By Don Stoner
Augsburg Sports Information Director

MINNEAPOLIS - At the beginning of the 1999 season, five teams were considered favorites to claim the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship. Consider what's happened since then:

• Wisconsin-River Falls? One win in five games, 1-2 in the WIAC, with losses to fellow favorites Stevens Point and La Crosse.
• Wisconsin-La Crosse? 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the league, but the loss was a 27-14 decision to former doormat Platteville.
• Wisconsin-Eau Claire? 1-4 overall, 1-2 in the WIAC. Two scores: Oshkosh 16, UWEC 14 and Stout 22, UWEC 20.
• Wisconsin-Whitewater? 2-4 overall, losing all three nonconference games before rallying with a 2-1 conference record.

Who does that leave? Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Unbeaten at 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the WIAC. The lone WIAC team ranked in the AFCA coaches' poll, at No. 9. And the team that might be the most surprising of all to be in sole possession of the conference lead.

UWSP had to replace 10 valuable seniors from last year's roster, including linebacker Clint Kriewaldt, who was drafted by the Detroit Lions. The Pointers' defensive coordinator, Todd Hoffner, left to become the new head coach at Eau Claire. And UWSP had probably the most difficult nonconference schedule of any of the favorites in the WIAC, with games against a strong Division II school in Northern State (S.D.) and Division I-AA Drake.

So far, no problems. Northern State was edged 28-26 on Sept. 11. A week later, the Pointers traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, and took care of Drake 28-17. Wins against Stout (24-20), Oshkosh (22-3) and last week's triumph against River Falls (21-19) have put the Pointers in sole possession of first place and the inside track to a national playoff berth.

This week should provide the toughest test of all for the Pointers. Stevens Point plays host to Whitewater on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Stevens Point's Goerke Field. The Warhawks enter the game on a strong roll, rallying from a 20-6 first-half deficit to claim a 53-20 whitewashing of Oshkosh last week. The key was the performance of wide receiver Ashby Hibbs, who had 249 receiving yards and four touchdowns in the win.

Meanwhile, Stevens Point will be entering the WIAC duel with a newcomer at quarterback. Starter Ryan Aulenbacher broke his collarbone in the second quarter of last week's win against River Falls and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. But Dave Berghuis stepped in and, despite completing seven of 13 passes for just 98 yards, scored a touchdown in the victory.

Stevens Point has a 10-game winning streak -- the fourth-longest streak in Division III -- to defend in Saturday's game. In this year's five wins, the average margin of victory has been just 7.6 points. Will that mean a close offensive shootout? Possibly.

What is for certain is that the winner of Saturday's game will have crossed a key hurdle in the race to the WIAC championship.

THIRTY-NINE IN A ROW: For consistency in recent years, one need look no further than Mount Union's current 47-game winning streak. But for long-term consistency -- nearly four decade's worth -- travel to Pella, Iowa. With its 28-21 win against Coe last Saturday, No. 4 Central College improved to 6-0 and clinched its 39th consecutive winning season, the second-longest streak in all of college football. Linfield has a current streak of 43 straight winning seasons and is 4-1 now. No. 3 is Nebraska, which has a current streak of 37.

"It's a big deal to us," said coach Rich Kacmarynski, who is in his third season with the Dutch. "Obviously, not many schools have such a long streak. I think it shows the commitment the institution, coaches and players have made to football at Central over the years."

The Dutch are idle this week, but will put another streak on the line as they go for their 22nd consecutive regular-season victory at Upper Iowa on Oct. 23.

Games of the Week
Concordia-Moorhead (4-1) at St. John's (4-1), 1 p.m., Collegeville, Minn.
In what might have been the shocker of the 1999 season so far, St. John's dropped a 24-20 decision at Bethel last Saturday, which turned the race in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference upside down.

This week, the No. 17 Johnnies host the MIAC's current leader, Concordia-Moorhead. The Cobbers have been on a roller-coaster ride after a 44-7 season-opening loss to D-II Moorhead State, topping Bethel 17-15 the following week and compiling three more conference wins. As usual, the Cobbers have been ground titans, averaging nearly 190 yards rushing per game behind a balanced attack with five players averaging more than 20 yards rushing a game. The key to the game might be offensive tempo.

Concordia is averaging just 18 points per game (and allowing 16.2), while the Johnnies average 38.2 points (allowing 15.4) per game. This will be the 31st meeting between Cobber coach Jim Christopherson (in his 31st year of coaching) and Johnnie coach John Gagliardi (in his 51st year), a streak believed to be the longest between two coaches in all of NCAA football.

Gagliardi leads the coaching series versus Christopherson, 18-9-3, dating back to 1969.

Bethel (4-1) at Gustavus (4-1), 1 p.m., St. Peter, Minn.
The other "big game" in the MIAC this weekend. Will the Royals come back to earth after scoring the school's first-ever win against St. John's last week? Will the Gusties stay on their high after stopping Augsburg 38-12 on the rug in Minneapolis? Bethel will have to have another strong offensive game, like the 271 yards passing by junior quarterback Bart Becker in last week's win, or the 208 receiving yards by Eric Carlson. The key may be stopping the Gustie rushing attack of Travis Prunty and Ryan Britz, who combined for 198 rushing yards and five touchdowns in the win at Augsburg last week. The Gusties are averaging 234 yards rushing per game.

Grinnell (4-1) at Ripon (3-2), 1:30 p.m., Ripon, Wis.
Ripon will try to avenge last year's 49-3 defeat to the Pioneers in this year's game between the Midwest Conference contenders. Grinnell cruised to a 53-35 win against Illinois College last week, behind quarterback Troy Dougherty, who returned to the Pioneer lineup last week. He threw for 322 yards and six touchdowns. Meanwhile, Grinnell's defense forced five sacks and two interceptions. Ripon came back from a Homecoming loss to St. Norbert with a 43-36 win at Lake Forest last weekend. Wide receiver Joe Rettler caught nine passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

"Ripon has an excellent football team," said Grinnell coach Greg Wallace. "We enter the game against them with a big target on our chest. In order for them to win the championship they have to knock us off. Also, we are the defending league champions so everyone wants to be the team to beat us."

This column is drawn from a variety of sources, including the outstanding work and research of sports information directors from Division III schools all over the Midwest.