UWW leads the pack once again

It’s still a little early to be thinking playoffs (since there are three weeks left in the regular season), but not too early to start looking at how the NCAA will view potential post-season placements. 

So here’s a shot at how the NCAA may come down with its regional rankings that we anticipate will come out this week.

First, by way of background, this is a look at the NCAA’s possible regional rankings.  The regional rankings are NOT necessarily indicative of how the playoff matchups will shake out; rather, it is a comparison of potential playoff teams done by the NCAA’s playoff selection committee using the selection criteria that gives an indication as to where potential playoff teams stand in relation to one another.  In short, it gives a great way to measure where teams will stand for seeding purposes and allows the pundits to start the speculation as to the actual playoff matchups!

Note that the Regional Rankings do not tell us who will make the playoffs, nor do they tell us where teams will eventually end up come playoff time—for example, last year Northwestern of Roseville was ranked in the regional rankings only to come up on the short end of the Pool B stick; furthermore, Mount Union, which was a #1 regionally ranked team in the North, was shifted to the East region for the playoffs.  So don’t hold these as hard-and-fast playoff predictors—keep some suspense for Selection Sunday!

So what will the West look like when the regional rankings may come out this week?  Here’s a best guess:

1. UW-Whitewater  Overall 7-0  Against Regional Opponents 5-0
2. St. John’s   Overall 8-0  Against Regional Opponents 8-0
3. Linfield   Overall 7-0  Against Regional Opponents 5-0
4. Central   Overall 8-0  Against Regional Opponents 8-0
5. Monmouth   Overall 8-0  Against Regional Opponents 8-0
6. St. Thomas   Overall 6-1  Against Regional Opponents 6-1
7. Occidental   Overall 5-1  Against Regional Opponents 5-1
8. Coe    Overall 6-1  Against Regional Opponents 6-1
9. Redlands   Overall 5-1  Against Regional Opponents 5-1
10. UW-Stevens Point  Overall 5-2  Against Regional Opponents 4-1

So let’s look at this in further detail:

It can be said that there are two “bands” in this list where the teams are so close the NCAA could interchange the schools and be completely defensible:  an undefeated band and the one-loss band.  The undefeated band consists of SJU, Linfield and Central; the one loss band consists of UST, Oxy and Coe.  The other undefeated teams or one loss teams seem to be fairly fixed in their positioning.

UW-Whitewater is a no brainer in the first spot.  The NCAA tends to reward historical success, and you don’t dethrone the defending champions from a #1 spot until someone beats them. 

SJU seems like to be the second team in the West.  While the Johnnies have had several close calls, they did play a tough nonconference slate and found success in taking down two WIAC teams.  This gives the Jays the narrow edge over Linfield, who has also survived several close calls but is hampered by fewer regional wins in comparison to SJU.  And the NWC is significantly hurt by Willamette’s loss to Concordia-Moorhead.

Central would likely be slated next, as they have been impressive thus far this year; Like SJU they have survived a WIAC standout team, but their other nonconference game was a mediocre Lakeland team.  I give SJU the nod over Central if only because the MIAC is traditionally given quite a bit of deference by the NCAA.  Notwithstanding the Dutch’s better Strength of Schedule ranking, the NCAA seems to disregard the primary criteria at times as they see fit (Linfield has been atop these rankings in the past despite having fewer regional wins than other undefeateds.  Why?  It’s the ‘Cats! That’s why.).  Given some red blinders and a feel for the NCAA’s Johnnie-love, I think the Jays would best Central in these rankings.

 Given their undefeated record, Monmouth would come next; but the MWC is not given much historical credibility, so Monmouth would likely get the last slot of the undefeateds in the West.

Next come the one-loss teams, as none of them seem to be strong enough to jump ahead of any of the undefeated teams based on the criteria alone.  I place UST first among these teams, if only because of their score differentials in the games they have played this year.  Their number of wins puts them ahead of Oxy and Redlands, and since UST’s only loss was to SJU in OT, they should get a nod over Coe.  But the difference between UST and Oxy is slim, and Oxy will likely jump the Tommies with a win over Cal Lutheran this week.  The Tommies’ weak nonconference schedule may hurt them, however; Coe’s strength of schedule is already higher than the Tommies, so the only thing keeping the Toms over Coe is their record against Gustavus, who both played.  The Tommies will need to handle Bethel to definitively keep that comparison in their favor.

Cal Lu and Oxy play each other this week; winner stays (or moves in) and has the inside road to the SCIAC pool A bid; loser is likely outside looking in.  Coe gets the nod over Redlands, in part because the NCAA may want some deniability to prevent needing three west-coast teams in the playoffs, and in part because of the strength of schedule of the two. 

The last team here is UW-Stevens Point, who, though has two losses, would likely be on par with Cal Lutheran since one of UWSP’s losses was to NAIA Azusa Pacific, and the other was in a nailbiter to Central.  Cal Lu may have lost only to Willamette, but the NCAA has not seemed to favor putting three teams from one conference in a Regional Ranking—especially after last year, when it did have three SCIAC teams ranked and none of them survived into the second round of the NCAA playoffs.   And Willamette’s loss to Concordia-Moorhead does not do Cal Lu any favors—that loss hurts both the NWC and the SCIAC.  The NCAA has had plenty of respect historically for WIAC teams, so UWSP should get the nod here—but it may be short-lived as the Pointers take on UWW this week.

What is almost as interesting as the rankings themselves are those who are left out.  St. Norbert’s is a one-loss team; but the MWC is not given much respect and besides, the Green Knights lost convincingly to Monmouth.  Bethel is a two loss team, but both losses were to likely playoff teams—and both of those came down to the wire (with SJU needing to kick a school record long field goal to win their game).  But two losses are two losses—and while the MIAC appears strong this year, Bethel needs to take down UST to show it belongs on this list.  And as mentioned, Cal Lutheran does not make this ranking, mainly because it has not yet played Oxy or Redlands.  But a win against Oxy will vault the Kingsmen into the rankings.  As mentioned several times, Willamette is also outside this list because of their loss to Concordia-Moorhead.  And I won’t waste words on discussing a two-loss UMAC team lack of appearance in the regional rankings.

So there it is.  We’ll know more about the NCAA’s thought process this week!

Servin' Up Home Cookin' vs ETBU

Famous Dave and his Wild Rice Brats

Tailgating is an essential part of the college football experience—with tailgating at each campus exceptional in illustrating the peculiar characteristics of the school for which the tailgating is supporting: e.g. Linfield has its seafood given its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, while Whitewater, true to its Wisconsin base, serves a mouth-watering brat. SJU is no exception to this tradition, as Collegeville known throughout NCAA Division III for the Stiftungsfest burger shared to visitors by Johnnie Red, a/k/a Mike Fahey ’75.

Grill Man Mike Fahey AKA Johnnie Red

The Stiftungsfestivities are an open celebration of St. John’s football, and it—along with the football team and the Sea of Red—has travelled throughout Division III—from Oregon all the way to Virginia. What is particularly unique about the Johnnie gameday experience is its Benedictine flavor: the Johnnie faithful make it be known that our celebration is open to all visitors and guests of campus. It truly is an amazing way to make a visit to Collegeville—sharing a meal with fellow St. John’s alumni while welcoming newcomers to campus and treating those visitors as one of us—if only until kickoff!

The SJU Alumni Association seeks to continue and encourage the SJU gameday experience this fall in launching a Gameday Host program that will provide a resource to visitors and fans regarding gameday activities. These hosts will assist in welcoming guests for the game as well as informing Johnnie fans about the do’s and can’t do’s on campus—so that the enjoyable Collegeville fall Saturday traditions can continue to be a positive experience for all fans into the future.

More to come on the Gameday activities; and if you are interested in assisting with or learning more about the Gameday Host program, please contact me. We’re looking for good Johnnie hosts who love to show off their campus!

Johnnie Pregame Activity

Eric Brever AKA JohnnieEsq is an ‘01 Johnnie grad serving professionally as a Twin Cities attorney, volunteer HS Football coach and SJU alumni board member. You can contact JohnnieEsq at JohnnieEsq@JohnnieFootball.com.

Just win, baby.

For the past four weeks, I have noted that the Johnnies must win out if they want to have a chance to hit the post-season. Well, it comes down to the last week, and I can affirmatively say that their chances of making the post season are 100% if the Jays win.

I can also say that the chances of making the post season are close to zero if they lose. So while beating the upstart Carleton squad on their home turf may seem like a tough deal, especially since Ramler’s boys have come to play against SJU the past few years—almost as if Ramler knows what play the Johnnies will run before we run it—it’s what is going to have to happen.

So in essence, this is week 1 of the playoffs!

Taking the next step, supposing the Johnnies do make the post-season, where do they go from here?

Who can punch their tickets?

So let’s examine who’s guaranteed a spot in the NCAA playoffs first.

• Williamette (NWC)
• Occidental (SCIAC)
• Monmouth (MWC)
• Wartburg (IIAC)

Even with a loss this week, these four are guaranteed to make the 32-team NCAA playoff field. We also know that the MIAC and the WIAC will be represented—the former with the Johnnie/Carleton winner, and the latter with either UW-Stevens Point or UW-Whitewater. The WIAC situation is interesting, as UWSP plays perennial contender UW-LaCrosse, while UW-Whitewater takes on perennial pretender UW-Platteville. A loss by either could drop them out of playoff contention—and a win by both could ensure they are both in. UWSP owns the tiebreaker here, so they can sleep easy if they win on Saturday, and UW-Whitewater would have to sweat out Sunday’s selection show if both UWSP and UWW win on Saturday.

So we know 6 teams will be represented, but there are eight teams in each region. So how will the West be filled out?

As described a few weeks ago, there is always a chance that the NCAA could shift a team over from the North region—Mount Union’s “home turf”. A few weeks ago, there was some thought that North Central could be shifted into the West because of the strength of the teams in the South and the East. However, given the turmoil out East recently, it is looking more likely that Mount Union would be shifted East again giving North Central the top seed in the North Region, leaving the West, essentially untouched. There is the chance that a lower seed could be moved into the region—but we’ll discuss that later.

So who is on the doorstep?

The next analysis is the possibility of a Pool B seed going to Northwestern (MN). There are three Pool B bids awarded nationally. Given its 8-1 record, on paper the Eagles look pretty good. However, their strength of schedule numbers bring the UMAC champs (who are not granted an automatic bid) back to Earth—as the UMAC’s overall record places Northwestern at the back of the pack for the Pool B bids. Currently, the other Pool B teams under consideration are Case Western Reserve (9-0), Huntingdon (8-1), LaGrange (8-1), and Wesley (7-1). However, Huntingdon plays LaGrange, so one of those teams will end up 9-1 at worst, and the other will be out of contention; and Wesley plays Galludet, who is 2-7 on the year. So the Eagles, who need to beat UST to even remain in consideration for the Pool B slot, have to hope that Wesley loses, and pray that Case Western’s loss knocks them behind the Eagles.

Supposing the Eagles win and do not earn a Pool B slot, they are then thrown into the Pool C group, with all the other at-large teams—and six bids are awarded among all teams in Division III. While in theory all teams in NCAA Division III are eligible to be selected, in practice the bids will likely be given to several one-loss teams, and perhaps a two-loss team. In the West there are two Pool C squads under practical consideration, not including Northwestern (MN): UW-Whitewater and Redlands.

As described above, UW-Whitewater could still win the WIAC; and a loss by UW-Stevens Point combined with a Warhawk win could mean the WIAC has only one entrant this year. Redlands cannot win the SCIAC, but a win over Cal Lutheran would go a long way in showing the Bulldogs belong in the playoffs. Again, a loss by Redlands would be fatal to their post-season prospects.

In looking at the West Region rankings to date, however, UW-Whitewater and Redlands are both above the Eagles, meaning that, assuming the West would be awarded two Pool C bids, Northwestern has to hope either UWW and UR lose this weekend to even be sniffing love from the NCAA for a Pool C slot.

Putting it together

So, let’s assume the favorites win this weekend, and by early estimations, this is what appears to occur:

1. Willamette
2. Occidental
3. Monmouth
4. UW-Stevens Point
5. UW-Whitewater
6. Redlands
7. MIAC winner
8. Wartburg

Thus, the pairings, if done directly on the seeding, should be Wartburg at Willamette, SJU/Carleton at Occidental, Redlands at Monmouth, and Whitewater at Stevens Point. However, this has certain problems—a WIAC first round matchup, and three flights in the first round, and probable to have at least one more in the second round with a fifth one in the third round.

Now, the NCAA doesn’t like flights, but that doesn’t mean they won’t give them when warranted—in other words, take a number one seed and prevent them from playing at home. So, if SJU wins, given that SJU is currently ranked over the IIAC representative, it is likely that Wartburg will be headed to Willamette in the first round. However, if Carleton is the MIAC representative, we will have to see if Wartburg is ranked higher than Carleton in this week’s regional ranking—if so, Carleton could be headed West for their first-round game.

Let’s think outside the box

Now, it would be easy for the NCAA to switch the number 6 and number 7 team in the West without killing bracket integrity—and in this case, doing so would save the NCAA two potential flights in the first round. The downside of this would be a SCIAC rematch in the first round of the playoffs, which isn’t exactly desired—but this isn’t unprecedented. It has been a common occurrence in the South Region…and in the West. So it is extremely plausible that Redlands would head to Occidental in the first round, however much the fans in South California would detest this arrangement.

Now, the NCAA could either choose to maintain bracket integrity from here on out—and send the MIAC winner to Monmouth and send UWW to UWSP—or they could switch the two up to avoid the second intra-conference game in the region. I think the latter is more likely, as the NCAA would likely want to avoid the criticisms of having two “rematches” in the first round. So my early prognostications are as follows:

8. Wartburg at 1. Willamette
7. SJU/Carleton at 4. UW-Stevens Point
6. Redlands at 2. Occidental
5. UW-Whitewater at 3. Monmouth

What this means is that, at the most, there could be four flights in the region. As opposed to the “true” seedings above, where the NCAA could have up to six flights in the region, if the cards fall that way. So the NCAA certainly has an incentive to seeing the brackets set up this way, even if “correct” fairness is thrown out the window—the above described SCIAC matchup, also Monmouth having to host the fifth seed in the region overall. However, historically, these matchups are at least reasonable—given the lack of success of the MWC in the modern era playoffs, hosting any game—much less a WIAC team—is a welcome arrangement. And the number one seed Willamette is protected, playing the number eight seed in the bracket. So the bracket looks pretty good, and would work out much to the NCAA’s liking, even if fans protest. So I am going with this one.

And now, for the standard disclaimer: as described above much could happen in this last week. A loss by Stevens Point could send them out of the playoffs and bring Northwestern into the mix. Or a loss by Redlands could mean SJU or Carleton could be headed to Southern California. Or, a loss by one of the teams could mean the NCAA would shift a team from another region into the West.

So hang on, Johnnie fans—it’s playoff football, and anything can happen!

And the craziness continues in the MIAC for another weekend.

You have to go back to 1990 to find the last time the MIAC champion had two conference losses. That year, Concordia and St. Thomas shared the conference crown with 6-2 records—and St. Thomas hasn’t been there since.

It’s unlikely the Tommies will see a conference title this year, but the current four-way tie certainly makes things interesting the rest of the way. Let’s look at where we are:

The MIAC

1. Carleton (4-2): at CON, SJU
   Concordia (4-2): CAR, at GAC
   Saint John’s (4-2): AUG, CAR
   Gustavus (4-2): at STO, CON
5. St. Thomas (4-3): BET, (at Northwestern)
6. Bethel (3-3): at UST, at AUG
   Augsburg (3-3): at SJU, BET
8. St. Olaf (2-4): GAC, at HAM
9. Hamline (0-7): STO

Suddenly the pictures begin looking a bit better for the Johnnies. Remember that, while the MIAC allows shared conference titles, the way it breaks ties for purposes of awarding the automatic bid in the playoffs is head-to-head first, and if that doesn’t do it, then the “Rose Bowl rule” throws out the team that most recently won an autobid and the tie is broken by head-to-head again. Since SJU has won the autobid more recently than Carleton, Gustavus and Concordia, it would be thrown out in any multiple-team tie for first place. If the Johnnies win out, however, it would have winning records over Carleton and Gustavus, but have lost against Concordia. So SJU wouldn’t mind tying with Gustavus for the conference crown, but cannot tie with Concordia.

If SJU wins out, either one of four things could happen:

1. Gustavus wins out, causing losses to Carleton and Concordia so the Gusties and the Johnnies tie for the MIAC crown—meaning the Johnnies take the automatic bid by virtue of the Jays’ homecoming victory;
2. Gustavus loses to St. Olaf but beats Concordia, meaning the Johnnies take the MIAC title outright;
3. Concordia wins out—meaning the Cobbers and the Johnnies tieso Concordia takes the automatic bid; or
4. Concordia loses to Carleton but beats Gustavus, meaning the Jays stand alone for the conference crown.

Thus, if the Johnnies win out, in three out of four scenarios the Johnnies will be seeing the playoffs!

However, there is still a possibility that there could be either a five way or even a six-way tie for the MIAC crown, with all tied teams holding 5-3 records. But in any such scenario, the Johnnies would be out—in a six-way tie, UST could hit the playoffs; in a five-way tie, Carleton would see the post season. So really, the Johnnies need to win out if they want to continue playing come playoff-time.

What does that mean? Johnnie fans need the Jays to win out and hope that Concordia loses at least once—a plausible situation, given that the Cobbers have to win in St. Peter to control their destiny.

But what happens if the Johnnies do win out—and so does Concordia? As explained above, the Cobbers would take the automatic bid, but do the Johnnies still have a chance at the Pool C at-large bid? Maybe.

Exploring the West region.

Last week we recapped the West Region from the outside. Since that time, the NCAA released its regional rankings. The regional rankings are put out by the NCAA as a snapshot as to how the NCAA ranks teams within regions. Keep in mind that the NCAA does not have to keep teams in this region for playoffs—last year, UW-Whitewater was moved to the North region, for example, and replaced by a traditional North region team; or if a region has a number of strong teams, the NCAA could award nine births in a region and shift one of those teams to a different region. There is some speculation that, given the strength of the North region, the CCIW Champion (likely to be North Central) could be moved to the West Region and thus avoid Mount Union.

SJU traveled west to Linfield College in 2002.

The regional rankings from last week, with their updated records through this past weekend, are as follows:

1. Willamette 7-0 8-0 NWC
2. Occidental 7-0 7-0SCIAC
3. Monmouth 9-0 9-0 MWC
4. UW-Stevens Point 4-1 7-1 WIAC
5. UW-Whitewater 6-1 7-1 WIAC
6. Cal Lutheran 5-2 5-2 SCIAC
7. Redlands 6-1 6-1 SCIAC
8. Northwestern (Minn.) 6-1 8-1 UMAC
9. Concordia-Moorhead 4-3 5-3
10. St. John’s 5-2 6-2

To start, we need to pull out the Pool A candidates. The NWC, SCIAC, MWC, WIAC, MIAC and IIAC will all be represented—meaning there will be six teams automatically in the playoffs. Now, note that the IIAC leader, Wartburg, is not represented on this list. That means this list gets crowded in a hurry—and that does not help SJU’s case at all.

Last week I discussed the mess in the SCIAC—Occidental beating Cal Lutheran helps the Johnnies as it will knock the Kingsmen down—but how far will they fall? Will they by pushed off this list this week? The Kingsmen could do the Johnnies a huge favor if they can take out Redlands yet this season. That would leave CLU, Redlands and SJU all with two losses on the season—and depending on whether the NCAA ranks Cal Lutheran this week in the Regional Rankings, it could push SJU into striking distance.

I also mentioned Northwestern last week. Northwestern’s thrashing of Crown makes the Eagles a candidate for one of the three available Pool B bids (as the UMAC does not have enough members for a Pool A autobid)—but they need to beat St. Thomas at home first. You can bet Northwestern will come out firing for that one—but don’t be fooled by this UMAC squad—the Eagles did take out UW-River Falls this year on the road, so a victory over the Tommies could happen.

The other variable in the West region is the WIAC situation—but foretelling who will come out of Wisconsin is as difficult to predict as Minnesota weather in May. Currently, UW-Stevens Point is in the drivers’ seat, but UW-Whitewater will make a strong Pool C candidate—and perhaps a safe Pool C slot if both UWSP and UWW win out. If either one of them trip up, all bets are off, as it then depends how far they fall.

One last thing to keep in mind—Pool C slots are determined nationally, not region by region. Thus, there are six Pool C bids nationally, and any team seeking one has to be weighed up against all the other candidates from the North, South and East regions. Currently, there are at least eight one-loss teams nationally that could be in the hunt for an at large bid—if those teams win out, the NCAA would be hard-pressed to award a playoff trip to a two-loss SJU team over a one-loss team elsewhere.

What does all that mean?

It means that SJU could rise as high as sixth in the region and still not be selected for the postseason. In fact, such a situation (being left at home while awaiting a Pool C bid) is fairly likely, no matter how high the Johnnies go in the regional rankings.

So, in summary, if the Johnnies want to be assured of making the playoffs, they need to win out and hope someone knocks off Concordia. If the Cobbers survive their gauntlet, the Johnnies will need a lot of help, both regionally and nationally—especially since the Johnnies are in no position to host a playoff game, the penny-pinching NCAA has no real incentive to ensure there is a spot for SJU.

Could it happen? You’d better believe it—it’ll just be another Manic MIAC Moment!

The MIAC

1. Concordia (4-1): STO, CAR, at GAC
2. Saint John’s (4-2): AUG, CAR
   St. Thomas (4-2): at AUG, BET, (at Northwestern)
3. Carleton (3-2): HAM, at CON, SJU
   Bethel (3-2): GAC, at UST, at AUG
   Gustavus (3-2): at BET, at STO, CON
4. Augsburg (2-3): UST, at SJU, BET
5. St. Olaf (1-4): at CON, GAC, at HAM
6. Hamline (0-6): at CAR, STO

There are six teams within one game of the MIAC lead right now, and seven teams that still have a chance at winning at least a share of the MIAC title. And there are plenty of opportunities for the odd to occur, as league-leader Concordia has yet to play two teams currently knocking at the door for their share of the MIAC crown.

For the Johnnies to take the MIAC outright (reasonably), they really do need to win out. As discussed a few weeks ago, the Johnnies lose the tiebreaker to both Bethel and Concordia, so any tie with either of those teams means the Johnnies would not take the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.  Thus, SJU needs the Cobbers and the Royals to stumble a bit.

Clearly, the Cobbers are in the drivers’ seat and control their own destiny.  If they win out, they take the MIAC crown and will be headed to the NCAA playoffs on the MIAC’s behalf.  Their one loss to UST could make for an interesting situation if UST, SJU and Concordia tie with two losses in conference play—in which case UST would take the autobid!

So what else helps the Johnnies?  In one word—Gustavus.  The Gusties, should they win out, would knock Bethel out of the race and hand Concordia another loss, creating a three-way tie with Concordia and SJU.  But again, because of such tie, and because Concordia lost to Gustavus, the Gusties would be headed to the playoffs!

Because we assume SJU wins out, Carleton’s last-second loss (again!) this week effectively drops them out of the race since, by assumption, the Knights would pick up their third loss of the year when they face the Johnnies later this year.  However, if we drop that assumption and assume the Knights win out, they can still claim a share of the MIAC crown and head to the playoffs by beating the Cobbers.  But that game is in Moorhead…so it will be an uphill battle for Ramler’s squad.

Bethel’s loss to Wheaton earlier this year likely means that, for them to have a chance at a return journey to the National Semifinals, they need to win the MIAC autobid.  But they need help, just like the Johnnies—and there, the Royals cannot be in a tie with the Cobbers or the Knights.

Augsburg’s run this year has not ended prematurely, as they aren’t out of the race yet—but they need A LOT of help—and our assumption that the Johnnies win out kills the Auggies’ hopes.  However, assuming the MIAC continues its wild cardiac finishes—don’t count the boys from Riverside Ave. out quite yet.

So, in summary, Jays’ fans should be cheering for the Gusties the rest of the way, as well as hoping the Oles or the Knights can knock off the Cobbers yet this year.  But remember—the Johnnies need to win too…as it doesn’t mean much if the Johnnies don’t win out.  But at least we don’t have to be cheering for the Tommies any more!

The Rest of the West

Now, looking off into the distance, an early account of the NCAA race is appropriate.  I should note that much of the picture will start to clear up depending upon what happens when the NCAAreleases its first regional rankings this week so we know exactly where the conferences rank against one another.  But let’s look at the West Region conference by conference to see what could result.

First off, the West region traditionally has been awarded Pool A bids, also considered automatic bids, to the champions of the IIAC, MIAC, MWC, SCIAC and WIAC conferences.  Traditionally, the NWC receives one of the three pool B bids (which is likely after being shut out last year), and the West has been fortunate to receive two of the six available Pool C at large bids to round out the eight West playoff teams.

However, this can vary from year to year—last year, UW-Whitewater was shifted into the North region and the NCAA swapped a (now defunct) IBC team into the West.  With the craziness that has been the season this year, it isn’t clear that the West will get all eight bids—it is possible that only one pool C bid would be granted to the West with a, say, CCIW team being shifted into the West.  There is some support for this to occur given Wheaton’s win over MIAC contender Bethel in week 2.

So let’s look at the conferences at this early date:

• IIAC. Wartburg is sitting pretty and headed toward the IIAC crown—but has two blemishes on the year, with one being their loss to Augsburg in overtime.  But given that the Knights have already survived their nemesis in Central, things look good for Wartburg.
• MWC.  Monmouth is undefeated with no insurmountable obstacles remaining between them and the MWC title.   However, the MWC’s weak postseason record will likely prevent them from claiming too high of a seed in the playoffs.  However, if the Scots finish things out, there may be a home game in Monmouth Illinois this year.
• NWC.  Williamette is the front runner and undefeated, with games left with Menlo and Puget Sound, games the Bearcats should be able to handle pretty easily.  WU’s wins over Cal Lutheran and Concordia-Moorhead should put the Bearcats in good position to claim the number one seed in the region if the NCAA awards the West eight seeds from their teams.  Linfield has an outside shot at a Pool C at large bid, but the ‘Cats loss to Hardin-Simmons plus their lack of D-3 games will likely work against them.
• SCIAC.  Here’s where things get a bit crazy.  Occidental is in the driver’s seat here, but the Tigers play at Cal-Lutheran this week.  The Kingsmen are undefeated in conference, but still have to play Redlands later this year.  A win by CLU against Oxy but a loss to the Bulldogs could lead to a three-way tie in the SCIAC.  Given that SCIAC uses the “Rose Bowl Rule”, CLU would take the SCIAC crown and head to the playoffs, but that means one-loss Oxy and Redlands would be praying for Pool C bids.
• WIAC.  Situation normal to the East—all screwed up.  Whitewater’s loss to Stevens Point makes that race wide open, four other teams still in the hunt.  The key team of interest there is River Falls, as the Falcons handed Stevens Point their only loss on the season, and, should the Pointers win out, could help SJU’s prayers toward a Pool C bid if the winds blow in the right direction.
• One more that has to be considered this season.  The UMAC.  The UMAC isn’t awarded an automatic bid, but 7-1 Northwestern is raising its hopes for a potential Pool B or Pool C bid to fall into its lap.  The Eagles have two big games left—the UMAC championship game against Crown, then a November 15 tilt hosting the Tommies.  If Northwestern pulls out wins over those two, there is a decent chance that the Eagles will make the playoffs this year.  But a loss to either would drop the boys from Roseville out of contention.

What does this mean for the Johnnies?  Well, they are sitting pretty well against other two loss teams in the region—except that there are a number of one-loss teams still available.  So who do the Jays need to cheer for?  UW-River Falls winning out would help the Johnnies immensely, as will the SCIAC situation clearing itself up without more than one bid awarded way out west.  Finally, the WIAC champ having two losses would make the Johnnies look pretty good for a potential Pool C chance if they tie with Concordia for the MIAC title.  However,  a three way MIAC title tie, with Concordia and any other team, would likely knock the Jays out as well, since the Cobbers win over the Johnnies would trump the Jays’ hope for a Pool C shot, as it is unlikely that the NCAA would give two two-loss teams from the same conference Pool C bids.

So there you go.  Clear as Northfield mud!

Well, another week with a win means the MIAC title is still within reach for the Johnnies, albeit a longshot. Let’s take a look where we are now:

1. Carleton (3-1): at UST, HAM, at CON, SJU
   Concordia (3-1): at HAM, STO, CAR, at GAC
3. Saint John’s (3-2): at STO, AUG, CAR
   Bethel (3-2): GAC, at UST, at AUG
   St. Thomas (3-2): CAR, at AUG, BET
6. Augsburg (2-2): at GAC, UST, at SJU, BET
   Gustavus (2-2): AUG, at BET, at STO, CON
8. St. Olaf (1-3): SJU, at CON, GAC, at HAM
9. Hamline (0-5): CON, at CAR, STO

A few notes first:

• Hamline has been eliminated. Even if they win out there will still be at least one team that finishes, at worst, with four losses. So the Pipers will need to set their focus on ’09 and try to play spoiler with the remainder of this year.
• But there remain 8 teams that could, in theory, still try for a share of the MIAC crown. Talk about a logjam!

So the big question is: Can the Johnnies really still win a trip to the NCAA playoffs?

The scenario I picked last week is still in force, fortunately. Again, obviously, SJU needs to win out. But this past week was very good to the Jays. Let’s break down the situation team by team:

Augsburg is a half-game back from the Johnnies, but their two current losses, combined with an assumed loss to SJU, puts them out of contention for the MIAC title.

Bethel is even with the Johnnies but holds the head-to-head tiebreak with the Jays. However, BU has to play all the other two-loss teams yet this year, meaning three of the current five, at best, won’t survive with only two losses. The Johnnies really need Bethel to drop one of those three since the Royals hold that pesky win over SJU that would give Bethel the crown if the Johnnies and Royals were to tie for the MIAC title (again!).

Carleton’s overtime loss to Gustavus gave the Knights their first loss of the year, and SJU needs Carleton to lose two more—one of those will come from the Johnnies—meaning the Tommies, Hamline or Concordia could all knock the Knights off their pedestal.

Concordia is still probably in the best shape of the whole conference. The Johnnies need the Cobbers to lose twice in their last four in order for the Jays to take the autobid outright, and there is some hope that could happen—Concordia gets Carleton on the second to the last weekend of the year—but that game is at the Jake; and the Cobbers’ other three games are against teams that are a combined 3-10 in the conference. So while it isn’t proper to cheer for a team to lose, Johnnie fans won’t be shedding a tear if the Cobbers don’t finish in the win column a few times yet this year.

Gustavus is still in the hunt, but like the Johnnies, need to win out. Though, doing so could help the Johnnies since SJU holds the tiebreak with the Golden Gusties. But realistically, winning at Bethel has been a struggle for GAC, and Gustavus still needs to play Concordia this year. Though, winning out wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for the Johnnies since it would knock the two teams that hold tiebreakers over the Johnnies down a peg.

St. Olaf is a real longshot, as described above. They would have to win out and have a LOT of help in quite absurd ways. Though, with the unpredictability in the MIAC this year, it is not outside the realm of possibility. But I am not going to waste much time discovering the crazy ways that the Oles could find their way into the NCAA playoffs since the deck is clearly stacked against them at this point.

St. Thomas will probably regret “the fumble” since it has put the Toms to the brink of elimination—and the Toms still need to take on Carleton, Bethel and Augsburg. Like Gustavus, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for the Tommies to win out—it could put the Jays in a three way tie with GAC and UST, and since we hold the tiebreakers over both (we went 2-0 versus those two teams, UST 1-1, and GAC 0-2), we would take the crown.

So what does this all mean? Not much has changed since last week’s prediction, though it has cleared up in that Johnnies need to cheer for the following:

1. Gustavus to win out
2. Carleton to beat Concordia
3. However distasteful it may seem, the Tommies to win out.

If that happens, the Johnnies would be in a three-way tie with GAC and UST for the title, and by virtue of the head to head, we would be hitting the NCAA playoffs.

Again, the Johnnies would not bode well in a three (or more!)-way tie involving either Bethel and/or Concordia—however, they would be OK with tying with any other teams, as it would be quite likely that SJU would win the head-to-head.

So again, more next week, but there is still hope (however much a longshot) for the Jays!

While the Johnnies have struggled at times this year, it is important to remember that SJU has lost two games by two plays it failed to make…and as such, perhaps the hope of its 30^th MIAC title isn’t over for the Jays. So let’s take a look at the MIAC race:

The current MIAC standings, with their remaining games up next:

1. Carleton (3-0): GAC, at UST, HAM, at CON, SJU
2. St. Thomas (3-1): SJU, CAR, at AUG, BET
3. Augsburg (2-1): CON, at GAC, UST, at SJU, BET
   Concordia (2-1): at AUG, at HAM, STO, CAR, at GAC
5. Saint John’s (2-2): at UST, at STO, AUG, CAR
   Bethel (2-2): at HAM, GAC, at UST, at AUG
7. Gustavus (1-2): at CAR, AUG, at BET, at STO, CON
8. St. Olaf (1-3): SJU, at CON, GAC, at HAM
9. Hamline (0-4): BET, CON, at CAR, STO

So let’s project how SJU can win the title outright. First off, SJU needs to help themselves and win out. That would mean UST, Augsburg, and Carleton (the teams in front of SJU) would each have a loss added to them. But SJU needs UST, Augsburg, and Concordia to lose twice; Gustavus and Bethel to lose once more, and Carleton to lose three times. Assuming the Jays win out, SJU would give UST and Augsburg one loss each. But SJU needs UST and Augsburg to lose one more on their own (one of them will get that since they play each other), and UST has to play Carleton and Bethel yet, and Augsburg as to play Concordia and Bethel, there are plenty of opportunities for that to occur.

Carleton needs to lose three times—again, assuming the above, SJU will give one more of those losses, but the Knights would need to lose two of their last four games for that to occur—which could happen since they have to play both at UST and at Concordia. But that may be asking too much.

Concordia needs to lose twice—and SJU cannot control the Cobbers’ destiny. The Cobbers have to go to Augsburg, but do have Carleton at home—but the remaining schedule looks favorable for the C’s.

The Johnnies need Bethel and Gustavus to lose once each. One of them will get that loss when they play each other on November 1, but the other will have to come from someone else—and Gustavus has yet to play Carleton, Augsburg or Concordia.

So what is such a scenario?

1. Carleton loses to Gustavus and UST and SJU, but beats Hamline and Concordia;
2. St. Thomas loses to SJU, Augsburg and Bethel but beats Carleton;
3. Augsburg loses to Concordia and SJU but beats Gustavus, UST and Bethel;
4. Concordia loses to Carleton and Gustavus but beats Augsburg, Hamline and St. Olaf;
5. Bethel loses to Augsburg but beats Hamline, Gustavus and St. Thomas;
6. Gustavus loses to Augsburg and Bethel but beats Carleton, St. Olaf and Concordia.

St. Olaf and Hamline are realistically out of reach of the MIAC title, though, combined with an SJU loss or two, there may be a scenario that they could contend too…however unlikely.

So SJU could still win a title outright, but as you see from the example above (which, please note, is not the ONLY way, but is A way), the Johnnies need A LOT of help.

Now, in the case that SJU were to tie with other teams for the title, things get more interesting. Under the MIAC Football Rules, the Conference title for football is determined as follows:

6.1 HOW DECIDED: The championship in football will be determined on a point basis — one (1) point per win, based on the approved round-robin schedule.

6.1.1 POLICY FOR TIE BREAKER: Ties will be broken in order to select the automatic qualifier to the NCAA playoffs as follows: (added 5/99)

1. Head to Head competition.
2. If 3 or more teams are tied, the team that has most recently been to the playoffs will be eliminated. Then it goes back to head to head competition with the remaining teams.
3. Coin flip, if head to head competition and recent playoff appearances do not solve the tie.

This means that SJU would need to tie with teams it has defeated in order to claim the autobid—for example, if SJU wins out, it could tie with UST, Augsburg and/or Carleton (assuming Carleton loses another game along the way) and SJU would claim the automatic bid based upon the fact that it would have beaten each of those teams head-to-head.

However, if SJU ties with Concordia for the MIAC title, it would be in trouble, since it loses the head-to-head with Concordia; and, if tied with Concordia and any other team, since SJU was last in the playoffs in 2007, it would lose a multiple team tiebreaker to every other team in the MIAC.

The very interesting case would develop if SJU were to tie in a multiple team arrangement with Bethel. Since both Bethel and SJU were last in the playoffs in 2007, which one would be eliminated first? Bethel, who won the automatic bid in 2007? Or SJU who took the at-large bid? The MIAC rules aren’t clear on that point—and does SJU really want to rely on a coin flip to determine its NCAA hopes?

So SJU would need to hope for at least two more losses to Concordia and one more to Bethel, and a little help in teams playing Carleton for this to be an issue. The moral of the story? Go Johnnies, and hit the Abbey to pray for a lot of assistance!

Huh?

To explain we first need a little history lesson.

It isn’t exactly common knowledge that NCAA D-III doesn’t date back to the origins of the NCAA itself. Up until 1973 there really wasn’t any classification of schools in the NCAA—they were either big (or “University”) or small (“College”). Schools like SJU were also members of the NAIA—as most Johnnies are aware given our NAIA football titles in 1963 and 1965.

However, at the 1973 convention, the NCAA divided itself into three classifications: D-I, or major scholarship; D-II, or limited scholarship; and D-III, or nonscholarship. These divisions have survived to date with very minor changes since, such as the creation of DI-A and DI-AA. The founding principle of this structure is that every school has an option as to which division it will compete in by how it structures its athletic program.

To be sure, the NCAA itself has seen a great increase in its membership over the past 30 years. Today, NCAA D-III has become its largest division, in part because of former NAIA members joining, at times, as whole conferences. In 1973, NCAA D-III had all of 273 members. Today, it has 422, with another 25 in provisional and transitioning status. In comparison, D-I is the second largest division with 329 members. However, to manage that number, D-I is divided into three subdivisions.

The problem for D-III is that, since 1990, roughly two-thirds of the schools to join NCAA Div. III left the NAIA. There are a few reasons why: the NAIA’s struggling financial situation, the higher annual dues in the NAIA, and the NCAA pays for participation in its championships, while in the NAIA the schools must foot the bill.

This immigration has caused some real dissention among the traditional D-III members, as the rules and requirements for athletic departments in the NAIA were different than those in the NCAA. For example, the NAIA traditionally allowed redshirting and had lenient spring practice rules, and in one of its subdivisions even, scholarships. With the great influx of members from the NAIA desiring to play under those same rules, there were unfamiliar stresses on the NCAA D-III.

As a result, after a long period of study by a special Reform Committee, in 2003 the NCAA D-III adopted a reform package meant to “purify” the D-III product. This package eliminated the practice of routine redshirts; limited sports playing seasons; and instituted a financial aid review package to ensure there was no-athletic aid being given by member schools.

But all was still not right in D-III. The reform package did not purify the division; rather, it identified dividing lines among the division regarding the role and emphasis upon athletics among D-III members. There has been heated debate since regarding the re-instituting of routine redshirting, and the limitation of recruiting and spring practice for football.

So what does this mean?

The D-III membership requested a committee examine what could be done to deal with the growing diversity of the NCAA membership. It has presented several proposals, including dividing the division based upon size of the school; or upon public/private distinctions; or upon tuition prices. It has finally settled on a proposal that would make the distinction upon number of sports sponsored and degree of rules restriction on athletics programs.

To simplify, let me put it as follows:

Current D-III: Nonscholarship.

Future D-III: Nonscholarship, schools sponsoring fewer sports and favoring less restriction on athletics, such as redshirting and recruiting.

Future D-IV: Nonscholarship, schools that sponsor more sports and favoring shorter seasons, no redshirting, and tighter controls on practices and recruiting.

There are other ideas floated about as well, as perhaps the less athletics emphasis in the future D-IV would mean more limited playoff access, and perhaps only regional championships (instead of national championships).

Why this manner of a split?

First off, though it may not make sense to have UW-Whitewater (enrollment 10,700) having to play regional games against nearby Beloit College (enrollment 1,200), dividing the NCAA up into “big enrollment” and “small enrollment” would effectively limit one of the foundational principles of the NCAA—allowing every school to choose in which division it wishes to participate. Ditto for a split on public/private grounds. Thus, those models were put aside very quickly because of how they offended that notion.

So they were left with an identification of some other means of differentiation. What they came up is what the data indicates as the major philosophical line between the old-guard D-III and the newcomer NAIA schools.

Traditional NCAA D-III schools tend to sponsor more sports than their newcomer NAIA counterparts. While this is not a hard and fast rule, and may be a function of something besides length of NCAA membership, the trend is that the NAIA immigrants tend to have smaller athletic departments. On a local scale, compare Crown College’s 12 sponsored sports to St. Thomas’ 20.

But it doesn’t end there. An analysis of the voting patterns from the D-III reform package a few years ago yields a sharp distinction regarding schools in favor of greater controls on athletic programs and those who were advocating for less NCAA restrictions. This distinction again tended to split down the lines of newcomer NAIA versus old-line D-III. Conferences like the MIAC voted nearly unanimously in favor of the increased restrictions on athletics—fewer off-season practices, no redshirting—while schools that had until recently been in the NAIA voted against those restrictions.

That is not to say that hasn’t produced some apparent anomalies. The WIAC and IIAC appear to have voted very similarly in that reform package with the MIAC and MWC schools. Thus, it is likely that the same big/small issues could still occur. Furthermore, the NWC, with schools such as Linfield, Whitworth and Pacific Lutheran, tended to vote with the other newcomer NAIA conferences requesting redshirts and more off-season practices.

Why can’t we all just get along?

Athletics are currently playing a very big role in the recruitment of students and courting of alumni dollars. This competition is bound to get even more intense as the demographic data indicates a downward trend in the number of college bound males: number one, there are fewer males overall, and number two, the fewer males are proportionally not going to college in the same ratio as they used to. This is a problem for colleges, since males tend to be very supportive of their alma mater, and do so (in general) by donating in higher numbers than their female counterparts.

With fewer males available, the competition for their matriculation is heating up. One need only at the numbers of schools that have football teams versus the schools with football teams. The 2006 revenue of St. Olaf and Carleton was $162.2 and $171.9 million, respectively, while even Augsburg, the worst MIAC performer with a football team, earned $76.5 million. By contrast, the college of St. Scholastica and St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, two schools without football teams, earned $69.5 and $57.5 million, respectively, in 2006. And the rate of growth from the previous year, while still positive for all of the above schools, wasn’t likely to make St. Scholastica or St. Mary’s close the gap any time soon. Which is one of the reasons why St. Scholastica has started the process to begin playing football in 2009.

But some of this comes down to athletics—many schools have used athletics as a way of getting students to enroll at their college, as athletics success has meant an increase in enrollment—is it a coincidence that SJU alone has seen record enrollments in the last decade while winning 7 of the past 9 Durenberger MIAC All-Sports Championships?

But what some schools are concerned about—which often tend to be the historical D-III schools—is an overemphasis upon athletics. Do we really want fewer restrictions on coaches recruiting? Do we want students to be able to obtain routine redshirts? While this may improve the team, does it affect the scholastic side of the school?

So where does that leave us?

The operative term here is “us.” The StarTribune’s Jay Weiner speculated that a D-IV could cause the breakup of the MIAC, as it is unclear where its members would go if faced with only the possibility of winning regional championships.

However, more pertinent is the rules under which the MIAC operates—the MIAC has traditionally been one of the more academic-minded conferences in D-III. The MIAC has not allowed scholarships for athletic purposes before the Reform movement outlawed it; the MIAC currently limits its members’ spring practices and recruiting contact, and most MIAC members are among the leaders in numbers of sports sponsored in D-III. In this sense, it would seem that the MIAC would be a lock for the D-IV. By contrast, schools like Northwestern (Roseville) and Crown College would appear to remain D-III, as they sponsor fewer sports.

But such a move is not inevitable. A few months ago, the MIAC commissioner Dan McKane sent a letter to the NCAA D-III membership asking that they proceed with caution, and suggesting that the MIAC wouldn’t necessarily follow suit with the D-IV movement. And of course, there is always the possibility that some MIAC members would prefer to have fewer restrictions on its athletic department.

Ok, so now what?

The hard part is that nothing is certain yet. There are a lot of things up in the air, starting with the current standards for the new division—which, if those aren’t set, there is no clear way of telling what will happen regarding this. Not to mention that nothing will happen until the 2009 NCAA convention a year from now at the earliest, and there still is the matter of discerning who would pay for the new division anyway.

But what appears to be clear is that D-III is getting too big, and something will happen in the next few years to deal with this size. What exactly it will be is anybody’s guess, but be expecting big changes soon.

The story begins in 1992. Steve Johnson was a young coach at Bethel, and had begun turning the Royals around almost immediately. But in 1992, he was named as one of the decision-makers for the NCAA playoffs. Back then, only 16 teams made the Division III playoffs—4 in each region—and the process wasn’t as transparent as it is now. There were no automatic qualifiers then; no Pool C births—just conference representatives that met together to pick the four best teams from each region. In 1992, the MIAC’s representative was Steve Johnson.

Now, mind you, the SJU team in 1992 was supposed to be pretty good. In 1991, the Jays lost to Dayton in the NCAA semifinals—it was the last year that the Dayton rule was in effect, and Dayton was forced to move into a new division—so there was much optimism in Collegeville in the fall of 1992 about a possibility of a return to the Stagg Bowl.

The season started out right where the Johnnies left off—beating up on Bemidji State, Augsburg, Gustavus, St. Olaf, Bethel and Hamline leading up to the Tommie game—that year, held in St. Paul—mind you, this was back when the Tommies actually fielded teams that would compete with the Johnnies. But several questionable calls later, the Tommies sent the Johnnies back to Collegeville with their first regular season loss in almost two years—a 15-12 heartbreaker.

Meanwhile, in Northfield, SJU alumni Bob Sullivan had put together a respectable Carleton squad that was rolling over its opponents as well, and was undefeated leading up to its date with the Johnnies. The Johnnies, not anxious to relinquish its crown, found the end zone…over, and over, and over again, racking up a convincing 70-7 win over the up-until-then undefeated Knights. At this point there was a tie for the MIAC title with one week left to play in the season. The Johnnies drew their longtime nemeses Concordia, coached by Gagliardi’s contemporary Jim Christopherson, who was as decorated a coach as anyone in the game even then. The Cobbers fought out a 18-18 tie with the Johnnies, leaving the Jays with an 8-1-1 record. Carleton, meanwhile, won its regular season finale and finished 9-1, winning the MIAC title outright.

But again, back then, the playoff births didn’t have to go to conference champions, they went to the best teams in the region, and St. John’s, despite their blemished record, was still considered by many as the best team in the MIAC. However, as the legend continues, when the committee was discussing a MIAC representative to the West Region, Steve Johnson recommended Carleton carry the MIAC’s torch instead of St. John’s. St. John’s went playoff-less; Carleton promptly got trounced in the first round.

Gaglardi was understandably upset—the Johnnies had beaten the Knights by 63 points and were denied a birth; but he had vowed his revenge—it just so happened that the opponent for John’s 300th victory (the following season) was scheduled to be none other than Steve Johnson’s Bethel Royals, in Arden Hills.

Keep in mind that 1993 team was the Point-a-Minute squad, and the greatest show on grass. But to show exactly what it felt like to have 70 points scored upon you, John made sure that his best players stayed in the game. When it was over, a 77-12 drubbing of the Royals, Gagliardi believed that order had been returned to the MIAC, except that, with the 300th victory media asking for comment from the losing coach, they received some comments considered by Gagliardi to be less than cordial about the winning coach. And so it began…

It next came to a head in the fall of 1996, when Johnson led his undefeated Royals into Collegeville to do battle against the undefeated Johnnies. “The Team of the Century” noted Johnson, would certainly make Arden Hills proud and knock off the arrogant Johnnies, whose teams had been atop the MIAC standings every year from 1989 on. That Bethel team took the opening kickoff and marched right down the field on the Johnnies and stuck the ball into the endzone. Not to be outdone, the Royals went for two and converted. Bethel 8-Johnnies 0, and given the way the Royals moved the ball so efficiently, there may be no way of stopping them that afternoon. But that was premature—the Johnnies proceeded to run off 56 unanswered points, sending the “Team of the Century” home with a 56-8 spanking.

The Royals finally did knock off the Johnnies in 1999, and again in 2000, each time earning their own trip to the NCAAs; and each time losing in the first round. Meanwhile, the Johnnies advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in 1999, and lost to Mount Union in the Stagg Bowl 10-7 in 2000, getting the better of their MIAC counterparts those times.

In 2003, Josh Nelson scored the game-winning TD against Bethel to help John to his record-setting 409th victory

But this is what rivalries are made of: good competitive games; stories like these; running backs fumbling while leaping for the goal line and alert defenders picking the ball up and running 99 yards the other way for the TD; Kirchoff versus Elliott; A.J. Parnell; all the way up to the Wetzell team that ruined the Johnnie undefeated season last year. The Royals have arrived; the Johnnies have had to make room. Who wins this time around? The MIAC’s two best teams meeting on the last week of the season, with an automatic qualification to the NCAA playoffs on the line, and a loss for Bethel means the end of the season, to be played on the soft grass atop the hill in Arden Hills, a place where the Johnnies are 1-2 since 1999.

This is what MIAC football is all about!

On this sun-drenched after-noon at old Norton, alongside the rail yards and switching stations, the number 6 left the dock.

The iron horse careened across the landscape, amidst the silver-capped bullets, it’s white-and-red striping gliding clear of any obstacles that dared cross its path.

Three times it would deliver its cargo to the end zone, racking up almost 8 scores of yardage in its wake.

At the end of the day, the witnesses would see the number 6 of the Collegeville Express ride back into its home base holding up a 46-7 victory of the Pipers of mighty Hamline.

The number 6 is known to friends as Patnode, the senior student-athlete from Princeton, whose skills as a rusher and receiver are well known to all now throughout the Minnesota league.

He was not alone. The Johnnies’ engineer, Kofoed of Richmond, made his mark in the all-time records, eclipsing the Minnesota IAC all-time career record for passing on his day with 203 yards passing and two touchdowns. He was assisted on the other side of the ball by his junior companion Mike Schumacher, who tackled the Piper ball-carrier 7 times, including one behind the line of scrimmage and one sack. His mate Ryan Wimmer had a critical interception for the fighting Jays.

The day started a bit worrisome, as the boys from Hewitt Avenue scored on their first possession after an 85-yard, 11-play drive. But the cardinal-striped boys from Collegeville bounced back for a 61-yard touchdown run on the first play by the number 6 express train. The Johnnies took the lead for good after a bad snap near the end zone caused Hamline to be assessed a safety.

The Johnnies’ defense stiffened and their offense got on the right track, rolling off successful drives that ended up in the end zone 4 more times, including another field-goal by Gliadon, the Jays’ kicking specialist.On the day, the Johnnies reigned supreme in the statistics category, racking up 453 yards and prevented the Pipers from gaining much more than 200—of which, 85 came from the first Hamline drive of the day.

The Johnnies now must return home and prepare for next week’s opponent, the feared purple warriors of St. Thomas. The Tommie footballers return to Collegeville after facing the Jays in St. Paul the past two years.