No, Central isn't leaving the league, but they will not make the tourney, they will be last in the IIAC next year.

Wow, it has sure been a long time since I been on here.  It has probably been a year.  I have sit back and just observed the conference this season and have come up with a few observations and/or opinions of my own. 

1.  It might be just me but I think there is a lack of Marquee players in the league.  For instance:

-Jason Steege
-Eric Wiebers
-Jeff Ludovissy
-Scott Weber
-Nate Schmidt
- and there are more but that is all I can think of off the top of my head.

2. i was disappointed with Coe this year, after only losing a few players from last years team and returning the MVP, they sure didn't play very well throughout the year and I thougth they would be the regular season champs for sure - they definitely have th talent.

3.Some things never change dubuque, cornell, and Luther come in at the bottome of the conference while Wartburg did finish a lot lower than normal.  Simpson had a mediocre year again with the most talent they have had in awhile, which isn't a surprise.  Congrats to Loras for a great season matching a 15-1 regular season that the knights had in 04-05.  Let's hope that isn't bad karma as the knights lost in the conference tourney final to BV and then got snubbed for an at large bid in the NCAA DIII tourney.

4.  I hope the conference tourney is exciting and my prediction for next year are as follows.

1. Loras
2. Wartburg
3. BV
4. Coe
5. Simpson
6. Luther
7. Dubuque
8. Cornell

Hope this doesn't stir things up too bad.

This years MVP - Kyle White - Loras College.

PDMCGEE

And watch out for LEE NELSON next year from down town.  He needs to switch back to #22 and carry on the legacy of great players to wear that number (mike pipho - jordan atchison)

show-

simpson should have won at wartburg in the first round, but they didn't.  They scored 3 points in 9 minutes against a zone .... I still think that is funny.  Their coach is so easy to figure out and he is so predictable, he needs to go.  i wouldn't take simpson against loras, big mistake.

First Round:
BV over Luther
Loras over simpson

Second Round:
Wartburg over BV
Coe over Loras

Championship:
Wartburg over Coe in a barn burner Eby

Warburg will pull it out like the champions they are.  Two championships in a row.  Way to go boys, now get to the dance!!

March Madness is starting again and I can't be more excited to see some quality basketball.

CORRECTION:

On my initial message when I was talking about steege meaning more to his team than any one I meant how CAN'T anyone see that.

Wow - Kuenstling put up some serious MVP numbers against Loras last night who has suspect big men to say the least.  A whopping seven points?  Are you kidding me? And i saw him play at wartburg and he had under ten points that game too.  You guys can call him MVP if you want, but MVPs step up in big games, like my man steege.  He is more important to his team than any other player in the conference, I don't know how anyone can see that.  Furthermore, to whoever said that steege was overrated.... overrated players always end up in the top three of the all- time scoring list, right?  Come on, all you guys are out of your tree. 

Steege is
1)the most important to his team
2)plays the hardest of anyone
3)is the best player in the conference
4)has been Wartburg's MVP the last two years
5)first team IIAC the last two years
6)Academic all region/ all american/ espn academic team
7)and He's a hell of a nice guy

That is quite a resume and I guarantee that no one else in the conference stacks up against him.  No comparison. 

Congrats to Wartburg on the coe loss. Gotta defend that title from last year.  On the other hand, thats a real bummer for coe, they could have locked up the conference but they laid an egg on the road which is exactly where the conference is won and lost.

Last but not least, the last game in Knights gym is coming up and I will hate to see that place go,  lots of great teams, players, coaches, fans, and memories inside the "snake pit."

pdmcgee

p.s.  STEEGE FOR MVP!!

Sportsknight-

Wow!!  Never thought I would have heard you say any of that stuff, but I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion.  However, you may be right about last years team never peaking, but I feel like if the season would have been a week or two longer the Knights would have been one of the best teams in the country.  That is a big if though. BV was a better team last year and early season losses cost Wartburg.   Another big if is whether the knights can finish strong and get a coe loss and repeat as conference champions.  However, if they don't the beauty of the conference championship is that it is another opportunity, a third season.  Non conference - conference - then conference tourney.  There is another chance and with three solid games you're golden. Steege is the MVP this year regardless and it should be unanimous.  The effort he gives every minute of every game is second to none and I love watching him play as much as I loved to play with him.  Everyone else plays hard too it's just that every game it's different guys scoring and stepping up, why can't it be two or three guys playing consistently well every game?  Good luck to the knights against loras.

Balla-

If you haven't seen Lee Nelson shoot then you should bite your tongue.  He is probably the best catch and shoot guy in the league, not to mention the most improved player in the league as well.

well the knights holding down the 14th spot in the top 25.  I dont see any other IIAC teams in there.... thats wierd.  The knights travel to Upper Iowa today to scrimmage the Peacocks.  Should be a good scrimmage for Wartburg.  Like I said they are deep and talented.  It's gonna be a great winter in waverly, I can feel it.

Wartburg was very deserving of being in the post season tournament last year, the committee just doesn't give any love to the Iowa Conference besides BV.  So their 23 wins got them a conference title and their 5th consecutive 20 win season... so to say it didnt get wartburg anywhere is ridiculous.  Plus now that they expanded the tournament field I will GUARANTEE wartburg goes to the tourney this year.  A yup!! 16-0 and tourney bound.  I'm sticking to my guns all year.

Keith

yeah and Wartburg beat UD at UD by 15 and beat Loras at home last year. Doesnt matter how you win, a win is a win and Wartburg had 23 of them last year.  How many did UD have?? Yup that's what I thought.  I don't think there is much room to talk and even if Thomas does average 17 against the knights like you say he does, it must be a quiet 17.  Seventeen points after 30 shots a game or whatever it is isn't that impressive.  Bottom line is Wartburg will not lose 2 or 3 games.  How can that possibly be when last year they lost one conference game and this year they are way more talented.  It doesn't add up.  Think about it......

hey keith.... funny how Nick Thomas always had an "off" night against Wartburg.  He never did a thing agianst the Knights.  Furthermore, there is no way they will lose to any of the teams you listed and if they do happen to it'll be BV.  Never UD or Loras, sorry.  I'm telling you 15-1 last year is gonna turn into 16-0 and when it does I don't want to be the one to tell you so.  Write it down and date this entry cause it's gonna happen.

Word out of Knights Gymnasium is that Wartburg is going to be deep as ever this year and as talented as they have ever been in the last five or six years.  They have tons of athletes and shooters and you know they are always coached well.  Everyone is predicting them to be good, but I think they are going to surpass those expectations.  There isn't gonna be very many teams who are going to be able to guard this team.  The real test for this team will be their defending.  They have guys that can guard and once they get the concept of team defense down you can pretty much forget about it.  The Knights are for real and I don't see anyone winning the conference but them.  I'm gonna go out on a limb and say 16-0 this year.... it almost happened last year and they are more talented this year.  Schmidt and steege are gonna be good no matter what but the supporting cast is gonna be great!!

Um.... not to rain on anybody's parade but it really doesn't matter who simpson gets because the offense they run can be defended very easily if you have seen it every year year after year.  They are too predictable and even though they have a lot of talent they underachieve every season.  So, with that being said this slump guy sounds too good to be true.  Like sportsknight said, we would have heard of him if he was this good.

Knights, Beavers this year just like the last five years.... everyone else is playing for 3rd on down.  Thats just the way it is.

Crowdpleaser??? Just giving a shout out to my boy..... Get up to waverly sometime after the season.

p

You know as good as wartburg is going to be this year I think that they will be able to surprise a lot of people when they play Iowa.  They are going to be able to do some good things against Iowa and it will give them a great experience and some great confidence heading into their season opening home tourney, the Buzz Levick Classic.  It is a chance for them to play against high quality players and in a fun atmosphere.  It will be a good experince for both sides.  Iowa will get a tune up out of it and wartburg will have a game under their belt as I said before, prior to starting their quest for a second consecutive IIAC regular season championship.