Non-"Conference" Games, At A Glance

Six grueling weeks still remain until the DIII football season begins, so I thought I would help fill the void by (over) analyzing the WIAC's 2012 non-conference portion of its schedule. Check that....WIAC's 2012 non-WIAC portion of its schedule, to be totally accurate, which just sounds weird to me. I try to be cautious not to call it "non-conference opponents" because of the fact each school is playing a conference foe as a non-conference game. This is something the WIAC announced during the 2009 season (which went into affect last year) in an effort to cut back on traveling costs when the economy took a poop. Anywho, below is a composite glance at WIAC's opponents that don't play in the WIAC....or however the hell you want to describe it. You know what I mean.

WIAC's non-WIAC opponents
NCC (2x)
St. Thomas (2x)
Dubuque (2x)
St. John's
Central
Alma
Simpson
Buena Vista
Buffalo State
Washington U.
*Saint Francis (IN)
*Jamestown
**Northern Michigan

16 Total games (8 home, 8 away)
11 In-region games (I'm very pleased with this number, with each WIAC team having at least one)
0 Games in which the WIAC has to travel outside the Midwest

Conference Breakdown
IIAC (5 games)
MIAC (3 games)
CCIW (2 games)
MIAA
E8
UAA
Outside DIII (3 games)

2011 Record of non-WIAC opponents
DIII Programs: 65-42
NAIA and DII Programs: 16-17
Post Season: 5-4

Semi-interesting/Useless Facts About These Teams
Games against scholarship offering schools: 3
Games against schools with a 2011 losing record: 4
Games against teams that made the post season in 2011: 7
Games against conference-winning programs from last season: 6
Games against teams that finished in the Top 10 last year: 5
Total number of 2012 Preseason All-Americans***: 10
Teams that have a man's name as its nickname: 3 (Tommies, Johnnies and Jimmies)


* NAIA Affiliate
** DII Affiliate
*** Source: BSN for NAIA and DII. D3football.com for DIII