Mineral Water Bowl

Minnesota Duluth 28
Central Missouri 38Corsicana Bowl

Central Oklahoma 38
Tarleton State 31
Agent Barry Live United Bowl

Pittsburg State 48
Arkansas Tech 31C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl

Washburn 41
Angelo State 25MIAA Players on the AFCA All-American Team

Five different players were named to the AFCA All-American Team, announced on Wednesday, with three getting First Team and two being named to the second team:

First Team:

Seth Hebert, TE, UCM
Nathan Shepherd, DL, FHSU
Marcus Jones, DB, NWMSU

Second Team:The Strength of the MIAA DebateA Look Back at My Bold Predictions in the 2017 Preview2. There will be co-champions this year.

Nope. The Tigers ran the table and won the MIAA title outright for the first time in school history, becoming the fourth outright champion not named PSU or NWMSU since 1989.

3. Someone other than Braxton Marstall will lead the MIAA in total offense.

True. UCM QB Brook Bolles not only led the league by over 300 yards, he led the entore nation, averaging 360.2 yards per game.

4. UCO will rush for 2500 yards this year.

Nope. They lost their top two running backs Clay McKenzie and Jake Gandara to injury, and the freshmen trio of Jake Standlee, Chandler Garrett, and Bruce White (along with QB Chas Stallard) helped the team finish with 2186 yards. (PSU was the only team to break 2500 yards rushing on the year, and UCO finished 6th.)

5. Lindenwood finishes 5-6.6. UNK finishes 3-8.

True. The Lopers tripled their win total over the previous two seasons combined with wins over Missouri Western, Missouri Southern, and Northeastern State.

7. The MIAA will not win the region.8. Fort Hays goes to their third straight Bowl game.

Nope. Instead, they made it to the playoffs and to the second round by earning the top seed and a bye.


True. Despite a couple teams having rough years on that side of the ball, the league finished 2017 allowing 391.80 yards per game and 27.74 points per game. In 2016, the league allowed 411.45 yards and 30.33 points per game.

10. Six different teams will be ranked in the top 25 at some point in the season.

Nope. Five teams made our poll (FHSU, NW, UCM, WU, and ESU) but neither PSU or UCO could crack the Top 25 after their 2-4 starts.

I did a little better this year, getting them half right (compared to just three last year). Considering the wildness of the year, I will take it.


My Final 2017 MIAA Rankings and Thoughts

1. Fort Hays State (11-1)

No question they should be here, as they ran the table, winning the conference by a two game lead. They were easily the most balanced team in the league because they could run, pass, defend both, and played well on special teams, too. Even though they had a disappointing loss to Ferris State in the playoffs, the team laid a great foundation for the future. The next step is a playoff win, and the next step back the program takes will be the first under Head Coach Chris Brown.

2. Central Missouri (9-3)3. Northwest Missouri State (9-3)4. Pittsburg State (8-4)

I thought the Gorillas were dead after their loss to Lindenwood. After that game, they lost a couple more tough games against Washburn and FHSU to fall to 2-4, but they at least showed some fight in those latter games, unlike the debacle against the Lions. After they blew their 17 point lead to FHSU, though, the team played the rest of the season with its collective hair on fire, and won six straight to close out the season. Head Coach Tim Beck shook up the coaching staff on Thursday, announcing that defensive coordinator Dave Weimers would be the offensive coordinator next year, and former LB standout Nate Dreiling would take over as defensive coordinator.

5. Central Oklahoma (8-4)6. Emporia State (6-5)7. Washburn (7-5)

The Ichabods started out the season great, winning five of their first six, with the lone blemish being a six point loss to NWMSU in the second game of the season. However, it seems teams had figured out the Washburn defense to a degree, and they lost four of their last five (including the Rivalry Week loss to ESU in the regular season finale) down the stretch. While it was a bit of a surprise they were invited to the Heat of Texas bowl over the ESU team that just beat them, the Ichabods absolutely made the most of it and dominated Angelo State in what should have been a virtual home game for the Rams.

8. Lindenwood (4-7)9. Missouri Western State (4-7)10. Nebraska-Kearney (3-8)11. Northeastern State (1-10)

The Riverhawks just had a rough, rough year. While they did beat Missouri Southern by a field goal to stay out of the cellar, they were beat by at least two scores in every other game this year. Their closest game in a loss was by 15 points to UNK. The lone bright spot this year was the play of WR Gary McKnight, who had the best year in the league by anyone not named JT Luper. McKnight finished with 1027 yards and 11 TDs (#2 in both categories behind Luper), and he led the MIAA in yards per catch (21.9ypc) by a pretty good margin over 2nd place UCM WR Kyrion Parker.

12. Missouri Southern State (0-11)