All things D2 and D3 football 2022

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UpAndUnder43

UpAndUnder43

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Its a football forum after all and we always have side convos. If no one post in here I'll be OK but very sad.

MIAC (and UMAC, if thats your thing!) firing up soon. As a grad of St. Scholastica (and the first person to ever touch a football for that school) I really hope they get a win this year. 0-8 isn't good.


2021 FINAL STANDINGS

Northwoods Division
*%Saint John’s (11-1, 8-0, 4-0)
Gustavus (8-2, 6-2, 3-1)
St. Olaf (5-5, 4-4, 2-2)
Carleton (7-3, 5-3, 1-3)
St. Scholastica (0-8, 0-8, 0-4)		Skyline Division
%Bethel (8-3, 6-2, 4-0)
Concordia (4-6, 3-5, 3-1)
Augsburg (4-6, 4-4, 2-2)
Macalester (3-7, 2-6, 1-3)
Hamline (4-6, 2-6, 0-4)
*MIAC Champion
%NCAA Playoff Participant
 
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Just so you won't be sad, here is my contribution. I got done golfing this past Saturday around 3pm in Northfield and had time to kill before having dinner. I walked from downtown, past Laird Stadium to the Carleton Arb. Very scenic, something I had not done in well over a decade.

The Knights were practicing, adjacent to the West Gym. Shells only, looked like a healthy roster size. Also the playing field itself at Laird looked great, except for a small burnout section near the goal post. I think they left the blocking dummies too long in one place.
 

Gotta tell the Saints to take off their hockey skates and put down their sticks. It may help.
I can't recall Scholastica doing anything in the UMAC either when they were there. Of course if the Saints play Macalester they may have a shot at a win.
In any case, the MIAC is far below the WIAC when it comes to consistently good teams.
 

I'm a Bethel alum. I didn't play football for the Royals but always follow the team to see how they're doing. Any updates appreciated.
 

Augsburg grad. (1978). Auggies were competitive in the mid-70's but hit some tough times after that. had a resurgence in the late 90's, winning the MIAC title in 1997.

I really didn't follow the Auggies very closely for a number of years. the last few years, with most games being available with live video streaming, I have tried to watch a couple of games every year when they don't conflict with the Gophers.

Auggies last couple of years have been decent on offense but struggled on defense. biggest problem has been stopping the run - just haven't had consistent play on the D-Line.

I know they have a returning QB and some solid receivers, so should be able to move the ball.

Defense is the question mark.
 


For D3 fans, there are a couple great early non-con games pitting national powers that should be fun to watch or stream including:

UW Whitewater at St. John's on Sep. 3rd featuring the battle of the Upper Midwest heavies. I hate St. John's, being an old Cobber grad from back when they were good, but Collegeville is a great place to watch football. Plus, Johnny fans love to tailgate and swill large portions of beer prior to games.

UMHB at UW Whitewater on Sep. 10th. I actually couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this game scheduled. These might be the best two D3 teams in the nation over the past decade. The equivalent of Alabama playing Ohio State in early non-conference. A close family member attends UMHB and they are really excited about this game. I've heard UWW has a great game-time atmosphere too.
 

St. Scholastica getting skunked last year is a good indicator of the disparity in D3 conferences. I imagine they will up their game to MIAC competition pretty quickly as they seem to have decent resources and were competitive in the UMAC.
 

WIAC with 4 teams in the preseason top 25:
Whitewater 4
LaCrosse 10
River Falls 16
Oshkosh 19

WW probably takes the conference but I’d love to see LaCrosse back on top.
 





MennoSota said:
Gotta tell the Saints to take off their hockey skates and put down their sticks. It may help.
I can't recall Scholastica doing anything in the UMAC either when they were there. Of course if the Saints play Macalester they may have a shot at a win.
In any case, the MIAC is far below the WIAC when it comes to consistently good teams.
Click to expand...
Saints won 3 or 4 UMAC titles at some point. But that was a couple coaches ago.
 


Panthadad2 said:
For D3 fans, there are a couple great early non-con games pitting national powers that should be fun to watch or stream including:

UW Whitewater at St. John's on Sep. 3rd featuring the battle of the Upper Midwest heavies. I hate St. John's, being an old Cobber grad from back when they were good, but Collegeville is a great place to watch football. Plus, Johnny fans love to tailgate and swill large portions of beer prior to games.

UMHB at UW Whitewater on Sep. 10th. I actually couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this game scheduled. These might be the best two D3 teams in the nation over the past decade. The equivalent of Alabama playing Ohio State in early non-conference. A close family member attends UMHB and they are really excited about this game. I've heard UWW has a great game-time atmosphere too.
Click to expand...
St John's has three great games of the bat playing against the preseason 4th, 18th, and 13th ranked teams (Whitewater, River Falls, and Bethel). It should be a really fun start to the season.

Additionally mount union probably has a better claim to 2nd best of the decade than mary hardin baylor but you're right that it great that such a game was scheduled!
 



Love this thread. Yes, I know it is a Gopher football forum, but as my name is - MNfootballfan - I am a fan of all Minnesota football topics - D2, D3, High School, Vikings, etc.

I played D2 football but D2 generally doesn't get the love or following the MIAC schools get.
 

For an outsider (ND from WY), can someone explain the lean toward MIAC over UMAC as far as interest goes? For that matter, if someone feels like it, what's the history of the two? Seems a little weird to me to have multiple D3 conferences in the area. Thanks!
 

noamfromm said:
St John's has three great games of the bat playing against the preseason 4th, 18th, and 13th ranked teams (Whitewater, River Falls, and Bethel). It should be a really fun start to the season.

Additionally mount union probably has a better claim to 2nd best of the decade than mary hardin baylor but you're right that it great that such a game was scheduled!
Click to expand...

I am admittedly biased against Mount Union as they often seem to be given the easier track in the national playoffs against weaker eastern teams. Going through the western and northern regions is a gauntlet.
 

GopherPoke said:
For an outsider (ND from WY), can someone explain the lean toward MIAC over UMAC as far as interest goes? For that matter, if someone feels like it, what's the history of the two? Seems a little weird to me to have multiple D3 conferences in the area. Thanks!
Click to expand...
I am totally stereotyping but majority of the UMAC schools are very biblical in nature. MIAC has a strong following, mainly because of how loyal their alumni are.

Athletically, it seems the MIAC and UMAC are similar to the Big Ten and Sun Belt in terms of quality of teams.
 


I think in general the MIAC has always been seen as a stronger conference than the UMAC. Certainly the MIAC had the traditional powers with St. Thomas and St. Johns, and then Bethel became a strong FB program.

I see the UMAC as being more on a par with the Midwest conference. (Grinnell, etc.)

back in the day, it was always a good debate over the relative strength of the MIAC as opposed to the Iowa Conference - which is now the American Rivers conference. Central College in Pella was always a strong program.

and then there is the WIAC conference, led by UW-Whitewater, which is clearly one of the best D3 conferences around.
 

MennoSota said:
Gotta tell the Saints to take off their hockey skates and put down their sticks. It may help.
I can't recall Scholastica doing anything in the UMAC either when they were there. Of course if the Saints play Macalester they may have a shot at a win.
In any case, the MIAC is far below the WIAC when it comes to consistently good teams.
Click to expand...
Scholastica has been in the ncaa playoffs before by winning the UMAC and they’ve only been a program like 15 years.


The MIAC simply isn’t as good of a conference as it was a few years back.

Losing UST and gaining back Macalester football and scholastica is a definite downgrade. And that’s okay.


Still great at the top. Just not as deep
 

When we are talking division 3 football I have to say that Mt Union has, over the past 3 decades, been the equivalent of Alabama in its consistent domination over other schools.
I think that their coach retired and they have not dominated at the top for the past 5 years, but when I think of a D3 powerhouse I think of Mt Union.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I think in general the MIAC has always been seen as a stronger conference than the UMAC. Certainly the MIAC had the traditional powers with St. Thomas and St. Johns, and then Bethel became a strong FB program.

I see the UMAC as being more on a par with the Midwest conference. (Grinnell, etc.)

back in the day, it was always a good debate over the relative strength of the MIAC as opposed to the Iowa Conference - which is now the American Rivers conference. Central College in Pella was always a strong program.

and then there is the WIAC conference, led by UW-Whitewater, which is clearly one of the best D3 conferences around.
Click to expand...
Good summary. The WIAC is so strong b/c it's rare that someone can play D3 football at public school prices. Wisconsin doesn't have D2 programs that I'm aware of.
 

theTurning said:
WIAC with 4 teams in the preseason top 25:
Whitewater 4
LaCrosse 10
River Falls 16
Oshkosh 19

WW probably takes the conference but I’d love to see LaCrosse back on top.
Click to expand...
I dont believe there is any D2 football in Wisconsin. Its Badgers or D3. Whitewater gets alot of Badger cast-offs. Good players but not good enough to ever see a B10 contest.
 

Actually, Minnesota has excellent football outside of Gophers nationally- Mankato, UMD, St Johns, St. Thomas. Lets get Gophers in there too!
 

TrapperDoo said:
I dont believe there is any D2 football in Wisconsin. Its Badgers or D3. Whitewater gets alot of Badger cast-offs. Good players but not good enough to ever see a B10 contest.
Click to expand...
Yep, no D2 in Wisconsin (or FCS).
 

Gustavus just wrapped up phase one of $60M facilities project with new weight room and training facilities. Next is the indoor practice facility which will be the best in MN outside of the of U of M.

Football right now is:

St. John's, Bethel, Gustavus, Concordia and then the rest of the league. UMAC is terrible football. Combined the 7 UMAC teams were 4-21 in Non-Conference games last year.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
Augsburg grad. (1978). Auggies were competitive in the mid-70's but hit some tough times after that. had a resurgence in the late 90's, winning the MIAC title in 1997.

I really didn't follow the Auggies very closely for a number of years. the last few years, with most games being available with live video streaming, I have tried to watch a couple of games every year when they don't conflict with the Gophers.

Auggies last couple of years have been decent on offense but struggled on defense. biggest problem has been stopping the run - just haven't had consistent play on the D-Line.

I know they have a returning QB and some solid receivers, so should be able to move the ball.

Defense is the question mark.
Click to expand...
Go Auggies (1982)!

SON and I never got to see a "home" game as students (had to travel to old Parade), but now they have a pretty slick little stadium right on I-94. I remember they bought the old SilverDome turf from the Lions when they built it.

Dominic Smith WR is a pre-season All-American.
 


IceBoxGopher said:
Is there room in this thread for D2 talk as well? Lots of NSIC schools in the great state of Minnesota.
Click to expand...
Updated thread title! D2 talk welcomed and encouraged.

I admittedly don’t follow it closely as the only team I had any ties to is no longer.
 

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