Minnesota State-Mankato 52, Sioux Falls 17
Having my first chance to see Mankato in person this year, I have to say they are awfully impressive. As I was watching the game I thought to myself that this looked like a championship team out there. Jon Wolf’s playmaking at the quarterback position is the one thing that sets the Mavs apart. USF has shown signs this year of the youth-movement being slightly ahead of schedule in terms of production. On this day, it was all Mavs, as they were the hammer and the Cougars the nail.

Winona State 28, Augustana 24
Augustana takes Winona to the limit but falls just short. Augie getting 2 quarterbacks dinged up certainly didn’t help matters, but the Vikings defense continues to keep them in games. Considering the bloodletting in Sioux Falls last year (Winona hanging 73at KO), a 4-point loss to a solid Winona team doesn’t look to bad on paper. While Winona has to be pleased with the win, it simply hasn’t been the type of year defensively that the Warriors had anticipated. To the surprise of most, Augie outgains Winona 332 to 285 in this one.

Minnesota-Duluth 32, Mary 14
Duluth continues to prove on a weekly basis that the difference between the conference frontrunner (MSU-Mankato) and UMD isslight. Mary has been a solid team all year, and were only down 17-14 at half, but were shutout in the second-half.

Upper Iowa 24, Wayne State 21
First off, congrats to UIU on clinching a winning season, their first since 1999. Personally, considering the offensive firepower that the Peacocks have shown this year, one would expect that they’d have handled a Wayne State squad that’s struggled more than expected this year. I’m sure that Peacocks are good with the win, while Wayne State’s tough year continues.

Southwest Minnesota State 55, Concordia-St.Paul 24
This one wasn’t tough to call. CSP has looked like a team who’s counting how many left til this season is over. SMSU has been an offensive juggernaut for the better part of the year. Charlie Kern threw for 5 scores, which is seemingly expected from the Mustangs offense anymore. Likely-POY Tyler Tonderum only had to handle the rock 22 times in this one. For him that’s barely even getting the ball.

St. Cloud State 38, Minot State 14
SCSU looks and acts like a playoff team, but it’s to be determined if they are dancing. Phillip Klaphake continues to have a monster season/career with both his arm and his feet. When his career does wrap up, he will have some truly legendary numbers. On the flipside, Minot was only down 14-7 at the break but just doesn’t have the type of explosive offense to keep pace with a very good Huskies squad.




Minnesota State-Moorhead 35, Bemidji State17
Kudos to the Dragons, they are now up to 4 wins while much of the conference thought they might be the worst team in the conference. Instead they’ve rattled off 3 straight wins and have shown a fair amount of promise offensively along the way. BSU has become one of the more disappointing teams in the conference this year, now sitting on 2 wins.

Northern State 28, Minnesota-Crookston 0
Considering how Northern had been slumping as the season continued, it was hard to see this much of a one-sided game coming.




Ok….as the playoffs. Who’s gonna get in? Eh boy..



Unless something really crazy happens with Duluth and Mankato, they are in for sure.

However, there’s a whole bunch of pissedivity going on up in St. Cloud right now. I get it, ya go from #4 in the Region to #7. Here’s the thing, it’s all math. SOS of your own team, and the SOS of your opponents, etc. There’s a lot more depth to it than just who you played yourself. Essentially the #4 ranking for SCSU was premature because the schedule hasn’t fully played out yet. My brain hurts just thinking about the whole thing.

In any event, I don’t like this system one bit and haven’t for a few years now. The idea that a 1-loss SCSU team could get shutout of the playoffs while teams with 2 losses from the other Regions are making it in..well it doesn’t pass the smell test.

First off, how can you really determine the true strength of schedule for the NSIC teams when they are playing within their own silo? You cannot. I get the reasoning behind such a system, it’s to be fair across the board. However,when NSIC teams can’t bolster their own SOS due to the right sizing of the conference itself….well then it’s unfair to the teams within the conference.

Also, why not have scoring differential inindividual games be part of the equation. Blowout wins cap out at a 30 point victory, meaning a 60 point win is no different in the computer than a 30 point win. This curbs the running up the score part of things. This would however give a clearer picture of how good a team is. Are they a 1-loss team that’s dominating teams or a 1-loss team that frankly doesn’t look as impressive weekly.

I have to admit, I think the NAIA model (which I’m accustom to from following it closely for many years) is better. I’m not saying it’s perfect, just better. 16 teams (out of 80 schools), autobids to the conference winners as long as they are in the top 20 of the coaches poll. The remaining bids go to the highest ranking at-large teams in that same coaches poll. In that type of system no way is a team like SCSU getting left outta the dance. Adopt a 24 team field with this same line of thinking, split them into 4 Regions, and you have a better quality field than you currently do now. I’m all about competive integrity, just sayin.

Personally, I think SCSU still finds a way to end up on the #6 spot. I’m not sure how it happens, but I just have a feeling.


Why is there someone new doing the NSIC blog......allow me to explain..
The previous NSIC Columnist Aaron Ziemer has simply gotten too busy with professional obligations to continue on as a blogger. I'd like to personally thank Aaron for the years of informative and insightful content that he offered in his weekly write-ups. I often found myself looking forward to his blog weekly.

For those that don't know, Matt Witwicki and Witt are the same person. Considering that some of you thought I was Matt Zimmer for a while, I can only imagine the confusion this will cause you.

Winona people will surely view this as an ongoing Sioux Falls conspiracy to make their lives miserable. For that, I apologize. You're right, it is a conspiracy.

For all others, I'm looking forward to being your NSIC Columnist on D2Football. I'm not going to be trying to post a lot of stats and other such things you can find in the paper, but instead I will be offering my candid views on Northern Sun football. Thank You.