MIAC football title game might pit Bethel vs. St. John’s, but others have something to say first

This is the fourth and final season of divisions in MIAC football. Three games this week — one in the Skyline Division and two in the Northwoods Division — will determine which teams will represent the divisions in next week’s championship game.

Bethel (7-1, 3-0 Skyline) plays at Concordia-Moorhead (6-2, 3-0) for the Skyline Division title. Bethel has won the division three straight years.

A three-way tie for first place in the Northwoods is possible when St. John’s (8-0, 3-0 Northwoods) plays host to St. Olaf (6-2, 2-1), and Gustavus Adolphus (5-3, 2-1) plays at Carleton (3-5, 1-2).

If St. John’s, which is ranked No. 3 in the d3football.com Top 25 and ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division III National Power Index, defeats St. Olaf it will win the division. If the Johnnies lose to St. Olaf, and Gustavus tops Carleton, it will create a three-way tie for first in the division. The Johnnies would win the tiebreaker for the top spot in the division.

If St. Olaf wins and Carleton tops Gustavus, St. Olaf wins the division.

St. John’s won the Northwoods in 2021 and 2022 while Gustavus won it last season.

The winner of next week’s game between the two divisional leaders will receive the MIAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA D-III playoffs. The Northwoods Division winner will play host to the Skyline Division champ next week.

Here are three other Minnesota college football story lines this week:

St. Thomas and Drake, the top two finishers in the Pioneer League last season, will meet Saturday in St. Paul with sole possession of first place on the line.

The Tommies (5-4, 4-1 Pioneer) are in a tie for second place (with Morehead State) in the league’s standings. The Tommies had a four-game winning streak ended in a 21-7 loss at Morehead State last week.

Drake (6-1, 5-0) is coming off a 19-0 victory over Marist in Des Moines last week. The victory was the 16th consecutive in league play for the Bulldogs, dating to the 2022 season. The Bulldogs went 8-0 in league play — including a 52-21 victory over St. Thomas in Des Moines — last year to earn the league title. The loss to Drake was the Tommies’ only conference loss.

Three NSIC teams — Augustana, Minnesota State Mankato and Sioux Falls — are ranked in the Division II Super Region Four rankings.

Colorado State Pueblo, of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, is No. 1 in the region rankings while Augustana, the NSIC leader, is ranked No. 2. Minnesota State Mankato is No. 3 and Sioux Falls is No. 7. Mankato and Sioux Falls are tied for second in the NSIC. Sioux Falls plays at Augustana on Saturday, and MSU Mankato plays host to Mary.

Also ranked in the region are Western Colorado (No. 4), Angelo State (No. 5), Central Washington (No. 6), Western Oregon (No. 8), Colorado Mesa (No. 9) and Colorado Mines (No. 10).

Seven teams from each of four regions will be named to the 28-team field for the DII playoffs. The top seed in each region receives a first-round bye.

Eight kickers with ties to Minnesota are among the 41 kickers on the current watchlist for the Fred Mitchell Award, which is given annually to the top collegiate placekicker among non FBS programs – FCS, D-II, D-III, NAIA and NJCAA programs.

Those on the list are Curtis Cox (Minnesota Duluth), Matt Jaeger (MSU Mankato), Jack Sieben (Gustavus Adolphus), Damien Silus (Concordia-Moorhead), Collin Swan (St. Olaf), Nathan Wangensteen (Augsburg), Max Watson (MSU Moorhead) and South Dakota State’s Hunter Dustman, a senior from St. Francis High School.

Tom Obarski of Concordia (St. Paul) won the award in 2014.

The award is named for Fred Mitchell, who was a kicker for Wittenberg and longtime sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune.