand mostly meaningless posts per year through 9 years on a message board. Imho
 
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Schnauzer said:
This is how you average two thousand posts per year, with most of them taking yourself far too seriously. tbh
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The irony of this statement from the guy who came on a message board to accuse people of wasting space
 

Some guy said:
The irony of this statement from the guy who came on a message board to accuse people of wasting space
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I should have been more specific in that I was referring specifically to you. With that said, it is probably fruitless territory for me because you know what they say about a peeing contest with a skunk. And I’m dealing with a bladder the size of Lake Superior here. So I’ll just leave it at that.
 



Looking at the start of the season, I see that Minnesota State Moorhead opens the season at Wayne State College, Nebraska on Thursday, Aug. 31. Kick-off will be an hour before the Gophers at 6 p.m.

So, it will be double the Minnesota Vs. Nebraska action to kick off the season. Hoping to celebrate two wins over Nebraska by Minnesota teams that night.
 


BleedGopher said:

Go Gophers!!
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I’ve heard of the growing apathy towards the bison up there. Not sure if they’ve outgrow their conference and going to FBS would change that. Even though UND hockey program isn’t what it used to be, it’s still always in the top 3 for attendance each season.
 




Here's the NSIC Preseason Poll-

1. Bemidji State, 131 Points
2. Minnesota State Mankato, 125 Points
3. Wayne State, 114 Points
4. Augustana, 112 Points
5. Minnesota Duluth, 109 Points
6. Winona State, 103 Points
7T. Northern State, 75 Points
7T. Sioux Falls, 75 Points
9. Southwest Minnesota State, 50 Points
10. Minnesota State Moorhead, 45 Points
11. Concordia St. Paul, 35 Points
12T. University of Mary, 20 Points
12T. Minot State, 20 Points

Also preseason player honors
  • Preseason Offensive Player of the Year - Brandon Alt, Bemidji State Quarterback
  • Preseason Defensive Player of the Year - Ian Marshall, Northern State Defensive Lineman
 

RoseGoldy said:
I’ve heard of the growing apathy towards the bison up there. Not sure if they’ve outgrow their conference and going to FBS would change that. Even though UND hockey program isn’t what it used to be, it’s still always in the top 3 for attendance each season.
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I have a few friends who are Bison fans but have since given up their season tickets. It gets boring watching them beat up on the Illinois States of the world by 40 points most weeks. The Fargodome desperately needs some remodeling, but since it's city-owned and not school-owned, the school has no real say in it. It's like watching football in a dim warehouse.

I thought I'd heard they started to crack down a bit on the tailgate scene too, not to mention tailgating late in the season is absolutely miserable.

I don't really know what they can do, but the one thing is that with geography apparently no longer mattering at all for college sports, they can't claim geographic isolation anymore as to why they don't have an FBS invite.
 

disco said:
I have a few friends who are Bison fans but have since given up their season tickets. It gets boring watching them beat up on the Illinois States of the world by 40 points most weeks. The Fargodome desperately needs some remodeling, but since it's city-owned and not school-owned, the school has no real say in it. It's like watching football in a dim warehouse.

I thought I'd heard they started to crack down a bit on the tailgate scene too, not to mention tailgating late in the season is absolutely miserable.

I don't really know what they can do, but the one thing is that with geography apparently no longer mattering at all for college sports, they can't claim geographic isolation anymore as to why they don't have an FBS invite.
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Starting in 2011 with their first championship, they have played 34 home playoff games vs 1 playoff road game. They are 33-1 in those 34 games.

It's always fun to watch your team win but I imagine a playoff game loses it's luster when it's so common.
 

disco said:
I have a few friends who are Bison fans but have since given up their season tickets. It gets boring watching them beat up on the Illinois States of the world by 40 points most weeks. The Fargodome desperately needs some remodeling, but since it's city-owned and not school-owned, the school has no real say in it. It's like watching football in a dim warehouse.

I thought I'd heard they started to crack down a bit on the tailgate scene too, not to mention tailgating late in the season is absolutely miserable.

I don't really know what they can do, but the one thing is that with geography apparently no longer mattering at all for college sports, they can't claim geographic isolation anymore as to why they don't have an FBS invite.
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The novelty has definitely worn off in Fargo. The lack of any real and lasting competition doesn't make for compelling must see football. The MVFC is the best conference in FCS but really it's only because NDSU, SDSU, Northern Iowa who have consistently been strong teams and then a rotation of 4th and 5th place teams, and the gap between the top to the middle of the conference is pretty wide.

Many of the quality FCS programs in the east and south have moved up to FBS, but only a few, like App St and James Madison, truly belong. Instead, very many are moving up because the guarantees paid by the P5/P4 to FBS G5 programs are 2 to 3 times what are paid to FCS schools. With tight athletic budgets at these schools, a couple of P5/P4 guarantees are worth the extra 22 football scholarships, despite losing any ability to play meaningful football games at the end of the year.

P5/P4 programs quit scheduling NDSU, and for good reason. Why pay the Bison a bunch of money for a good opportunity to get punched in the mouth? Outside the Dakota Marker and national championship, they aren't playing in too many compelling games any more.

The portal is also starting to NDSU hard, too. It took a little while and it seemed like their guys were pretty loyal, but a couple of years ago, their top end talent started jumping up to FBS. It was only a matter of time.

The wet dream in Fargo, apparently even among NDSU administration (albeit quietly) has always been an invite to the Mountain West, preferably for FB only. Although I'm sure more than a few delusional Bison fans believed that NDSU would somehow turn into a national contender at the FBS level, the fans and admin were willing to trade national championships in a diminished FCS for 12 games of marginally better competition and presumably a couple of P5/P4 games every year. Is that a better result? I don't know. Would going 7-5 or 8-4 in the MWC fill up that dump any more than winning championships at FCS? Who knows.

While geography doesn't seem to matter any more for the P4 conferences, I think it still does for the G5. MWC pays out something like $6.6 million. That amount would probably decrease if a school like NDSU were added. There's a lot of travel expense added for NDSU in the MWC or any other G5 conference. Does it make sense financially?

Probably no fan base was more anquished by the events of last Friday than NDSU. They've admitted that the PAC 12 demise shuts the door on the miniscule chance they would be invited into the MWC. That chance always seemed predicated on the Big 12 or Pac 12 poaching one or two MWC schools. Now it seems likely that the MWC will gain at least WSU, if not OSU, too. Big 12 seems content with what they've acquired and San Diego State won't be going anywhere for the time being. MWC is suddenly very stable.
 

Let's see how St. Thomas does against Harvard, a consistent first-division Ivy team. We can learn a bit from that one game. Its important not to look at Ivies as typical non-schollies since they opened up their endowments to help fund tuition, placing many on "de facto" scholarship. It has had a marked impact on the quality of play in the Ivy.
 

WoodburyTim said:
Many many years ago, I had an official visit schedule to Bemidji State for football. A record cold snap hit and we couldn't make it. I remember thinking no big deal, didn't want to go there in the middle of nowhere. Upon growing up and spent time fishing and vacationing in the area, I wish I had made it. A beautiful area of our state.
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So where did you play?
 

metrolax said:
Let's see how St. Thomas does against Harvard, a consistent first-division Ivy team. We can learn a bit from that one game. Its important not to look at Ivies as typical non-schollies since they opened up their endowments to help fund tuition, placing many on "de facto" scholarship. It has had a marked impact on the quality of play in the Ivy.
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South Dakota game is interesting too.

Can they be competitive?
 

Some guy said:
South Dakota game is interesting too.

Can they be competitive?
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STU defense has traditionally been strong. Offense basic run it down your throat. It will be like a good high school game, whoever has the bigger stronger guys will push the LOS.
 


The best bet for NDSU (and the other three Dakota schools, and probably the two Montana schools) is that there's some other split in D1 football where the current P5 (or now P4) become a higher division, and the G5 absorb the top of FCS.

Bison fans are among the most delusional sports fans of all, but they reside in this weird no-mans-land, which has to suck.
 

disco said:
The best bet for NDSU (and the other three Dakota schools, and probably the two Montana schools) is that there's some other split in D1 football where the current P5 (or now P4) become a higher division, and the G5 absorb the top of FCS.

Bison fans are among the most delusional sports fans of all, but they reside in this weird no-mans-land, which has
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If the CFP had not expanded or if the G5 had been left out I think this would have been the result. It could still happen if one result of super conferences is more conference games and less guarantee games for G5 and less incentives for the Sam Hiustons to be FBS. Or at the very least, if not a new division then some teams returning to FCS from FBS.
 

MIAC football games - and other sports - have a new one-site streaming video setup for the upcoming school year.

from the conference website:

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced on Tuesday the launch of the MIAC Sports Network powered by Hudl TV and BlueFrame Technology. The MIAC Sports Network will be the official streaming home of all MIAC events and championships.

The end-to-end digital streaming service is now available on the web (https://miacsportsnetwork.com/) along with streaming apps for television and mobile devices, including Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku (TV), iOS, Android (mobile), and Amazon Fire Tablet. The app can be found and installed free of charge by searching for the MIAC Sports Network.

“The MIAC is excited to begin this partnership with Hudl TV and BlueFrame Technology,” MIAC Associate Commissioner BJ Pickard said. “The MIAC Sports Network is going to provide fans with greater event access and video quality than ever before, making it easy to stream events and championships in one central location for all 13 member institutions across the conference.”

“We're thrilled that Hudl TV has been chosen to power the MIAC Sports Network,” said Ben Kant, Head of Streaming at Hudl. “Member schools will have the ability to monetize their livestreams and keep every fan connected to their teams through an easy-to-use, reliable platform. We're looking forward to creating a more engaging livestream experience for the MIAC and fans across the conference.”

Live games and events will begin streaming on the MIAC Sports Network this September.
 

It looks like NDSU had an exodus of players to FBS and other schools. Lost some coaches as well. Competition is always good, the MIAC for football declined when they removed St. Thomas. Most of the teams appear to be a gloried HS team.
 

Tommyboy said:
It looks like NDSU had an exodus of players to FBS and other schools. Lost some coaches as well. Competition is always good, the MIAC for football declined when they removed St. Thomas. Most of the teams appear to be a gloried HS team.
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I think that's a pretty harsh assessment of the MIAC. If you look at last year's standings, St. John's and Bethel are clearly the top two teams in the league. Hamline and St. Scholastica are on the bottom. but the teams in the middle are very competitive with each other.

I watch a fair amount of D3 games. they are obviously not on the level of D1 or the top D2 teams, but they play solid football and would rout any HS team they face.

there is room for different levels of football. I choose to enjoy them for what they are. you are free to make your own choice.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I think that's a pretty harsh assessment of the MIAC. If you look at last year's standings, St. John's and Bethel are clearly the top two teams in the league. Hamline and St. Scholastica are on the bottom. but the teams in the middle are very competitive with each other.

I watch a fair amount of D3 games. they are obviously not on the level of D1 or the top D2 teams, but they play solid football and would rout any HS team they face.

there is room for different levels of football. I choose to enjoy them for what they are. you are free to make your own choice.
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Bethel had a really good team last year. Hopefully they can continue to complete at a high level. Their 6th year QB really was the difference for them last year. All fun to watch.
 

I’ll be attending Trinity @ SJU to open the season. My dad, me, 3 year old. We went to the opener last year as well. Fun tradition we are building.
 

Presason Division II Poll is out. NSIC teams in bold:
  1. Ferris State (MI)
  2. Colorado School of Mines
  3. Grand Valley State (MI)
  4. Pittsburg State (KS)
  5. Angelo State (TX)
  6. Northwest Missouri State
  7. West Florida
  8. Ouachita Baptist (AR)
  9. Minnesota State-Mankato
  10. Delta State (MS)
  11. Bemidji State
  12. Ashland (OH)
  13. Shepherd (WV)
  14. Harding (AR)
  15. Slippery Rock (PA)
  16. Indiana (PA)
  17. Benedict (SC)
  18. Virginia Union (VA)
  19. Emporia State (KS)
  20. Indianapolis (IN)
  21. Wingate (NC)
  22. West Georgia
  23. Assumption (MA)
  24. Newberry (SC)
  25. Lenoir-Rhyne (NC)
Wayne State and Minnesota-Duluth are also receiving votes.
 

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