Oh man. Two conferences, one preview. It’s never been done before…until NOW. Welcome to the IIAC+MIAC joint season preview! I decided to combine these two conference previews into one for a couple of reasons. 1. There’s very little mystery about which team is going to win each conference. 2. Writing each of these previews separately would be more of a grind than I can handle. Honestly, no one besides the top dogs in these conferences have ever really received much coverage, but I think there are enough decent teams and with my affinity to give some love to as many teams as possible, here we are with an IIAC and MIAC preview.
Before going any further, let’s start with the basics.
What even are the IIAC and MIAC?
IIAC = Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
MIAC = Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
You said there’s little mystery about who will win these conferences. Who are the favorites?
Coe has won the IIAC for six years in a row, and Gustavus Adolphus has won the MIAC seven years in a row (46 times overall). Both teams should have little trouble continuing their streaks.
Who are the other top teams?
In the IIAC, the only team that can really give Coe a decent match is Luther. In the MIAC, the next teams after Gustavus (there’s a very large gap between them, by the way) are Carleton, St. Thomas, and Bethel.
Please give me more background on these conferences.
I’d be glad to! It’s worth pointing out that every team in these conferences, including Coe and Gustavus, relies heavily on developing 0, 1, and the occasional 2-star. Coe is the only team from either conference that has brought in a 3-star since 2014. All of this is to say that Coe and Gustavus don’t dominate because they are just out-recruiting the competition significantly. Yes, that plays a role, but Coach Valentini (GAC) and Rodgers (Coe) are two of the absolute best in the business when it comes to building team chemistry, developing players, and making doubles a priority. This isn’t to disparage any other coaches, but rather to just to give a little extra credit where I think it’s well-deserved and under-received.
Okay, hopefully that’s enough background for you. Since most people reading this are probably associated with team’s in these conferences anyway it was likely unnecessary, but I at least like to pretend the whole world is reading. Let’s take a closer look at the top teams, starting with the IIAC:
Coe Kohawks
Background: As I already mentioned, Coe is led by Eric Rodgers, now in his 29th year. He’s developed a very good reputation throughout D3 and as a long-time Blog supporter, I consider myself a fan. Biases aside, Coe has been able to get into, and stay, in the national rankings consistently thanks to a couple good wins every year. They always play one of the most extensive schedules in the country, putting themselves out there against just about every other team in the Central Region, giving themselves lots of opportunities to get a key win. Last year they suffered a late season loss to UW-Whitewater that helped get the Warhawks into NCAAs via Pool B, and as usual, the Kohawks made it through the IIAC tournament with little trouble before falling to UChicago in NCAAs.
Season Outlook: Coe is losing two starters in James McManus and Alex Bernt, but brings in a rare 3-star (from Texas, no less) by the name of Jake Kudrick. Jake didn’t do anything too crazy good or bad this fall, but if he can hold down the fort in the middle of the lineup, I think Coe will be just as good, if not better than last year. Brady Anderson is now a senior and there’s no reason not to expect him to once again be one of the best #1s in the region, and Nate Ackert is coming off an excellent fall and has the potential to be a great #2. The Kohawks always carry a big roster, and with their emphasis on development, I always expect them to be just fine down in the depths of the lineup against most teams. If they can bring some more firepower in the 2-4 range, this could be a particularly dangerous squad.
Schedule Thoughts: I’ve gotten used to the Coe vs Chicago 6 doubles/9 single dual match being like the unofficial Opening Day for D3 tennis, and while that match will be happening again (though no clue on the format) it’s not until Feb 17. They’ve got their usual slate of many Central teams, most notably Carleton, DePauw, Wabash, Wheaton, Augustana, and UWW, as well as the rest of the IIAC, but what’s new this year is a trip all the way to Virginia to play in a tournament at Mary Washington against Stevens, Mary Wash, and Sewanee. All teams they don’t have much history with. Should be a fun weekend to follow!
Key Player: South Dakota’s own Nate Ackert made the fall ITA doubles final with Brady Anderson and beat Herman Abban (Carthage) on his way to the quarters in the singles draw. That’s a great start to the season and if he can follow it up with a strong spring at #2, it’ll be huge for the Kohawks. Brady Anderson gives them a great chance at a point at #1 in every match, and the two will both have a major impact in doubles as well, so if Ackert can also get Coe some points, this team will be a tough out against most competition.
Prediction: Not exactly going out on a limb when I saw Coe will again win the IIAC with little to no drama. They finished 2017 ranked #39, and I’ll say that they improve on that by the end of 2018.
Luther Norse
Background: The Norse is a great mascot! Luther is the last team besides Coe to win the IIAC, accomplishing the feat back in 2011. Other things about Luther that I know: they played one of the matches of the year last spring against Grinnell, and after I tweeted about it and gave one of their guys player of the week honorable mention, my twitter exploded with Luther College fans favoriting and retweeting stuff. So we know the Norse have a good fan base. The question is, will they have much to cheer about this spring?
Season Outlook: When we start breaking down the details of Luther, I start wishing I had a go-to guest blogger like D3Landmark to help me out. Looks like Luther’s top two guys from last year, Kyle Appel and Trent Schneider, are no longer on the roster, which is going to be a tough pill to swallow. Appel was regional ranked and the duo made a pretty solid doubles team, upsetting Coe last spring. Trent’s younger brother Cole (I’m assuming they’re brothers…unless there are multiple Schneider families that play tennis in Coralville, Iowa) is a freshman and comes in with a 2017 high TRN ranking of 337, which is not bad for the IIAC. South African NAIA transfer Grant Morton is also one to watch, as his UTR is a team-high 10.74. He lost this fall to teammate Anders Jensen, though, so Anders is definitely another guy who we could see high in the lineup (he’s also got a perfect name for a guy on the Norse). Anyway, with a UTR Power 6 of 62 and some interesting new faces, I think Luther will struggle a bit losing Appel at the top of the lineup, but isn’t likely to fall off a cliff thanks to a intriguing cast of characters still around.
Schedule Thoughts: Luther plays a number of competitive matches early in the season and on spring break in Orlando in March, and I’m particularly excited by their TRIPLEHEADER on April 14th! Obviously Coe is the biggest match of the year for them (especially when they will likely play in the IIAC final), but other key matches with ranking implications are Augustana, Carthage, Carleton, Wheaton, and UW-Lacrosse (I think that’s it?)
Key Player: Grant Morton. The transfer from Cornerstone University has the highest UTR on the team and could be the guy the Norse choose to play #1. He’s a total wild card though, so who knows? The unpredictability is what makes guys like this fun to follow, so he’s my key player for now.
Season Prediction: Luther was #19 in the Central Region at the end of 2017. Not sure if they’ll stay ranked for all of 2018 or not, but they’ll definitely be in the mix. I expect them to rise to the occaision against Coe and give the Kohawks a good match (or matches), but the experience and talent of Coe will be too much for Luther.
Everyone Else
The rest of the teams in the conference are: Central, Wartburg, Nebraska Wesleyan (wait….why are they in the IOWA Intercollegiate Athletic Conference?), Loras, Dubuque, Buena Vista, and Simpson. If you’d like to know more about them, talk to @d3_tree.
Okay, that’s the IIAC. Onto the MIAC:
Gustavus Adolphus Gusties
Look for NewD3Central’s full preview of GAC, coming soon!
Carleton Knights
Background: With an always colorful presence on twitter, Carleton gets surprisingly little attention from anyone considering they’re usually pretty decent. I guess being up in Minnesota doesn’t help. I’ve said it before, but Carleton is one of those schools that has the academic reputation to be better at tennis if they put in the resources. Their head coach is also a biology professor, which is cool, but obviously makes it pretty much impossible for Carleton to be able to recruit at an ideal level. Despite the disadvantage, Carleton usually attracts enough talent to be good enough to stay ranked but not really threaten anyone much stronger than them.
Season Outlook: On paper there’s some stuff to like about Carleton this year. Kevin Mei has some top of the lineup experience, and both Jordon O’Kelley and Leo Vithoontien had nice ITA runs in singles and doubles, where they made the semis. Xander Zuczek is a 2-star freshman with a 10.84 UTR and could have an immediate impact as well. I’m thinking that Carleton might actually put together a pretty solid lineup. Their Power 6 is low at 60, but that’s with a couple guys who aren’t counted because of low reliability. Realistically, they are more likely around 63-64.
Schedule Thoughts: The MIAC matches are obviously a main feature, with other notable matches being Luther (who they beat 8-1 last year and should be again) and Carthage (who they beat 6-3 last year). Even bigger matches include Coe and UW-Whitewater, where Carleton will have their best chance to pull an upset and move up in the rankings.
Key Player: Leo Vithoontien. The Thai freshman made some noise with his ITA results, making the Round of 16 before losing to Patrick Whaling (GAC) and getting all the way to the semis before falling to Al-Houni/Whaling (GAC) 9-7 alongside Jordon O’Kelley. It’d be nice to see Carleton have a #1 breaks into the regional rankings, and I think Leo is up for the task.
Season Prediction: I think they could move up from #15 in the region with a different schedule, but I don’t see them beating Coe or UW-Whitewater so unless some indirects fall their way, I think Carleton will again finish around #15 and get crushed but Gustavus in the MIAC final.
St. Thomas Tommies
The Tommies only have one guy on the team with a UTR above 10, and that’s senior Marty Beck, who, it should be noted, is an All-American, having finished 7th at the 2016 Oracle Cup in doubles with now assistant coach Luke Elifson. The pair was in the running for NCAAs last spring but had to be perfect to qualify and unfortunately they weren’t able to complete the run, and I don’t see any Tommies getting anywhere near NCAAs anytime soon. St. Thomas finished third in the MIAC last year, and while I don’t know much of anything about the teams that were behind them, I would say that it’s far from guaranteed that St. Thomas will be able to replicate that top-3 finish again in 2018.
Everyone else
I tried to just screenshot a list of all the teams in the MIAC and their UTRs and let the numbers tell the story, but I can’t figure out how to insert the image without it being blurry, so I’ll just type it out. After Gustavus, a lot of teams are pretty close, at least on paper!
Gustavus – 69
Carleton – 60
Bethel – 58
Macalester – 57
St. John’s – 57
St. Olaf – 56
Concordia – 55
St. Thomas – 55
St. Mary’s – 53
Hamline – 51
Shoutout to the Australian Open for providing some nice background as I wrote this post. As I sit here in the dead of winter it’s both nice and torturous to watch the sunny, summery scenes on the other side of the world. Speaking of the tournament, what do you all think of Rafa’s shirt choice? To me, if you’ve got biceps like that you might as well show them off, but I know not everyone (Bloggers included) agrees with me. Anyway, thanks as always for reading! Comments, tweets, emails, etc are always welcome!