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Can the Panthers win a National Title?

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  • Can the Panthers win a National Title?

    Can our Panthers win a National Championship?

    Don't click "reply" just yet...I'm looking for something more then an emtional "yes" to this question.

    Look at the storied history of our Panthers. We're the 13th winningest 1AA of all-time, with only Western Kentucky with us in the top-25. We've won more conference championships then not, and to the whole of 1AA nation, a playoff bracket without the words "Northern Iowa" is hardly a legitimate one.

    We are, in my humble opinion, a far superior program (encompasing tradition, facilities, funding, support, expectations) then other teams in our very league who have won a national championship (SIU), or who have won many (YSU.) We have, alongside probably Montana, the single greatest homefield advantage in the subclassification.

    And yet, the space in our trophy case reserved for a National Championship trophy is bare.

    We are both blessed and cursed to play in the best conference in 1AA football. This means that we get the benefit of the doubt if we finish 8-3, becasue we've played the toughest schedule. It also means it's exceedingly difficult for us to attain a top-2 seed, and therefore a semi-final homegame.

    Does anyone believe we can make it to Chattanooga without a home semi-final game? We've seen how that goes before, and aside from Montana (r Delaware, etc), there is noplace on EARTH a 1AA wants to go to less in a late-round game then Cedar Falls.

    At the same time, as we've seen in all levels of football, it's hard for dome teams (I don't care how much you practice outside, you recruit and write the playbook to play indoors, and maximize those facilities) to win a playoff game on the road.

    Add to that the fact that we MUST play a BCS level 1A every year, to get a paycheck. This is penciled in, more times then not, as a loss (though we've beat up on mid-major 1a's, it looks like ISU is the 1A game of the future, and we will only beat them on occasional times). We lose one conference game, but yet win the league, we're 9-2. Is that good enough to get a top-2 seed? You're on the bubble at BEST.

    So we have to sweep the league. That's harder and harder every year.

    So, can we do it? Will UNI ever win a National Championship? Have we gone so long, being so good, without winning one, that now there is a mental barrier to us getting 'over the hump' and it will "never" happen?

  • #2
    i've read the post and feel that i am in no way responding emotionally

    i do believe UNI can, and will, win a national title in the next 5 years

    just a few points.....WKU lost 3 games in the regular season, then won a national title......a punishing defense and running game (freeney and horne!!!) in the dome will be a punishing defense and running game outside in chattanooga.....i don't think there is a mental barrier there because its not like our players have been spelling out UNI in their alphabits since birth. true, there are some, but i think it is a good thing that lots of players on the roster don't really know much about UNI until they are in HS, then they play well, get recruited and truly believe they can win a national title......plus, if we were like the hawks and had every kid in the state growing up wanting to be a panther (man that would be nice) i'd hope they'd want to be part of the first team to win that national title......the whole top-2 seed thing....i feel that as long as UNI can get a home game to start...they can truly win 2 games in a row against top 10 teams on the road....and who knows....maybe it would be like 2001 where you play away (win at EIU) then play at home and kill Maine to get in the final 4....then you just have to play the game....

    in short....it can be done and will be done....

    Comment


    • #3
      It'll be tough:

      We all want the Panthers to be National Champs but I-AA is a tricky situation. Most dominant teams in I-AA (Delaware, UMASS, Montana, Ga Southern, Furnman, etc) have a distinct recruiting advantage because they are located in population dense areas or they are the biggest school in their state. They have a lot of people and a lot more resources at their disposal than UNI ever will. UNI has to compete with 2 BCS teams in state along with BCS, Gateway, and up and coming (NDSU, SDSU) teams surrounding it.

      Some of the aforementioned teams also have very intimidating home environments that UNI must avoid in order to make the next step. They need to be at home for the advantage to be in their favor. UNI has a history of playing awesome but running into the "hot" team at their place. We seem to get stuck having to play on the road against the eventual national champion (Delaware, Montana, Marshall). Have those teams come to the dome and its a different story. We COULD have beaten Montana had we been in the dome, far, far, far away from the crazy confines of WA-Griz stadium.

      Another problem is familiarity. UNI seems to compete and dominate teams which it sees on a regular basis (IN ST, Ill ST, WIU, etc). Its the same reason Montana st. can go to WA-Griz and beat the Griz while only going 7-4/ 6-5 on the season to win their conference and make the playoffs. We'll play a team in the playoffs who is pretty good but who we never see play. This makes it tough for coaches to make a gameplan and players to execute it when you only have 3 good days to put in. You truly have to have everything go perfectly and every gameplan coaching point work to perfection in order to pull it off.

      I think the Panthers can do it as long as their coaching staff sticks together for the long haul. But, thats hard to do.

      Comment


      • #4
        B.True, I was just trying to guard against the usual "We can win becasue I love my panthers!" bullhuckey. No offense intended.

        I think we can win IN chatanooga, it's getting there that is difficult. My point is that we need to have home semi-final games. Going to the teams Reed listed and winning in a semi-final game is a VERY tall task, and would require a perfect confluence of events. On the other hand, there isn't a team in any 1AA playoff field that would come into the dome for a playoff game that I wouldn't be supremely confident we'd beat.

        To that extent, if ISU ever wanted the beating of their lives, I'd invite them in too.

        I think you can see the point/question I'm asking about, however.

        Comment


        • #5
          I understand what you are asking, Newsbreaker. I think that Coach Farley understands as well. I recall him remarking that we need to have more playoff games in the Dome to get over the hump. It seems to me that a I-A game every year is a necessity for the payoff. The football team sacrifices a winnable game vs. an evenly matched opponent for the $$. This is reality, and it is not going to change. We will lose more of these games than we win, but we can win and compete with I-A teams, such as Iowa State.

          We can do well in the playoff seeding with a quality I-A loss on the schedule. The Gateway is so tough, that it is hard to go undefeated in conference play. But if our team is truly a National Championship caliber team, should we really lose more than 1 game in conference?? A 9-2 team with one loss being to a BCS I-A team should certainly get very good seeding in the playoffs.

          I agree with your point regarding Dome field advantage. We are a much better team in the fabulous UNI-Dome than on the road. I love the advantage that we get @ home. As far as ways to improve our game on the road, I am open for suggestions.

          I truly believe that Farley is the guy to get us over the hump in the National Championship chase. He is a UNI alum, he has seen division I-A at Kansas, and chose to return to UNI. I think he is here for the long haul. He can get the job done.

          See you in Chatty in December!!

          peace

          igo4uni
          peace

          igo4uni

          Comment

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