Football | Sports
Without a conference, life goes on for football players
Most college football teams—in fact, almost all college sports teams—play in a conference. It makes travel plans easier because conferences are generally geographically formed, and it makes scheduling easier because the teams in the conference simply play one another. So, when it became evident that the Washington University football team would be without a conference for the 2017 season, it created a bit of a scheduling nightmare for head coach Larry Kindbom.
Kindbom and other administrators began the process of setting this season’s schedule around a year and a half ago. Kindbom said it took almost all that time to schedule the nine games the Bears will play this season, and, for a long time, they could only find eight.
“We got, within that year’s period of time, the eighth and then finally the ninth game scheduled,” Kindbom said.

Senior Garris Goe lines up at the line of scrimmage during the Bears’ game against Centre College. The Bears will begin their independent season this weekend against Carnegie Mellon.
After almost a year of phone calls and scheduling gymnastics, Wash. U. is now set to play nine games this season as an independent program.
Of course, not having a conference does not just mean a year of late-night phone calls for the coaches. The independent schedule also affects the players.
“I just remember thinking, ‘Who are we going to play?’” junior defensive lineman Jared Lake said, recalling when he learned that the Bears would be without a conference. “It was very much an unknown going in.”
“We knew, as of my sophomore year, that we were going to be conference-less,” senior defensive lineman Garris Goe said. “Then, it was kind of abstract, and so it was kind of like, ‘This is not an issue right now.’ It didn’t become a real thing until we started to see the schedule come together for the year.”
For senior running back David Nees, schedule turnover has been common, and he was glad that the Bears will still get to play their old University Athletic Association rivals—Case Western University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Chicago—this season.
“Every year since my freshman year, we have been in a different league, almost,” Nees said. “We’ve been in the UAA and those are our big rivals, but this is the last year that we are playing all of them. So, that was definitely nice to see that we still have [the UAA teams] on the schedule.”
For Nees, not having a league to play in does not mean the team is less motivated.
“We’re not playing for any specific cup, but I think all the guys realize that if we put our best foot forward and do well, we have a great shot at making the playoffs this year,” Nees said.
Nees’ vision of making the NCAA playoffs will be a tricky one for the Bears to accomplish this year. There are two issues facing the Bears when it comes to qualifying for the postseason. First, without a conference, Wash. U. cannot claim an automatic playoff berth through a league championship. Second, with only nine games scheduled—rather than the customary ten that most teams play—they can only afford to lose one, at most two games this season and still play late into November because of how many teams there are vying for the few at-large bids available.
The players recognize that it will be difficult to return to the playoffs this year.
“It’s crossed my mind this summer, I have to be honest,” Lake said.
However, the members of the team cited the strength of Wash. U.’s independent schedule as a potential boon in the quest for the postseason.
“With the caliber of teams we’re playing this year, an NCAA playoff berth is definitely in the cards,” Lake said. “We’re playing three preseason top-25 teams as of right now.”
These games, against No. 22 Case Western, No. 7 North Central University and No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, will go a long way to determining the Red and Green’s playoff fate.
Goe put the season in historical perspective, citing the 2013 season in which another Wash. U. team without a conference made the postseason thanks in no small part to an impressive showing against a top-ranked school.
“They were independents and they played Whitewater, and they lost by seven or 10 points and it was by far Whitewater’s closest game of the season,” Goe said. “I think that made a big impact on them getting an independent bid. The opportunity to play a team like Whitewater and play a team like North Central, those perennial powers, gives us a great opportunity, if we make a good impression, to make the playoffs.”
These games, against top-ranked, non-conference foes, would have been impossible with a slate of conference games to fulfill, and the Bears are relishing the unique opportunity that their conference-less schedule has presented them.
“It’s definitely a benefit, playing high-caliber teams,” Lake said. “That’s not knocking the [Southern Athletic Association (SAA)]; the SAA had a bunch of high-caliber teams, just all playing each other.”
Nees echoed the sentiment that this season will be exciting because of the chance not only to play great teams but to play great teams that Wash. U. has not traditionally been able to schedule.
“We’ve heard [Whitewater and North Central] are great football teams, but we’ve never gotten a chance to see them on film until now that we’re coming up and facing them,” Nees said.

Senior David Nees runs the ball during the Bears’ game against Hendrix College. This weekend, the Bears will play their first game of the season against Carnegie Mellon.
Nees added that Wash. U.’s schedule will allow the younger players to have a bit of sneak preview into next season, when the Bears will play in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW).
“We’re not playing all those teams [in the CCIW] this year, but it’ll be a good taste so some of the underclassmen will be able to see what it’s going to be like,” Nees said.
Wash. U. will, however, need to wait another year before it can compete for the CCIW crown. Until then, the team has set its own goals for the season without a league title to chase. One of these goals is securing that elusive at-large bid to the playoffs, and progressing past the opening round for the first time in program history.
“I think that’s the standard that is starting to be set for Wash. U. football,” Goe said. “Not just having good seasons, and not even just making the playoffs. We’ve done that a few times recently. I think the next step is trying to win some playoff games and become a perennial team that can make some noise.”
Nees agreed that the playoffs are the objective for the team this year, though he added that the Bears would like to get one over their old rivals one more time.
“I could definitely say the senior class wants to ‘win the UAA’ this year,” he said. “I think if it’s going to be the last time we’re playing them, to go out on top would be a great feeling.”
The nature of this season without conference standings, without watching the scoreboard to see how the league rivals are faring, means the players will have to define success for themselves. Every year, the Wash. U. football team has a theme for the year, a motto of sorts that defines the Bears’ objective for the season. This year, the seniors met and produced the theme for this year: Plant the flag.
“We made the playoffs last year, now the next step is actually planting the flag,” Goe explained. “What’s Wash. U.’s brand going to be forever? What’s going to be the impact that we leave behind?”
If this year’s Bears can find success in the uncertain, conference-less waters of 2017, the flag that they plant will mark the program as one to reckon with for years to come.