2000 Around the Midwest columns

November 2, 2000 Bids on the line in IIAC clash Every year, you can count on a few things when the gales of November (to steal a phrase from Gordon Lightfoot) approach the Midwest. The temperatures get colder. The fallen leaves crunch under your feet on your way to class. The first snowflakes of the season approach, and you swear that you saw the first Christmas ads on TV before Halloween.

October 27, 2000 Bethel, St. John's take different paths to Saturday's showdown There is a little disparity in the football histories between the two schools. But history may be forced to take a back seat when a game the magnitude of Saturday's Bethel-St. John's game comes along.

October 20, 2000 Another program rebounds? IC One of the biggest surprises of this football season has been the performance of the UW-Stout. From last year's 2-8 finish to this year's perfect 6-0 start, the Blue Devils have accomplished one of the most dramatic turnarounds in the nation. But another team has quietly done nearly the same thing about 500 miles south of Stout's Menomonie, Wis., campus.

October 13, 2000 Luther, Wartburg set for war The two schools share one of the deepest and fiercest rivalries in the IIAC. And though Luther hasn't beaten Wartburg since 1991, the series is even -- 28-28-1. Last year, the Knights evened the series by holding on late for a thrilling 20-17 victory.

September 29, 2000 Weekend of big games could shape early playoff picture There are huge rivalries and big games on this weekend's calendar in the Midwest. Three games, in particular, will go a long way in deciding conference championships and the valued postseason playoff berths.

September 22, 2000 Stout's surprising Top 25 surge You look down the poll a little more, and your eyes fall on No. 14. Wisconsin-Stout. Wisconsin-Stout? Hmm, wasn't this the team you rated eighth in the eight-team WIAC in your preseason preview a couple of weeks ago?

September 15, 2000 Cornell and Coe still adjusting The schedule-makers in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference weren't kind to Cornell coach Steve Miller this season. The Rams are opening the 2000 season with games against the three teams that have dominated IIAC play over the past two decades.

August 28, 2000 2000 MIAC season preview Traditionally, the football race in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has been between St. John's and everyone else, ever since head coach John Gagliardi replaced another legend, Professional Football Hall of Fame charter member Johnny "Blood" McNally, as the head coach at the college nestled deep in the woods of central Minnesota. Now, Gagliardi is 44 wins away from Grambling coach Eddie Robinson's college football's all-time victory record of 408.

August 17, 2000 2000 WIAC Season Preview As one of six conferences in the nation to receive multiple national playoff bids in the first season of the expanded format last year, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference made its mark as one of the top leagues in the nation.