SWC75
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The first round has already been played:
2016 NAIA Football Championship Series First Round Recap (Nov. 19)
The SEMI-FINAL match-ups:
EASTERN OREGON 9-2 (351-268) ranked #9 / Defeated Doane 34-28 in the first round; lost to College of Idaho 7-20 and Montana Tech 24-37 / Post Season record: 1-0 (Championships: 0)
at MARIAN (Ind.) 11-0 (567-126) ranked #1 / Defeated Robert Morris 32-7 in the first round / 15-3 (2)
LINDSAY WILSON (Ky.) 11-1 (580-315) ranked #8 / Defeated Grand View 34-27 in the first round; Lost to Reinhardt 34-55 / 2-2 (0)
at BAKER (Kan.) 12-0 (613-219) ranked #2 / Defeated Sterling 44-21 in the first round/ 14-15 (0)
MONTANA TECH 10-1 (446-198) ranked #6 / Defeated Dickinson State (ND) 28-21 in the first round / lost to Carroll (Mont) 24-27 / 2-2 (0)
at REINHARDT (Ga.) 12-0 (665-151) ranked #3 / Defeated Southeastern (Florida) 52-22 in the first round / 1-1 (0)
MORNINGSIDE (Iowa) 10-1 (578-125) ranked #5 / Defeated Tabor 65-17 in the first round; lost to Wisconsin-Whitewater 21-35 / 17-12 (0)
at SAINT FRANCIS (Ind.) 10-1 (479-181) ranked #4 / Defeated Missouri Valley 79-20 in the first round; lost to Marian 21-35 / 24-15 (0)
Comments: You can see that the NAIA is getting pretty anemic by looking at a number of clues here. The first is that the best teams are clobbering their “competition”. Eastern Oregon and Montana Tech had a pretty normal point differential but Marian averaged 51.5 points per game, including scores of 56-10, 70-10, 66-0, 63-14 and 59-14, Lindsay Wilson 48.3 with 63-17, 62-23 and 84-0, Baker 51.1 including 89-27, 60-7, 52-7 and 73-26, Reinhardt 55.4 with 55-2, 73-0, 62-7, 64-3, 62-13, 69-20 and 58-7 Morningside 52.5 with 62-0, 87-14, 69-7, 70-0, 62-3 and 65-17 and St. Francis a measly 43.5, including 58-14, 63-7 and 79-20. And those 65-17 and 79-20 games were playoff games!
The second clue is that not one of these teams has ever won an NAIA title before except Marian, the defending champs. Most of the previous NAIA titlists have moved over the NCAA Divisions II or III.
The third clue is that some NAIA schools are playing each other twice, like a basketball home and home. Sure Montana Tech lost 24-27 to Carroll. But they beat them 34-15 six weeks later.
That Morningside-Whitewater score suggests that the best NAIA teams could be quite competitive in the NCAA. There are 86 schools left in the NAIA, most of them in the Midwest. The purpose of this organization was to give smaller schools recognition by allowing them to compete for national championships. The NCAA has long since taken over that function and I’d really like to see the NAIA disband and ll these schools join the NCAA so they could have some real completion and we could have a champion of all the schools of this size.
2016 NAIA Football Championship Series First Round Recap (Nov. 19)
The SEMI-FINAL match-ups:
EASTERN OREGON 9-2 (351-268) ranked #9 / Defeated Doane 34-28 in the first round; lost to College of Idaho 7-20 and Montana Tech 24-37 / Post Season record: 1-0 (Championships: 0)
at MARIAN (Ind.) 11-0 (567-126) ranked #1 / Defeated Robert Morris 32-7 in the first round / 15-3 (2)
LINDSAY WILSON (Ky.) 11-1 (580-315) ranked #8 / Defeated Grand View 34-27 in the first round; Lost to Reinhardt 34-55 / 2-2 (0)
at BAKER (Kan.) 12-0 (613-219) ranked #2 / Defeated Sterling 44-21 in the first round/ 14-15 (0)
MONTANA TECH 10-1 (446-198) ranked #6 / Defeated Dickinson State (ND) 28-21 in the first round / lost to Carroll (Mont) 24-27 / 2-2 (0)
at REINHARDT (Ga.) 12-0 (665-151) ranked #3 / Defeated Southeastern (Florida) 52-22 in the first round / 1-1 (0)
MORNINGSIDE (Iowa) 10-1 (578-125) ranked #5 / Defeated Tabor 65-17 in the first round; lost to Wisconsin-Whitewater 21-35 / 17-12 (0)
at SAINT FRANCIS (Ind.) 10-1 (479-181) ranked #4 / Defeated Missouri Valley 79-20 in the first round; lost to Marian 21-35 / 24-15 (0)
Comments: You can see that the NAIA is getting pretty anemic by looking at a number of clues here. The first is that the best teams are clobbering their “competition”. Eastern Oregon and Montana Tech had a pretty normal point differential but Marian averaged 51.5 points per game, including scores of 56-10, 70-10, 66-0, 63-14 and 59-14, Lindsay Wilson 48.3 with 63-17, 62-23 and 84-0, Baker 51.1 including 89-27, 60-7, 52-7 and 73-26, Reinhardt 55.4 with 55-2, 73-0, 62-7, 64-3, 62-13, 69-20 and 58-7 Morningside 52.5 with 62-0, 87-14, 69-7, 70-0, 62-3 and 65-17 and St. Francis a measly 43.5, including 58-14, 63-7 and 79-20. And those 65-17 and 79-20 games were playoff games!
The second clue is that not one of these teams has ever won an NAIA title before except Marian, the defending champs. Most of the previous NAIA titlists have moved over the NCAA Divisions II or III.
The third clue is that some NAIA schools are playing each other twice, like a basketball home and home. Sure Montana Tech lost 24-27 to Carroll. But they beat them 34-15 six weeks later.
That Morningside-Whitewater score suggests that the best NAIA teams could be quite competitive in the NCAA. There are 86 schools left in the NAIA, most of them in the Midwest. The purpose of this organization was to give smaller schools recognition by allowing them to compete for national championships. The NCAA has long since taken over that function and I’d really like to see the NAIA disband and ll these schools join the NCAA so they could have some real completion and we could have a champion of all the schools of this size.
