All Things D2 and D3 College Football 2023 Season Thread

WisconSIN's "high enrollment public universities" can't compete against their peers, so they drop down to the lowest level of football possible. Yep, it's that embarrassing to be a fan of one of those "high enrollment" schools.

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Eau Claire barely snuck by Concordia before getting stomped by 1,300 enrollment Coe this year. Stevens Point was lucky to put up 7 points against 1,500 enrollment Albion. Those are absolutely peers in college sports.
 

Eau Claire barely snuck by Concordia before getting stomped by 1,300 enrollment Coe this year. Stevens Point was lucky to put up 7 points against 1,500 enrollment Albion. Those are absolutely peers in college sports.
Peers are other "high enrollment public universities", not small privately funded schools. The WinconSIN "high enrollment public universities" are like AAAAA schools that have decided to play against small A schools because, as you say, it saves money and they have a better chance of winning. Legally then can make that choice, it's just embarrassing to be a fan who supports that decision.
 

Peers are other "high enrollment public universities", not small privately funded schools. The WinconSIN "high enrollment public universities" are like AAAAA schools that have decided to play against small A schools because, as you say, it saves money and they have a better chance of winning. Legally then can make that choice, it's just embarrassing to be a fan who supports that decision.
You play in the division you want, everyone playing by the same rules. Enrollment is just not even close to the biggest factor in wins and losses in college sports. This isn't high school.
 

Peers are other "high enrollment public universities", not small privately funded schools. The WinconSIN "high enrollment public universities" are like AAAAA schools that have decided to play against small A schools because, as you say, it saves money and they have a better chance of winning. Legally then can make that choice, it's just embarrassing to be a fan who supports that decision.
This is a really, really dumb take. Almost as dumb as your childish "WinconSIN" which is quite ironic considering that you spelled it wrong, starting the childish slur with the letters W.I.N.
 



And here's an interesting tidbit. Wisconsin's only D2 school - UW-Parkside - is actually smaller than any of the D3 schools in the WIAC.
Nice to see that at least one WisconSIN "large enrollment public university" has a bit of pride and is willing to compete with its peers. Here's to you Parkside. :drink:
 

River Falls is the real deal. I saw them dominate Mary Hardin-Baylor, a perennial power. They should give Whitewater a run for their money in a couple weeks if they can stay healthy.
I’ve only followed Wiac football for about a decade after going to a school in the conference. Between the close proximity to the twin cities, the top notch (new) facilities that are comprable to st Thomas, and the strength of the uw name tags I figured it was only a matter of time before river falls caught up. It’s a quieter campus but nice town and school too
 

I’ve only followed Wiac football for about a decade after going to a school in the conference. Between the close proximity to the twin cities, the top notch (new) facilities that are comprable to st Thomas, and the strength of the uw name tags I figured it was only a matter of time before river falls caught up. It’s a quieter campus but nice town and school too
How does it compare to the MIAC?
 

New D3 Football poll out - relatively little change
1. North Central (ill)
2. Mount Union
3. UW-Whitewater (up from #4 last week)
4. Wartburg (falls from #3 to #4)
5. UW-River Falls (up from 6 to 5)
6. Trinity, TX (down from 5 to 6)
7. St. John's MN (remains at #7)

among others
--UW-LaCrosse drops from 13th to 14th
--UW-Oshkosh falls out of the top 25 (has most votes of the 'others receiving votes' - so 26th place)
--Bethel received votes - would be in 30th place.

FWIW - WIAC goes from 4 ranked teams to 3 - but with 2 of the top 5 this week.
I watch North Central games on their Website. Impressive program with good run/pass balance. Fun to watch them.
 




How does it compare to the MIAC?
River Falls is the smallest of the schools in the WIAC at 5,725 undergrads. This makes it around the size of schools like Bemidji and Moorhead. It is larger than two other UW schools - Div. 2 UW-Parkside, and UMAC member UW-Superior (neither of which have football teams.)

It would be the largest school in the MIAC. Currently the largest is St. Scholastica, with 3900 undergrads.
 

I’ve only followed Wiac football for about a decade after going to a school in the conference. Between the close proximity to the twin cities, the top notch (new) facilities that are comprable to st Thomas, and the strength of the uw name tags I figured it was only a matter of time before river falls caught up. It’s a quieter campus but nice town and school too

I've only visited River Falls a few times but like it. It has a classic county seat town feel but not far away from the city. Stopped at a nice brewery/taproom before the game.

I don't have a feel for the facilities. The football stadium was nice and new (at least the home side). I don't know if I would use St. Thomas as a benchmark. They've long been good at athletics but their athletic facilities were below standard in the MIAC for a long time before the Anderson Center got them in the mix.
 
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I've only visited River Falls a few times but like it. It has a class county seat town feel but not far away from the city. Stopped at a nice brewery/taproom before the game.

I don't have a feel for the facilities. The football stadium was nice and new (at least the home side). I don't know if I would use St. Thomas as a benchmark. They've long been good at athletics but their athletic facilities were below standard in the MIAC for a long time before the Anderson Center got them in the mix.
The press box looks nice, but it's got a track and the bathrooms require a hike. In the WIAC I'd put them ahead of Stevens Point and that's about it.
 



How does it compare to the MIAC?
When st Thomas was in miac, I’d say they were evenly matched. St Thomas and St. John’s were comparable to whitewater and la crosse with frequent national title game appearances. Middle of the conference teams were comparable as well. Not id put wiac ahead but I suppose it’s not by much. Bethel has stepped up. Wiac usually has 3-4 teams in top 25 and miac has 2
 

When st Thomas was in miac, I’d say they were evenly matched. St Thomas and St. John’s were comparable to whitewater and la crosse with frequent national title game appearances. Middle of the conference teams were comparable as well. Not id put wiac ahead but I suppose it’s not by much. Bethel has stepped up. Wiac usually has 3-4 teams in top 25 and miac has 2
SJU is the house John G built. Their sport facility was built in the 70's. The football program is living off his past glory. STU has moved on, not much competition in the conference anymore. STU would beat them by 40 points.
 

SJU is the house John G built. Their sport facility was built in the 70's. The football program is living off his past glory. STU has moved on, not much competition in the conference anymore. STU would beat them by 40 points.
I believe, in the past, the type of D3 athletes that UST recruited are now landing on all the other MIAC teams and Augsburg is reaping the reward of having that type of player on the roster.
 




MIAC football results: (Sat, Oct 7)

Carleton 33, St. Olaf 31
Augsburg 41, Hamline 7
St. John's 42, Concordia 23
Gustavus 63, St. Scholastica 12
Bethel 49, Macalester 14

Carleton was up 30-17. Oles scored 2 TD's to go up 31-30. Carleton wins on 30-yd FG with 0:23 left in game.

Augsburg dominated Hamline. disclaimer -it was so exciting that I fell asleep for part of the game. Auggies with 6 TD passes - one from the backup QB.

St. John's QB Aaron Syverson goes 44 of 60 for 498 yds & 5 TD's. for the receivers - Alex Larson 13-124, 1TD; Dylan Wheeler 10-109; Nick VanErp 8-147, 2TD.

Gustavus racked up 614 yds total offense. QB George Sandven throws for 347 & 3TD's. WR Jake Breitbach with 11 rec for 133 & 3 TD.


next week:
St. Olaf (3-2/2-1) at St. Scholastica (2-3/1-2)
Macalester (2-3/0-3) at Gustavus (2-3/1-2)
Hamline (2-3/0-3) at Concordia (2-3/1-2)
Bethel (3-2/2-1) at Augsburg (4-1/2-1)
Carleton (5-0/3-0) at St. John's (4-1/3-0)
 

NSIC Scores today:

Sioux Falls 35 - CSP 28
Augustana 38 - SW Minnesota State 6
Wayne State 28 - UM Duluth 18
Minnesota State 24 - MSU Moorhead 21 :(
Winona State 17 - UMary 7
Northern State 46 - Minot State 7
 

NSIC Scores today:

Sioux Falls 35 - CSP 28
Augustana 38 - SW Minnesota State 6
Wayne State 28 - UM Duluth 18
Minnesota State 24 - MSU Moorhead 21 :(
Winona State 17 - UMary 7
Northern State 46 - Minot State 7
Yeah tough day for the Dragons, came so close to knocking off the Mavericks. Coach Laqua was a little too aggressive with his decision to go for it on fourth down to take the lead rather than try a FG attempt.

However, they put up a hell of a fight against a top 5 team. Not to moral victory talk too much, but the Dragons have played really well against the top of the NSIC (Wayne St, Augustana and the Mavericks) and handled the rest of their schedule so far fairly well. I think they have a good shot next week of taking down Sioux Falls. Lots of football left to be played.

Here are the NSIC standings after the weekend. Minnesota teams in bold.
  • Minnesota State-Mankato (6-0, 6-0)
  • Augustana (6-0, 5-0)
  • Bemidji State (4-1, 4-1)
  • Minnesota-Duluth (5-1, 4-1)
  • Wayne State (5-1, 4-1)
  • Winona State (3-3, 3-2)
  • Sioux Falls (3-3, 3-3)
  • Minnesota State-Moorhead (3-3, 2-3)
  • Northern State (2-4, 2-4)
  • Concordia-St. Paul (2-4, 1-4)
  • Southwest Minnesota State (1-5, 1-4)
  • Mary (0-6, 0-6)
  • Minot State (0-6, 0-6)
Next Saturday's games:
  • Mary at Minnesota-Duluth
  • Sioux Falls at Minnesota State-Moorhead
  • Bemidji State at Wayne State
  • Western Oregon at Minnesota State-Mankato
  • Concordia-St. Paul at Minot State
  • Augustana at Winona State
  • Northern State at Southwest Minnesota State
 



D2 Coaches Poll is out, NSIC teams in bold, Minnesota teams in italics
  1. Ferris St. (Mich.) 4-1
  2. Colorado School of Mines 6-0
  3. Pittsburg St. (Kan.) 6-0
  4. Minnesota State-Mankato 6-0
  5. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 6-0
  6. West Florida 5-1
  7. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) 4-1
  8. Delta St. (Miss.) 6-0
  9. Harding (Ark.) 6-0
  10. Slippery Rock (Pa.) 6-0
  11. Benedict (S.C.) 6-0
  12. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) 6-0
  13. Indianapolis (Ind.) 5-0
  14. Western Colorado 6-0
  15. Bemidji St. (Minn.) 4-1
  16. Davenport (Mich.) 5-0
  17. Central Missouri 5-1
  18. Henderson St. (Ark.) 5-1
  19. Truman St. (Mo.) 6-0
  20. Angelo St. (Tex.) 3-2
  21. Assumption (Mass.) 4-1
  22. Augustana (S.D.) 6-0
  23. Shepherd (W.Va.) 5-1
  24. Virginia St. 6-0
  25. Emporia St. (Kan.) 4-2
Others Receiving Votes: Valdosta St. (Ga.), Tiffin (Ohio), Virginia Union, Missouri Western St., Minnesota-Duluth, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas-Permian Basin, Charleston (W.Va.), Tuskegee (Ala.), Central Washington, Barton (N.C.), Southern Arkansas
 

MIAC football results: (Sat, Oct 7)

Carleton 33, St. Olaf 31
Augsburg 41, Hamline 7
St. John's 42, Concordia 23
Gustavus 63, St. Scholastica 12
Bethel 49, Macalester 14

Carleton was up 30-17. Oles scored 2 TD's to go up 31-30. Carleton wins on 30-yd FG with 0:23 left in game.
Nice to see the team with the homecoming game win...

(note to people that didn't know, the Carleton/St.Olaf game was both schools homecoming game).
 

D2 Coaches Poll is out, NSIC teams in bold, Minnesota teams in italics
  1. Ferris St. (Mich.) 4-1
  2. Colorado School of Mines 6-0
  3. Pittsburg St. (Kan.) 6-0
  4. Minnesota State-Mankato 6-0
  5. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 6-0
  6. West Florida 5-1
  7. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) 4-1
  8. Delta St. (Miss.) 6-0
  9. Harding (Ark.) 6-0
  10. Slippery Rock (Pa.) 6-0
  11. Benedict (S.C.) 6-0
  12. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) 6-0
  13. Indianapolis (Ind.) 5-0
  14. Western Colorado 6-0
  15. Bemidji St. (Minn.) 4-1
  16. Davenport (Mich.) 5-0
  17. Central Missouri 5-1
  18. Henderson St. (Ark.) 5-1
  19. Truman St. (Mo.) 6-0
  20. Angelo St. (Tex.) 3-2
  21. Assumption (Mass.) 4-1
  22. Augustana (S.D.) 6-0
  23. Shepherd (W.Va.) 5-1
  24. Virginia St. 6-0
  25. Emporia St. (Kan.) 4-2
Others Receiving Votes: Valdosta St. (Ga.), Tiffin (Ohio), Virginia Union, Missouri Western St., Minnesota-Duluth, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas-Permian Basin, Charleston (W.Va.), Tuskegee (Ala.), Central Washington, Barton (N.C.), Southern Arkansas
In MN we've got hockey hair, but Colorado School of Mines has everyone beat when it comes to football hair.
 

D3 Football poll
1. North Central ill
2. Mount Union
3. Wartburg (4th last wk)
4. UW-River Falls (5th last wk)
5. Trinity TX (6th last wk)
6. UW-LaCrosse (14th last wk)
7. UW-Whitewater (3rd last wk)
8. St. John's MN (7th last wk)

among others receiving votes: UW-Oshkosh; Bethel; UW-Platteville
 

D3 Football poll
1. North Central ill
2. Mount Union
3. Wartburg (4th last wk)
4. UW-River Falls (5th last wk)
5. Trinity TX (6th last wk)
6. UW-LaCrosse (14th last wk)
7. UW-Whitewater (3rd last wk)
8. St. John's MN (7th last wk)

among others receiving votes: UW-Oshkosh; Bethel; UW-Platteville
Looks like Wisconsin teams are thriving, they had 20,000 people at a game this weekend.
 





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